Page 106 of A Kingdom of Sand and Ice (Kingdom of Gods #2)
‘Because you are no longer b-bound by what binds the rest of us.’ His words were quiet, reluctant.
He hadn’t meant to hurt her, but the truth always did.
Her shoulders dipped slightly, a small collapse under the weight of what she was.
Not just a wyverian princess with witch eyes, but something far more.
Something she didn’t fully understand. Yet.
‘How do I get them out?’ she asked, glancing up at the towering wall. The doubt in her voice was evident, the wall before them more mountain than structure. She already believed it was impossible.
‘Only magic can break ma-magic,’ he said. ‘You’ll need a t-teacher.’
Her brow furrowed, creased with the beginnings of despair. ‘Where?’
Ash’s smile was soft, tinged with sadness. He peered down, and she followed his gaze, her breath catching as the meaning unfurled before her.
‘Vera’s sister will h-help you,’ he said gently. ‘Allegra. She’s in the Underworld.’
Mal recoiled as if the name itself had struck her. Her lips parted in protest, in disbelief. Memory surged in her eyes, memories of betrayal, of secrets whispered in the dark. Her heart twisted with pain, and the realisation of how deeply Ash had deceived her glimmered beneath the surface.
‘I don’t want to go back there,’ she whispered.
Ash gave a quiet nod, his fingers brushing against hers in a silent gesture of understanding. He didn’t dare linger, not when the warmth of her skin might recoil from his touch. He had wounded her, deeply, and he knew it. No apology could erase what had been done.
‘But you must go, Mal,’ he said softly, his voice laced with quiet urgency. ‘You must b-become who you truly are, in every p-possible way.’
Mal shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks like pearls flung from a broken strand.
She stepped back, placing distance between them so his hand could no longer find hers.
Those striking purple eyes locked with his, and within them he saw the torment, the fear, the ache, the quiet desperation.
He wanted to take it all away, to whisper promises into the hollow places of her soul.
To kiss those tears from her skin and fold her into the sanctuary of his arms.
‘The curse,’ she whispered, pressing a trembling hand to her chest, moving in slow circles as though trying to soothe the ache within. ‘It’s Thanatos, isn’t it? He’s the one who’ll kill you. Just as Hades killed Hadrian.’
Ash bowed his head.
‘You knew,’ she breathed. ‘You saw it, didn’t you?’ Her attention lifted to the overcast skies above, as though hoping the clouds might answer her. ‘This was always part of the plan.’
Again, he nodded.
‘Then tell me, how do I stop it? How do I stop Thanatos from killing you? How do I save you?’
Ash felt something within him shatter, a quiet devastation rippling through his chest. How cruel it was to love someone so fiercely, and yet be the reason for their sorrow.
Even now, after the lies, the betrayal, the silence, she still wanted to save him.
Her heart, fractured and bruised, still beat for him.
Mal Blackburn would tear the world apart to keep him alive.
And he, he would raze kingdoms to ash if it meant keeping her safe.
That was the true weight of their curse: a love so fierce it could fracture the very foundations of the world.
They would tear the realms asunder, crumble empires to dust, if it meant holding one another through the ruin.
From the moment their lips met beneath the veil of their wedding vows, their fates had been forged in flame, bound not just in name, but in a devotion that defied gods and time alike.
To love, despite everything. To love, no matter what.
‘I won’t let you die,’ she breathed, her voice a vow carved from steel and sorrow.
‘I will never allow Thanatos to touch you. I’ll descend into the Underworld myself if I must, find Allegra, and learn from her how to free you from this wretched fate.
And then I’ll hunt Thanatos down, and drive a blade through his cursed heart. ’
Oh, how he ached for such an ending. How he longed to see her victorious, to witness this fierce, magnificent woman rise against the gods themselves and triumph.
But Ash had seen too many paths, fractured visions of what could be, threads of time tangled and frayed, and the one where Mal struck down Thanatos…
That was not the path they needed.
That was not the way to save the world.
No, he had to guide them along the one thread that shimmered with the faintest glimmer of hope.
And killing Thanatos… was not a part of it.
She saw it in his eyes.
‘Then how?’ she demanded, her jaw set tight, her hands curling into fists. ‘How do I save you?’
Beneath her boots, the ground began to tremble, the soil cracking, whispering with the pull of the Underworld. It was coming to reclaim her, to draw her back into the dark. Ash felt the moment slipping, time unravelling like breath in the cold.
He needed more of it.
He needed her .
But even if he lived a thousand lifetimes, it would never be enough.
‘How?’ she cried again, voice fraying at the edges.
Ash reached for her with his eyes, his voice a broken murmur against the roar of the rising abyss.
‘You must break the curse,’ he said, grief laced in every syllable. ‘Break the tether that binds our souls, Mal.’
Her breath caught.
‘How do I break it?’ she whispered, already knowing. Already breaking.
And in his gaze, she found the answer buried there like a blade in the dark, glinting with a sorrow too ancient for words.
‘You must stop loving me.’
Mal’s eyes widened, a choked gasp of disbelief catching in her throat just before the earth split wide and the jaws of the Underworld devoured her whole.