Page 224 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
Keir swallowed with visible effort.
‘He is no longer here,’ he said at last, his voice strained. ‘It is time now, Adriana. Time to return.’ His dark eyes lifted to meet hers. ‘Let me unleash my power. I can get the army across the witchlands.’
Adriana’s breath caught.
‘If you unleash your power…’ Her voice trembled. ‘You will die.’
Keir gave a faint, weary smile. ‘I am already dying.’
‘I don’t—’ The words faltered as tears slipped down her cheeks, and she cursed herself for the weakness. ‘I’m not ready to say goodbye to this life.’
Keir reached for her hand and pressed a soft kiss to herknuckles.
‘We made a good one here,’ he said. ‘But it is time.’
His breathing came harder now, each inhale a quiet struggle.
‘I need to find a way to stop my daughter,’ he added. ‘To stop all the damage our family has done to this world.’
‘Please, Keir…’ Adriana pulled him into a tight embrace, clutching him as though she might anchor him there through sheer will alone.
She knew, of course, that this was not truly goodbye.
They were gods.
All they were leaving behind were these fragile mortal vessels. When these bodies failed, they would return to their realm, and if they wished, they could one day walk the mortal world again wearing new forms, new faces.
But Adriana had spent years living as Adriana.
She had built a life here. A world that felt real beneath her feet. They had made friends. Created memories. Learnt the strange, fragile beauty of living as mortals.
She refused to let this life slip through her fingers.
‘Let us go together,’ Keir said softly. ‘Let us return.’
Adriana did not quite understand why she nodded. Perhaps it was instinct. Perhaps it was love.
‘I will follow you, husband,’ she said.
Together they stepped back out into the vast, scarred expanse where the battle still raged. The cries of soldiers and the crack of magic echoed across the land, yet for Adriana it all seemed distant now, as though she were walking through the memory of a war rather than its living heart.
When the moment came, she reached for him.
She kissed him once slowly and tenderly, and then stepped back.
Keir turned and began to walk.
He walked across the torn battlefield, through churned earth and drifting smoke, onward and onward until he reached the side where the witches gathered in their dark ranks.
Adriana lifted her hand and gave a small wave of farewell.
He would expect to see her soon.
But Adriana… she did not know if she could surrender this life just yet.
And the realisation made her hate herself.
For lying to him.
