Chapter Twenty-Five

C HAPTER T WENTY-FIVE

Being bundled from one place to the next, bound again and helpless, isn’t how I imagined I would spend my time in this place.

The cruel embrace of memories tightens around me as I find myself standing by the doorway of the same chamber where I once stole the Rivernorth pendant. The room is adorned with vibrant hues, just like before. The only change is the absence of the charm.

I think about how the last time I saw it Darius had passed it to Ivarron, and now . . .

A sigh escapes my lips as my gaze shifts towards Sarilyn.

She’s sitting on a plush silk settee, with a glass of wine in her hand and her golden gown taking up most of the space as her eyes survey me. There is a long pause between the moment she sips from her wine glass and her finally rising and walking towards the decanter on the opposite side of the chamber.

As soon as I entered, she demanded I be unshackled again and dismissed the Elven guards. The amount of freedom she has entrusted me with is unsettling. It leaves me perplexed.

‘You look like you’re starving,’ she says, her back to me, while I hear her glass being refilled. ‘Would you like anything to eat? I can have one of . . . Aurum’s lackeys bring us something.’ She turns, her smile strained. ‘If you’d like.’

My eyes narrow as I watch her move from one end to the next. Hunger is far from what I am feeling right now. ‘I’d sooner starve to death than eat anything you have to offer me.’

Her laugh is one I do not miss. ‘Oh, I forgot how much I loved that sharp tongue of yours.’

‘Why am I here?’

She is still chuckling. ‘I guessed you would want a breather from being with Aurum.’

I fist the side of my tunic. ‘It’s not like you to care about me.’

Her gaze burns into me with curiosity and amusement, finding anything I do or say entertaining.

‘I mean, isn’t this what you wanted?’ I grit. ‘Me and Darius imprisoned for what happened after the trials.’

‘Darling, that was long ago now. So much has happened since then. You freed Aurum; parts of Emberwell were destroyed; humans and Venators began to rebel against Aurum’s commands once he returned . . .’ She waves a hand. ‘You know the rest.’

‘And yet here you are working for him. Funny how life can change in an instant.’

Any semblance of humour dissolves from her face. ‘It’s called survival. Do you really believe that I want Aurum back in my life?’ She scoffs. ‘ I was the queen here. I saved you humans from eternal slavery, and all I got back in return was your rebellion.’ She turns to me, raising her glass to toast. ‘So, if joining Aurum’s side means living, then I will be the greatest ally he needs.’

I watch her tip her head back and down the contents of her glass in a way that would make you forget she is royalty . . . or was . I note how scared she must be if she is going to this extent.

Survival is only a means to a possible end.

‘You being with him won’t solve anything,’ I say. ‘It just proves you to be a coward and nothing more.’

She hums something sarcastic under her breath.

‘You won’t win.’

Her dark eyes watch me with piqued interest.

‘Neither you nor Aurum will.’ I take a step forward. ‘And when you lose, I will make sure to put you through the same misery you put me through.’

She’s silent as she stares at me with a cunning smile, and I turn away from her, not wanting to deal with Aurum or her any more.

‘Eighty-three days,’ she says, and I hate that I can’t tune her out; I hate that I whirl around instead of walking out to where the guards are and leaving her. ‘It took Darius eighty-three days to finally forget you.’ A hole forms inside my chest, growing bigger the more she explains. ‘He endured every torture method known to mankind, each one ending in Aurum asking him one simple question.’ She walks towards me, each step slow and deliberate to hurt me. ‘Who is Naralía Ambrose?’

Something is ripping away at my strength and clawing at my heart.

‘His answer would always be a smile followed by the words that you were his queen . . . his sun.’ She smirks before whispering, ‘Do you want to know what finally broke him?’

‘No,’ I answer, but it is no use; she will continue regardless.

‘It was when Aurum made him believe you had died.’

I shake my head, my whole being burning like wildfire, unable to be stopped.

‘Darius was too weak by then, slowly falling apart. All it took was for Aurum to slip into his mind one more time and show him that you . . .’ She taps my forehead with her finger once, twice, thrice. ‘No. Longer. Existed.’

‘Stop.’ I clench my teeth and pain radiates from my jaw and temples.

‘Aurum not only made him forget you, but he would force him to kill mortals from the streets, biting them—’

No, no – I cover my ears and clench my eyes shut. ‘Please, stop—’

‘Even if he finally remembers you, he will never be the same—’

‘I said stop!’

Everything goes silent except for the sharp-pitched buzz in my ears.

The floor shudders beneath me with the force of my voice, and then I open my eyes as I stumble, the side of my body knocking against the door.

With my chest heaving, I notice the ground is splintered and cracked all the way to the settee, split in half. Sarilyn is on the floor, tendrils of black hair across her face as she tries to stand.

Frantic, I glance at my hands outstretched in front, and something so raw within me pulses to life. A golden light emanates from my palms before it fades again as the Elven guards enter with their weapons drawn.

Sarilyn wipes blood off the side of her lips with the back of her hand, her chuckle catching me off guard as she signals for the Elves not to do anything. ‘I always knew there was something special about you,’ she says. ‘Even when the seers told me about a reincarnation, I never thought that to be true. I believed in possible wars, a future where the world could be destroyed, because that was at least plausible, but then you stumbled into the city, hoping to become a Venator, and I just had this feeling .’

Disbelief knocks me off my feet, and Ruvyn catches me by my arm, keeping me upright.

Sarilyn is grinning as she comes closer. ‘But when the trial came, I finally knew you were the vessel when you managed to bring those Rümens to their knees.’

When I don’t speak, the Elves start to pull me along. In a blind state of daze, I follow, dragging my feet along until Sarilyn calls out my name.

‘Tell me,’ she says with a tilt of her head. ‘If it means saving Zerathion, is the Golden Thief worth dying for?’

I hold the moment between us with such stillness and my heart in my throat.

Slowly and knowingly, Sarilyn’s lips curve into a smile. A smile where she can see the answer in my eyes, I do not have to even say it.