ached to be near him. And that was what made me feel like my heart was breaking. I swallowed hard. “Maybe.”
“So why are you so eager to see me dead? I thought we were allies.”
“Oh, did you?” I spat. “So why did you fuck me over? You betrayed me. You told the Shadow Lords about us, that I helped their worst enemy. You knew exactly how that would turn out. With me in prison.”
He shook his head slowly. “What are you talking about?”
“I was imprisoned in Audr Mine because of you. Forced into hard labor. You wrote a letter to the Shadow Lords, and that was the result. Since I received a marked lot, I've spent every moment with the Shadow Lords. I shouldn’t even be talking to you now.”
And yet, I was here like an idiot, because I was drawn to him. Because I could feel his soul calling to mine. I had to kill him, but I just wanted to be in his arms. When I was with him, it was like I could feel the world coming alive again.
Galin narrowed his eyes. “I wrote no letter, Ali.”
I stared at him, frustration simmering. “Who the fuck wrote it, then?”
“You were imprisoned? Then how did you come find me in the Citadel?”
“What? You sent me into the mines to die. You said you’d come for me, and you didn’t.”
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “I’ve been trying to get to you. This helm stops me. I’ve been working to remove it, but it’s enchanted with powerful binding magic. If I try to leave the Citadel or hurt my family, it shocks me. Gorm is terrified of what I’d do without it. As he should be.”
A fluting voice cut him off: “Oh, Galin! What are you doing with that Night Elf?”
My stomach fell as I watched Revna saunter over to us.
“I’m sorry, did I interrupt something?” she said in her sing-song voice, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. “A lovers’ tête-à-tête?”
Galin turned away from me, casually leaning back against the railing. “I do believe she was considering throwing me over the side.”
Revna glared at him. “You’re needed in the cabin,” she said walking back towards the cabin.
Without another word, Galin stalked off, one hand by the hilt of his sword.
My thoughts were a storm of conflicting emotions, and I was left alone, looking out into the winter night. Above me, hundreds of giant moths flapped, black silhouettes against the already dark sky. The barge swayed slightly, like a boat on a gently undulating sea.
I felt like my soul was splitting in two. One half of me wanted to achieve my destiny, to fulfill the promise to my parents. The other half of me simply wanted to run away with Galin.
My heart was shattering, and I had to get ahold of myself. Gods, it would have been easier without this bond, without the Norns entwining our souls. It was easier when I had simply wanted him dead. Now, I had no idea what to make of myself. The North Star was supposed to kill Galin, to avenge our people. Without that, what was I?
I didn’t want to let Wyrd dictate my life the way he let it. I wasn’t like Galin—a relic from another time, a royal. He came from a time of living gods, of mysticism and awe. I’d grown up scrounging for scraps, living in caves and eating mushrooms.
We made our own fates in the caverns, and I intended for it to stay that way. Fuck the soul bond.
When you were born to be a king, of course you believed in fate. You believed you inherited a throne and a crown because the gods had decreed it must be so, not because you came from a long line of tyrants who took what they wanted. But what had Wyrd ever done for people like me?
I gripped the freezing railing, my palms sticking to it.
I didn’t know what I would do now. All I knew was that I would write the story of my own life—not the Norns, and not Wyrd.
Chapter 19
Galin
I slammed the door to my quarters and summoned a bit of magic to lock it behind me. I stalked toward my desk, muttering, “Finnask,” to uncloak my hidden spell books.
My body burned with fury. I was being played, and I had a good guess as to who might be playing me.
Whatever had happened reeked of Revna’s influence. Had she come to my room disguised as Ali? I shuddered to think