Page 46

NARIA

H is name hit me first. His name followed by the day we met while the dagger sank further into his chest. Someone screamed nearby. Me. I was screaming. Princess Naria of Corlixir screamed as all the missing pieces of her mind fell into place, including the part where she – I – had just stabbed my husband through the heart.

When he fell to the floor, I fell with him.

“Lukas.” My voice was raw. I gripped his face as his torso laid across my lap. Blood seeped through his shirt, but I ignored it. If I didn’t look at the dagger it might not be real. It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not—

“Naria?” he wheezed. Blood trickled out with my name, and I sobbed.

“I’m here,” I told him, stroking the hair from his face. “I’m here and I remember.”

“You do?” A smile touched his cheeks. I kissed it before it could fade, cradling his body in my lap.

“I remember everything,” I sobbed. “Why did you do that?” Fury melded with my sadness. “WHY?”

He reached up to cup my cheek. His touch was so gentle, weak. “Because I love you.”

“I love you too,” I rasped, choking on my tears. “I love you. I love you. I love you, and I should’ve told you sooner.”

“No.” He shook his head slowly. In the distance, someone’s cruel laughter filled the cave. “I knew… I just—” His breath hitched. More blood trickled down his chin.

“Stay with me,” I begged. “Don’t go.”

He winced before his arms went limp. “I just… I wish I could’ve had a lifetime with you.” His eyes glazed over, smile faded. Gone. He was gone.

And suddenly, I’d forgotten how to breathe.

“No, no, no.” Chest seizing, I lowered him to the floor. “I can stop the bleeding. I can save you.” I padded around the wound, trying desperately to stop the flow, but his shirt was already soaked.

“No!” I yelled. The distant laughter drew closer. Ignoring it, I stayed focused on his wound, but blood kept bubbling through my fingers. “Stop bleeding!” I screamed. “Please!”

Someone clasped me on the shoulder. “Leave the fool, human. He’ll only make you filthier.”

My sadness ignited into rage. “You monster!” I whipped around to face Arenn, vision burning red. All my memories had returned now: him snatching me away on my wedding night, stealing my memories, leaving me in the forest to wake up alone and confused.

“I assumed he’d try to stab you, and then our bond would’ve killed him. The only way he could’ve taken your heart was if his love for you was more powerful than ours. Otherwise, our bond would’ve protected you by ending his life before the dagger cut too deeply,” Arenn explained, his tone far too casual for my liking. “Oh well. He saved you some pain, I suppose.” He let out a loud laugh, and I resisted the urge to rip the dagger out of Lukas’s chest and thrust it into his.

Before I could speak, I felt another more gentle hand on my shoulder. Lyssandra sat by my side, shooting her brother a scathing look. “Your bond wouldn’t have saved her,” she hissed to him. “You love her about as much as you love your new wedding cloak. Wanting to possess someone isn’t love, Arenn, and your desire to possess almost killed her.”

His jaw clenched. “What does it matter, if I still won? Lukas is dead, and now there is no one to stop me from taking her.” His heavy gaze fell to me. “You, my dear , are still mine.”

I wanted to scream at him, but my throat was too tight to speak.

“Are you sure about that?” Lyssandra purred.

I glanced at her, confused, when suddenly the strangest sensation washed over me. It started off as a cold tingle, fizzling up from my toes to my ears. Then it became intense heat as Arenn doubled over, collapsing against the cave floor.

“What’s happening?” he groaned. “What did you do?” He glared at his sister, but she only shrugged and motioned towards Lukas.

A shatter exploded over my skin. I gasped, but just as quickly as the feeling came, it’d gone. Blinking, I glanced down at my now throbbing wrist. The two blue crystals had faded to pink and rested on the floor, while my wrist was now bare. The only sign of any bond remaining was a faint blue tinge, rippling like water across my wrist.

Lukas’s bond. Not Arenn’s.

At least I still had that part of him.

“The bastard broke it,” Arenn spat. “I don’t believe it. He actually broke it…” He continued muttering under his breath, but I’d already stopped listening.

“I can save you.” I whirled back to Lukas, determination burning inside me. Ignoring the dagger, I began applying compressions to his chest, just as I’d been taught. Heartflow restoration would fix him. It had to.

“It has to,” I sobbed. Pinching his nose, I blew hard into his mouth.

“Naria, stop,” Lyssandra whispered, edging closer to my side.

I ignored her. “Please wake up,” I hissed. The dagger would have to stay in for now; removing it would only make the bleeding worse. If only my other Corlixin friends were here… We could perform surgery! We could save him!

No. I would save him.

I continued compressions until a different, yet still familiar, voice sounded from across my patient. “Naria, it’s time to let him go.”

I glanced up to see the village mother standing above me. Light from the glowing crystals surrounded her white hair like a halo as she pushed up her half-moon spectacles. My heart soared.

“You’re here?” I gasped. Everything made sense now. Ivy was who I’d seen helping to keep the faeries back while Lukas fought Arenn. And it wasn’t just her. There were other Corlixins here, too. Enough to save him! “You have to help me stop the bleeding. We can operate just like we did when that little boy was impaled by the tree branch, remember? We can fix him!”

She offered me nothing but a sad smile. “He’s already gone, dear. There’s nothing more you can do.” She gently pried my hands away from Lukas. But I wanted to keep them there, keep hold of him forever.

“No.” I shrugged out of her hold. If she wouldn’t help me then someone else would.

“She’s right, human,” Arenn huffed from his spot on the cave floor. “Leave the corpse and I’ll propose to you again this evening. We’ll form a new bond. Everything will be as it was—”

“Say another word and I’ll rip out your tongue,” I screamed.

Eyes wide, he pushed up to sit, but I cut him off before he could speak. “Why are you so cruel to me?” I cried.

Arenn blinked. “What are you talking about? I love you.”

“But you don’t hurt people you love.” I yelled, steadying my racing breath. “You don’t lie to them, steal their memories, injure their friends…” I shuddered at the memory of Ivy’s blood soaked gown. “And you certainly don’t hurt them . I still have scars on my arm from your thorns, Arenn.” Lifting my arm, I twisted it to show the tiny white scars I’d collected from his hedge maze.

“You did that to yourself,” he mumbled sheepishly.

“Just like when Lukas gave me those bruises in the library?” Pain throbbed in my chest. “You knew his punches would hurt me too, but you still provoked him. You may as well have beaten me yourself. It would’ve hurt less.”

Lyssandra shouted something at him, her words furious, but I could barely hear her over the blood roaring in my ears. I didn’t have time to listen to their argument. A plan was already threading together in my mind, but I needed Arenn gone.

“Today you hurt me more than anyone else ever could.” My sad tone cut through their bickering. “You took the one person I loved most, and worse than that, you made it so my hand was the hand that thrust that dagger into his chest.” I couldn’t help the sob that spilled out of me. It was so raw, it made something like regret flash across Arenn’s face before any emotion was swallowed by his clenched jaw.

“Naria,” he forced out. “You know I never meant to…”

“So I’ll ask you one more time.” My breath was ragged as I cut him off. “If you insist that you love me, why are you so cruel to me?”

Arenn’s lips parted, but he said nothing as silence fell over the chamber.

“If there is a single ounce of goodness in your heart, you will leave this cave and let me live the rest of my life in peace,” I said through gritted teeth. “Never speak to me again.” I jerked my chin towards the archway. “Now go, unless you wish to hurt me more.”

The prince stiffened as if considering arguing, but another furious look from his sister seemed to be all the convincing he needed. With one last, almost sad glance at me, he marched out of the cave, taking all the darkness in my chest out with him.

The second he was gone, I whirled to face Lyssandra. “You can save him. Lukas saved me from death once before with his Gift. You can do it too.”

Hesitancy danced across her features.

“Please,” I begged. “I saw you transfer lifeforce before from King Ikelos when you healed Lukas. I know you can do it.” It’d been months since that night in the faery dining hall, but with Lukas’s bruised body sprawled out in front of me, just like it’d been on that long banquet table, I remembered it as if it were yesterday.

“There’s a cost.” She swallowed. “He needs more than just healing this time. I need a life to bring him back.”

A life? My fingers turned numb, but my reply shot out as if I had no fear at all. “You’ll take mine.”

“Absolutely not,” she snarled.

“Please, Lyssandra,” I sobbed. “I’ll never forgive you if you don’t do this for me.”

Frowning, she shook her head. “But you’re a princess. What about your people?”

“They already have their kingdom back,” I said plainly. “And I am not the only capable leader in Corlixir. There are plenty who could do a better job at ruling than I could ever do.”

“ Naria …” Her voice broke. “This isn’t fair.”

“His death wasn’t fair!” Even saying the phrase out loud hurt, as if he’d stabbed me instead. “Please just save him. Please .”

Sadness wavered in her sapphire eyes. “If this is what you want?”

I nodded and gave her my hand.

“Wait.” The new voice made us both pause. Erissa stepped out from her hiding place near the river, a long blue faery gown trailing behind her as she walked towards us. “I am his mother. If anyone should die for him, it should be me.”

“Erissa?” Memories of her came flooding back to me: how she wandered like a ghost around the Steel Palace. She still wandered like a ghost around here, though a little happier.

“I was never good to him,” she said emotionlessly as she sat opposite us. “And I don’t expect for him to ever forgive me.” She glanced down at her son. “But maybe by doing this, I can begin to make things right.”

“Coward,” another voice called from the river.

I jolted in surprise as the last person I expected to see pushed gracefully out of the lilac water.

“Sorry I’m late.” The Merfolk Queen strolled towards us. Her long black tail had been replaced by two muscular legs while golden armour twinkled against her skin. “I wasn’t intending on coming, but then I realised I’d be missing my nephew’s shining debut. Though I see now that I’ve missed quite a party.” Hands on her hips, she glanced around the room before glaring down at Lukas. “What a mess.”

“How dare you,” Erissa seethed, more passion in her voice than I thought possible for the frail woman.

“How dare I what?” Queen Vearla raised an eyebrow. “Offer support to my nephew? Give him all the lessons you should’ve given him? He is part merfolk and blessed with the Divine Gift,” she boomed. “Had you not been so proud and focused on your own lost gifts, you would’ve seen the real gift you had in front of you all those years.” With a huff, she settled on the floor beside Erissa. “Now, enough of this sacrificial nonsense. You can tell him you’re sorry yourself, once we bring him back.”

A breath whooshed out of me. “You can save him?”

“Of course.” She puffed out her armoured chest. “I am the Queen of the Ocean. And sitting beside you is one of the strongest Divine Gift holders I know – and also had the pleasure of raising.” She tossed Lyssandra a wink, who glowed a little in response. “Faery deals can be nasty little things, but when love is involved, they’re rarely fatal.”

My chest tightened. “He’s not dead?” Frantically, I padded around his wrists and neck for a heartbeat, a pulse, anything!

“Don’t give her false hope.” Lyssandra frowned. “I took all her memories away. Even if he loved her enough to give her his heart and break the bond, she can’t love him enough to save him.”

The Merfolk Queen chuckled while I desperately searched for a pulse. I almost missed her reply as she whispered, “My dear, does this not look like love to you?”

“He’s alive!” I yelped. I didn’t know how it was possible. There was no scientific explanation for the faint heartbeat I could feel under my fingertips, but I didn’t care. “Lukas?” I gently shook his shoulders. “Can you hear me, Lukas?”

“The dagger has put him into a deep sleep,” the Queen explained. “After his love broke your bond, your love was powerful enough to awaken the crystal magic in that dagger so that it could not harm him.”

“I saved him with my love?” I rasped.

“You did indeed. And now we’ll have him up and about in no time. Come, my dear.” She extended out her hand to Lyssandra. “If we combine our Gifts with Naria’s love, we can remove that dagger and heal his wound without the need for any performative sacrifices.” She shot a scowl at Erissa, who merely scoffed.

But I didn’t miss the subtle way she grasped her son’s hand, something like hope tugging at her features.

“What can I do to help?” My heart raced. Please let me do something.

Queen Vearla motioned towards my husband with glinting eyes. “Kiss him.”

“That’s all?” I sighed. But I didn’t need to be told twice. Grasping his shoulders, I pressed my lips to his, inhaling his familiar scent as if it were the last chance I’d ever have to drown in it. A tear slipped down my cheek. I kissed him as if his life depended on it, trying not to think about how much it actually did.

The moment my tear splashed against his face, magic slammed into me like a tidal wave.

I gasped, but kept my lips against his. In the distance, I could hear quiet chanting. I focused on my breathing as the intense power crashed into me again and again. Each time, Lukas’s body jolted.

“Come on,” I begged silently. “Just wake up. Please .”

More ocean magic pulsed through me until my entire body was soaking wet. I shivered, tightening my grip on his shoulders. Until finally, as one last crashing wave of magic pulsed through me, a hand slipped past my ear to tangle in my hair. Lukas’s lips parted as he welcomed me in, a low sigh rumbling in his chest.

“Forest princess,” he murmured.

I couldn’t speak, just stayed clutching his shoulders and kissing him harder as if he might slip away again.

“It’s alright,” he soothed, cupping my cheek. “You’re safe.”

I drew back slightly, just as I heard the dagger clatter against stone. The colour had returned to his cheeks, and the awful wound that only minutes ago had been painting the cave floor red had sealed itself, leaving only a tear in his tunic.

When a smile crossed his jaw, my heart couldn’t last a moment longer. I threw my arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder.

“Come, Lyssa, let’s give them a moment.” The Merfolk Queen rose to her feet as Erissa scurried off to return to her hiding place.

“But I still don’t understand any of this!” Lyssandra argued. “It doesn’t make sense. Her memories were gone. How could she still love—”

“Has love ever made sense?” Vearla asked her with a sigh before dragging Lyssandra away, leaving me to sob in Lukas’s warm arms.

“Hush.” He stroked my back tenderly. “It’s alright. I’ve got you.”

A smile bubbled up from my tears, and I pulled away to grasp his face. “You’re actually alive,” I laughed, still crying.

“You saved me.” He stroked my jaw. “I knew you would the moment I kissed you.”

Shaking my head, I showed him my wrist to reveal the broken faery bond. “No, you saved me.”

He took it, eyes widening as he stroked my bare skin. “It’s gone,” he marvelled. “It’s really gone!”

“No more faeries,” I said, laughing. “It’s just us now.” I smiled as he pressed his lips against mine.

“Just us,” he murmured before he pushed me to the stone floor and kissed me like the sun would never set.