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She’s pure, and he’s the embodiment of corruption.
“Corvan,” she whispers, her warm breath dancing against my skin. She’s right behind me, her lips close to my ear. Onlyshecould dare come up behind me like this and expect to remain unscathed. Because all along, I knew she was there; listening, watching, approaching. But the storm of my rage had deafened me, and I chose to ignore her existence for a moment.
Maybe it’s because I knew she would stop me.
“You don’t have to be the one that ends him. It would leave such a hollow feeling, don’t you think? He’s already helpless against you, and nature will take its course. Hecoa’s hand is already resting upon his brow. Does he really look like he’s going to last through the night?”
I look down at my father; at his skeletal frame, his hollow, sunken eyes.
He’s a shadow of his former self, already with one foot in the afterlife. Finley’s right. Killing him now would leave nothing but emptiness. There’s nothing to be gained from defeating a helpless man.
The only revenge I can have is to live and rulemyway—undoing his excesses and evils.
He thought I would jump at the chance to seize power.
My father really doesn’t know me at all.
What did you expect, with that deathbed confession? Did you want me to forgive you so you could go into the afterlife with a clean conscience?
“You should have summoned a priest instead,” I mutter bitterly.
On his deathbed, he has nobody.
Who would come?
The advisors?
He can’t trust them.
The clerics?
They would try and take advantage of him.
The priests of the Eresian Temple?
What could they do? Their prayers won’t prolong his life.
And Ansar would probably just kill him.
All he has are his guards to protect him.
And the two of us.
His attention is completely transfixed by Finley. He’s staring at her as if she were the Goddess herself.
“I brought you to him,” he whispers at last. “In truth, I’d forgotten about you until Solisar showed up at the palace and begged for an audience. But once I understood that you were the dryad’s child, I knew exactly where you needed to go. I knew that as soon as he caught sight of you, your fate would be sealed—both of you. Such is the nature of a child of Hecoa and a child of Eresus.”
He reaches toward Finley with his papery hand.
She moves to my side, and I almost want to stop her from letting him touch her, but she gives me a quelling look, and she’s the only one I would ever obey in an instant.
“My child,” the Emperor of Rahava begs. “For all that I have done to harm you and your kin, please forgive me. This old man became blinded by power and hardened by fear. I thought I could bend the world to my will.”
Finley takes his hand. She’s impossibly gentle as she strokes the back of his hand with her slender, graceful fingers. “Your Majesty, there must be a part of you that can tell right from wrong, because otherwise, you wouldn’t have cared to confess your darkest sins to Corvan. It counts for something, even if you lacked the courage to do right when it mattered.”
A shadow flits across father’s face. It’s as if two different sides are waging war inside him.
In the face of his despair, Finley’s unshakeable. “For you and I, this is both an introduction and a farewell. You can indeed take credit for delivering me to Corvan. I just want you to know that I will never stray from his side. I will protect him just as he protects me, andourlove will always be freely given, never falsified or forced. As for forgiveness, it isn’t mine to give. When you pass into Hecoa’s domain, you should seek the ones you’ve wronged and beg their forgiveness.”
