The only way to convince Lex to leave was for Garrin to make her believe he’d sided with his father. But his father hadn’t been satisfied with only Garrin. He’d wanted Lex and her power too.
Garrin fought off ten soldiers, until his father had stepped in—and nearly cut out his heart.
“Now, now, child,” the king had said, re-sheathing his sword. “Stand down while we wait for Lexandra to show.”
“Don’t,” Garrin had begged. “Leave her be.”
His father had snarled in response. “You don’t actually care for the female? What a deplorable notion. I concede, with Lex’s powers, Dark Kingdom will become the strongest land in Tirnan. Particularly now that the queen has found a way around the magical barriers, with help from my alchemists.”
The king shook his head. “Never fall for a woman, Garrin. She will only betray you. Your mother was up to something, but I never imagined she’d cook up such magic. Clever, that.” He glanced at the queen. “And she still maintains her beauty even frozen in ice. She’ll return with us as a reminder for all who think to betray me. Not even the queen is spared punishment.”
Drained of power, Garrin had been prepared to bleed out on that mountain, where he’d given his heart and body to Lex. And then she arrived.
Whatever blood he’d had left drained from him. His only hope had been the knowledge that Lex had gotten away. And now he hadn’t even that.
The king entombed Lex in ice, just as he had the others.
Unable to move and barely able to breathe, Garrin mentally railed at the universe.
And then, as though in a dream, he heard Lex’s voice above him.
“Zirel, can you heal him?” she asked.
Garrin opened his eyes and saw Lex’s beautiful face. He didn’t know how she’d broken free, but it was the best dying wish he could ask for. He wanted to reach for her, but his body wouldn’t cooperate, and his vision blurred.
“He’s gone without power for too long,” Zirel said, his voice strained. “He will live, but he will not be the same.”
“Prince!” Amund shouted from somewhere.
Lex looked behind her, and Garrin did to.
The king was storming toward them.
Lex didn’t bother to raise her hand. She simply froze the Ice King where he stood, giving Casone the same punishment he’d carelessly bestowed on others.
Garrin’s eyes fluttered. He’d lost too much blood. His power had returned, but he was too weak to use it. “Leave,” he said hoarsely. “Quickly, before the king breaks free.”
Lex looked at Garrin in disbelief. “Have you lost your mind? I’m not leaving you.” She placed her hands on his chest and pumped power into him, a surge of energy so strong it burned down his limbs and made his head pound.
Warmth spread through his chest and to the arm his father had cut off. The arm that would never grow back given the circumstances, and yet it was—first thin and pale pink, then increasing in size and definition, a glow of life coming off it.
Zirel fell back. “I’m not doing this, Your Highness. It is not my power.”
Lex lifted her hands off Garrin’s chest. “It’s your power, Zirel. I borrowed it. And magnified it.”
Garrin sat up, his arm formed fully, red but whole, and he opened and closed his palm. He looked up at Lex in astonishment. She radiated, her light bouncing off the walls of the cave. She was magnificent.
Garrin rose to his feet and pulled her to his chest, breathing in her scent. Of course Lex hadn’t listened to him when he’d ordered her to leave. It had been a slim chance she would, but he’d been desperate.
Garrin kissed Lex’s forehead and finally looked out at the battle going on around them.
The land was unfrozen, and there were soldiers. His father’s, yes, but also other soldiers fighting his father’s men. And they weren’t from this century. He looked down at Lex. “Did you do this?”
She glanced up hesitantly. “I might have unfrozen things a bit.”
He shook his head. Isle’s prediction had come true. Lex was more powerful than the Dark King. More powerful than all of them combined.
“What’s happening?” Lex asked.
Garrin looked around. “You raised the dead.”
She peered back at the men and women. “They weren’t dead. I’ve always felt their power, if I think back. I thought it was some creepy energy remnant from dead Fae, but it was them all along.”
“No, not dead,” he agreed. “Waiting. And furious, from the looks of it. They have great reason to hate my father and his soldiers.”
Isle had brought people from the bottom of the ravine Garrin thought to never see again, and some he’d never seen before. Some wore liveried clothes; others were dressed in court attire, and others wore the simple woolen garments Mertha and her husband had worn.
These Fae had been buried in the caves alive. Just as Casone had done with others who’d crossed him. It had never been a graveyard. This place was where the king had stashed his dissenters.
Amund ran over. “The battle will be over soon. Royal soldiers are accepting defeat without their king. Where should we put them?”
Garrin wasn’t truly a prince, and his father should have never ruled. “For now, let us take them to the dungeons. We will meet with the men and women of Dark Kingdom and figure out a way forward. I will not rule this land. I’m not a legitimate heir to the throne, and my father has left a stain on the Branimir reign.”
“None of this was your fault,” Lex said.
He smiled down at her. “No, but I have no wish to rule Dark Kingdom. I find myself inclined to return to the Land of Sun with my fiancée.”
