“Do I?” she said, her voice more grating than she had meant it. “I have ruling power from Starling now, and Wildling. Who else could rebuild them?” Azul just looked at her, so she continued. His silence angered her for some reason, because all these questions wererealones, ones she wanted answers to. “Hmm?” she said. “Should I just go back to my room and let them all die?”
“You could,” he said. Azul shrugged a shoulder, looked at a perfectly manicured nail. Every part of him was immaculate, as always. “But you’re choosing not to.” He met her eyes. “Right?”
She had requested he meet her. She had declared to the nobles and representatives that she would have a coronation. She had made not just a choice butchoices.
“Right,” she murmured.
He flashed his perfect teeth at her. “Good. Now that that’s clear ... Of course you don’t know how to rule, Isla.” The compassion in his tone caught her off guard. “When I was in my twenties, I was too busy flying off with boys and drinking every shade of haze to even think about anyone other than myself.” His smile turned sad. “When you make the choice to rule, you are making a promise that you will put your people’s well-being and happiness above your own.”
Isla frowned. It shamed her how awful that sounded.
She didn’twantto put others first, not after everything she had just been through. A person could only take so much. Her trust had been broken, along with her heart. There wasn’t much left of her to give. She wanted to be selfish with the parts that remained. Didn’t she deserve that?
“I see,” he said.
“See what?”
Azul began humming to himself, and the wind seemed to mimic it. Somehow a current was moving through the room and jostling her hair, even though all the doors and windows in the bar were closed. “Of course.”
“Of coursewhat?”
The Skyling ruler folded his hands in front of him. “Are you close to your Wildling subjects, Isla?”
“No.”
“They didn’t know you believed yourself powerless?”
She shook her head.
“What was your relationship to them?”
Isla lifted a shoulder. “Nonexistent. My guardians made all the decisions. They ruled. Because of my ...secret... I was kept far away. Only paraded on special occasions, at a distance.” She bit the inside of her mouth, a habit that would have made Poppy flick her on the wrist with her fan. “If I’m honest, they are my blood, they are my responsibility, I would do anything for them ... but they feel like strangers.”
Azul nodded. “Ofcoursethey do,” he said, and the way he validated her feelings ... the compassion in his voice ... it was beyond anything she had ever experienced. “And the Starlings here, theyarestrangers. You don’t care about them.” He shrugged. “You don’t care about this island.”
His voice was without judgment. His eyes held no disgust. Azul only shook his head. “How could you? You’ve only been here a few months. The worst moments of your life were likely spent right here on Lightlark. You don’t have fond memories before the curses to look back on, and most of the people hate you, because of their perception of Wildlings.”
Everything was said so matter-of-factly. Isla couldn’t tell if his even tone made the words hurt less or more.
“Are you going back to the Wildling newland, Isla?”
“I plan to.” She told him about her portaling device and how she had visited. She offered to portal him to the Skyling newland when needed.
Azul’s eyes only glimmered with curiosity. “Charming,” he said. “I appreciate your offer, but I meant ... are you returning to the Wildling newland for good?”
For good.Before, when the Centennial had ended, Isla could not fathom staying on Lightlark. Now, things were different.Shewas different.
“No.”
“Then this is your home now,” Azul said. “Yourchosenone.” He stood, his light-blue cape billowing behind him in a breeze only he seemed privy to. “Learn to love it, and your two realms. It is up to the leader, not the subject, to connect.” He outstretched his hand. “Come with me.”
She took it without question, the rings on both of their fingers clashing together like wind chimes. “We’re not flying ... are we?”
Azul smiled. “Do you trust me?”
“I do,” she said, and it was the truth. It was stupid, she realized, to trust anyone after everything. She knew that, but what was the alternative? Closing herself off forever? Ever since the end of the Centennial, she had felt a wall harden around her. If she wasn’t careful, it would become impenetrable.
She had asked Azul for help. The least she could do was let him in.
