Page 84 of A Crown of Darkness

Long ago, before the Aurum and the Nox, this had been a place of witchkind. Carlotta had died here, in this place, and she had been Wren’s friend. She had given her a gift, a twist of straw in the shape of a bird.

‘It’ll help you remember who you are…’

The last trace of her friend’s spirit still lingered here, in these stones, in this place of power, and Wren touched it now, reaching for it as if seeking a blessing.

And oh, she remembered.

The Nox remembered.

Something was still missing but it would not be long. She knew that, could feel it. All that she still needed was coming. Like a stormfront, like a rising tide, like the inexorable turn of the seasons…

The other part of her. Of the magic of this place. The light to her darkness.

Leander hesitated, a frown growing on his perfect brow, those pale eyebrows drawing together and his silver eyesclouding in doubt. ‘Serve?’ he echoed, in tones that almost rhymed it with slave.

Wren smiled at him, the coldest, most chilling smile that had ever found its place on her lips. ‘Did you think you were fated to rule me, little king? The crown was made with blood and old magic. And perhaps had you used it earlier, it might even have worked. But not here. Not in the Sanctum, in the circle of ancient stones where the veil is thin. And this is above all a place of old magic. A place of power. Why else would the Aurum guard it so jealously? Your pet witch lied to you about the timing, about Wren weakening. But of course she did. She is witchkind and Wren is first and foremost witchkind as well,’ she reminded him. ‘Weare witchkind. We live free or die.’

The old magic surged up around her, the magic she’d touched in the forest, the magic which flowed in her veins as much as any darkness.

The shadow-wrought metal at her neck and wrists glowed with a fierce light, the darklight in them flaring brighter and brighter as she reformed them, changing them, just as she had seen Elodie do in the stone circle of the Seven Sisters, remaking them as she desired. Steel became silver, their innate magic hardened to diamonds, and they twisted themselves into new shapes. Nothing could bind her now, not made whole, not in this place of ancient power. The old magic in the land was loose again and now she drew on it as well, transforming those tools meant to enslave her into weapons of her own. Bands of pure power glowed in their place, focus points for that ancient magic. The metal moved, twisting itself around her skin, changing itself.

She drew all that magic into her and called on what she needed most. The missing part of her.

The door to the chamber exploded in a burst of blinding light and a man formed of light and flames stepped inside, a figureblazing in glory. Wren turned, hungry for him, and saw the look of blind hatred on his face.

Finn had come to find her. And so had the Aurum.

CHAPTER 48

FINN

Fire in his veins and thunder in his head drove Finn forward. The queen was safe, Roland was with her and the knights –hisknights – were free, reclaiming the city. The Aurum had granted him all he had asked. He could feel the coiling press of magic coming through him, winding around him and pursuing him. It was in the earth and the air, in the stones of the walls and in the ground beneath his feet. It reverberated with his heart and it was joy, fierce and terrible.

Mine, the Aurum cried out inside him.You are mine and always will be. My champion and my servant and my vessel, my strong right arm and my righteous heart.

It was a song and an exultation and the power of that great and endless light flowed from him into all those around him. All over the city he could feel the knights regaining their strength and their courage, his people rising up and driving away their invaders. Battle was brief and glorious. He revelled in it, feeling the strength ofhis people, those he had sworn to protect and who in turn were sworn to him.

The pull of the Sacrum dragged at him. He needed to be there. That was his place, his duty and his destiny. He foughthis way through the enemy without seeing them, his movements fluid and sure, his knights following him.

The other spirits of magic were gathering as well. He recognised them only as distant things. They were no threat to him. Not yet.

All but one.

The Nox was here. He could feel her now, a pull deep in his chest, as if he had been hooked through his ribcage and dragged towards her.

This was their fate, their moment.

He would confront her in his place of power and kill her. Finally, once and for all, he would be triumphant and the Nox, eternal enemy, opposite of all he stood for, would be no more. She would fall before him and he would have saved his people.

All of them.

He threw open the doors from the palace, light tearing them apart to make way for him, and stepped into the Sacrum.

She stood in the centre, while people knelt around her in abject surrender. She was dressed as a queen, and the dark crown on her head glimmered with its own light. Around her throat a choker of silver, crusted with diamonds, glittered, the metal crawling against her skin, alive with her dark magic. Similarly magically imbued metal crawled up and down her arms, twisting into long curved knives which covered her hands in a filigree of silver. The blades were viciously sharp, curving over the ends of her fingers, and as she turned to face him, the tips scraped against stone, with a line of sparks.

She faced him and he knew her.

His heart, treacherous and weak, almost came to a halt as Finn…Finn, not the Aurum…Finn recognised her.

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