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Maybe it was time for a new way.

YES.

I could make a better one. I wasn’t just a halfling. I was heir to the throne of Eldenvalla. Queen Vara’s sword was warm in my hand.

YES.

But it belonged to me now.

YES.

And it would deliver cold vengeance.

YES.

The time of kings was over. Nor Doru would burn under Laurent, but with me on the throne, the people would flourish.

YES.

Power flared in my mind. There was so much of it. The light I’d taken from the seer was nothing compared to this.

“Given!”

I stopped running and looked down at the sword in my hand. I could let the power flow from my mind to the blade.

YES. Such a good idea.

“Given!”

At the edge of my vision, something moved frantically. Like a bothersome insect, it flitted back and forth. But it couldn’t reach me. I was too powerful.

“You could be even more so,” a voice said smoothly in my head. “They want you to save the realm.”

They did, I thought, staring at the steel that appeared to ripple down the blade. Everyone wanted me to save the realm.

“They want it for themselves.”

“Given!” Dimly, I heard someone shouting my name. I turned away from the sound. The power in my head swelled. Like water behind a dam, it pushed, longing to flow past the barrier that held it back.

I should let it.

“You should let it,” the voice agreed. “And then take the realm for yourself.”

I could. No, I should. Not for myself, but for the people. I would be a good and just queen. No one would suffer under my rule.

“GIVEN!”

Something hard struck my shoulder. I flew backward as agony exploded inside me. I hit the ground hard and writhed as fire licked through my veins. Daylight flooded the forest, turning the leaves green and the sky overhead a bright blue.

Varick appeared over me, his eyes wide with fear. “Given! You must release it!” The daylight faded, as if the sun had plunged below the horizon.

“He wants your power for himself,” the voice said. “For himself and Laurent.”

The agony faded, but fury remained. I glared up at Varick, and then I slipped inside his mind. And there was Laurent, front and center. So beautiful. The most beautiful thing Varick had ever seen. “I want so badly to look at him,” I said, the words spilling forth without my permission.

Above me, Varick’s face went white. His jaw clenched. “Get the fuck out of my head, you foul perversion.”

Light blazed around us again. Somewhere nearby, men shouted. But there were other sounds, too. Growls and the sharp crack of branches splitting. Something big was coming, and it was coming fast. A sphere of light streaked past Varick’s shoulder.