What if it had been trying to tell her something?
“I know where the heart is,” she said.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
HEART
Isla’s steps were silent against the snow. Her breath was steady. Her entire world had narrowed into a tunnel. Her normally endless thoughts were replaced by a predatory calm, the sensation right before making a kill, the moment before releasing a bow, the string taut.
She was right this time. She knew it with every one of her bones.
Oro had been waiting for her in the castle foyer that night. The room had buzzed with invisible energy, emanating from him in ripples. He was excited. Hopeful.
She had smiled, in spite of herself. Because she was excited and hopeful too.
Isla had walked over to him, stood on her toes, and flicked his crown. She had grinned at him, testing him, seeing how their months of working together might have tamed his disdain for her.
Oro had frowned. Then he had surprised her by taking off his crown.
And placing it on her head, around her own.
“If you’re right about this, Wildling,” he had said, “you might become more powerful than even me.”
His words had nearly made her knees buckle. He was truly giving her the win. No—acknowledging that itwasher win.
Isla had figured it out when even the king couldn’t.
She had taken off her own crown and placed it in his golden hair. It was laughably small on his head, and her lips twitched. “Wildling suits you,King,”she had said before walking out the doors.
His crown was still warm and heavy on her head. It was so large, it sank down to the middle of her forehead. But she found she didn’t mind it.
It was just under an hour from dawn. Just enough time to search for shelter for Oro. Once they found it, all they would have to do was wait.
Isla’s skin itched; her entire body was covered in sparks. Still, she stayed in her tunnel, focusing all her energy on the other side.
The heart. The ones she loved. Her future.
Power was the last thing on her mind. If she could save Celeste and Terra, she would be content. They meant so much more than abilities ever would. She knew that now.
She just hoped she hadn’t realized it too late.
“What will you do?” she asked him as they took their first steps across Moon Isle. “When we break the curses?”
Oro walked steadily, eyes trained on the sky. “I’ll rebuild,” he said. “These past centuries, the focus has been on the curses. How to break them. How to live with them. How to survive them. With all of that erased, I could be free to bring Lightlark to its previous glory.”
Isla raised an eyebrow at him. “With Sunling as the reigning realm?”
Oro shook his head. “No. Before that. When the realms were united.”
She let out a long sigh.United.That would mean Wildlings returning to Lightlark. The ones that were left, she thought, dread dancing in her stomach. “I’m not sure the people of Lightlark would be thrilled if Wildlings returned.”
“They will have to learn to be,” Oro said. And his voice was so firm, she glanced at him. He met her gaze. “And perhaps you would want to stay.”
Isla blinked. She had never considered staying on Lightlark. During the limited times she had allowed herself to dream aboutafter,about what her life might look like if she managed to break the curses, she had imagined bits and pieces. Her and Celeste, back in the Starling newland. Celebrating all her friend’s birthdays without sadness or fear.Leading the Wildling newland with confidence, Terra and Poppy strong beside her. And, more recently ... visiting Nightshade. Spending time with Grim.
None of her futures included the island.
“Perhaps,” she said. But it was a lie. And because of his flair, Oro knew it.
