“Lark, you don’t know if you have enough control, you can’t use your connection to the earth to fight and be sure you won’t topple the Rim.” Peta spoke low, but Bella heard.
“You would not fight me? Then you are the fool, aren’t you?”
Jaw tight, I reached for the connection to the earth, demanding it bend to me, weaving Spirit around it and boosting the power. The last time I’d faced someone who wore the emerald stone, I’d destroyed the Eyrie. I wouldn’t do that here. This was my family’s home and I didn’t want to kill Bella; I didn’t want to hurt her at all.
But I could not leave the emerald with her, that much was obvious. To save her, I was going to have to hurt her. I hardened myself against the grief that would stop me from doing what I must.
I pushed my power into the Spiral, solidifying the cracks Bella tried to exploit. We stood, facing one another as sweat dripped down our faces. She sought to pull the Spiral apart and I patched it together. Back and forth the Spiral groaned, the earth shuddering now and again. To any watching, they would see us in a standoff, but not understand.
I was the only one who could see the lines of power on another’s arms.
Peta paced in front of me. “Lark—”
“No, leave her to me,” I said through gritted teeth. It wasn’t that she was that much stronger than me, but Bella had control and practice with her abilities that I’d never had. I’d never been trained with either Earth or Spirit. I’d always just used sheer strength to overwhelm my enemies.
And for the first time in my life, that truly meant something. I couldn’t just overpower my sister. I would end up killing her, which I wasn’t willing to do—not even for Ash. Not even to save the world.
But the control it took to chase the destruction she tried to bring down on us was beyond me.
“Give up, half-breed,” she snapped, taking a step toward me.
I tapped deeper into Spirit, feeding it into my words. “The ring, Bella, give me the damn ring!”
She wavered, her eyes fogging long enough for me to hope that she would hand it over.
“NEVER!”
So much for that idea. Spirit flowed through me, tugging me in three different directions. I stumbled and went to one knee. The room shook and dust fell from the ceiling as I was pulled away from my connection to the earth, and Bella ripped at the Spiral without me as an obstacle. Those in the room stood, and a few cried out.
“You have to end this—now.” Peta ran across the room, and leapt onto the dining table, right in front of River.
Peta looked at me, then dipped her head to River. I knew what she wanted me to do, and I was loathe to even take that measure.
“And if it doesn’t work?”
Peta had no answer, and I knew she was right. The Rim trembled as Bella and I waged a war no one else realized was happening. I had maybe a minute left before I lost control of my power and it ran away with me. I could feel it slipping with each breath I took.
I stood and bolted across the room, leapt up on the table and landed on the other side behind River. “Trust me, niece.”
“What?”
I jerked her out of her seat, even as I wrapped my free arm around her neck. I scooped one of the dinner knives from the table and laid it across her throat.
“Your daughter’s life for the ring, Belladonna. Now.”
Bella’s jaw dropped, River drove an elbow back into me, and I pressed hard enough with the knife to draw a thin line of blood, stilling her.
“You wouldn’t dare!” Bella snapped. “I see it in your eyes, it is a ruse.”
“We have been apart a long time.” My voice was deadly soft. “Perhaps you don’t know me as well as you think.” I took the knife from River’s neck and drove it into her thigh, twisting it, cutting through muscle and flesh.
River screamed and convulsed against me, and I whipped the knife back up to her throat. “The ring, Belladonna. Throw it to me.”
Bella stared, her eyes wide and glassy.
River sobbed. “Mother, please, give her the ring. Please don’t let her kill me.”
A tiny piece of me died knowing nothing would ever change River’s view of me after this. That I would be the one who haunted her nightmares for years.
Trembling, Bella shook her head. “I—”
I dug the rough, serrated edge into River’s collarbone.
“MOTHER!”
Bella cried out, ripped the ring from her hand and threw it across to me. I let River go and caught it in mid-air.
River fell to the floor. I could heal her, but I doubted she would let me touch her. Bella ran forward, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed her daughter’s name.
River clung to her, then pushed her away. “You would trade my life on a ring.”
“She would never have killed you, I—” Bella looked up and I saw my sister in her eyes. The sister I trusted. And so I told her the truth.
“If I had to, I would have.”
Bella blanched. “If you had to?”
River’s blue eyes were full of fury as they turned to me and for a moment I caught a glimpse of her father in her. I shuddered with that quick reminder of Requiem and the man he was, and answered honestly. “If you had not given me the ring, would you rather I tear the Rim apart and kill many, or kill one and in your grief make you weak enough to take the ring from you?”
Bella’s mouth dropped open. “You wouldn’t have.”
“Yes,” I said. “I would have. I know you, Bella. But I do not think you know me any longer.”
I hadn’t meant to say that, but the words slipped out. Peta sat quietly beside me. “It is the age-old mistake people make,” she said, “believing those we love aren’t capable of harming us, and so we trust them.”
I grimaced, Peta’s words not really helping smooth things over.
Bella called for the guards who slipped in, their heads down. Her eyes on them said it all. Where were they when the fight was going on? Where were they when they should have been protecting their queen? Even though she was in the wrong, they still should have come running to defend her.
“We didn’t know you were fighting,” young Arb said.
She nodded, her eyes and face softening. “I know. That is no fault of your own. More training I think is needed. We have not had a true Ender for years.” Her eyes climbed to mine, shame filling them. “Lark, what happened to me?” The unspoken question with it, what had happened to me as well? Why wasn’t I the Lark she remembered? The little sister she remembered.
“I do not think this is a good place to discuss what is going on.”
River continued to glare at me through all this. “Mother, you obviously can’t trust her, she’s dangerous.”
With her hand clinging to her daughter’s, Bella shook her head. “River, I do not expect you to understand. Despite what your aunt says, I don’t believe she would have hurt you.”
Wisely, I kept my mouth shut. Because Bella was the one who was wrong. I knew it in my gut: the oubliette had changed me, and I wasn’t sure it was for the better.
I motioned for her to follow me. She bent and kissed River on the head. “I will see you at the healers.”
“Mother, don’t do this, do not trust her. They call her the Destroyer for a reason.” River clung to Bella.
Bella took River’s hand from hers and smiled. “It will be all right. Trust me, even if you do not trust Lark.”
Several tears slid down River’s face. “I do not know if I can even do that.” She was picked up and carried away to the healers.
If I had stabbed Bella myself, the pain in her face would not have been greater than it was with River’s words. She watched her daughter go, tiny shudders crossing her shoulders.
I turned my back. “We need to speak. Come with me.”
We left the dining hall, Bella a few steps behind me. Through the Spiral I led her, down the wide halls and stairs until we were once more deep below, on the sand leading into the hot spring
.
Bella put her hands on her hips. “Why here?”
I looked around. “Because everyone would expect you to speak with me in your quarters, or the throne room. If anyone is looking to listen in they will need to come through there.” I pointed at the single entrance. “And Peta’s going to guard it for us.”
Peta grinned up at me, then trotted up the stairs, and plunked herself down in the middle of the doorway.
“Why?”
“Because I am not the only one who is gathering the five stones.” I drew a breath. “Raven is hunting them too. I need surprise on my side to get to them faster than him.”
I crouched and Bella did the same, her skirt billowing out around her. “Talk to me, Lark. Tell me everything you can.”
That much at least she understood. That perhaps there were things I might not be able to share.
“The stones were created by an elemental who could control the wearer.” I looked straight at her. “I believe your actions to be at the wishes of this elemental. To fight me, to make it difficult to take the ring.” I brushed a hand through the sand.
Bella swallowed hard and slid all the way down to the sand. “That . . . makes a wicked sort of sense. There were things I did that I didn’t want to, but when I attacked you . . . I just didn’t want you to have the ring. Even though a voice told me to give it up.”
My ears all but perked up. “A voice told you to give the ring up?” Perhaps the mother goddess was helping after all.
“Yes, it was faint, but there. Of course, you see how well I listened.” She snorted softly.
From the doorway, Peta spoke. “Does this really matter right now?”
She had a point. “Bella, I have to remove the stones from the other three rulers. They have had the stones, and worn them, far longer than you have. The madness that was creeping over you will be even worse with them. And I have to do it before Raven does.”
She frowned. “And if you don’t?”
“The world will be destroyed. With the five stones, Raven would be strong enough to break our world.” Not that I was going to tell them I had the fifth ring safely tucked away. No need to let that particular cat out of the bag.
Her hand went to her throat. “Are you sure?”
“That is what the mother goddess told me,” I paused, “but even that is not the whole reason. Ash is not dead, Bella. I went to his grave. He wasn’t in it. The mother goddess will tell me where to find him.”
“So you are doing this . . . for yourself? Not to save the world.” Her eyes widened, surprise flitting through them.
“I’m doing this for Ash. And it’s saving the other families in the process.” I bit the words out, fighting the chagrin her implication sparked in me.
“Lark, that isn’t like you—”
“You do not know me anymore,” I snapped. “I am not the sister who fought for you in the Deep. I am not her. She is dead.”
“Then there is only one thing to do.” She stood and brushed her skirts off. “I suppose you are flying with your Pegasus to the other rulers since the armbands and the Traveling room do not work.”
I stood and nodded. “Yes, I will leave immediately.”
“Then I will need to change my clothes.” She strode from me. “I will meet you outside the Spiral in an hour.”
Oh no, this was not happening. “You aren’t coming with me, and even if you were, an hour is too long.”
She spun, her eyes flashing. “Am I your queen? Or did you change your vows to serve and obey me when I was handed the throne?”
Lips pressed tightly, I forced myself to nod. “You are my queen.”
“Then I will go with you to visit my fellow rulers. You need my help, Lark. That much is evident. It will make a good cover for you that you are there to be my Ender as you have been in the past.”
I snorted. “I am strong enough.”
“It is not your strength I question, sister, but your heart.”
Her words were like an arrow piercing my chest. She strode across the sand and up the stairs.
Peta let her go by and then she mewed softly at me, but I barely heard her.
Bella thought she could change the past; that she could draw me out from the dark places I’d receded into. I did not want to hurt her, but I knew disappointment was coming for her if she continued to believe she could save the part of me that was dead and gone.
Moving slowly, I climbed the steps, holding my hands out for Peta. She leapt up to me and curled herself around my neck. “Peta, how can I make her see that it is better to be this way? To be hard and not weak? That weakness is what has brought me to the brink of death time and again. It’s what landed me in the oubliette both times. Hesitation.”
She purred softly, the sound vibrating along my skin. “It is good to be strong, Lark, to know your weaknesses and conquer them. But to be hard is a dangerous thing; hard can be broken and shattered. Let her come with you. I think it’s a good thing to have her at your side.”
I made my way up the stairs, lost in my thoughts, so much so that I didn’t notice Red until he hovered in front of my face, his feathers brushing against my cheeks.
Startled, I stepped back, my hand going for my spear. The ground shuddered and the Spiral groaned like a wounded animal.
“Peta, go to Bella. Make sure she’s safe.” Peta bolted up the stairs, shifting into her leopard form between leaps.
Red hovered in front of me, and I held my arm out for him to land. His talons dug into my forearm and I put a hand on his back. His entire body trembled. “What is it?”
“Lark, your father is out of control, the madness has seized him completely. You have to end this. You are the only one with the training to do it.”
Not stop him, but to end this.
I had to be an Ender for the Rim and take my father’s life.
CHAPTER 8
bolted through the Spiral. Red launched into the air, leading me out the main doors.
“He’s attacking people and no one will stop him. They’re afraid because he was the king.” The panic in Red’s voice was obvious.
“Red, you know—”
“I do. And you must. He wouldn’t want this.” A tear slipped from the hawk, sparkled in the air and fell to the ground as we ran.
Outside the Spiral was total chaos as I slid to a stop at the edge of the main thoroughfare. Bodies were scattered everywhere and at the foot of the Spiral stood Bella, facing our father, Peta in front of her.
From where I stood I could see the tears stream down her face as she held a hand out to him. He snarled and batted her hand away. Lines of power, deep green and violently aggressive, spiraled up his arms. I was too far away.
The ground erupted under her, sending her flying backward against the Spiral with a thud that rebounded in the air.
“No!”
He twisted and glared at me. I sprinted toward him, spinning my spear out and around as I ran. Bella’s eyes met mine from where she lay, and she nodded. “Do it, Ender Larkspur.”
Except I knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Basileus hadn’t been king based solely on his family line. He was the most powerful Earth Elemental our world had seen.
Until me.
“Peta, I can’t engage him with power; we’d destroy the Rim.”
“I know.”
I looked up. “Red, can you help?” A familiar turning on their charge was not possible, I knew that. So did he.
He dropped to my shoulder and his claws dug in tightly. “Yes. He would not want this, Lark. For all he’s done, very little has been within his control.” He paused. “Set him free.”
Three words and the tears welled in my eyes.
“Peta,” I choked on her name, “hamstring him.”
Red clung to my shoulder, swaying. He bowed his head, and tucked it against my cheek, his feathers silken. “I bond myself to you, Larkspur.”
His words were unexpected in the middle of the chaos and I jerked as a connection formed between us
, swift as a rushing wind, the feel of feathers inside my head a strange sensation.
With a cry, he launched into the air and circled us.
Shaking, I spun my spear, and faced my father for what I knew in my heart would be the last time. “Basileus, for the crime of attacking our queen, you are sentenced to death.” If I could get close enough to him, I could put a hand on him. I could stop this before it went any further.
I took a step and the ground softened under me, sucked at my feet. I sidestepped and eyed the distance between us. There was no way I could leap it. There was no way I could do this except to kill him.
His eyes were wild, more white showing than a wild horse running scared. Was he scared? Or—
“Then do it, Ender. Unless you are afraid of an old man?” he snarled.
Perhaps he wasn’t as afraid as I’d thought. The lines of power curled around him, deeper and yet brighter than any other time I’d seen him connect to the earth. Wild and out of control. A part of me wondered if that was how the lines looked on me.
I saw his intention. He would rip the Spiral itself apart, destroying what had been created thousands of years ago, unseating Bella in her tenuous hold of the throne.
He gave me no choice and I hardened myself to what I was about to do.
“Peta, now!”
She shot forward, her wicked claws slashing through both his hamstrings, cutting him down and breaking his concentration.
It wasn’t enough, though. My father was a powerhouse, legendary in his strength. The ground rumbled and the Spiral shivered as it began to break apart. I hefted my spear. One throw, I wouldn’t get another chance like this.
My father flung a hand toward me and the speed of the power was such that I couldn’t sidestep him. Vines shot up around me, faster than any lightning bolt as they wrapped around my legs, arms, and neck. I slashed at the vines while they slowly strangled me.
I couldn’t think, couldn’t even reach for my connection to the earth, the panic was so strong. This was my father. How could this be happening now, when I’d finally forgiven him?
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