Page 21 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
Mal flicked her hand in dismissal, banishing the creature like an unwanted thought. She watched as the trio walked past her into the castle, and forced herself not to react to the way Ash lingered beside her, his hand coming to rest gently on her shoulder.
She had still not told him. Not about the creature. Not about the other Mal taking hold outside of her. Shewantedto tell him. The old Mal, the one who had trusted him, who had loved him without fear, longed to throw herself into his arms and beg for help.
But the newer part of her, stubborn and venomous, would not allow it. Because deep down, whether Mal dared admit it or not…
The creature was right.
Ash Acheron would be her downfall.
…
Mal had spent the last two hours seated in the great hall,watching the blue flames dance in the hearth. She had passed countless evenings in this very space with her family. Yet now, despite the familiar walls and stone beneath her palms, the room felt foreign. She felt like a trespasser in her own home.
Curious, how she managed to feel like a stranger wherever she went.
Perhaps she was simply cursed always to remain an outsider, destined never to truly belong.
She did not look up when Adriana entered the hall, striding with the heavy, unapologetic step of a seasoned warrior. The wyverian seized a goblet of red wine and took the seat opposite Mal at the long stone table. The hall itself was vast, dominated by that table where Mal and her family had shared meals. To the right lay a cosy sitting corner where the queen would braid Haven’s hair, and the boys would sprawl on the floor, laughing over cards.
Mal’s eyes drifted to the glassless arches, the open windows through which wyverians could leap straight onto their wyverns’ backs. She could hear them now, distant roars echoing across the land as they hunted.
‘She will come back,’ Adriana said, leaning into the stone chair.
‘Who?’
‘Eris. The one you killed.’
Mal could still feel the resistance of Vera’s flesh as her sword had pierced the witch’s body, doom sealed in that fatal thrust. The woman had been possessed by a goddess, and killing Vera had merely banished Eris back to where she had come from. But it would not last. The goddess would find another vessel. She would return. And she would hunt Mal all over again.
‘She called you mother.’ Mal took a slow sip from her cup.
‘You shouldn’t be drinking wine in your condition,’ Adriana replied, nodding towards Mal’s stomach.
Mal let out a short, humourless snort.
Adriana exhaled heavily. ‘My true name is Themis. I am a goddess, creator of the valkyrians. I married into one of the strongest bloodlines in the god realms.’
‘Keir?’
Adriana nodded. ‘There are gods we call the Originals. They were the first ever to exist, and by far the most powerful. Keir is one of them. The mortal shell he inhabits now is tearing apart under the weight of what he is.’
Mal did not acknowledge the creature lurking in the corner of the hall, lounging against the wall with folded arms and a wicked smile that only sharpened by the second.
‘Your father was one of them as well,’ Adriana continued.
‘And yet I killed him.’ Mal turned upon the wyverian she had once called friend. Someone she had trusted. Someone her sister had loved.
Adriana flinched at the bite in her tone.
‘You do not frighten me, Mal Blackburn,’ she said firmly. ‘You will always be Haven’s little sister.’
Mal raised a brow, her fingers coiling around the black cup.
‘Perhaps,’ she murmured. ‘Though perhaps you should fear me.’
‘Do not threaten me.’
‘Am I? Or am I merely offering a warning?’
