Page 121

‘Roksana?’ That one word, spoken lightly, changed everything.

‘I’m fine,’ I replied, smiling as I sent the dragon all my love and a single thought.

He will pay for everything. I promise.

‘What was that?’ Tivala asked, eyes wide.

‘The dragon who very much wants you dead,’ I answered. Ernesto paled, his gaze darting across the walls and ceiling.

‘So what now? You’ll have him burn me?’ Some of his earlier arrogance melted away. I shook my head.

‘Rey, I need …’ I didn’t want him to witness it even after he had asked to be present when Tivala met his judgement.

‘It’s alright, Sanika. I’ll wait in the corridor,’ he answered, then the door closed behind him with a dull thud.

I reached past Tivala’s shoulder to the dent in the plaster. It still bore a rust-red stain from my blood, left when I hit my head again and again to knock myself unconscious. Oblivion was better than what he did to me.

‘You wanted to live forever, didn’t you? Dreamed the Tangra Gate would give you the power to do that.’ I scraped the rusty flake with my nail. ‘Let the Songstress grant your wish.’

He jerked in his chains when emerald flames danced over my palm.

‘What the fuck are you doing? Just kill me! Kill me!’ he howled as my hand rested on his chest. I stopped and waited for him to look up.

The moment our eyes met, I sang, letting my power sink into his flesh.

The melody came from deep within, beautiful in its corrupted notes. A mournful lament from a woman who refused to be broken. My pain and helplessness wove through soft words, becoming jarring and sharp, but even as hatred rose, something else emerged: a core of steel that bent but did not break.

My magic delved into Tivala’s body. I had no instructions, no plan, just a desire to fulfil his wildest dreams and make him regret every single one. I wanted him to experience the torment I’d endured, locked inside that tomb with only silence for company. That was the feeling I’d dreaded the most. The endless hours of waiting alone, never knowing when my torturer and his men would return.

He thrived on watching women suffer. I wasn’t the first, and I doubted I was the last. Even Jagon flinched when he told me about the corpses fertilising the verdant castle gardens.

This castle was cursed, and Ernesto Tivala was its corrupt, withered soul.

He screamed when my power wrapped around his heart. Each beat pumped blood and magic through his arteries and veins, filling his body to the brim.

His screams stuttered, then grew ragged as the changes began. Tivala’s skin peeled back from his chest like petals of a strange flower. His blood vessels grew, spreading and taking root in the cold stone walls. Brick and mortar gave in to a soft mesh that pulsed with each heartbeat. Soon, the chains no longer held him; his own flesh had become one with the rock.

Ernesto Tivala melded with his castle, nourished by the twisted Aether of this room.

‘You monster,’ he sobbed when I finished.

‘I am,’ I agreed. ‘You made me. Aren’t you pleased with the result?’

There was a giggling madness inside me. A darkness I would never fully purge from my soul. While injuries healed, the scars would linger forever, and I refused to deny their presence.

‘Don’t leave me like this. Please…’ His broken sob echoed in the chamber as I stroked his face. ‘I can’t live like this. Roksana, for gods’ sake… have mercy.’

‘You can be killed. That’s my mercy, but as long as this castle stands, its Aether will sustain you. You’ll freeze, you’ll starve, and you’ll feel it all. Every beam that rots, every stone that crumbles will be a wound that never heals. So pray that the gods destroy this place because only then will you find peace. That is your punishment.’

I met his gaze one last time. The candle on the table had already burned halfway down. I didn’t take it with me.

‘Goodbye, Ernesto. I promised you death, but this life is what you deserve. Live well.’

The metal door closed behind me but that did nothing to silence Ernesto’s screams. As I paused to gather myself, Reynard and Irsha approached, both wearing the same concerned expression.

‘Are you alright? Cinared went strangely quiet after nearly bringing the castle down,’ Rey said, stroking my hair as he studied my expression.

‘Is Tivala still alive?’ Irsha asked, and when I nodded, he pushed the door open and walked in. I turned to Rey.