A Thousand Heartbeats

I went to the only place that mattered: the library. Lennox had the key, but I needed that book, so, one way or another, I’d get it. When this was all over, if the incoming army overpowered the palace guards, they should have the truth about Lennox’s position. And if they were defeated, I would need something to justify my decision to hand over the kingdom.

I was feeling dizzy. Too much had happened in too short a time, and I felt certain that for all my efforts, I was losing too much blood. Still. I pressed on.

Queens do not faint.

I went to the door, opening it slowly. Rhett’s feelings for me had apparently run deeper than I’d thought. Maybe deeper than he thought, too. He’d made his peace with me marrying someone else; he wasn’t going to stand for me loving someone else.

No amount of stealth was going to help me; I opened the door, and Rhett was there, almost exactly as I’d left him when the battle started.

“Have you done nothing?” I demanded. “The palace has been breached!”

“That guard. He’s Lennox, isn’t he?” he guessed, not bothering to acknowledge my question. “After you were kidnapped, you talked about him with an air of timidity. Not anger exactly, but concern. But then, after the Island, everything about your speech changed. There was almost a hint of longing . . .” He scoffed. “Why didn’t you ever have that for me?”

“Rhett, I don’t have time for this. We’re in the middle of a war.” I pointed past him. “If anyone is going to live, I have to get those books.”

He sighed, looking me up and down. “You’re going to take that pig and give him those books, aren’t you?” His remaining self-control evaporated, and his scream echoed in the library. “Annika, you . . . if you hated Kadier so much, I offered you a way out! I wanted to take you away! I loved you!”

“This isn’t love, Rhett!” I shouted back. “It never was. You wanted me because there was no one else. And I almost believed it was real, too, because I didn’t know any better. But look at what you’re doing now! You’re risking the lives of so many people over this. How could you?”

He crossed his arms, thinking for a minute. It was akin to the way Nickolas had shifted in my bedroom; the Rhett in front of me felt like a stranger.

“You’re right. You’re the one who broke my heart. You’re the one who betrayed your country, your crown. So their lives should be your responsibility, too.” He walked over to his desk, picking up a satchel and looping it over one shoulder. Despite his menacing words, his demeanor was calm, and I felt relieved that he was choosing to simply leave.

But before he did so, he picked up the lamp on his desk, the fire alight, the basin full of oil.

And then he hurled it across the room, squarely hitting the shelves of our history books.

“Rhett!” I screamed in horror, surprised at how quickly the wall was picking up the flames.

“Show your people who you really are, Annika,” he said, his tone low and steady. “Are you going to save our history . . . or his?”

I didn’t even flinch. I ran past Rhett and started hacking at the chained shelves with my sword. It was sharp enough to get through the wood, but the chain was going to have to come with me. I could feel the wound down my ribs protesting as I moved, but I persisted. After a moment, the book and its neighbor were both free, linked by the same chain. I clutched them both, sheathing my sword, and turned, glaring at Rhett as I did so.

I pulled the books to my chest, the chain clinking together as I ran over to the history section. I couldn’t set Lennox’s books down—Rhett might grab them, or an ember might eat them—so I held them in one arm as I attempted to lift the seat off the nearest bench to get to the sand.

The buckets were too heavy for me to pull out with one hand, so I started scooping it out by the handful and tossing it on the flames. It wasn’t enough, and I was so close to the smoke that it was getting harder to breathe.

I was going to lose this battle.

I stood back, unable to stop the tears. All the words. All the stories. All the good and bad that had built us, slowly eaten by fire. My precious Kadier . . . I’m so sorry.

“Why him?” Rhett demanded, suddenly beside me.

“Help me!” I pleaded, coughing from the smoke. “You’ve protected this library with your life; please help me save it!”

“He killed your mother! He’s a monster!”

“Rhett, this might be all we have left by dawn! Help me keep it!”

He did nothing but yell at me. “I have been by your side through everything!”

I sighed, knowing it was useless. “And yet, you have disappointed me the most.”

I went to leave; I couldn’t bother with Rhett now. I needed to find Lennox, to see if I could still save something of this for him.

Rhett grabbed my wrist. “Are you seriously going to him? Now? Are you not going to try to save the books?”

His eyes were wild, and I was so angry that he’d throw such an accusation at me after starting the fire himself and standing by as it grew that I let the books drop, the chain linked around my arm. I pulled back and swung, aiming for his head. The books, as they always had, served me well, and Rhett dropped to the floor.

I stood over him, pulling myself together. “If Kadier is still here tomorrow, you’d better not be. I will have you imprisoned for treason.”

I clutched my books to my aching chest, running for my life, for Lennox’s life, for the lives I thought I stood a chance of saving.

In the hallway, I pressed on until I found four guards. “To the library!” I commanded. “Fire! Put out the fire!”

They ran past me without hesitation, and I moved on, with no idea where I was supposed to go now.