Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,197

called upon her fire. All at once, the dragons turned on the crowd, sending flames scorching through them.

I screamed as bedlam ensued, bodies melted to ashes that drifted over the crowd. People were on fire and ran all around us, but the dragon’s flames spread far and wide. The king and queen watched, their eyes slowly taking in the damage as the men beside them held true, never flinching or recoiling from the massacre unfolding in front of them.

“Why aren’t Knox and the queen stopping the dragons?” I demanded, watching a child run from a dragon. It flew at her, ceasing its flames to capture her, throwing her into the air as another dragon shot flames toward her.

“Because as the High Queen of the Nine Realms, you ordered it,” Karter whispered, his eyes filling with tears. “You do this because the power you hold is unstable, and your grief fuels your rage. Norvalla took a sister from you, so you unleashed hell to ensure no other tried to do the same. They made you into a monster, and without the ability to stabilize the power and magic within you, this is what happens.”

“No,” I snorted. “The dark witches are trying to make me into a monster. They’re mistaken. They’ll stop once they realize I already have a monster within me. This is a slaughter with no justification.”

“They murder one of your sisters in front of you, ripping her limbs and head from her body. Tell me you wouldn’t crave revenge, Aria Hecate.”

“Not like this,” I stated, watching the dragons return to ash, raining onto the flames still sizzling on the ground.

The future version of me turned, her eyes sliding through the chaos. Blades shot forward from her hands as she smiled at the Knox and his queen, severing their heads from their necks. Bile rushed through me, and I shook my head at their deaths.

“I would never do that,” I whispered vehemently.

“But you do,” Karter exhaled. “Now that you’ve seen one path, let us see what your other future could be.”

“All the little peeks into the future, provided by an elemental, are random and never make sense.”

“Says the woman who just tore the fuck out of the largest alpha the Nine Realms ever created while getting her body’s needs fulfilled, many times, I might add.”

“There are some things you all could skip eavesdropping,” I grunted, placing my hand into his before the world spun out of control around us.

I stared at the Palace of Vãkya, watching another version of me holding my swollen belly before turning at the sound of laughter. My sisters moved around me, slowly dancing as music played from flutes and other instruments. My eyes filled with tears, slipping to my rounded belly as Aden stepped forward, kissing it. Rising, his pretty eyes held mine as he leaned forward to place a soft kiss onto my forehead.

All around us, people celebrated, yet my heart ached at watching Aden with me. I stepped closer, listening as he assured me I was beautiful in my last stage of pregnancy, even though I was larger than the palace. My eyes scanned the crowd, praying to see Knox within the people who celebrated.

“He isn’t here,” Karter stated, knowing who I was hoping to find. “In this version, neither of you chooses the other.”

“But I am having a child,” I swallowed, turning to look at Karter. “I never get what I want in these fucking things, do I?”

“You choose the realms, as it was what they created you to do.”

“What about me? What about what I want?” I asked and blinked as I realized I wanted a child with Knox. I wanted a life with him. It slammed into me, and my eyes grew large and round.

“You can’t have it all, Aria. No one can. You either become the evil you saw and wage war on the Nine Realms or choose to live. Knox cannot heal unless he has help, and you can’t do that while healing the damage this world has endured.”

“What if I fight the war with him?” I asked, noting that Karter flinched.

“Then, you both die, and he finds his eternal sleep to meet his previous wife.”

My eyes narrowed at Karter’s words, sliding to the scene unfolding before me. I appeared happy, yet my eyes didn’t reflect it. I looked—settled. My heart squeezed, and I nodded. Fuck that and fuck their reality. I’d make my own.

We reappeared in the dome, and Karter smiled while watching me. His head tilted,