Power it had already started to give her, if her miraculous healing was any indication.
Oro was sitting in the library, lost in thought. Looking at a text, but not reading it.
As soon as she entered, he stood. Nodded. Sat again and motioned for her to do the same.
He was oddly serious. The king of Lightlark sat before her, not her companion on many adventures. Not the person she had come to trust with her life.
Isla sat down and placed the heart between them, carefully.
“I think I used it,” she said firmly. “I think it saved me.”
Oro only nodded.
She repeated the prophecy from memory.
“Only joined can the curses be undone
Only after one of six has won,
When the original offense
Has been committed again
And a ruling line has come to an end
Only then can history amend"
Isla swallowed. “We were joined ...” she said. “Throughout the Centennial. And all of the rulers were joined on the island. That’s the first part. Then, I committed the original offense, by using the heart.”
Oro leaned back, his crown’s sharp tips pointing toward the back corner of the library. He must have retrieved it, along with the heart, once the sun had gone down.
He hadn’t returned her own crown. Her head felt empty without it ... and also weightless. She found herself not rushing to wear it again.
“You will receive the power that was promised. You will officially be the one whowins,”he said, looking unbothered by the fact. “When you complete the final part of the prophecy.”
Isla nodded, chin high.
“The last step, then, is the matter of which realm will perish.” Oro leaned back in his chair. “As promised ... the choice of which realm to save is yours.”
“Starling,” she said immediately. Her shoulders settled a bit. She was safe ... and so was her best friend. Oro’s brow furrowed, surprised.Why?she wondered.
Then her blood went cold.
“Who dies?” she asked quickly, not bothering to hide her fear. Not anymore.
Oro’s eyes softened. But the rest of his expression remained firm. The face of a king. “Nightshade, Isla,” he said gently.
Something had punctured her lungs—another arrow, maybe. Her breathing became panting. She was drowning from the inside out.
“But you said he couldn’t die. You said he’s the only thing standingbetween us and a greater danger.” From that point on, she had assumed Grim was safe.
Oro nodded. “That was true ...” he said. “Until we found the heart.”
The realization was a boulder to the chest. The heart held unparalleled Nightshade power. With it, the king didn’t need Grim anymore. He could kill him and still protect the island against the mysterious danger.
“What about Cleo?” she demanded, voice angry. Fingers curling. “I don’t know how, but she spun the curses. She must have teamed up with someone else who could wield the heart. She’s the reason forallof this.” Her voice shook. Her eyes prickled with tears that did not fall. “She tried to kill me. Twice.”
Oro’s expression did not change. “That might be. And if she did spin the curses, she will be tried.”
