Page 49 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
Kage shrugged, almost gently. ‘I already am, aren’t I?’
Something splintered in Mal’s chest. Somewhere in the distance, she was certain she heard the creature’s laughter. Mocking, knowing, and delighted by her despair.
‘You arenotcursed,’ she said hoarsely.
‘But Iamdead.’ He finally looked at her, black eyes wide and unguarded.
And in that moment, though Mal was the youngest of them, Kage looked like a child again. Small. Vulnerable. In need of protection.
He had always needed protecting, this precious, quiet brother of hers, and she had failed him. She had not protected Haven, and her sister was dead. She had not protected Kage.
And now, he was dead too.
‘I will not be the reason you are cursed, Kage,’ she said, her voice tight as she tried, desperately, to steer him away from this path. But she saw it then, unmistakably, in his eyes and in thefaces of the others. This was the only way to keep him safe. The only way to stand against Persephone.
Mal turned slowly towards Thanatos and poured every shard of her fury into her stare. Fury for the lies. For the truths left unspoken. For the bond that tied them together. For not saving her from herself. For not saving Kage.
She knew, somewhere deep down, that none of it was truly his fault.
Still, she made sure he felt it.
And Thanatos bore her hatred without flinching, accepting it with a quiet grace, as though he welcomed it. As though he deserved it.
Allegra rose from her seat, lifting her hands as green smoke curled into being around her fingers. ‘The curse will be stronger if you help,’ she said softly to Mal.
A low growl tore from Mal’s chest.
She would not become the monster they expected her to be.
Not the monster they feared.
Not the monster Ash already believed she was.
Allegra moved into place behind Kage, lifting her hands to cradle his head, fingers already humming with intent. Mal opened her mouth to protest, to beg them to stop, but the words died before they could form. She saw it then: the quiet resolve etched into every face, the way Kage turned slightly away, bracing himself. Ready.
Mal’s gaze flicked once more to Thanatos. The look she gave him carried everything she could not say. That this felt like losing her brother all over again. That this wound would never truly heal.
And for the first time, she was no longer certain she had the strength to keep fighting the thing that gnawed at her mind, that whispered and rotted and waited.
So Mal turned her back on them.
She walked away, each step heavy with finality, leaving Allegra standing behind Kage as the curse took hold, as the others bore witness in absolute silence.
By broken oath and stolen crown,
I tear your fate and cast it down.
By night you walk where mortals breathe,
Your heart no longer beats, yet peace you leave.
By day you die, to shadow sent,
In the Underworld your death is spent.
No king may rule you, no queen may bind,
No god may claim your fractured kind.
