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My vision clears in time to see Damian’s furious expression morph into something else entirely.
I strain to focus as he scrambles off of me, shuffling backward until he is flush against the wall. My arms and legs have just enough strength left to push me into a sitting position. The throbbing in my head worsens, but it is ebbed out entirely by the wave of relief that crashed over me.
Because I was right.
I was right.
Glimmering silver-white scales shine behind us, the blue-green waters reflecting off of the massive creature I’d been looking for. I smile as an ember ignites in its nostrils and it opens its mouth wide, rows of sharp teeth bared as flames creep up its throat.
I was right.Just this once, when it counted, I had made the right choice. Tears burn my eyes, but I don’t look away.
The dragon moves forward on light steps, belying its colossal size. Glittering eyes roam over us, and a deafening roar shakes the walls of the cavern.
Damian cries out, and I laugh at the sound, because he has no way out. The dragon is blocking the way we came in, trying to make its way back here, to its resting place.
To our final resting place.
The last image that flits through my mind before I accept my fate is Einar’s face.
“We all have choices.” I echo the words he had spoken with such conviction.
He was right, too.
Sometimes, it’s only a choice between the lesser of two great and terrible evils.
I think about the dragon, and I think about Madame, about how many innocent souls have paid forherchoices. I realize I am not weighing the lesser of two evils. I’m choosing something else entirely.
Smoldering heat washes over me as I try to take a final breath, inhaling smoke instead. Damian is engulfed in fire. His skin chars and sizzles, and his cries echo off the cave walls as he desperately tries to escape.
But there is no escape.
There is nothing for either of us after this.
The flames lick the walls around us, illuminating corners of the cave that hadn’t been visible in the dark. Shining white bones gleam in the firelight, a warning that there is nothing but death in this place.
I curl in on myself as my clothes and shoes begin to melt, the smell of burnt hair and roasted flesh filling the air around me.
The fire rages on, and I accept my fate. Because this is the last choice I’ll ever make, and I can’t find it in me to feel regret. Not for this.
I am choosing Einar.
I only hope he understands that one day.
Chapter Seven
Einar
Iflee from her chambers as quickly as possible, leaving Leif to explain to Gorm and Sten how important it is that we keep the details of Zaina’s absence quiet. All they know is that Zaina is missing. Nothing else.
We hadn’t been able to hide that much when they saw the place in shambles and as empty as I had. My guards are loyal. I trust them with my life, but this is different. This directly affects their futures, and I cannot allow them to lose hope.
For their sake, I need to keep them ignorant of her betrayal until I know what my next steps will be.
Maybe there is still time to salvage this. Maybe I can find her and the rose before it’s too late.
Or maybe I’m just a fool of a king.
I clench my fists to keep from punching the stone wall to my right.
