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I nod, remembering. “The things that happened... the pain is far more than you can imagine,” I say as I look at her and wish I hadn’t. She’s more beautiful than I remembered. So angelic. So innocent.

“Tell me, Theren.”

I shake my head. “I dare not speak of it. But I endured because I had to—for Cambion. If my father didn’t have me as an outlet on which to release his anger, then he’d do so to my brother.”

“Cambion is lucky to have you as a protector.”

I shake my head and look away, realizing the danger I’ve put her in. She moves over to me silently and pulls me into her embrace. A whisper of a kiss on my brow nearly shatters me to pieces.

Broken. I’m broken.

Tears fall from her beautiful eyes.

“I must live with the knowledge that you’ll leave me,” she says. “And I’ll drown in the guilt that I’ve caused you so much sorrow.”

“Our love was destined, Eilish,” I say as I shake my head. “I could never have fought the bonds between us.”

“Yes,” she agrees and then inhales. “But look at the pain it’s caused us both. If my love only brings you hurt, then please... don’t love me, Theren.”

“Asking me not to love you is like asking the sun to stop rising.”

The door swings open and Morrigan’s boots click against the wood, interrupting my vision of the past. I scrub a hand across my face and try to push down my nausea. Morrigan’s scent is like a cloud of deception. Her presence is somehow more disturbing than the memory of my father’s rage. I turn to take in the sight of her carefully crafted façade of power. I know she weakens herself with each spell she casts using her stolen magic.

“I always knew you’d come crawling back here, Theren,” she says. “Eilish is here, I sensed it the moment she stepped through the gateway.”

“So?” I demand, surprised.

“Bring her to me and none of you have to die. Hasn’t enough blood been spilled on this land?”

***

MORRIGAN

Delendren Glade

The glade is serene. Tufts of white fluff trickle down from an azure sky as I stare across the frozen lake where the hovel still sits after all these years. Somehow, it’s remained untouched by the madness of the realms. I can almost feel the healing powers of Eilish’s mother as I walk across the fragile surface of ice that covers the water. There was a time when I might have called Maeline a friend, if not an equal. To think it washerdaughter to be born the night the prophecies were spoken... it rattles me. Even now.

Though the fields are covered in frost, lavender still sweetens the breeze, bringing forth memories best forgotten. I approach the hovel, brushing my hand along the wood of the door where notches have been carved to mark the growth of two children. The sense of home hasn’t been lost, despite the great acts of violence against Maeline and her daughters. Fate would have it that I will be the one to end Eilish.

Perhaps today. Perhaps here in the glade. Perhaps soon.

The shrill screech of the door’s hinges echoes inside as I step over the threshold. And I laugh when I see Theren standing at the heart of a small kitchen, his eyes looking haunted by ghosts of the past. He turns and looks at me with an expression of pure contempt before the shutters slam on his emotions, blocking me out of his mind.

“So, here we are,” I chuckle. “A fallen king and a desperate sorceress. My, how times have changed us, Theren.”

“Why come here, Morrigan? What do you hope to find in the glade?”

“I’m here for the same reason you are—to find Eilish.”

“No, you’re not,” he replies with a hint of humor in his voice. “You sensed him, didn’t you? Silvanus. He’s near.”

“Silvanus?” I repeat, hating the taste of the word on my tongue.

“Yes. Perhaps he’s in the Raven Forest or some other pocket realm. I can feel him, and I know you wouldn’t leave Oronrel without Variant unless you had to. You couldn’t wait, couldn’t risk losing Silvanus’ trail. So you’re here, using Eilish to draw him out of hiding.”

“My, my, you seem to have gotten quite bitter since we last spoke.”

“Being tortured by my own people tends to do that.” Theren reaches behind his back. I take a step toward the door and summon a blade of ice, drawing on the elements. His head cocks to the left with a knowing smirk on his face. “I know your spell lingers, Morrigan. And the only way to defeat it is through magic. So, I hereby challenge you to an arcane duel.”