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“Kill me.” Marcus’s throat scraped with gravel, as though seeing James meant a full understanding of what was happening. “Kill me. James. Please. If you ever felt anything for me.”
“If you ever felt anything for any of us—”
Her first instinct had been to save her brother. Will’s had been to save everyone.
I cannot return when I am called to fight So I will have a child
“but he can’t come into his true power without killing another like him. I haven’t kept that bastard girl in my house, humiliating my wife and jeopardizing my social standing, only to have her die before time.”
“Kindness is never a mistake,” said the Elder Steward. “Somewhere in the heart it is always remembered.”
“But which of us is ready for what life asks us to face? We don’t choose the moment. The moment comes whether we will it or no, and we must make ourselves ready.”
“They loved each other, and she killed him,”
Oh lol so that’s his dad and mom
“Even those who think themselves powerless can fight with small acts. Kindness. Compassion.”
“No,” said Cyprian. “I’ve come to get you out.”
BET !!!!
He’d never forget the moment James’s eyes had met his—the sensation of coming home, as though they knew each other.
Now kiss
“Gag him,”
GAG HIM !!!
“Hello, Father.” Before Will could react to the words, James continued, in a conversational voice, “I met the boy you brought in to kill me.”
HAHAHA FUCKING EXCUSE ME
He adopted Cyprian and Marcus after his first son died six years ago.
Oh
“You weren’t the Dark King’s general. You were his catamite,” said the High Janissary. “You were in his bed. Just like you’re in Simon’s.”
Um 💀💀💀
Subtly goading, James spread his legs and leaned back in his chair, challenging Will with his gaze.
👀
The Shadow Kings. “No one asked what happened to the Cup,” said James. “Just like no one asks where the Stewards get their strength. Why they watch in pairs, for any sign. Why they train to always keep control. Why their lives are short. It’s because of their oath. The oath they swear when they drink from the Cup.”
“To kill themselves before they start to turn.”
Simon seeks to conjure a shadow of his own,
He’s waiting for Marcus to turn 🥲
Will said, “Capture a Steward without much time, keep him alive, and wait for him to turn.”
“I’m not Simon’s lover,” said James. “I didn’t ask.” Will flushed.
lol
“I think what people were is less important than what they are. And what people are is less important than what they could be.”
“Maybe fighting is knowing there’s darkness in you, and still choosing to do what’s right,”
The last of the Stewards had made their stand here, in the long dark of the great hall, with its ghostly white columns. And behind them, the novitiates and janissaries who they had tried to protect. Carver lying two steps in front of Emery, who would have seen him fall seconds before he fell himself. Beatrix near the front, having pushed her way forward to fight alongside Stewards ten years her senior. He had seen them all this morning, preparing for the attack on Ruthern.
:(
From the sheer extent of the destruction, Justice had lasted against his attacker for some time.
:( :(
Violet was on her knees beside him. She was saying his name as if she could speak with him. She was pressing her hands to his body as if to stanch blood that had stopped flowing, or find some warmth where there was only cold.
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Marcus. Behind him, he heard Cyprian make an awful sound. Will stumbled slightly as Cyprian pushed past him. Cyprian stared up at the burned outline, and then he put his hands on it, as if by touching it, he could somehow touch his brother. His fingers curled and he slid downward, kneeling, his head dropped in utter despair. For a single disturbing moment, he and his brother seemed like one: a Steward and his shadow cast upon the wall.
BRO ENOUGH 😭😭😭😭
“She fought to save them,” said Grace, and Will saw Farah, her face upturned, her sword knocked from her hand. Dead, of course. She hadn’t saved them. He supposed she had fought as hard as she could. He supposed everyone had.
Jesus Christ 😭
It was only much later that they thought to check the cells under the Hall, but James was gone.
“It pleased the Dark King to take the Light’s greatest fighter and turn him into a lapdog,” said Gauthier. “His people never knew he was ensorcelled, only that he’d become the Dark’s lieutenant. They called him Anharion, the Betrayer. He kissed the Dark King’s lips, rode at the Dark King’s side, and slaughtered his own kind. They thought he did it of his own free will.” “You mean he didn’t choose to serve the Dark King?” Will’s heart was pounding strangely. “He was forced to do it? Under some kind of spell?”
… oh ???
“I wasn’t there,” James returned. “Emery let me out.” Emery?
Cyprian’s grip tightened. “Why would Emery ever do that?” “Because he’s been in love with me since we were eleven. Don’t tell me you didn’t know that.”
He still hadn’t understood. He’d seen Will touch the armor. He’d seen him survive the Blade. But he hadn’t understood what Will had come to realize piece by piece. The truth that his mother had known when she’d died on this very spot, looking at Will with despair in her eyes. “I’m not Blood of the Lady,” said Will, looking at the sheathed Blade on the ground. “The Shadow Kings aren’t coming for me.”
I knew it
Elizabeth cried out and flung out her hand to steady herself, grasping on to the trunk of the Tree Stone.
lol I KNEW IT
“You know you’re not,” said Devon, “My King.”
Simon hadn’t failed seventeen years ago when he’d killed Will’s aunt Mary. He’d succeeded. He’d brought the Dark King back that day, with the Lady’s blood. Will wasn’t a champion of the Light. He was the Dark King, reborn into this time.
BET
Then she’d plunged the knife toward his throat.
HUH
“It’s me!” he’d gasped. “Mother, it’s me!” He’d thought if she just knew who he was, she’d let go.
oh
She had known who he was. It’s why she’d tried to kill him.
“You’re not my son. You’re not the child I had to give up.”
“I am your King, and YOU WILL obey me.”
No champion saved her. They were the last words she said.
um bruh ?
“You did it,” said James, in a quiet voice laced with disbelief and wonder at his own burgeoning freedom. “You stopped Simon from returning the Dark King.”
😬😬😬
“My whole life, all anyone’s ever wanted was to possess me,” said James. “The only one who ever set me free was you.”
I lived a half life. It’s like this world was a blur. No one else was in focus. Until you.”
“I’m here to follow you.” His eyes were bright, his lips smiling, his hair gold in the shifting light from the fire. Will said, “Of course you are.”
AHHHHHHHHHHH
