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It had been days. We were out of food now, and Bellicent only emerged long enough to shout at me for my ineptitude. As if it weremyfault we were in this predicament.
“Where is Oberon?” she asked me now, from where she slumped against the stone wall. “Why hasn’t he returned yet?”
“I don’t know where he is. Just like I didn’t know the last time you asked. Or the time before that.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I am your queen, and you will show me the proper respect.”
“You’re going to take over my body,” I said bitterly. “I can say whatever I fucking well like.”
“Hmm.” She shifted against the wall, picking through the pack Oberon had left behind. “The king has always had a soft spot for you, and it’s been one of his biggest weaknesses. It’s good that will change now.”
“You must be joking.”
“I do not joke.”
“That much, at least, is true.”
“He will be better off without you,” she said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “And vice versa. You can’t tell me you’re happy with your current lot.”
I stared out into the mists, willing Oberon to return just to put me out of my misery. I’d never enjoyed conversing with Bellicent, least of all now that I knew she’d soon be residing in my body. “No one would be happy with being forced to follow every whim of someone as twisted as Oberon. Free will is an important thing. And I have not had that for a very long time.”
“Well, you can have as much free will as you want when you’re dead.”
I tensed. “If Oberon hadn’t ordered me to spare your life, I’d snap your neck. I wish I’d done it when I could have, centuries ago.”
A hiss escaped from her lips. “I would have you put to death just for threatening me. Unfortunately for you, your life is already forfeit.”
I shoved up from the ground and stormed over to the mouth of the cave. “I’ve had enough of this. I am going to find a way to leave, even if I have to claw my way out of here with bloody fingernails. There will be a loophole, and I will find it.”
A soft breeze rushed into the cave, rustling my hair. And with it came a sense of despair so great I almost sank to my knees and begged for the ground to swallow me whole. I fisted my hands and stared out into the darkness. What was this? Where had it come from? I’d felt nothing quite like it before. It was so…wrong. It tasted of blood and death and hate. Most of all, it was hate.
“Oh!” Delight rippled through Bellicent’s voice, a sound that set my frayed nerves on edge. “Well, this is quite unexpected.”
I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of turning around, but…
“What is it?” I looked back at her. Unlike me, she smiled. This was the brightest I’d seen her look in weeks. Something in my gut twisted.
“I’ve just been delivered averyimportant message.” Her eyes narrowed on me, and that smile grew wide.
Suddenly, my bones ached to run. I needed to get out of here, now. Oberon hadn’t returned, but something else had.
I took a step back, my boots scuffing the stone.
“Andromeda is finally free.Allof her.” Bellicent beamed. “It is time for me to claim your body for my own.”
Before I could react, a force slammed into me. Rot and death filled my head until I could see nothing but the deepest shadows in the back of my mind. Trembling, I reached out, desperate to find something—anything—that could anchor me to this world.
Terror gripped my heart. I didn’t want to go. It wasn’t my time.
All I’d wanted was a year—if that—of freedom. One snippet of an endless life, where I could dance when I wanted to dance, laugh when I wanted to laugh, go where I wanted—even to the land of moon and starlight—and erase the ghosts from my past. All that blood. All that horrible, twisted death.
I had once hoped if I followed Oberon’s orders long enough, he would one day let me go. And I could have my year. Just one year. That was all I needed.
But I knew now I would never walk beneath the moon.
The magic stormed through me, consuming my soul and burning away every last scrap of who I was. But then…just before darkness claimed me for the rest of eternity, a blanket of pure, brilliant stars filled my mind. Was this death? Or some kind of afterlife? It didn’t matter. Not with a sight like this.
I released my fear, smiled up at the stars, and said hello.
