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It should have been a joyful reunion. In fact, it had been, for a while. Shanis had awakened in a small room inside the house of healing to the sight of her father seated on one side of her bed and Larris on the other. She had cried more tears than she cared to admit, but she blamed it on fatigue and the death of Granlor. To her relief, Heztus and Gillen had been rescued by Oskar’s friends, Dacio and Naseeb, and had suffered only minor injuries.
Over the next hour, while Hyda forced a series of bitter restorative potions down her throat, she enjoyed the company of her old friends. Hierm was now a father, and Oskar was barely recognizable with his seeker robe and a lovely girl seemingly attached at his hip. Allyn was still Allyn—dry and sarcastic.
And then there was Larris. The young prince refused to leave her side and he kept gazing at her so intently that she finally had to threaten him in order to get him to stop.
It had been delightful for as long as it lasted.
Now she sat clinging to Larris’ hand as Aspin and Oskar explained to her that she must die.
That wasn’t exactly the words they used, but it was a simple conclusion to draw.
“The Silver Serpent was not made as a weapon to fight the Ice King,” Aspin explained. “It was in fact made to defend us against the gods.”
“I don’t understand,” Shanis said.
“The wars between the gods nearly destroyed Gameryah. The gods didn’t care how many mere mortals they trampled underfoot as they did battle. Finally, the nations came upon a solution.” Aspen paused, cleared his throat, and glanced at Larris before continuing. “There is no greater power than sacrifice. The gods feed upon it.”
“Doesn’t sacrifice add to a god’s power? That is how Karst and his followers brought the Ice King back, is it not?” Shanis asked.
“Yes and no. The taking of a life in the name of a god gives that god power. How much depends upon the person who was sacrificed. The greater, the nobler, the more faithful the sacrifice, the more powerful, but a sacrifice made willingly is the most powerful of all.”
Shanis’ throat clenched. The meaning was clear. She squeezed Larris’ hand tighter.
“There is an ancient magic,” Oskar said, taking up the explanation. “The greatest sacrifice of all is that of a king or queen. That person is a god’s paramount subject. None stands higher. Therefore, no power can match the willing sacrifice of royalty.” He shifted uncomfortably and looked down at his hands. “The rulers of every nation of Gameryah gathered together and, one by one, willingly gave their lives, and in the moment of their deaths they turned that power, the greatest power there is, against their gods.” Tears welled in his eyes and he turned away.
“The Silver Serpent is not a weapon. It is a prison.” Aspin looked into her eyes and she saw deep sorrow there. “It has power because the gods are trapped inside it.”
“So that is why I can use it to heal. It’s not merely a vessel of life force, but a source of magic, since magic comes from the gods.” The pieces were beginning to fall into place. “And that is why I can do things without knowing what I’m doing or how to do it. The gods are reaching through the sword and touching my mind, taking hold of it.”
Aspin nodded.
“Then she should be able to defeat the Ice King with it,” Larris said. “The power of all the gods combined is greater than that of the Ice King. It has to be.”
“It isn’t strong enough,” Shanis said. “It wasn’t enough to destroy him during the first Frostmarch, and today I fought a mere shadow and nearly died.”
Aspin sighed. The seeker looked wearier than she had ever seen him. “It seems the gods can only touch the world in a limited way. Look at the way their absence affected things. Magic and sorcery are mere shadows of what they were when the gods walked the earth.”
“Then we must destroy the sword.” Larris let go of her hand and rose. “It’s the only way to bring the full power of the gods to bear against the Ice King.”
“No.” Shanis’ mouth was so dry, her throat so tight with fear, that she was surprised she was able to speak. “A battle between the gods and the Ice King would destroy the world. Besides, you know what the prophecy says. ‘The ultimate sacrifice or eternal winter.’ What greater sacrifice could there be than the bearer of the Silver Serpent?” She was proud that she managed not to choke on the words though every part of her body resisted.
“The snows take your prophecy!” Larris clenched his fists, looking as if he were about to fall upon Aspin. “A few lines in a single book that Oskar found tucked away on a shelf. How do we know that the writer even knew what he was talking about?”
“It all fits,” Aspin said softly. “I am sorry.”
Shanis took Larris’ hand. “Remember when this all started? Lerryn thought he could bend the prophecy to his will, but you knew otherwise. No matter what any of us did, the prophecy took control and things happened the way they were intended to. How long did that book sit on a shelf waiting to be discovered yet it was overlooked until the time of the Frostmarch? Oskar found it exactly when he was supposed to.”
“I won’t let you do it,” Larris said through a curtain of unshed tears.
Shanis pushed back the threadbare blanket that lay over her legs and climbed to her feet. Oskar and Aspin politely looked away as she wrapped her arms around Larris and laid her head on his shoulder.
“There is no other way,” she whispered.
Larris stood ramrod straight, and then his resolve broke. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “But what if you’re wrong?” he choked, the tears flowing freely.
“The prophecy won’t let it happen any way other than how it is intended. There’s still hope.” After a long moment, she drew away from him. “Who else knows about this?”
“Allyn, Hierm, Lizzie, Lerryn, Hair, Edrin, and your father,” Oskar said.
“Papa knows?”
“He thinks we should destroy the sword. They all do,” Oskar said.
“Then what that’s what we shall tell them we intend to do. No one else needs to know the real plan. They might try to stop me.”
“I think...” Oskar broke off, tears streaming down his face. He looked at her and nodded.
“That is the wise course,” Aspin finished.
The Silver Serpent stood in the corner. Shanis picked it up and slung it over her shoulder. “We should do it right away.”
“Now?” Larris asked. “Shouldn’t you at least wait until morning?”
“They will attack again before morning. The sooner we bring this to an end the more lives we will save. Now, everyone wipe their eyes and put on a brave face.”
Oskar mopped his eyes, took a moment to straighten his robes and stood. “We will give you two a moment alone,” he said.
When the door had closed behind Oskar and Aspin, Larris seized her by the wrists. “Marry me first,” he said.
“What?”
“Marry me right now, before we go. We’ll find someone to do the ceremony.” He hurried on. “I’m a prince and now you’re a queen. That’s what was stopping us before.”
She reached out and brushed her fingers across his cheek. If she had ever known pain before it was nothing like what she felt now. The one thing she wanted, above all else, was within her grasp and she could not seize it.
“I will not leave you a widower. I know what it did to my father and I won’t do it to you.” She knew it would spare him no pain. If the shoe were on the other foot, her grief would be no less than if they were married, but it was all she could give him.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you.” They stood there gazing into one another’s eyes until she knew that if she didn’t do it now, she never would. “You should probably stay here. I don’t want you to see me...”
He gently pressed his finger to her lips. “I will stay with you until the very end.”