“But he has to die too.”
Henry props himself on an elbow. “He does?”
“He knew what happened, and he’s also been friendly with Rafe in the past. He could be again. I don’t know who should be in charge. I just know who shouldn’t be,” I say.
Henry sighs. “And to think I believed I was the greatest threat to the Carrenwell family.” He brushes my hair to the side and kisses my shoulder. “I’m sorry you had to do that alone.”
“I didn’t. Technically. Kellan helped.”
His eyes widen slightly, but there’s no judgment on his face. He looks at me with resigned affection. “What about the rest of your siblings? How will they react?”
I run a hand over my face.Bleeding woods!I hadn’t given that a single thought. The rest of my siblings have always been distant figures, more scenery I observed than actual people. I knew them only enough to understand their motivations.
“I doubt any of my siblings will be all that broken up over our parents, and they largely lack the ambition to try to fill my parents’ shoes,” I say. “Electra, Carrianne, and Sophie have always been content to be out from under our parents’ roof with families of their own. Thomas has always been a little bit envious of Able being heir and Kellan being captain of the city watch. Frederick is clever, but I think he prefers being connected to power while not bearing the responsibility of being in charge. None of them have my parents’ desire for power—at least not in a general sense. I’m sure they’d all like to have power over certain things in their lives. They just lack that relentless hunger for more.”
Henry hums and traces a finger up the inside of my forearm. “Something has been bugging me. Why did you go along with this marriage?” he asks. “You’d already married once for them before.”
I think of how many nights I sat at dinner, staring at the key to my freedom hanging from the chain around my father’s neck, imagining choking him with it and escaping the city in the dead of night.
“Because my father had a tunnel made under the Drained Wood and I needed the key to it to get Aidia out,” I say.
Henry stares at me in mute shock.
“I could have taken her from Rafe, but there was nowhere in the city where we could have escaped our parents. Even if she used her blessing to disguise us, our family can see magic. We couldn’t hide from them.”
“If it was as simple as just getting a key, why not steal it?” Henry asks.
I blow out a breath. “Because my father keeps it on him at all times, and because it’s not as simple as just getting the key. My brother Frederick is blessed by Harvain with the good fortune to be able to manipulate natural elements. He is critical to expanding and mending the wall around the city, but what people don’t know is that his skill goes well beyond stone. Twelve years ago, when travel through the Drained Wood started to become less frequent and more dangerous, my father started planning. He knew we’d need another way to bring resources in and out of the city. So he asked Frederick to start working on a tunnel.”
Henry listens intently, but his aura is swirling and I can tell he’s angry.
“Originally, he planned to burrow to Mountain Haven, and then from there through the mountain pass,” I say. “He wanted a way to ensure that we could get beyond the reach of the Drained. Every trader who came to Lunameade over the years talked about how the Drained never go beyond the mountain pass. It was meant to be a way out.”
Henry props himself up on an elbow and takes my hand in his.
“I only have assumptions because he’s not transparent, but our people were so scared when the fort fell,” I continue. “They’d never been so willing to sacrifice and come together, or so eager for his leadership. I think he realized that if he gave people a way out, he would lose control of them. He’d be giving up his political power, and if he went with them, he’d surrender his access to the well. While the well isn’t the source of his power, it is the symbol of it. So he kept the tunnel secret from our people and ensured that no one could use it without him.”
“How could he do that? It’s been almost ten years. Surely someone—one of your siblings would have figured out where it is or how to use it,” Henry says.
“He made sure that no one could navigate it on their own. He had Aidia permanently cloak the entrance so it’s hidden by an illusion. The tunnel door can only be unlocked by someone with Carrenwell blood. And every time my siblings return from a trip, Electra, my oldest sister, also blessed by Harvain, uses her memory erasing blessing to remove the memory of every step they took to get through the tunnel other than the one they’re responsible for. So Frederick knows where the entrance is and where each obstacle is located, but he doesn’t know what the obstacles are or how to get around them. Only Thomas knows how to get through the protection traps. And the final gateway at the very end can only be opened with holy fire. So anyone who wants to escape wouldn’t just need the key from my father. They would need his sway over my siblings.”
Henry’s face is a mask of disgust. “So he kept you all trapped.”
“Yes. Of course, it’s not just as simple as getting through the tunnel,” I say. “Once the fort fell, Frederick couldn’t use it as a stopping point. He needed to take the original path farther. It takes a huge expenditure of magic to move dirt and roots and water and stone. It took almost three years for Frederick to complete the work, since he was also making a complicated labyrinth of tunnels and Thomas was designing traps for them. Not to mention that the stone around the mountains is apparently harder to get through. Frederick had to stop at the mountain pass, which means it’s still not a safe route. There are some Drained who prowl that area. You need to come out of that tunnel ready for a fight.”
I don’t feel guilty for telling him all of these family secrets. I’m exhilarated by the defiant thrill of sharing so much about my family and their magic after years spent choking on their lies.
Henry is quiet for a long moment, taking in everything I’ve said. He shakes his head. “He’s so much worse than I thought. I’m sorry.”
He looks so earnest, propped on an arm, his dark waves falling into his eyes. He kisses my palm. “Will you stay with me?”
A knot forms in my throat. Henry wants to keep me. “I’m your wife. Wouldn’t there be some sort of incident if I didn’t?”
He moves closer, pushing me onto my back so he can meet my eyes. “I don’t want to be another person in your life who is placing unwanted obligations on you. If you want to stay here?—”
“I don’t want to stay here.” I wasn’t certain, but I know it when I say it out loud. Maybe it’s the fresh grief. Maybe it’s the haunting nightmares of this place.
My heart is in my throat. Because I’m not just agreeing to pretend now. I am admitting that this is real. I’m sacrificing my pride for the sake of my heart. I’m willing to lose for him.
