Kingdom of Ash

would do, would be enough. Even if she saved
Terrasen, saved Erilea, she’d still need to give
more, do more. The weight of it already
crushed her.
“Cairn,” Maeve said.
Strolling footsteps sounded nearby.
Scuffing on stone.
Tremors shook her, uncontrollable and
unsummoned. She knew that gait, knew—
Cairn’s hateful, sneering face appeared
beside Maeve’s, the two of them studying her.
“How shall we start, Majesty?”
He’d spoken the words to her already. They
had done this dance so many times.
Bile coated her throat. She couldn’t stop
shaking. She knew what he’d do, how he’d
begin. Would never stop feeling it, the
whisper of the pain.
Cairn ran a hand over the rim of the coffin.
“I broke some part of you, didn’t I?”