Page 82 of The Dark Prince
“They deserve all the suffering! I have kept balance!” she raged at the night sky.
“You lie.”
I whipped my head up as Arne burst through the door, Maddeus hot on his heels. The other men filtered in, faces full of fear and awe.
“The witch broke the curse herself. Everyone has changed back,” Maddeus offered, confirming my earlier theory. His face leeched of color as he took in Aella in the corner, her father’s broken body sprawled on her knees.
I suddenly remembered the vial Arne gave me. I tossed it to Maddeus. “Use this!”
He caught it, knowing immediately what it was for. I was so naïve. I should have remembered earlier from the book I read.
The white bark of a certain tree would heal poisons.
I couldn’t look at him to help Aella. I had to focus. The witch wasn’t dead yet.
“You have lost your objectiveness,” he told the witch. “This is not balance,” Arne intoned, coming around to kneel by me. Blood, old and new, covered him.
He put one hand over mine, steadying me as we held the knife in the witch’s chest. Hot blood bubbled up through her lips and out of the wound. She writhed and fought and twisted under us, trying to gouge our skill but losing strength quickly.
Still, we held on.
“I will turn him back into a beast. I will kill all of you. I will—”
“You will not,” Arne protested, his voice offended. He withdrew his own knife and nicked a few spots on his wrists, cheeks, then at the hollow of his throat. His eyes turned white and a silvery glow enveloped him, the witch, and me.
He closed his eyes.
“Noooooo!” shrieked the witch, but Arne wasn’t listening.
“Step away, Isadora. She is not a witch born to my coven, but I will finish her as if she were.”
I threw myself away from them and wrapped myself around Tyr. He’d gone cold, his chest no longer rising and falling. Was it because Arne was busy? Had he been keeping Tyr alive? Had he already died?
I didn’t think I had any tears left. My cheeks dried, and I could do nothing but watch Arne. Behind me, Maddeus was shushing Aella and rocking her in his arms.
Arne grabbed the knife embedded in the witch and twisted it. I flinched at the horrible cracking sound, and then white light exploded everywhere. Arne’s hand shot forward into her chest, and a horrible squelching sound echoed in the stone chamber. Her screams modulated and warped, twisting and piercing the air until it sounded more animal than human, then more just horrific noise than an animal.
The light sucked back in on itself, leaving nothing but the witch’s empty body and Arne, panting over her with a still-beating heart clutched in his hand. He threw it away from himself in disgust, then promptly passed out.
The light exploded, flattening everything in its path. White-hot fire erupted over us, and everything burned. I had to be screaming, but I couldn’t hear anything. It was all pain, all heat, all suffering—
And then just as suddenly it was gone, leaving only a cool breeze behind. I took in a deep breath, startled when my ribs didn’t hurt or protest. I glanced down at Tyr’s body, gasping as his wounds and the blood disappeared.
A woman with dark skin like Arne’s tore through the crowd, elbowing everyone out of her way. She flew to her husband’s side, practically spitting in fury like an enraged barn cat as she cried out in a smooth, singing language I didn’t understand. She shot me a dirty look and I grinned. I liked that she didn’t like me, simply on her husband’s behalf. I knew the feeling.
The air cleared, and I felt like I could take a deep breath of fresh air for the first time in weeks. I’d seen so much death. I’d seen so much blood. I was exhausted and tired and overwhelmed, and my mind felt like it was going to short circuit.
And Tyr was still lying underneath me, cold and unmoving. He wasn’t breathing.
“Isadora, come away from there.”
Maddeus already was carrying Aella in his arms, her face bandaged tightly with scraps from his shirt. She was breathing, but had her eyes shut in pain. Behind her lay the king’s body, sprawled and unmoving.
The doors to the entrance hall opened, revealing Toke and Leif, as well as Rolf and his men from the tavern, including whatever royal guards still lived. Servants and villagers who’d hidden in the woods appeared as well, and servants crept out of their hiding spots. It felt like the entire damn kingdom was there to watch me mourn my husband.
“Please,” I begged, though I wasn’t sure who I was begging to. Or for what?
Hands tried to wrench me away from Tyr, but I viciously fought back, and they released me. I clung to Tyr, tears soaking his torn shirt as I sobbed over his body.
