Page 79 of The Mirror in the Mountain

There was a loud crash in the hallway from the mirror. Rivan burst into the kitchen, his chest heaving. A ripped piece of parchment dangled from one hand.

Bash rushed over to him. “What happened?”

“The False King,” Rivan panted, and my stomach plummeted. “His army’s already on the move. They crossed the Nahar confluence to reach the Mountainborn river.”

The air itself seemed to freeze as we stared at each other in shock.

“Then we’ve lost our lead,” Yael said bleakly. “Though with the time it’ll take them to cross the western pass…”

Marin came up next to her, looking pale. “It’ll be close.”

“How did this happen?” My voice sounded foreign, removed, like the question had come from somebody else even though I felt my lips move. “I thought…”

“Queen Sariyah’s troops should’ve been there by now,” Bash said, looking stricken. “How could she not warn us?”

Rivan held up the stained parchment. “They were ambushed. By the time someone was able to alert us, the battle was already lost. The False King did something to keep messagesfrom escaping. The same reason we weren’t told when he left Morehaven.”

“A spyfinder,” Bash spat, though his self-condemnation lay heavy across our bond. “He used it once during the last war. All communication under the area of his spell first goes to him. But the price for that magic is in lives willingly given. To stretch across that radius…”

“His supporters have waited a long time for this moment,” Yael said quietly. “And desperate people lead to desperate acts.”

Tobias gestured to the parchment still clutched tightly in Rivan’s hand. “And Mayim’s forces?”

Rivan slowly shook his head. “The survivors are few, but the queen is among them.”

My voice broke as I asked, “How few?”

“Hundreds,” he whispered, his eyes lowering. “Out of thousands.”

Blood pounded in my ears. The room seemed to go out of focus as my stomach heaved, like I might throw up the few bites of breakfast I had managed to get down.

Thousands dead.

And it was all my fault.

The back of my throat burned. I hadn’t realized how much I was holding on to the hope of beating Aviel to Adronix—to gain the power to stop him before anyone had to die because of me—until it was torn away. That the real battles wouldn’t start untilafterI was ready. I hadn't realized I had been clinging to the thought that I didn't have to make this choice yet; that there was still time left to make it to that mirror and fix my fate. After all, the sprite had told me my future wasn’t yet set in stone.

But it felt like that destiny had shifted, had solidified like a spear of my darkness before finding its way into a heart. I had a way to end this, no matter how much I wanted it all tobe different. A future that seemed more certain with the added weight of each life I had been too selfish to save.

If I hadn’t been so naïve as to think we stood a chance of everything going to plan, Aviel would be dead in their place. Instead, he had slaughtered thousands while I had been basking in myanima’sarms this morning. While I had beenhappy.

Dread devoured me, eating at my insides until there was nothing left but a hollow pit where hope once lived. I knew what I needed to do—I just wasn’t ready to do it. But if I waited until I knew for sure, waited until it was the only choice left…I could no longer fool myself about what the price would be: more innocent lives, when so many already weighed heavy on my conscience.

And what if I was only delaying the inevitable? Clinging to one more day, then another as we chased Aviel on parallel paths north?

Unless I stopped him now, once and for all.

Bash’s eyes snapped to mine, and I knew he had felt whatever maelstrom I had sent across our bond. Sucking in a breath, I tried my best to tamp down on it. Hiding away any further hint at what now felt inevitable even as I prayed he attributed my reaction to what had happened.

“This is a setback,nota defeat,” Bash said firmly, and I felt my blood thrum at the power in his tone. “We still have two armies. One to take Morehaven. The other to destroy the force heading to Adronix. Aviel’s route is more treacherous, not to mention his forces are recuperating from battle. We still have a chance of heading him off.” His eyes swirled violently, like a storm about to strike. “So we do what we do best. Fight. Get into that mountain and take down an empire.”

Yael released a subdued sigh. “One impossible thing at a time, huh?”

Bash’s face was solemn as he nodded. Then he reached out a hand, his fingers entwining with mine as he helped me to my feet, his worry coursing across our bond.

I forced myself to relax, forced myself to nod even as I felt something inside me go cold and still. Trying my best to seem fine when I just felt fractured.

There was a slight stickiness where Bash’s palm touched mine. I looked down to see four half-moon marks where my nails had bitten into the rose scarred there, painting it with my blood.

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