Page 21 of Blood of Two Crowns

“Buthow?”

A corner of Rumiel’s lips tipped up in one corner of his mouth to reveal that slight smile I was coming to know.

“There is only one mast that will not bow or break beneath the ever-changing winds of your emotion, and you must allow all other emotion to pass over you like the current upon your wings.”

I held my breath as his smile stretched until it split and revealed the fangs framing a radiant smile.

“Love.”

The rest of our journey was silent as the seed of my father’s words took root in my soul and turned my already toppling world on its head. I had lived my entire life ruled by my emotions. It destroyed my relationship with mysoulboundbecause of it, and I could feel it in my soul that something had shifted.

Whatever surprise I would have felt by our arrival to the God of Death’s temple was greatly dampened by my Knowingness’s words.

They shall never be twain. Your fate is bound to his as much it is to hers now.

Instead of rage, I felt only grief and remorse. My mind briefly flickered back to the Sigil of Mors that had appeared on her arm when we had attempted to swear oursoulboundvows. To thevision I’d had of Mareina standing in front of the River Oblivion. ThePharalakithat had always seemed to follow her wherever she went. It all seemed so obvious now.

Recalling my father’s wisdom, I tried to release the fear and tension squirming in my gut at facing Mareina for the first time since we’d nearly killed one another.

Before I could dwell any further on it, my father clapped a heavy hand over my shoulder and bestowed me with a compassionate look just before one of the enormous bronze doors bearing Mors’ effigy shifted ajar. Every hair on my body rose as aPharalakiappeared. It briefly seemed to examine us before turning to lead us through the cavernous torch-lit foyer and down a hallway. The shadows seemed to have eyes, making my hackles rise.

“Cecil! Lovely to see you again after all these years.”

My father and thePharalakiseemed to have some silent exchange that ended with my father tipping his long-haired head back on a laugh as thoughCecilhad said something wildly clever.

Cecil turned, disappearing in the unsettling and otherworldly darkness of Mors’ Temple.

“Mors is a lovely fellow. Much nicer than Azrael.Mostly.”

Before I could reply to Rumiel, thePharalakicame to an abrupt stop in front of us and opened a hidden doorway that revealed a set of descending, spiral stone stairs. It stepped aside to let us pass, and the moment we did, it drifted back down the hallway.

“How do you do that?”

Rumiel gave me a funny look. “Speak to them?” He shrugged thoughtfully. “You just have to break free from the prison of your thoughts, I suppose. If you’re only listening to what’s going on inside your head,” he explained with a gentle tap on my headbefore gesturing vaguely to the world around us, “You can’t hear what’s going on outside of it…”

My father turned and left me standing on the top of the stairs as he wound down the dark, spiralling steps. A breeze drifted over me, smelling of floral fields, just as a more distant scent caused a painful throb to echo through me.Night-blooming roses.

That’s all it took to spur me into action. I rushed down the stairs, jaw-dropping when they opened up to a field of flowers and tall grasses undulating in a gentle breeze. A distant mountain range surrounded it and to my right flowed the River Oblivion glowing an ethereal blue. My heart leapt and stuttered at the sight of the quaint home only a hundred meters away. AlreadyknowingMareina was behind those walls.

I didn’t give a fuck if Malekai was there with her.

My wings spread wide, giving a heavy flap and launching me into the air with my father shortly behind me. Flying towards Mareina felt like swimming up from the depths of the sea, rushing towards to the surface to take a breath of life-giving air.

As if a meteor had recently crashed, a large crater blackened the ground where I landed. Even more strange, there was no front door. Just the absence of one. My eyes caught on the wooden splinters peppering the ground, sending an icy spear of fear through my veins until a moment later, Mareina, somehow looking even more beautiful than I’d last seen her, appeared in the doorway. Laying my eyes on her cut off my breath like a fist squeezing my throat.

Tension knit her brows as her eyes leapt between me and Rumiel.

“I don’t have the desire, nor the energy, to fight with you, Nakoa.”

“I didn’t come here to fight. I came to make sure you were ok. Miroslav told me you were… unwell.”And because I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.

The words were on the tip of my tongue, but her gaze was fixed on my father, surely recognizing who he was based on our likeness alone.

“You found your father…”

Rumiel stepped forward, bowing. “Your Majesty.”

Mareina looked mildly unsettled by the title, and she didn’t bother faking a smile. “I’m relieved to see you two have been reunited. It’s an honor to meet you.”

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