Page 19 of A Queen Of Broken Realms
We check in with Cole and Cyrus, and then I escort Ediye to the library before continuing on alone to the house among the cliffs. I descend the winding path that leads to the shore and Urtur is already there, watching, waiting, ready to enter the water at my side.
We start our agonizing evening ritual. We swim in patterns across the area where Lu must have landed in the water. Urtur paddles, whining and panting as he sniffs the air for any scent. I duck my head beneath the waves and try to listen. What for, I don’t know. Anything other than the agony of the millions of human souls converging in this putrid sea. I look for any light. But as always, there is nothing.
When I can no longer bear the suffering and the sound of Urtur’s cries, we leave the water, the jackal following me up to the house. We take the path through the drawing room, ascending the stone steps.
Is that why you like me? You like broken things?
Lu’s voice is as clear in my mind as though she were right next to me. Her face is so vibrant. I even see the way she purses her lips when she makes a joke to test the waters of her fears. I stop on the stairs and close my eyes, pressing my fingers to my mark as I wait for the pain of this memory to subside.
I take a deep breath and keep going up the steps, taking no notice of the sculptures along the path. They might as well not exist. I only stop once I reach the shattered glass of Lu’s statue. The moment Urtur and the Nephilim crashed into her figure, locked in their bloody battle, it felt like an omen. A portent of doom. And it was.
I lower to my knees among the scattered shards and pick up the golden mask, turning it over in my hands.
You like broken things?
I should never have begged her to run. I should have trusted her as she did me. My own weakness is responsible. I thought the worst thing imaginable would be to watch her come to harm. But I was wrong.This. This is the worst thing. A life as though she’s been erased, while still being surrounded by the echo of her presence. I can feel the way she started to change this place. She was in the Shadow Realm so briefly, and yet it was happening all around her. And she never even knew. She never knew she was at the heart of it all.
I cannot say how long it is that I spend looking into the vacant eyes of the mask before I hear footsteps approaching behind me. Urtur stays motionless where he lays next to the entrance of the greenhouse, his eyes following the motion of the person who draws near.
“Sir, it’s Zida,” Cyrus says as he draws to a halt. I turn my head in acknowledgment. “She’s found the traitor.”
Sparks eat through my skin, a welcome burn that flares with bright heat across my back. My wings billow from my flesh. “Who?”
“Joash. Hakan’s brother.”
I rise. Flame consumes my eyes as I turn to face Cyrus. “Hakan? The demon Leucosia killed on Anthemoessa?”
“Yes. It seems Joash was working with Ember. Zida tracked him to a cabin north of Huedin. He was with Ember’s remaining loyalists in the Living Realm.”
“Where is he now?”
“She dragged him back. He’s in the Kur, alive but still subdued with venom. The hunting party has captured the rest of the group and is returning them to the Shadow Realm now.”
I turn away. I walk over to the gift I’ve spent my sleepless hours making for Lu, in case she might ever return. It’s finished now, lying covered beneath heavy black velvet. It feels like a funeral shroud. I look at it for a long moment, wondering if there will ever be an end to this grief. But the rage I feel, I know that will never die.
I turn to Cyrus, a new purpose filling the cavity in my soul. I meet his eyes with a dark and mirthless smile.
“Take them to the Council Room in the Kur. Send a contingent of soldiers to the Resurrection Chambers. I want any who resurrect brought back to me as soon as I send them to their deaths. I intend to punish. Indefinitely.”
Cyrus gives a single nod and strides into the growing darkness to fulfill my commands. I look down at the mask in my hands, shifting it to reflect the dimmest light before I set it on the velvet and walk away.
I will bring justice. In the absence of my Queen’s merciful light, I will be the darkness that consumes the world, one traitorous soul at a time.
CHAPTER8
ASHEN
Seven days.
Each one has been more agonizing than the last. When I think I’ve reached the limit of suffering, the darkness grows deeper still.
I realize now how close I must have always been to the edge of this. Guilt and regret were faithful suits I could wear. The threads never wore out. There were always more to replace them if they snapped.
The sculptures I hid in the house that no one wanted. The leniency I sometimes granted to immortals in the Living Realm. The fact that I never found much interest in others of my kind. Perhaps these were warning signs.
I wanted something for myself. I shed the skin of shame. I chose to embrace the love I felt for Lu, and it opened the doorway to loss.
The shadow of love is rage. And my fury consumes me, body and soul.
