The magic burned within me, filling every ounce of my being as I held onto the surrounding air. The wind still blew, the ions stayed readied. In the center of it all was the crown, the crown I was going to walk out of here with. I would stop this war and show Katrice and everyone else not to screw with me.
But first, I needed to finish this. I considered continually blasting the lich with bolts, but another idea came to mind. It would bring all of this to an end quickly. Scientists have long debated the existence of ball lightning, but I knew it was real. I’d never really used it in a serious way but had experimented. Some of the principles of its formation were like those of “regular” lightning, but a few quirks were what made it unique—and so hard to study.
I knew how to summon it. I knew what it could do in here. Whereas the magically created bolts the lich and I had wielded had been shaped and controlled, ball lightning was huge and radiating. It would fill this cave, incinerating the lich. I wouldn’t be surprised if it melted the walls. And the crown? The crown would survive—as would I, being the magic’s mistress.
The power blasted out of me, lightning forming an orb in the cave that exploded outward, blinding even my eyes. The walls shook, heat washed over me, and a roaring filled my ears. I heard the lich scream, a horrible, raspy sound. I didn’t let go of the spell until his cry faded to silence. The ball lightning disappeared instantly, almost startlingly so. My own control of such power surprised me a little.
My ears rang in the silence. The crown stood unharmed, as expected. The pile of bones I’d expected was not there, however. Instead, a small, wizened man stood before me, dressed in the same purple robes. I reached out and readied my magic for this new threat. He didn’t move, though. To my astonishment, he smiled and gave me a small bow.
“Congratulations,” he said. He gestured to the crown. “You are worthy—if you can wear it, of course. And something tells me you can, if you’ve survived this much iron.”
I glanced back and forth between him and the crown, unbelieving. “I did it…. I won through. Won the crown. I defeated the lich … er, you … or whatever.”
“Certainly the lich was part of the test. It takes great magic to defeat one. But the test was about more than your power,” said the old man slyly. “It was about your determination. Your will. Your ruthlessness to get to the crown, no matter the cost.”
He stepped aside, waving his hand over at the cave’s side. I gasped. Kiyo—in human form—lay against the wall. His dark eyes were open, and I saw no obvious injuries. He was simply watching the interaction. I flew to his side, kneeling down.
“Oh my God. Are you okay?” I asked, helping him sit up. His breathing was even, though he looked a little addled. “Please … talk to me. Kiyo. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah …” He lightly touched his forehead and winced. “Hell of a headache.”
I could scarcely breathe. I felt numb all over. “You shouldn’t be alive,” I whispered. “You should have died.”
That ball lightning had eradiated the room. That had been my plan, after all. Destroy everything except me and the crown—and everything would have included Kiyo. In the moment, I had forgotten. I had forgotten all about him. I’d been too fixated on the crown, on proving to the lich who the real badass around here was. Kiyo hadn’t mattered in that moment, and it had nothing to do with our rocky relationship. I had the horrible, terrifying feeling that it wouldn’t have mattered who was in the room.
“Oh, God,” I said again, pulling his head against my chest. Tears stung my eyes. “Oh God oh God. I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I don’t know what … I don’t know what I was thinking….” A nasty voice spoke inside my head. Didn’t you?
“Hey, Eug, calm down,” said Kiyo, patting the back of my head. “I’m okay, don’t worry. You did it. You defeated it.”
He didn’t get it. He didn’t get what I’d done—or nearly done. Clearly, whatever crazy, powerful magic was involved here had protected him for the sake of the test. But if it hadn’t …
“Seriously,” said Kiyo, still not understanding my distress. “I’m fine. Just got tossed around too much. Now go get the crown. He said it’s yours.” I pulled away and looked into Kiyo’s eyes, eyes full of fondness and pride. I didn’t deserve that look, but we needed the crown, and we needed to get out of here.
I rose unsteadily and walked over to the pedestal. The crown sat there ominously, and I glanced at the old man. He nodded encouragingly. If you can wear it. I supposed there was one more test, one I might fail. When my fingers touched the crown, I felt nothing, only cold metal. I lifted it gingerly, almost afraid of what I did. It was heavy—far heavier than my crown of state or fashionable ones. Yet, it fit my head perfectly, which was weird. When I’d first seen it, I’d been overwhelmed by its size. I’d been certain it would fall right off.
The old man beamed and bowed again. “And now it is yours. Its powers are yours. You can make armies tremble. You can rip away lands and subdue them. The world can be yours.”
Hoping I’d proven myself, I removed the crown. “I just hope I can end a war.”
Kiyo rose shakily to his feet. He no longer smiled. “What do you mean she can rip away lands?”
The old man spread his hands out wide. “That is the crown’s power.”
“The crown has no power,” I said, frowning. “It’s a prize, a status symbol for enduring all this.”
“A prize?” The old man’s eyebrows rose, and he gave a great belly laugh. “Do you believe all of that was just for a prize? For some bauble?”
Kiyo and I exchanged uneasy looks. “Then what does it do?” I asked.
“The Iron Crown allows you to break the bond between a monarch and his or her kingdom, thus freeing it. If you have the strength, you can then claim it.” The old man shrugged. “Why, with enough power, you could control half the kingdoms in this world.”
Chapter 12
There was a moment of stunned silence.
“That’s impossible,” said Kiyo at last. “Unless you’re saying she should kill all those monarchs?”
“No need,” the old man replied.
“Even I know how it works,” I argued. “The only way to claim a land is if its previous monarch dies or grows too weak to hold it. Otherwise, they’re bound together. The monarch and the land are one.”
“Aren’t you listening?” he asked. “The crown changes that. The crown breaks that bond. Doesn’t matter how strong they are. No killing—unless you want to. The land is freed up, allowing you to seize it if you’re strong and ambitious enough, which, of course, you have to be even to possess the crown.”
Ambitious enough.
His words reminded me of our fight, when I’d nearly killed Kiyo in my rage. I stared down at the crown in disgust. “I don’t want it. I don’t want that kind of power. That was never my intention.”
The crown’s keeper now looked as baffled as Kiyo and I had been moments ago. “Then why did you come for it?”
“Eugenie,” said Kiyo uneasily. “I don’t think you should leave it. Regardless of what it truly does … well, the original plan still holds. You don’t actually have to use it. Just having it may still be enough to scare Katrice into peace—especially if she knows its true power.”
I lifted my eyes from the crown, staring off absentmindedly at the cave’s scorched walls. “Of course she knows. And so does Dorian. He’s known all along.”
It was a sign of Kiyo’s tact and self-control that he made no scathing remarks about Dorian.
“You have to take it,” exclaimed the old man, glancing back and forth between our faces. He seemed shocked and even offended that I was seriously considering leaving it. “You passed the test. No one who has done that has ever refused the crown.”
The sick feeling in my stomach grew. He knew. Dorian knew.
“You don’t have to use it,” reiterated Kiyo. “But Katrice won’t know that.”
“I was an idiot,” I murmured. “An idiot to th
ink it was just a war prize. If I accept it … what happens if someone else takes it? If it’s stolen?” After experiencing so many attempts at rape, I was well aware of the extent of Otherworldly ambition.
“The crown will only work for its current owner,” said the caretaker. “It will only stay with the worthy. If it’s taken—or if you die—it will return here, and we will wait for the next challenger.”
“Hold on,” said Kiyo. “You just wait here all the time? How old are you?”
I didn’t wait for a response. I felt dizzy on my feet and so, so tired, both mentally and physically. I wanted to get out of this place. “Let’s go,” I said. “We’ll take the crown.”
The old man beamed. “Excellent. I look forward to hearing of your victories.”
I scowled and moved for the exit. This was hardly the situation for warm and fuzzy good-byes, so Kiyo and I simply left without any more conversation, though I could feel the caretaker’s gaze burning into my back. The trek out of the mountain was quiet as well and seemed to go much more quickly. The fire barriers were gone.
When we finally emerged, the light and air of that barren landscape seemed like the sweetest, most refreshing thing ever. Volusian and Deanna were exactly where we left them. Deanna’s expression lit up. Volusian’s didn’t ostensibly change, but I sensed definite dismay.
“You did it!” exclaimed Deanna. “Now you can help me and find out—”
“No,” I interrupted, heading straight to my horse. “Not now. We’re not dealing with that yet.”
Her pale eyes widened. “But you promised to—”
“Not yet,” I growled.
Something about my tone and look must have been pretty intimidating because she vanished without comment. I knew she’d be back, though. I glanced at Kiyo, who was already on his horse, face troubled.
“Think those snakes are regular residents or just part of the test?” I asked.
He glanced around, taking in the scattered holes in the ground. “I don’t think we can assume they’re gone.”
I made sure my pack was secure, the crown inside it. “Then let’s get out of here. We’re not stopping until we’re out of the unclaimed lands.”
Kiyo’s face was lined with worry. “Eugenie—”
But I was already urging my horse down the road, back in the direction we’d come. Our initial ride had been brisk but still energy-conserving. Now, I held nothing back. I let the horse run as fast as she could, half-suspecting she wanted out of this cursed place as much as I did. The speed and rush of air was almost enough to distract me from what had just happened and what was to come. Almost.
Kiyo easily kept up with my hard pace, and the speed made any conversation difficult. I lost track of time but had the sense of riding for hours as the sun moved across the sky. I fell into such a lull surrounded by the dreary landscape that crossing back into the Otherworld’s claimed regions was like a splash of water in the face. We’d emerged into the Honeysuckle Land and were suddenly surrounded by heat and color.
Kiyo slowed his horse down. “Eugenie, we have to stop.” When I didn’t react, he yelled more harshly, “Eugenie!”
It snapped me from my haze, and I slowed too, eventually bringing my horse to a halt. His trotted up to us.
“Eugenie, it’s almost night. We have to make camp here. We’ll be safe now that we’re out of that place.”
“Safe? I’m a war leader. This place isn’t on our side yet. They could have a lot of leverage if they found and captured me.”
“That’s just an excuse,” he said. “It won’t happen, and you can’t keep up this pace without rest. The horses certainly can’t either.”
I didn’t know much about animals, but Kiyo did. These two didn’t seem ostensibly exhausted, but they were breathing a bit more heavily than when we’d left. I petted the head of mine in apology. I didn’t want to stop, but Kiyo was right.
The lush and beautiful land provided any number of camping spots. The trick was finding a concealed one that kept us near the road. If we strayed too far, the Otherworld’s nature could very well shift us away to another location. And, despite his confident words, I think Kiyo did worry a little bit about the Thorn Queen being discovered in this kingdom. At least we had Volusian to keep watch.
We finally settled for a small glade that was almost impossible to see through the trees until you were right inside it. Not far away was a small lagoon edged in stones. I was filthy from the fight but didn’t have the energy to bathe fully and settled for washing my hands and face. Nonetheless, back in our camp—which really was just a place to sleep since we needed no fire here—Kiyo insisted on changing my bandages again.
“You tore more stitches in the lich fight,” he said with dismay. “We can keep the blood loss down, but you have to get this treated soon.”
I nodded without hearing him, my mind still wrapped around what I’d learned. Once he’d pulled my shirt back down, I turned and faced him. “Dorian knew, Kiyo. Dorian knew what this crown could do. That’s why he wanted it. I wouldn’t be surprised …” It killed me to say the next words. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he set it up from the beginning with Masthera.”
I again expected mockery from Kiyo, but his dark eyes were serious and full of sympathy. “I wouldn’t be surprised either. I’m sorry.”
It was true what I’d said in the cave: I was such an idiot. I should have listened to my initial instincts, the ones that said a battle prize wasn’t enough to end a war. A prize that could strip Katrice’s kingdom from her? Yeah. That would end a war, true, but Dorian should have told me. He should have told me what the crown’s real threat was.
And then you wouldn’t have done it, a voice in my head pointed out. I knew it was the truth. I wouldn’t have risked my life—or Kiyo’s—to come after some artifact that put me one step closer to being the conqueror everyone expected me to be.
“Dorian knew,” I repeated. “Dorian let me risk my life for this.”
Kiyo stayed silent for a few moments, staring off into the rapidly darkening trees around us. “You said he resisted at first, though. Until he realized I could go.”
“Was that an act, though?” I rested my forehead in my hands, doubting everything I’d come to believe about Dorian. I’d so, so wanted to trust him. “Did he pretend to be hesitant, knowing I’d be suspicious if he was aggressive?”
“For all his faults … I don’t know. He does care about you, Eugenie. I don’t think he’d carelessly throw you into danger. He might have seriously waited until he knew you could go in with backup.”
I sighed and lifted my head back up. “You’re giving an awful lot of credit to someone you hate.”
A small smile crossed Kiyo’s lips. “I don’t hate him, not exactly. I don’t trust him. I don’t like him. And … well, I certainly carry a grudge for his taking you from me.”
I narrowed my eyes, a spark of anger flaring up in me. “No one ‘took’ me. I’m not something you guys can just pass around!”
“Sorry, sorry,” he said hastily. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just mean that after we split up, it’s been hard seeing you with him. That’s petty jealousy, I admit it. But I also hate that his grand, brash action won you over and drove the final stake in our relationship.”
“His ‘grand, brash action?’ Do you mean killing Leith? I’ll never regret him doing that,” I said fiercely.
Despite how dark it was growing out here, I could see Kiyo’s eyes boring into me. “Do you mean that, Eugenie? Was your personal vengeance worth all the people who’ve died since then?”
I looked away. “He deserved it. You don’t understand.”
“I understand perfectly well what he did. And if I could have? I would have done a lot more than run a sword through him. Really, that was almost merciful compared to what he deserved. But the fallout …”
“I know.” I sighed again. “I know what I’ve caused, all the upheaval in this world.” A sudden odd thought occurred to me. “Maiwenn �
��”
Kiyo tensed, not following my jump in thoughts. “What about her?”
“Dorian knew that too! She knows what the crown does; I’m certain of it. That’s why he kept telling me not to let you talk to her!” I shot up, full of fury now. “Goddamnit! He played me. He’s always played me! It doesn’t matter if he loves me. It’s his nature. He can’t love without using it to his advantage. Goddamnit!” My cry rang out into the empty night as I paced irritably.
In seconds, Kiyo was up too, gripping me by my arms. “Hey, hey. Calm down. He may have tricked you, but he can’t make you do anything you don’t want to with the crown. You’re in control. No harm’s done.”
“No harm?” I exclaimed. “Kiyo, I almost killed you! Do you understand? Do you understand what I almost did? I lost control! How am I supposed to forgive myself for that?”
He drew me into his arms. “I forgive you for that, and that’s all you need to worry about. Don’t beat yourself up with the guilt.”
I clenched my fists. “The craziest part is that the fake-lich whatever guy thought what I did was a good thing. Me shoving my friends aside for power. That’s what the crown represents. That’s what I’ll become.”
“I won’t let you,” said Kiyo fiercely.
“It’s in my blood,” I said weakly. “I realize that now.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I used to think … well, I used to think it was all just some easy decision you could make. ‘Do this, don’t do this.’ That was stupid of me. It’s more than that, this conflict in you. And I didn’t help—not in the way you needed. I will now—if you’ll let me.”
I peered up at him in confusion. “Why? After everything I’ve done?”
“Because I—” Kiyo cut himself off. I could hardly see him now, but the feel of his hands was warm on my skin. “Because it doesn’t matter. Because I screwed up. Because we never should have split up. I’ve been wanting to tell you something for a while. We should have—”
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