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“Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?” Cassial asked. “Say Erix refuses too, then this is not over. If you both refuse, Duwar will go into Jordin Elmdew. Allow for that, and I will mould Jordin’s beliefs the older he gets, until he is pleased with the chance to truly destroy Wychwood.”

Cassial drew back, just as fast, leaving me gasping for air. He started slamming his knuckles into his temple. It was a surprise when he didn’t begin cracking his skull into a wooden beam, just to rid himself of the inner voice.

“Time is running out, Robin! Quick, quick now.”

“You are wrong about me,” I said, grasping at straws. “I’mhalffey. My body is part human. I will not be compatible with Duwar completely; if I take it from you, I will only die in the end.”

“Which is exactly what I want,” Cassial shouted, eyes glowing a violent red. “You are only the first step in my plans. Once Duwar ravages your body apart, there will be another who is willing to free you from the punishment of Duwar. At least you can die knowing the fey will not perish. History will look kindlier on the humans if it is a fey who banishes his own kind. You see, it must be you.”

My heart sank deep into the pits of my stomach. “Erix will sooner die than help you.”

As would I.

“Yes, you are right. But with you still living, he would give anything to ensure it!” Cassial refused to look away from me, his smile widening more, making the skin across his cheeks crack. “Erix Oakstorm. The berserker. King Oakstorm, whether he accepts it or not. He will do anything to fulfil his promise of giving you a… how did you call it? A tomorrow.”

I swallowed the blood and bile, trying to steel my expression, but failing. Cassial knew he’d backed me into a corner. Because he was right. Erixwoulddo anything to save me, he had proved that time and time again. I was being used to further Cassial’s campaign, knowing that Cassial had contingency plan over contingency plan. There was not a single part of his path he’d not meticulously planned.

“I know Duwar taunted you too.” Cassial began pacing again, wringing thick hands together, skin peeling back as soft as a butterfly’s wing. “I hear it. It gave you the chance to host it, to save Duncan and thus save the world from ruin. And you did not believe it. Of course, I take responsibility for spreading the lies about a demon-god. No doubt every word and plea from Duwar was wasted on you. You would never for a moment see it for anything but evil. And yet the end is the same: you mustwillinglyaccept Duwar. Or you watch me die, then watch everyone else outside this tent meet the same fate. That, Robin Icethorn, is something even you will not survive. No one will.”

Willingly. That was why Jordin Elmdew was not his option, because a child that young would never know what to consent to, or how. That was the beauty of youth. For now, it would save Jordin and give him a chance.

“You want me to save the humans?” I asked, urging Cassial closer to me.

“I want you to give balance to them,” Cassial corrected.

The closer he came, the better my chance to crack the vial and spit the poison over him, killing him right here. But the Fallen would use him as a martyr. Seraphine sacrificed her life to give me this chance, and it was for nothing. Killing Cassial was not an option, not yet at least. If he died, Duwar would be released into the realms and there would be no hope of returning it to its eternal resting place. First, I had to show the world who he truly was – to rip back the curtain of lies and show them who the true monsters were.

I was left with only one path I could take, and Cassial knew it.

“If I accept Duwar, what is to say I will not go against you the second I get the chance?”

“I have thought long and hard about this outcome.” Cassial came to a stop, coming oddly calm about his demeanour. “If you act against me, Duncan will be punished for as long as his new body can withstand. If you think my treatment of Rafaela was evil before, what will become of Duncan is far,farworse. You see, love is nothing but a weakness. A sin. It was what led to the Creator’s downfall. His love for Altar, his trust, resulted in both gods perishing. And you, Robin Icethorn, are a sinner. Your heart has been split in two. It would have been more of a challenge to manipulate you if I only had access to one. But Erix will come for you, and so will your allies. One by one, I will see that they suffer pain until that alone kills you. They will not die; I will make sure of it. Instead, they will spend their long lives suffering, knowing that it is in your name. So long that they will learn to hate you. Every time they think of you their bodies will burn and scald until they are begging to forget you. Trust me when I say that my capabilities are vast and never ending. I will show Erix and Duncan how to hate you.”

A growl built in my chest. No doubt, if the iron chains and cuff did not touch my skin, my power would have struck out.

I was helpless. Cassial knew that.

He used my life as leverage to everyone around me.

“There is something else I have done,” Cassial added, a smile tugging at his ruined mouth. “Although I will not reveal what yet. But just know, if you think about killing me, ruin will still befall this world.”

Every inch of my body prickled, skin itching with discomfort. “What have you done?”

Cassial smiled. “You will see, in time.”

I didn’t know what to think, but I believed there was a truth behind his threat. I couldn’t place why or what.

“Do you really believe that I wouldn’t forfeit Duncan’s life, if it means saving the world?” Hate crashed within me like storm-gathered seas. I tried my best to steel my expression, but clearly it was a wasted effort. “No one life is more important than the realms.”

Cassial could see right through my attempt to lie.

“Shall we test that theory, Robin?” He rolled his shoulders back, his posture reeking of his success. “Duwar has shown me what you were prepared to give up, just to save Duncan. Already, you’ve proved that the greater world and its occupants mean little to you. Having harboured Duwar for so long in secret, is only further proof of that. So, yes, I do trust that you will do as I ask, because you could not possibly live in a world in which Duncan or Erix no longer exist. Selfish, selfish Robin. You would give anything to have a…tomorrowwith them. Am I right?”

He used that word against me for a second time, cutting deeper into my soul. My teeth shifted, the glass vial tinkling over the hard surface. Cassial wasn’t wrong. I was selfish, but that was not always a weakness. It could be my greatest strength too. He just didn’t see that yet.

I lifted my chin, trying not to show how Cassial’s use of words had affected me. Fixing my eyes on his, I refused to look away as I asked my final question. “When I accept Duwar into me, what am I do to with the power?”

Cassial smiled, the corners of his lips splitting up through his cheeks, more brimstone and fire hissing in the cracks. “Finally, you have come round to the concept.”