Her Cinder Throne (Completed)

Chapter 96

Thijs marched to his side, fury in his face, but it wasn't for Cole. He glared at Bastian, the anger so strong that it shook his muscles. He grabbed Bastian's shadowy throat, ignoring the tendrils of darkness that snaked over his fingers. He shook it, his teeth gritted and his face hot and red. "You will obey me. Kill her and give me the Sparkstone." When Bastian stood motionless under Thijs' grip, the king shoved him backward and released his chokehold. "Finally be a man and do what needs to be done. I took the weakness out of you, so that you would finally have the guts to obey me and be a worthy king. So. Do. What. I. Say."

Cole struggled to her feet, facing the king and prince. "Bastian," she said. "I saw you with your mother. You were tender. Loving. You tried to help the servant girl when she broke the teacup. You tried to help me." She fought back the tears. "You've got the scars on your back that prove that you are not who your father wants you to be. Don't let him bully you into being him."

Even though he was just a shadowy mass, Bastian still looked uncertain. He stood, almost as if caught between one room and the next, not knowing which to enter... which door to take. His father glared at him.

"You're going to kill her and give me the Sparkstone," Thijs said, his voice low and dangerous. "No matter if you help me or not, she will die. And if you refuse to be the one to do it, your mother will no longer be safe in her exile."

Bastian's shadowy head jerked up at this.

Cole, his voice echoed in her head. I need your help.

She bit her lip, not sure what to do. "Why should I help?" she asked.

Thijs glanced at her, eyebrows drawing together in angry confusion. "What are you talking about?" he spit out.

Because I helped you. I showed you where Baerghast's room was. Where the crystal was. I helped you find my father.

Cole froze, thinking back to the way Baerghast's door had mysteriously opened on its own, just when they were looking for it. Had Bastian really been helping them? Showing them where to go with his magic? It made things difficult, but it also made the most sense.

"Are you still in there?" she asked, ignoring Thijs who was growing increasingly more agitated as it slowly dawned on him that a conversation was taking place that he could not hear. "Are you Bastian? Or the monster Thijs created?"

Both. Neither. The heart and dagger... they whisper in my head until they turn to shouts. I don't know which thoughts are mine and which are not.

Thijs marched back up to his son, grabbing his neck once more and pushing down, trying to force Bastian to his knees. "Stop! Whatever you are doing, stop! You are the prince of this nation, so act like it!" he roared, the veins popping in his neck and arms as he tried to overcome Bastian. "She is the enemy. Destroy her or I will destroy you and your mother without even a twitch of remorse." He had lowered his voice again, and Cole knew that this was the tone he had used to control Bastian all these long years. It was almost calm, but it held so much in its timbres. It was pure rage and hatred and disgust, and the only way to get away from that glaring concoction was to do what Thijs said.

Cole adjusted her grip on her ax, readying herself for when Bastian would surge toward her. She summoned up her flames with her Sparkstone, her muscles tensing, waiting for his attack. Tears threatened her eyes, but she forced them deep down into her stomach.

Thijs raised his hand, letting it come down with a shocking slap on Bastian's shadowy face. The darkness swirled around, like mist when a rock was thrown into it, but the sound was still a stinging echo as if it had been flesh and blood Thijs hit. With one more shake, Thijs finally let go of his son and then turned to point at Cole, as if Bastian no longer even deserved words. Again, like a dog, he was to take his orders and perform them with no resistance.

Cole took a step back, wishing she had had the presence of mind to pick up some more weapons before Bastian attacked. She had her Sparkstone, but her body was wearing down, and the thought of too much more magic made her queasy.

Bastian slowly straightened himself, his featureless face swinging toward her. He slowly rose off the ground, hovering in place, before inching toward her. His monsters snapped behind him, but he did not seem to order them toward her. He was going to fight her himself. Cole didn't know whether to be relieved or mournful.

It took only a few seconds before Bastian hovered just in front of her, his feet a few inches off the ground. The dark tendrils of black mist wrapped around her, licking her skin like cool breezes. She stiffened, but couldn't bring herself to give the first blow.

Even though she could no longer see his eyes through the darkness surrounding him, she still somehow knew he was staring into hers. Then, his head shifted down, and his gaze directed at the dagger sticking out of his chest.

This is the source of my power. The others were made because they held their own magic in their veins, or Gethwine found other magical items, he said.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Because removing it will remove my connection to the monsters and their dark powers.

"Are you telling me to do that?"

He didn't answer her, only slowly looked up and nodded.

Fear burst in her veins as she processed this. She could easily reach out and rip the dagger from his heart, ending Thijs' biggest weapon and leaving the king open to attack. It would be so easy to avenge all the deaths caused by Bastian's hands on the battlefields. This would solve it all, and it was as easy as reaching out and pulling.

But she also could not help but remember Tanwyn's words in the forest, after their first fight with Bastian. The prince was bound, body and soul. His heart was entwined with the monster's, and the dagger was what kept him together. If she removed it, he would unravel and come undone. And she had no idea what that would actually mean.

Please. Cole. Don't hesitate. I'm already too tired to fight off the darkness much longer. It wants the Sparkstone. It... it wantssss it so much. It is ouuuuurssss. Ourrrrr masssster.

His face looked in the direction of her cufflette, where the Sparkstone glowed as it kept up the flames around her. He didn't seem bothered by them, and in fact he seemed as if he was being drawn in, moving slowly closer. 

"I can't. Bastian. I can't kill you," she whispered as burning hot tears spilled from her eyes, only to evaporate in the heat of her flames.

Givvvveeee us our maaaaaster. Giiiiiivvveeee!

He shook his head, jerking backward a step.

"Please. Cole," he said, using his real voice. It was a shock to hear it again. It brought back so many memories, and the feeling of having lost a future that might have been. Cole gasped with a sob, shaking her head.

"No! I don't want to be the one to kill you!"

The sound of his breath now came, harsh and jagged. Cole hadn't realized until now that it had been missing.

"This dagger is already yours," he said, his hand slowly moving up to grip the hilt. It moved jerkily, as if he was fighting someone for control over his fingers and arm. "I know you came to my castle to kill me with it. You just have to finish the job. Do what you were already going to do."

Cole stared in terror, unable to move except to shake her head vigorously and choke on the lump in her throat.

He touched down to the ground again, taking a step closer to her, so they were inches from each other. He reached down, taking her hand in his, and bringing it up to the dagger. His fingers curled around hers, as if they were both holding the hilt now.

"You have to do this, to stop him," he whispered, and she wished so much that she could see his eyes. She sucked in a shaky breath, trying to stop her shivers as she tightened her grip on the handle of the dagger sticking out of his chest. Everything in her screamed not to do this, but she knew she had to. Thijs would only use him for more and more evil, and that would be a fate far worse than death.