I recognized his pain, because the same sunken feeling lived in me. Hopelessness, loneliness… self-loathing… it should’ve been impossible for so much to be conveyed in one look, and yet I’d felt all of it—as if I’d been looking into a shattered mirror.
His outburst had been a cry for help. He needed someone who cared. But it couldn’t be me. I turned away and didn’t look back.
I was fast asleep when I heard a quiet rapping on the door. I was rubbing my eyes, when the door unlocked and Galen strode in. I sat up, only able to see the outline of his body in the darkened room.
“Galen?” I asked groggily.
“I’m sorry for waking you. I wanted to make sure that you’re okay.” He sat on the side of the bed. I moved over, making room for him. He smelled like a whiskey barrel.
“I apologize for tonight,” he said raggedly. “I didn’t mean to start a fight with my mother in the middle of dinner—nor did I mean to embarrass Isla… or put you in danger. I just…snapped. First, she tells me who to marry, then they made me—” He took a deep breath, followed by a long exhale. “I’m a mess, Marigold. I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I-I’m worthless,” he said, his voice cracking. It was difficult to believe that this was the same male who’d come to my room weeks ago, drenched in confidence.
“Hey… It’s alright. I’m okay,” I assured him, rubbing his back. “I was surprised Arnold didn’t already know. Why was your mother keeping it a secret? The Elders wouldn’t harm a world walker, would they?” They’d been waiting two-hundred years for someone to rescue them. I couldn’t imagine they’d jeopardize that, even if Iwasa mongrel. The word scuttled around in my stomach, making me want to hurl up my dinner.
“No, they need you. I think my mother was keeping it a secret for her own purposes. Everything is a game to her. They run my life.I can’t escape them. The other week they made me—” He looked down at his hands, unable to get the words out. I took them and held them firmly.
“I killed someone,” he murmured, his voice barely audible. “A faerie… He was caught harboring a pregnant human. They captured him, but she escaped. The Elders claimed the baby was his. They’d been holding him—torturing him—to get to her. But he wouldn’t reveal where she was. They brought me in to burn him slowly… to make him talk.” He squeezed my hand until it throbbed.
“They didn’t needmyflames. They have their own ways of getting information. But he wasn’t the only one they were trying to break. They want my unwavering loyalty. It’s not the first time I’ve been forced to hurt people for them. He was barely hanging on. I couldn’t do it—it was clear he’d been suffering for a while. So I turned his heart to ash… in seconds. I told them it was an accident. But they knew I was lying. They’ll make me pay for what I did.”
Rafael had been right. The Elders were using Galen to torture people. He’dkilledsomeone, someone who’d died protecting thewoman—thehuman—he loved. But what Galen had done had also been a kindness; he’d ended the man’s pain.
My insides twisted with disgust, anger, devastation… but it was empathy that overtook me—rooted itself deep into my gut. I cared for this man. And I was worried for him—worried he’d lose himself if he continued to wander through darkness. He needed a guiding light. And I was a healer. Maybe none of this was a coincidence.
He was broken before me—splayed open and bleeding his soul onto my sheets. I pulled his head down to my lap and brushed his hair with my fingers as he cried. It was a level of closeness I’d never experienced with a man before. My heart swelled.
“They’ve made you hurt others?” I tried to comfort him with my touch, even as I internally screamed.
“Yes… Since my father died, they’ve been seeking out improper pairings and any hybrid offspring. I’ve tortured for them… killed for them. In the name of the law. I-I don’t agree with their views. Please don’t think less of me. I already hate myself.”
My heart cracked open. I didn’t think less of him. Maybe I should’ve after what he’d just admitted… but I also understood that his hands were tied. “What you’ve done doesn’t define you, Galen. You ended his suffering. What you did wasbrave. What can we do to stop this from happening again?”
“They’re too strong to be stopped. And I’ve been conditioned for violence since I was a boy—long before they made me hurt anyone. As a child, my own mother whipped me to build character.She thought I lacked the ruthless edge that is needed in leadership. I’m afraid by the time I become King, I’ll have no goodness left.” My heart sank at his confession. He’d been raised with brutality instead of affection. Had he ever known love?
“Great leaders don’t resort tofearto control others. What she views as weakness, I see as strength. The fire inside you can burn the world down or… it can burnforthe world. It’s your choice. Not hers. She has it all wrong,” I said.
We sat in silence and I bit back what I wanted to say next… until I couldn’t keep it in. “What if you escaped back to Erador with me?” My chest pounded as I awaited his answer.
He glanced up at me with shining eyes. “I couldn’t leave my people behind. It would be a coward’s choice.”
“Not if we broke the curse. You could be a hero to your people.”
“No. It’s too late for me to be a hero.”
We didn’t talk after that. Instead, I continued to stroke my fingers through his hair, shedding silent tears for the faerie who’d died protecting his family. And for Galen… who was destroying himself for his Crown.
“I didn’t want to hurt any of them,” he whispered into the night.
“I know.”
sixteen
Ifelt numb as I headed to training the next morning. When I saw Louis, I didn’t bother to greet him with a smile.
“Good to see you too,” he said, throwing a wave of water at me. I instinctively lifted my hands to block it, not even realizing that I’d produced a shield of wind until Louis whooped in excitement.
“You just produced your first shield! And with a new element!” He came in for a hug, but pulled back when he noticed my lack of enthusiasm. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?” He studied my face as I squinted at him with swollen, bloodshot eyes.
“Galen... H-he confessed that the Elders have been making him hurt people. They’ve been searching forimproper pairingsand hybrids. Hekilledsomeone. I don’t know how to make it stop—what to do.” Louis patted my back as I soaked his shirt with tears.
