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“No!” Amarra screamed. “You cannot do this. We can find another way.”
“Don’t remind them of what they’ve forgotten,” I told Amarra. “Please. If you ever loved me, let them be happy.”
Relly created a portal in the puddle that I’d ordered Casja to create in the ground of the cave. Brigid and Casja jumped in without giving me another look, followed by the monster folk. They did not resist my orders. They could not.
Amarra tried her best to resist. Her mind magic was strong and I could not control her, but as Muir and Relly dragged her into the portal, she kept begging me and fighting them off.
It was no use.
The portal shimmered closed behind them.
I was alone in the cave.
I turned away and started to walk back to the lake.
It was almost peaceful.
The camp was abandoned. The burned tents and the ground muddy with blood felt like a thing of the past as the birds chirped and the wind howled, accompanying me.
Somehow, for the first time since I’d been called to the trials, I felt like I was in control of my own fate.
This was my choice.
Fighting the queen was of no use. She would hunt me until I could no longer run.
Anyone I loved and anyone who loved me would be in constant danger as long as she lived. She would go after monster folk, now that she knew they could always find me.
There was no escaping this.
There was no winning this.
I reached the lake.
The soldiers had set up her tent in the middle. The monster folk were subdued around her tent, chained to the ground, and caged like they were monsters again.
As I walked passed them, they looked up. I saw Nessa and Karson, huddled together in a makeshift cage that trapped them both. I went into their minds to calm them down.
I did not want the monster folk to feel the pain of losing me.
It was better to forget.
Right next to the Light Queen’s tent, a cage had been set up. In it, a woman with dark hair lay flat on her side. She was badly hurt and pain seeped out of her. Although she wasn’t conscious, I immediately recognized her.
The woman in the dungeon... This was her. Yeen.
The name came quickly, but I could not dwell on it.
I was simply glad that she was alive.
The soldier standing guard in front of the queen’s tent allowed me in.
She waited for me inside, in the warmth, surrounded by needless luxury.
A silver throne sat atop the carpet with gold threads woven throughout. She had brought with her a pointless feast that filled the silver table on the other side of the room. Every single item on that table looked untouched. And yet, steam came off the quail and the vegetables surrounding it.
She had brought a large, silver-threaded couch which was also empty now.
As she stood in the middle of her luxuriously decorated tent, it all looked so tasteless and futile.
