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She looked at me with an expression somewhere between shocked and ill.
“Stop.” I strode across the room, my heart pounding in my chest.
Despite Espen’s declaration, only a few people had slipped out of the building. And that meant we had an audience.
Espen’s hands began to glow, and heat radiated off his skin. He definitely didn’t love that I’d told him to stop.
“We need one of them alive,” I said, my heart still pounding so hard that I could hear it in my ears. “To help us find the others.”
I couldn’t let them torture Horvis, because he had never hurt me—not with his own bare hands, at least.
My eyes scanned the guards.
My body clenched when they landed on a smirking man.
The one who had been the cruelest.
The one who had boasted of being the king’s best friend.
If someone had to be tortured, it was going to be him.
“Take him to the prison.” I pointed to the bastard whose presence brought back the most painful memories. “Kill the others.” I stepped back.
Espen wasted no time.
The scent of burning flesh made my stomach roll over, and as I turned around, I heard the awful splat of Horvis’s heart hitting the floor.
My eyes stung, and my heart continued to pound as I strode out of the building, and down the street.
I’d had my revenge.
The other guards who had survived would be hunted and killed.
But that didn’t make the past any easier to stomach, or bear.
Espen would understand why I had left; I hoped all of our friends would. Because I had survived… but I was scarred on more than just my wrists, ankles, and abdomen. The chains had left visible evidence of my pain, but the mental and emotional wounds were only just starting to heal.
“You’ll be a good queen,” Lavee said, walking confidently at my side.
“I already am.” She could probably hear the shake in my voice.
“It’ll be different when you’re mated. The power will be stronger, and steadier. You’ll be holding up the moon with your mate, not just supporting him emotionally. Diora and Namir are good leaders and great friends, but they’re a different kind of experienced than you two are. You’ve already raised two children, sacrificing more than any of us can fathom in the process. And clearly, Espen has been through his own hell, holding up and protecting this whole damned court while his brothers argued. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as strong as the two of you.”
I wiped at a few tears leaking from my eyes. Everything had me feeling a bit overwhelmed. “I just did what I had to in order to survive. Up until recently, I was ready to rejoin the sun and moon just to have Espen killed.”
“The fact that you made it as long as you have is more than enough proof of your strength, Akari. Diora told me what happened in that prison, and I’m sure you only let her see a fraction of what you suffered. I don’t consider myself a weak person, but the strength you must’ve possessed just to force your eyes open every day in that hellhole… you’re a fucking hero.”
My eyes stung more, and this time, I didn’t wipe at the tears. “Someone had to keep them alive,” I whispered. “And there was no one else available.”
Lavee shook her head. “When someone tells you that you’re a hero, don’t tell them you aren’t.”
I laughed, still a bit teary. “Alright, thank you, then.”
“You’re welcome.” She flashed me a grin.
My humor faded as we continued to walk, and solemnity replaced it.
Maybe I should’ve stayed, but I just couldn’t. I didn’t think Espen would hold that against me, either.
