Song of Sorrows and Fate (The Broken Kingdoms, #9)

by L.J. Andrews

They never got far before I stepped in their path and sent them to their mothers with bloody noses or chipped teeth.

“They’ve awaited the call of their royal, Little Rose,” Silas whispered against my hair. Low and seductive. His arms tightened around my waist. “You are the heir. They bow to you.”

Truths were clear now. I’d spoken true to my Kind Heart when I told her there were signs of four storytellers before me. What I hadn’t known was each one . . . was me.

“I would do it all again to see you breathing.”

“Say the word, Silas,” I whispered, tilting my head, “and I would follow you through the lifetimes.” Before courage fled from my body, I held my breath, and kissed him.

Now, she took everything. My friendship, my voice, my heart, my soul. She could have it all. I was always destined to bow to her.

“When you meet the Ever King again, a word of advice—if you wish to keep your lives, I wouldn’t make him bleed.”

“You lost your wits?” A splash of pink tinged the tips of her ears. “Yes, when I practically ate you.” The kiss. I cracked the knuckles of my thumbs and turned away. “Then I rather like when you lose your wits.”

“I’m talking to him now, so get gone.” Calista gave me a soft smile. “Look at me, Silas. It’s just me here now. You’re not alone in the dark any longer.”

“No, it’s true, and I don’t know if I’ll forgive myself for being such a coward. I don’t mind if you speak to shadows, Silas, but let me be the one to hold the candle and walk with you through the darkness.”

I would let her go. I would stand beside her. Even if I couldn’t have her.

So, my heart bonded with the boy who’d always cared for me, the boy who’d always seen me as I was and never tried to change it. What did it matter? I’d picked him before fate bonded us together.

Silas, my phantom, my whisper, he wanted me to decide if my heart ached for him. It didn’t ache for him. It lived for him.

“You’re my Whisper. My voice in the dark. You’re mine.”

“This ends the tale, Little Rose. I do not know the outcome. You do this, there are no backward glances. Accept the bond, then you belong to me. The way I have always belonged to you.”

“The Norns keep trying to take credit for bringing me back to you,” I said, a smirk on my mouth. “But the truth is, Silas, we bested those stupid fates long before they found us. You were mine before the world broke. You’ve been mine through the lifetimes. You will always be mine.”

“I would wait a thousand lifetimes for you.”

“You were my only friend, Calista Ode. You are still that, but you became the beat of my heart. To touch you is my greatest honor. It is the dream that has kept me living.”

“You’re . . . I-I hardly know where I want to start. I want every bleeding piece of you.”

“I want this with you. No one touches you but me, and no one will ever touch me but you. You can’t hurt me, not really.”

I kissed him. I kissed him for all the turns I could’ve had with him. I kissed him for the pain he’d endured watching helplessly from the dark. I kissed him to prove how this choice was mine. Not fate’s, not a bond; he was mine because I chose him.

“You’re mine,” he gritted out.

“I’ve always . . . been . . . yours.”

“Leave you?” Silas pinched his lips and knelt beside me, setting the bowl filled with water on the rug. “No, I . . . I figured—assumed—it’s my duty to care for you since I hurt you.”

“I choose you, Little Rose,” he whispered. “I always have. Fate be damned. I would choose you even if the Norns told me it was the wrong path.”

“I choose you. You’ve always been my Whisper, the song of my heart.”

“For you,” he said. “I fought for you.”

“Because I fear the loss of you more than a battle. Should I remain hidden, should I ignore this fight, I’ve no doubt I would lose you. I won’t again.” His eyes clenched shut. “Do you . . . gods, do you know what it’s like?”

“But I know what it’s like now. I know what it feels like to find that side of your heart you never knew was missing. Should I lose you, I would be broken down the center, a walking half of a soul for the rest of my days.”

“Don’t be jealous, Little Rose. My needy thoughts are of you.” “Ah, how flattering.”

“I need to tell you, whatever happens here—I have loved you all my life.”

“I love you, Silas. You’re my Whisper, my comfort in the darkness. I suppose if we meet the gods today, we can cause all manner of havoc there.”

“Sorry.” Now, I pressed my brow to hers. “You make it easier to breathe.”

“This is why I want you with me. You think you do not have clever words, but your words always speak the right things to my heart. So, obviously, my reasons are utterly selfish, but who the hells cares?”

Calista smiled. Dark as the future appeared, her smiles were swiftly becoming the brightest part of my days.

“You are the man who saved me. You brought me back to my wife, to a daughter. To life. I would be lost if not for you.”

“I love you, Little Rose. I always have.” “To the Otherworld, Whisper.”

Four thrones of fated light, Rise and claim your fight. Each with a place, have it be known. Rid lands of hate and claim each throne.

“My favorite part is when a queen with the gift of cunning—” She bowed her head in condescension. “Outwits a sod like you and brings his end with the most honorable lovers you’ll ever meet.”

Livia leaned around her father, watching the boy. More curious than the princess’s stare was when Bloodsinger glanced over his shoulder. Whether he sensed the eyes of another on him, or something else, he quickly found the Night Folk princess. Livia peeled her gaze back to the table, cheeks flushed in embarrassment. Erik narrowed his eyes, almost confused, before he was dragged out of sight.

“Are you going to tell him?” She snorted. “You mean, am I going to tell him that a bleeding heart song is growing between his beloved daughter and a boy from an enemy kingdom? No. I think I will let that path open however it is meant to open. I’m quite done meddling in fate.”

My folk. My family. They’d fought for me. They’d saved me. Much more than I’d ever saved them.

“Thank you for never giving up on me, Whisper.” He kissed my throat, burying his face against my skin. “You’re my peace, Little Rose. You’re the one who chases away the darkness. Say the word and I’d follow you anywhere.”

“I love you, Elise Ferus. You’ve given me . . . everything. My freedom, my home, my life. But your heart, this family you’ve given me, it is the greatest gift I could ever want.”

“You were worth it all, Nightrender,” I whispered. “Every bad memory, every beautiful one, you were worth it for this life we now live.”

I kissed Ari a little longer this time. First, for my sheer enjoyment. Second, because it soothed his busy tongue and mind.

“You are my perfect menace, Saga.” “You are the most beautiful bastard,”