Five Dark Fates (Three Dark Crowns #4) - Kendare Blake Page 0,125
so far apart, as if the sisters are together in their burning.
“We fought so hard,” she says. “And still, two of us are dead. What was the point of it?”
“The fight,” Pietyr replies simply. “The fight was the point.” He bends down, his elbow resting on one of his knees as he watches Katharine’s flame. “I wish it would burn forever.”
“I wish that, too.”
But nothing is forever, of course. Not even on Fennbirn, where for an age the mist held time itself hostage. Eventually, the priestesses would let the fires go out. Then they would be lit again on festival days or on the days commemorating the battle. And one day, there would be no flames at all.
“I should have—” Pietyr says, and his voice breaks. Arsinoe puts her hand on his shoulder. After a few moments, it stops shaking, and he wipes his eyes. “I should get to the square.” He stands up and takes a slow breath. “Someone has to advocate for Genevieve’s release.”
“That won’t make you very popular on the new council.”
He chuckles. “I do not think there was any chance of that, anyway.” He turns to go, and his eyes cloud when they land on the space where Katharine went over the edge. Arsinoe knows he is seeing those last moments in his mind. Wishing he had caught her, even for a second.
Then he blinks, and they walk together down the stairs.
“Are you coming to the square, Queen Arsinoe?” he asks when they reach the bottom.
She moans. “Stop calling me that.”
“But it is what you are. What you always will be. Queen Arsinoe. The last of the true queens of Fennbirn. Your legend and your popularity will grow. Perhaps even outstripping the legend of the Legion Queen.”
She says nothing, and he sighs, looking back up the stairs.
“I wish there were something more that I could do for her,” he says. “Something besides look after her snake. I hate that no one really knew what kind of person she was—how kind and shockingly gentle. How clever. All she ever wanted was to make us proud. And the island will remember her reign as that of a monster.”
“No they won’t. You’re here. You’ll make them remember.”
“How can you say so?” he asks. “How will anyone believe me after what she did?”
“I don’t know what Katharine was after she came back from the night of the Quickening. I only know that, in the end, she was my sister.”
Pietyr shoves his hands back into his pockets and walks away.
“Hey,” she calls after him. “I’m sorry I kissed you.”
He turns his head, just enough for her to see the sharpness of his jawline.
“Not half as sorry as I am!” he shouts, and Arsinoe laughs.
EPILOGUE
The ship rocks slightly in the water as the last of the supplies are brought onboard. Arsinoe shifts her weight from foot to foot, keeping balance as she stares out at the horizon. For the first time, the prospect of leaving Fennbirn does not frighten her. Ships have come and gone for weeks without incident. And she feels that link between her and the island, snapped and flapping loose, deep inside her chest.
“Maybe I shouldn’t go,” she says as Jules joins her by the railing. “Maybe it’s too soon.”
“Too soon for what? The new Black Council is nearly set. Mathilde’s letters from the road are good and tranquil, in true Mathilde fashion. Even Braddock is settled with Grandma Cait and Ellis. You’ve run out of excuses. You ran out of them weeks ago.”
“You must really want me gone.”
Jules laughs. “If I thought you were going forever, I would be locking you in the Volroy cells instead of preparing to sail with you.”
Camden stands to put her paws on the rail, and Arsinoe buries her face in the cougar’s fur. “What if he doesn’t want me there?”
“I can’t hear you when you talk into my cat.”
Arsinoe raises her head. “What if I hate it? I do, I hate it there.”
Jules makes an impatient face. Her eyes narrow at movement from inside Arsinoe’s pocket.
“What is that?” She looks inside, and a tiny, speckled chick pokes its head out and chirps.
“Grandchick,” Arsinoe replies. She strokes the fluffy feathers. “Harriet hatched a brood not long ago. I thought Billy should know he’s a grandfather.”
Jules laughs.
“For a poisoner, you do make quite the naturalist.” She reaches down, and the chick rubs its head against her finger. “This chick’s home is on Fennbirn, you know. So Billy had better accept our offer to be our ambassador. We’re going to need him if we want to reintroduce the island to the world without a war.”
Arsinoe arches her brow. “He might refuse if he suspects the only reasons we’re offering are so his family is taken care of and he and I can be together.”
“We’re asking him because he is the best. Our most trusted mainland ally.”
“Our only mainland ally.”
Jules shrugs like it does not make any difference. And Arsinoe supposes it does not. If Billy agrees, they could have everything they hoped. And it does not feel like she deserves it.
“How can I be alive when they’re dead, Jules?”
“How can you ask that?” Jules leans against the rail and pokes Arsinoe in the chest with the top of her crutch. “If Mirabella were here, your vest would be on fire right now.”
“And Katharine?”
“She saved you. That wasn’t an accident. So yes. If she were here, she wouldn’t set you on fire but nor would she put you out.”
Arsinoe laughs softly. It is a strange feeling, to not be needed anymore. To be able to go and be certain that Fennbirn will never call her back.
“The island is home, you know, Jules? I don’t want to lose that. I don’t want to lose you.”
“You can never lose me. But you’re free. You’re not a queen anymore; you can come and go as you please. The island will always be here.” She claps Arsinoe on the shoulder, and she and her cougar face out toward the open sea.