Page 14 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
‘But?’
‘You are resisting the full transition.’ The creature’s smile stretched, wicked and unsettling, sending a prickle up Mal’s spine. ‘I am the destroyer of worlds, of gods. And when you finally embrace what you are, what we are, and allow us to become one…’
‘I will not.’
The thing wearing her face only smiled wider. ‘You will, Mal Blackburn. Your despair will devour you long before I must. And that child…’ its almost black eyes drifted to her stomach, ‘that child will be your undoing.’
Mal turned away from the spectre that haunted her steps. It was always there, lurking in corners, pacing within shadows. And sometimes, when it sensed her sorrow or fear, it would laugh.
‘What happens if Ash leaves me?’ Mal whispered so softly she almost convinced herself the creature would not hear.
But of course, it did.
It cackled, a sound like splintering glass.
‘When he abandons you, you and I shall reign the world.’
Mal shook her head fiercely. ‘I refuse to rule anything.’
‘Why?’ it questioned. ‘When we are finally one, you will possess the strength to unmake the Eight Kingdoms and topple every god who ever breathed. You could fashion a new world or a thousand, if it pleased you.’
‘I want this world,’ Mal said.
‘This world stole your siblings from you.’
Her breath caught; her body went rigid. She felt it draw nearer, step by step, until its cold breath grazed the back of her neck.
‘They have taken everything from you,’ it whispered.
‘Not everything,’ Mal answered, her hands tightening protectively over her stomach.
The presence chuckled, low and cruel, and slipped away, melting into the shadows as though it had never been.
‘For now, Mal Blackburn,’ it purred, before dissolving completely from sight.
…
Ash found his wife seated in the great hall, her attention fixed upon the windowless arches, listening to the distant roar of wyverns echoing across the mountains. For a moment he simply stood there, arrested by the sheer majesty of her presence—so regal, so unyieldingly strong. She was tall, nearly his height, as many wyverian women were. Her skin held the pallor of death, and her long wild hair framed her like a dark, windswept crown.
And those eyes…
‘Don’t linger,’ she said, her back still turned, though she always sensed when he was near. Ash smiled and crossed to her, resting a warm hand on her shoulder before leaning down to press a gentle kiss to her cheek. His attention drifted to herstomach, unmistakably round with life.
‘We ought to leave for your uncle’s in a few d-days,’ he said. ‘I’ve a-arranged for the ser-servants to depart in the mor-morning after we de-depart. And I’ve a-also arranged for your mo-mother to come with us.’
Mal frowned, lifting her eyes to his. ‘My mother?’
‘It is not safe for a-anyone to remain here,’ Ash replied. ‘Persephone will s-seek vengeance, and this will be the f-first place she strikes.’
‘Then why hasn’t she already?’
Ash let out a quiet breath. ‘I imagine we have Thanatos to th-thank for that.’
Mal stiffened as she always did whenever Ash spoke the name of Death. And he longed, then, to tell her the truth: that he had known from the very moment she had plunged that dagger into his heart who she truly was. He had known exactly what Thanatos meant to her and what they had been to one another.
‘Do you think me evil?’ she asked abruptly.
Ash crossed to one of the carved stone chairs and lowered himself onto it, leaning forward to take Mal’s hand in both of his, stroking her fingers with gentle insistence.
