Page 84 of Crowned

“Wait!”

I stop at the sound of Bhodi’s voice, his boots pounding against the stone as he rushes toward me. His face is streaked with dirt and blood, his expression dark and full of frustration. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Bhodi, don’t—” Vance starts, but Bhodi barrels on, his voice rising.

“You’re seriously just going to walk out there? Tothem? What are you thinking, Malia?” His tone is sharp, almost frantic, and I see the fear lurking behind his anger.

I face him, my hands clenched tightly at my sides. “I don’t have a choice. If I don’t go, they’ll destroy everything. This isn’t about me anymore, Bhodi.”

“It’salwaysabout you!” he snaps, his voice breaking. “Don’t you get it? You’re the centre of this whole damn thing. If you die, it’s over. There’s no Aerwyna without you.”

His words hit harder than I expect, but I force myself to stand tall. “And there’s no Aerwyna if I don’t do this,” I say quietly. “You think I don’t know what’s at stake? You think this is easy for me? I won’t be the queen of a ghost realm. I can’t rule over a mass grave, Bho.”

He flinches, his jaw tightening. For a moment, he looks like he wants to argue, to fight me on this, but then his shoulders slump. “This isn’t fair,” he mutters, his voice barely above a whisper.

I take a step closer, reaching out to touch his arm. “None of this is fair,” I say softly. “But we don’t have time to think about that right now. I need you, Bhodi. All of you. If this goes wrong...you’re the ones who will have to fix it.”

His eyes flash, his usual confidence faltering. “You’re not supposed to die, Malia,” he says, his voice raw. “You’re supposed to live.”

“I will,” I say, though the words feel hollow.

Reef and Cove appear behind him, their expressions mirroring his. Cove’s blue eyes are dark with worry, and for once, his usual smirk is absent. Reef looks like he’s barely holding it together, his hands curling into fists at his sides.

“You don’t have to do this,” Reef says, his voice low but firm. I can see in his eyes he doesn’t believe his own words though, there’s resignation there. He knows.

I glance between them, my throat tight. “I do.”

Cove shakes his head, stepping forward until he’s close enough to grip my hand. “Then promise us something,” he says, his voice quieter than I’ve ever heard it. “Promise you’ll come back. No matter what it takes. Promise you’ll fight to come back to us.”

I stare at him, his words twisting something deep inside me. I want to promise. I want to believe it’s that simple. But the truth is, I don’t know if I can keep that promise. I don’t want my last words to them to be a lie.

“I’ll do everything I can,” I say finally, my voice breaking.

He nods, his jaw tight, but there’s an ache in his eyes that’s impossible to miss. Reef steps forward next, his hand brushing against mine for the briefest moment. “You’re stronger than they’ll ever be,” he says quietly. “Don’t forget that.”

I manage a small nod, my throat too tight to speak.

“Let her go,” Vance says, his voice steady but strained. “This is her decision.”

The words hang heavily between us, and I feel their weight as I turn away from them, stepping through the doorway and into the cold night air.

The air outside bites at my skin, sharp and unforgiving, as if the night itself knows the weight of what’s about to happen. The smoke still hangs thick in the air, twisting with the faint metallic tang of blood, and I feel it settle in my lungs, heavy and suffocating.

The courtyard is eerily quiet compared to the chaos within the palace walls. The sounds of battle are further ahead now, distant yet still close enough to make the ground tremble beneath my feet. Each step feels harder than the last, as though the earth is resisting me, trying to pull me back to safety.

But there’s no safety. Not anymore.

The devastation is everywhere.

To my left, the remnants of a toppled tower jut out like broken bones, the stone blackened and crumbling from the relentless assault of the Shadow Legion’s magic. The once-pristine gardens, the pride of the palace grounds, are now little more than a graveyard of shattered trees and scorched earth. The fountains have run dry, their carved edges cracked and crumbling.

The destruction cuts through me, a deep, sharp ache in my chest. This was supposed to be a sanctuary – a place of hope, of unity. Now it’s a battlefield.

I pass a fallen soldier, his armour stained with blood, his lifeless eyes staring up at the sky. I stop, just for a moment, my breath catching in my throat. He can’t be much older than me, his features frozen in an expression of determination that lingers even in death.

“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, my voice breaking. It feels pathetic, meaningless, but it’s all I have to offer. I kneel beside him, closing his eyes with trembling fingers.

This isn’t the first life lost tonight, and it won’t be the last.

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