Crowntide by Alex Aster - 2

Grim Malvere had never known pain like this in his long life.

He stood alone at the edge of the maze, staring within its depths as if he could will Isla to emerge. Even when she had died, died in his arms, at least that agony had been useful. There was a way to revive her. An ancient, sacred, dangerous way of sharing life and power.

But now?

He didn’t even know where to start. He was completely lost without her.

His portaling flair had always felt like a curse and a blessing. It was the reason all his siblings were dead. It was also his only escape from the role that had suffocated him for centuries.

Until her .

She was a breath of spring in the middle of winter. She was a guiding star in his dark sky, the axis on which his world turned.

And now . . . now, he didn’t even know if she was alive.

No . He banished that thought. If she was dead, he would feel it. Right? He would be dead too. They shared a lifeline . . .

They shared a very soul . When they were together, he couldn’t tell where hers ended and his began. They were one in every way.

She was alive. She had to be.

Only that faith—in her, in the persistence of them —kept him grounded in this endless sea of agony. The belief that one day, they would be together again.

“Nothing in this universe can keep me from you,” Grim said to the night sky. He hoped, wherever she was, she could hear him. “I will rip down the constellations themselves to see you again.”

Then he portaled to the table in his winter castle, where Oro was waiting. His clothes were still bloodied, but he had healed his broken nose. Washed his face. Grim hadn’t bothered healing anything, and he didn’t miss how the Sunling frowned at the bruise he could still feel blossoming around his eye.

If his father knew the king of Lightlark would one day be sitting here, he would have killed Grim himself.

But Grim didn’t give a damn. Not when Isla’s life was hanging in the balance.

Oro’s irritating friends walked in a moment later. The redhead with the fiery wings. The thief he’d had the displeasure of spending far too much time with recently. The hulking Moonling who listened more than he spoke. He, at least, wasn’t as annoying as the rest. Astria, his general, entered the room last. They all sat down—and looked to Grim.

“So?” Oro said, from the other end of the table. “How do we go there? How do we bring her back?”

Grim fought the urge to turn him to ash. Isla wouldn’t like that. And the king wouldn’t be much help as a pile of cinders, would he?

In a voice ground from the pit of his aggravation, he said, very carefully, “Do you think if I knew that, I would be sitting here, across from all of you? Do you think I would be doing anything else but going to get her?”

The redhead carelessly leaned back in a chair that was easily twice her age. “Your flair is portaling. Shouldn’t you know?”

His shadows’ edges sharpened, clawing against the floor.

“The portal is closed. The only other one is on Lightlark, and though I have no problem using it and destroying all of you, I know my wife would.” He didn’t miss the Sunling flinching at the word wife . Good. Flinch, Sunling . He looked directly at Oro when he said the next words. “I can feel her. The bond between us.” The Sunling glared at him. He knew that Grim had bound himself to her in order to revive her. He should be grateful . He wouldn’t even have known her if it wasn’t for him.

And that was one of Grim’s greatest regrets. Ever giving her the chance to love Oro. He blamed only himself for everything that happened after he had erased her memories. He had thought that he was helping her, but he had really taken away her choice. And even though she had forgiven him, he would never forgive himself.

“She’s a guiding star to the otherworld, then,” the thief, Zed, said. “Your . . . bond . . . is a map to her.”

Grim nodded. If he could only follow that thread across the universe to her. He had tried, of course, the moment he left the maze. But his portaling ability wasn’t strong enough. And Isla had taken the knowledge of how to create and close portals with her.

Grim sensed a flare of impatience from Oro, bright against the agonizing grief that echoed his own emotions. Oro seemed to understand that of course Grim had already tried to portal to her. His brows came together. “Your flair is our best shot at getting to her. So how do we amplify your power?”

Grim still wanted to kill the Sunling, but at least he wasn’t a complete idiot.

He shook his head. He didn’t have an answer.

Oro gripped the side of the table in frustration. “There isn’t anything here? Any relic? Anything like the heart of Lightlark?”

There was something—not that it would be much use to them. “Well, there is a stone. More powerful than anything else in this world . . . including your heart of Lightlark.”

Oro blinked. He clearly didn’t know what Grim was talking about.

Grim sighed. “According to myth, it’s the most powerful object in this universe, and even Cronan couldn’t claim it. Many of my other ancestors tried, over the centuries. My father included.” He frowned, picturing his father toward the end of his life, so frail that he could hardly keep himself upright on his throne. “The stone rejected him, cursing him instead.”

“Where is it?” Oro demanded, his words clipped and serious.

Grim leaned back in his chair. “It was on an island north of here, called Atlas.”

Enya’s fiery eyes narrowed. “Why did you say was ?”

“Because I claimed it.”

Silence. Grim could feel the emotions in the room eddying together—flashes of surprise, of concern . . . of hope, from Oro.

“And where is it now?” Zed finally said, the words spilling out of him, tinged in irritation.

Grim’s eyes met Oro’s as he said, very slowly, “Around her neck.”

The Sunling’s jaw tensed. His hope withered into a flash of hurt.

Zed’s hands slammed against the stone table. “You mean to tell me, the most powerful person we know of took the most powerful item in our world . . . into another world?”

His wife was certainly the strongest person in their history—possibly in the universe. She was the first to have access to all six realms’ powers. She was the ruler of both Wildling and Starling. Through Oro’s love bond, she had access to Sunling, Skyling, and Moonling abilities as well. Through Grim’s, she had access to Nightshade. Not that she needed it. Her own father was Nightshade. It was in her blood.

And with so much power had come so much pain. His wife had killed many, many people. She hadn’t had centuries to master her gifts. Not like the rest of them had.

It was part of why she left, he knew. The otherworld was rumored to be a place where the dead could be brought back as they once were. She wanted to reverse her mistakes. To right so many wrongs.

In a moment, Grim was overtaken with regret. He should have done more to comfort her after she had accidentally killed everyone in that village. Maybe . . . maybe she wouldn’t have left, if—

The irritating Skyling was speaking again. “Let me get this straight. You claimed the most powerful object in the universe . . . and put it around her neck? What were you thinking?” Zed asked, looking a breath from breaking what was left of the windows.

Slowly, Grim turned to him. “I was thinking that the most important person in the entire universe should wear it.”

Zed shook his head slowly before running his hands over his pale face and saying, “We’re so fucked.”