Ascend

“No, I haven’t forgotten. ”

  “You’ve merely decided to back out on it?” he asked, smiling wider. “Knowing what it would cost you. ”

  “It will cost me nothing,” I said firmly. “I will defeat you. ”

  “Maybe you will. ” Oren seemed to consider this for a moment. “But not until you lose everything. ”

  “Is this your answer then?” I asked.

  “You mean will I give up, let you and all your friends live happily ever after?” he asked, his tone condescending, but that changed instantly. His face was hard, and his words were filled with venom. “I get the happily ever after, and I will not concede to a spoiled brat like you. ”

  “Then you leave me no choice. ”

  I summoned all my power, concentrating and focusing on everything I had been practicing. I held my hands out toward him, palm out, and using everything I had in me, I began to push. I knew I couldn’t kill him this way, but I hoped to get him incapacitated enough that I could get close to him. Oren would never let me just walk over to him and cut off his head. I had to get him down first.

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  His hair ruffled, his robe even blew back, but nothing else happened. I used everything inside me, and a buzzing sound started in the back of my head, growing more painful as I tried to use all my energy.

  But Oren never even moved. He only smiled wider.

  “Is that all you’ve got?” He threw back his head and laughed, the sound reverberating through the room. “I have highly overestimated you. ”

  I pushed and pushed, refusing to give up, even when the pain in my skull became excruciating. Everything else in the room, the furniture, the books, began flying around like there was a tornado, but Oren remained unmoved.

  I could feel something warm and wet on my lips, and I realized my nose had begun to bleed.

  “Oh, Princess, darling,” Oren said, as sweetly as he could. “You’re exhausting yourself. I hate to see you in so much pain. ” He sighed, attempting to sound regretful. “So I’ll put you out of your misery. ”

  He stepped forward and raised his hand. He struck me across the face, backhanding me so hard I flew across the room and slammed into a wall. Everything that I sent flying in the air collapsed to the floor around me.

  Loki had tried to warn me about how strong Oren was, but I hadn’t understood until then. It was like being hit with a wrecking ball. My side ached terribly from where I’d crashed into the wall, and I probably had broken my ribs. My leg felt like it snapped, and I was lucky I hadn’t broken my neck.

  “I hate to do this to you,” Oren said, and at least he wasn’t smiling when he said it. “But I told you what would happen if you went against me. ”

  I pushed myself up so I was sitting, still leaning back against the wall. He towered over me, and I steeled myself, waiting for him to hit me again. But instead, he went over to his chamber doors and opened them.

  “Bring him to me!” Oren shouted out into the hall. He left the doors open and returned to me. He crouched, his black eyes meeting mine. “I warned you. I gave you every chance to join me. I wanted you with me, not against me. ”

  “I would rather die than serve you,” I said.

  “I see that. ” He reached up, meaning to wipe the blood from my forehead, but I pulled away from him, even though it sent shooting pain through me. “Well, the good news is you won’t die alone. ”

  He rose and stepped back from me. At the same time, Kyra and another Vittra came into the room, carrying Loki with him. I hadn’t seen the other Vittra before, but he was huge, a barbarian of a man.

  They were literally dragging Loki. They held him by each arm, and his legs trailed limply on the ground. His head hung down, and blood dripped from his temple.

  “No!” I shouted, and Loki lifted his head at the sound of my voice. He looked over at me, and it was clear they had beaten the hell out of him.

  “I’m sorry, Wendy,” he said simply. “I tried. ”

  “No,” I repeated and struggled to my feet. My body didn’t move the way I wanted it to, but I ignored the pain. “No, don’t hurt him. I’ll do whatever you ask. ”

  “It’s too late. ” Oren shook his head. “I promised you that I would make you watch him die. And I am a man of my word. ”

  “No, please,” I begged him. I stumbled over to a chair and leaned against it, holding myself up, because I couldn’t stand on my own. “I will do anything. Anything. ”

  “I am sorry,” Oren said again.

  He walked over to the wall where the two long swords still hung, the only things still intact in the room after I had sent it into a flurry. He pulled one down, the diamond encrusted bell guard covering his hand.

  I tried to use my powers to stop him. I held out my hand, pushing out what energy I had left. Some of the lighter things in the room stirred, like papers and a curtain, and Kyra winced. But Oren was unruffled.

  “Loki’s met with this blade before,” Oren said, admiring the sword. “It seems fitting that it will be the one to finish him. ”

  “Please. ” I let my hand fall to the side. “I will do your bidding. I will do anything. ”

  “I’ve already told you. ” Oren walked back, stopping in front of Loki. “It’s too late. ”

  Kyra and the other Vittra held Loki higher, and Loki grunted. Tears streamed down my face, and I could think of nothing to do. My powers weren’t working on him. I wasn’t strong enough to fight him. I had nothing to barter.

  Still staring at me, Oren lifted up his sword, and with one quick move, he stabbed Loki straight through the heart.

  25. Destiny

  Kyra and the other Vittra instantly let go of Loki, and he collapsed on the ground. They both held their heads, clutching at them, and at first, I didn’t understand.

  I couldn’t really think or feel anything, except that I had been ripped in two. It felt as if Oren had torn my heart from my chest, and I had never felt such consuming pain or anger as I did then.

  Blackness surged through me with an intense heat. I didn’t even really know what was happening around me. Everything felt like a hazy blur.

  Then I saw Oren, squinting and touching his own head, and I remembered.

  I could do something with my mind when I was frightened or angry. I’d done it to Tove when he tried to wake me, and I’d even done it on a smaller scale when Elora had been torturing Loki.

  That act – that intense fear or anger – unlocked a power inside me. I did something to people inside their heads, causing great agony. It usually only lasted a few seconds, but I had never been as pissed off before.

  As soon as I realized what I was doing, I harnessed it and directed it toward Oren. At first, he looked confused and simply started backing up. He kept squinting and tilting his head, as if he were staring at a very bright light.

  In the back of my mind, I knew my body should hurt, but I felt nothing. I walked toward Oren, and he began to hold his head. He fell to his knees. He was moaning and begging but I couldn’t understand anything he was saying.

  Both Kyra and the other Vittra were curled up on the ground, and Kyra was actually sobbing. I went over to Loki, refusing to let myself actually see him, to really believe he was dead, and I pulled the sword from his chest.

  I walked over to where my father was slumped on his knees, bent forward. His hands were clamped to his ears. He was muttering at first, but when I raised the sword over my head, I heard him begin to shout.

  “Make it stop!” Oren yelled. “Please! Make the pain stop!”

  “I’ll put you out of your misery,” I said, and I swung the sword down, slicing through his neck.

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  I turned away so I didn’t have to see it, but I heard his head fall to the ground.

  I stood there, still holding the sword, and looked around the room. The haze had faded away, and pain returned to my body. My body screamed in agony, and my legs threatened t
o give out underneath me. Kyra and the other Vittra had stopped writhing and they both sat up.

  “Go,” I said, struggling to catch my breath. “Tell them the King is dead. ”

  Kyra looked at Oren’s corpse with widened eyes, and she didn’t question my orders. She and the other Vittra scrambled to their feet and ran out of the room, leaving me alone with Loki.

  I dropped the sword and rushed to his side as quickly as my body would let me. I knelt next to him, and pulled his head onto my lap, but it lolled to the side. Blood stained the front of his chest, and I put my hand over the wound, trying to press the life back into him.

  “No, Loki, please,” I said as tears streamed down my face. “Loki, stay with me. Please. I love you. You can’t leave me like this. ”

  But he didn’t move. He didn’t breathe. I bent down, kissing his forehead as I sobbed, and I didn’t even have words for the pain I felt. With nothing else to do, I began to wail.

  “My god, I’m too late,” someone said, and I turned to see Sara standing in the doorway. She looked at the dead King, her husband.

  Loki had saved her life once, and she was a healer. She would be the only chance I would have at saving him.

  “Help me,” I begged her and tried to hold Loki up to her. “Please. You have to help him. ”

  “I…” Sara didn’t answer for a second, and then she ran over to us, kneeling on the other side of Loki. “I don’t know that I can. He might already be gone. ”

  “Please,” I cried. “You have to try. ” She took a deep breath and nodded.

  “Do you have any energy left?” Sara asked.

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. I felt weak and drained. Hurting Oren had taken most everything out of me.

  “Well, help me, if you can,” she said. She put her hand on top of mine, the one that covered the hole in Loki’s chest. “Give me any energy you have. I need all I can get. ”

  I nodded and closed my eyes, focusing on her and Loki. A warm tingling went through my hand, a sensation I was familiar with from being healed before. But something else happened. I felt it in my veins, flowing through me, being pulled from me. Like hot liquid escaping out through my fingertips.

  Then I heard it. Loki gasped loudly, and I opened my eyes.

  He took deep breaths, and tears of relief slid down my cheeks. Sara’s hand was still over mine, and her skin had become wrinkled and pinched. Her hair suddenly had gray in it, and her face had aged noticeably. She’d given Loki a lot of her life force to save him.

  “Loki,” I said.

  “Hey, Princess. ” He smiled dazedly as he looked up at me. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” I smiled and shook my head. “Not anymore. ”

  “What’s this?” He took my hair and held it out so I could see. A curl near the front had gone completely silver. “I take a nap, and you go gray?”

  “You didn’t take a nap,” I laughed. “Don’t you remember what happened?”

  He furrowed his brow, trying to remember, and understanding flashed in his eyes.

  “I remember…” Loki touched my face. “I remember that I love you. ” I bent down, kissing him full on the mouth, and he held me to him.

  Sara had been drained too much to use any healing on me, but Loki was as good as new. He lifted me up, carrying me out of the King’s chambers. Sara walked with us, and we went out to see what damage had been done to the palace.

  Kyra apparently had told the other Vittra what I’d said, and when they heard the King was dead, they scattered. What few were left bowed before Sara. She was their Queen, their reigning monarch, and she declared a ceasefire.

  Not all of the Trylle survived. We lost a few, but only a few. Duncan broke his arm, but he did much better than I thought he would. Finn probably had a concussion, but he would live. Tove hadn’t been hurt at all, and Willa was proud of the battle wounds she sustained.

  Despite the losses, and the damage to everything, I felt good. We had done what we set out to do. We’d freed ourselves, and the Vittra people, from Oren’s oppressive rule. We were free.

  Epilogue: Four Months Later

  The first few weeks after the Vittra attack were rough. I’d broken several bones and dislocated my shoulder. So many of our people needed the healing powers of Aurora and Sara that I refused to use any on myself. I had to heal the old fashioned way.

  Everyone was quick to point out that I healed much more quickly because of my Vittra blood, but it was still a rough couple of weeks. Some good things came out of it, though. Like Loki waiting on me hand and foot. Truth be told, he barely left my side.

  As soon as I was well enough to attend, we had my mother’s funeral. The entire kingdom turned out, and to my surprise, the King and Queen of the Kanin came, as well as the Queen of the Omte. They came to pay their respects but also to thank us for ending the tyranny of the Vittra.

  Oren had set his sights most fervently on the Trylle, but we weren’t the only ones. It wasn’t until the funeral, when so many people came that the crowd overflowed into the street, that I realized what exactly we’d accomplished.

  I also got to hear from other Trylle and even other tribes what my mother had done to protect them. The deals she had made, the things she gave up, and all the work she put into keeping the peace. Elora had given so much to the people, and it was so moving to see them truly appreciate it.

  Losing Elora made me understand even more the importance of having a mother, and what had been taken from Rhys. Despite the way my “host” mother, Kim, had treated me, I knew she’d done everything out of love, love of a child she’d never even met.

  Matt took Rhys to see Kim, where she’s still locked up in an asylum. Matt’s working to repair his relationship with her, although he’s resistant to the idea. Being willing to see her at all is a huge step.

  Rhys plans to go to college near the hospital in the fall, so he can start to get to know her. Matt says that Kim is doing a bit better, and if she continues on the road to recovery, she might be released one day.

  Matt came back to Förening, though. He says his home is here, and for that I’m grateful. I know I’m an adult with my own kingdom now, but I don’t think I’m ready to that live far away from my brother.

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  Oslinna is still working on improvements, but Matt has spent a great deal of time helping rebuild. His designs are gorgeous, and it’s been really good for the Trylle people to see a mänks do something so well.

  We’re still working against prejudice, and I know it will be a while before they completely give in to the idea that it’s okay for people to marry who they love, no matter if they’re Trylle or mänks or even a tracker. But we’re on the right road.

  Before I hang up my crown as Queen, I’m certain we’ll make it legal for anyone to marry whoever they love. Willa’s hoping that it’s sooner rather than later, of course, but she’s been shopping around for a wedding dress since she was eight.

  She’s taken a much more active role in our society. Since I was on bed rest when we first came back, she stepped up to handle a lot of the day-to-day work. Which is good, because it gave me someone to hand the reigns over to when I went on my honeymoon.

  Even before the funeral, Tove and I had our marriage annulled. He insisted on it, because he said my and Loki’s auras were blinding him.

  Tove seems to be taking our annulment better than our marriage. I appointed him Chancellor, since Tove was still one of my smartest and most trusted confidants. He’s met someone, although he’s been very tight lipped about who it is. I’m hoping that someday soon he’ll open up and let me know who that special someone is.

  After we defeated the Vittra, Thomas left, joining his family in another tribe, and I don’t think he’ll be coming back. Finn stayed behind, taking over his father’s duties as head tracker.

  It’s still a bit strange seeing Finn around the palace. I don’t love him anymore, n
ot like I did, although I don’t think I can ever truly stop caring for him. He was my first love, and he was immensely important to me becoming the Queen I am today.

  At first, he was cold and distant, but the ice between us seems to be melting. We’re on the path to becoming friends again, and that’s something.

  I saw him flirting with a girl from Oslinna, and I’d expected to feel some jealousy, but I didn’t. Only genuine happiness for him. I want Finn to be happy, and honestly, I don’t think that I was the right person to do that.

  And Loki… well, Loki has hardly left my side since we came back, but I wouldn’t let him into my bed until he made an honest woman of me. So he did.

  Two weeks ago in the garden, beneath the spring flowers, we had a small wedding, much different than my first one. This time, it was only my closest friends in attendance, including my aunt Maggie. But its greatest difference was that I wanted this wedding, and I married a man that I desperately love.

  Maggie’s been staying with us for a few weeks, and it’s mostly been wonderful. She still hasn’t completely wrapped her mind around everything that’s going on here, but she took to Rhys immediately. Thankfully, he’s spent the last week keeping her entertained so Loki and I could have a little bit of time to ourselves.

  Unfortunately, there’s never enough time. The nights seem too short, and the sun always seems to come up too early when I’m still snuggled in bed with Loki. Usually, he wants to sleep in as much as I do, but not today.

  He opened the shades, so the morning light shone in too brightly, and I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my face in the pillow.

  “Aw, Wendy. ” Loki knelt down on the floor next to the bed and brushed the hair back from my eyes. “You knew today was coming. ”

  “I know, but I didn’t want it to come. ” I opened my eyes so I could look at him, smiling at me even though his eyes were pained. “I shouldn’t have let you agree to this. ”

  “You don’t let me,” Loki laughed. “I’m the King. Nobody tells me what to do. ”

  “That’s what you think,” I scoffed, making him laugh harder.

  “But seriously, my love, are you going to get up and see me off today?” Loki asked. He took my hand in his, kissing it. “You don’t have to, of course. I know how mornings have been for you lately. ”

  “No, if you’re going to leave, I want to say goodbye,” I sighed. “But you better hurry back. ”

  “As quickly as I can,” he smiled. “Nothing in the world will keep me from my Queen. ”

  I threw the covers off me and went into the closet to get dressed. We were having a whole ceremony to see Loki off, so I had to choose a nice gown, and I’d even have to wear my crown. I avoided it for the most part, since it made me feel silly, but I had to put it on for formal occasions.

  Loki was already dressed for the day. I’d felt him get up about an hour ago. I kept sleeping, though, since I’d been so tired lately. I’d like to say it was because of how worn out Loki had left me on our honeymoon, and while that was definitely part of the reason, it wasn’t all of it.