“Not if we can still help.” Kestra looked over at her father. As if he understood what she wanted, he walked away only to return a moment later with a large piece of the shattered white disk. The piece was no longer than his thumb, but Kestra seemed satisfied with it.
I knew right away what that disk was—it must have been the same one that restored life to Kestra. She was offering its use to Harlyn.
But just as Kestra took it, Harlyn coughed and moved one hand. Gabe pressed her fingers to his lips, tears streaming down his cheeks. He nodded at Kestra with something that looked like true respect, then picked up Harlyn and began to carry her from the throne room.
He paused when he passed me and said, “I was wrong about Kestra. She has a warrior’s heart, but a soul within her that you may take a lifetime to deserve.”
“I know that.” I nodded at him. “Harlyn may need a day or two to recover, but I think she’ll be fine. Rawk will take you both back to Woodcourt if you want.”
Gabe chuckled. “We’ll take the normal way to Woodcourt. You and Kestra can use that fire-breathing bird for a victory flight over all of Antora.”
“Maybe we will.” Though this certainly didn’t feel like a victory. I smiled over at Kestra. She couldn’t possibly know everything I was thinking, but she smiled back. Even so, a sadness remained in her eyes. I wondered if that would ever leave.
Gabe left, gradually accompanied by most of those who had fought in here. Basil walked up beside me, staring down at Joth’s body. “I can’t believe it’s over,” he mumbled.
“We couldn’t have done it without you and your soldiers,” I replied.
Basil smiled. “Remember that when we meet again as rulers of neighboring countries.”
“When we meet again as friends,” I said.
My attention shifted to Joth; Loelle knelt beside him, holding his hand. For the last few minutes, she had been trying to heal him, but every effort had failed, as I suspected it would. Most of the time, Loelle could keep a person from death, but she could not restore life.
Loelle appealed to Kestra, who had joined me by then. “Surely there is something of magic left in you, even a whisper.”
Kestra gently shook her head. “There isn’t, Loelle. I’m so very sorry.”
Loelle wiped away a tear as she stared down at her son. “He was a good person, the kind of young man a prince should be. He cared deeply for the Navan like a father would, and even the Halderian half-lives as if they were his own. When you connected your powers, it introduced corruption to him in a way he couldn’t possibly have been prepared for. I don’t think he knew how to fight it.”
“I did that to him,” Kestra replied.
“But it was me who gave you the magic,” Loelle said. “And it’s because of me that the corruption grew within you so quickly. I didn’t anticipate any of this happening. It’s not your fault, child; it’s mine.”
Kestra locked eyes with me, but this time there was a purpose to them that I didn’t entirely understand. Then she glanced down at the shattered piece of white disk in her hands, and I knew exactly what she was thinking.
Kestra limped over to Loelle and held out the shard of broken disk. “You must leave Antora. You and all the Navan, if any remain.”
From deeper inside the room, Trina said, “Reddengrad might be willing to discuss terms for bringing you into their borders.”
Basil gave me a wry smile. “Trina and I are still discussing the terms of her coming to Reddengrad and she’s already inviting guests?”
I chuckled, but ahead of us, Loelle nodded. “We will leave Antora. That is more than fair.”
Loelle took the disk, and Kestra said, “Place this in the wound at his shoulder, with every intent of bringing him back.”
Loelle’s mouth opened in disbelief. “After all we’ve done, you’d do this for us?”
Kestra only smiled. “You’d better hurry.”
She wiped tears off her cheeks, closed her eyes, and inserted the piece into Joth’s wound. A full minute passed in which nothing happened; then he suddenly cried out, attempting to reach for the disk.
I knelt across from Loelle, grabbing Joth’s hands unt
il Loelle whispered assurances that he would be all right. He looked at me, and his eyes widened. “You’re here to kill me.”
“That was already taken care of,” I said. “But you must be still now.”
Kestra knelt beside me and asked, “Is the corruption gone? Is the magic gone?”