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It had lit a spark deep within me, a need for justice, that I was struggling to ignore.
“Who is it? Do I know her?” “I can’t say. No revealing anyone’s identity, remember?” My shoulders slumped. “Would I get to work with her?” “I hope so,” he said, his eyes softening with some inscrutable emotion. “She is a force to be reckoned with—just like you.”
Its her mother!
“My apologies. Sorae’s temper has been on edge since the King took ill. Everything sets her off these days.” “She wasn’t angry, just curious,” I said.
It was unexpectedly easy to hold him in place, and from the confused looks his comrades leveled at me, I could tell they shared my surprise. My father’s training had kept me strong enough to handle the mortal men I’d scuffled with, but I had expected more of a challenge from the famously formidable Descended.
But whatever you do or don’t do, sweetheart, do it for yourself. Don’t choose a mediocre life for a mediocre man. Go be exceptional. If he’s worth it, he won’t judge you. And if he’s really the one, he’ll come along for the ride.”
Tingling exploded through my body. That same peculiar icy heat I’d felt in the palace, and then again in the forest, now poured into every crevice, every soft curve, setting my skin ablaze with waves of frost and flame. A bright flash illuminated my eyelids, followed by an ominous silence.
Decended from old gods or kindred?
“I’m ready to fight the Descended. Whatever it takes.” I took a long, trembling breath. “I want to join the Guardians.”
I hadn’t entirely come to terms with my decision to break my sacred vows. I’d tossed and turned all night, jousting with my conscience and trying unsuccessfully to ignore the imagined scolding of my mother’s voice. Today, I was crossing a line that could never be uncrossed. I prayed that everything I was sacrificing would be worth it.
Sometimes you have to do things you hate in order to stop worse things from happening.”
Something tingled against my skin. A chill from the evening cold, perhaps, or my conscience warning me of the dangerous line I was about to cross. Or... I glanced over my shoulder into the darkness of a nearby alley. My eyes squinted as I peered closer, scouring the shadows.
I’d always dreamed of living a life worthy of a legacy. Being great was a privilege, and it wasn’t one that mortals in Lumnos were often given. If I wanted to burn my mark into the world, here was my chance to start.
I couldn’t find the words to explain to him the conflict brewing in my heart—the sense that I wasn’t just compromising, but sacrificing a fundamental piece of myself I could never get back.
“You think I fear my own death?” he whispered in my ear. “Every day I draw breath is as much a curse as a gift. I’ve been living on borrowed time for longer than you can imagine. If you’re the way my fate finally catches up to me, I can’t fathom a more beautiful end.”
“Diem—you’re wearing the Crown. You’ve been selected. You are the new Queen of Lumnos.”
