Sun Queen

♛ Thirty-Five ♛

It's like a jolt sparks through my body and I grow still. "What is it?" I start to feel my breath quicken, "What's wrong?"

The Darkling continues to wipe my head, slower and more compassionate this time. "Will you promise to let me finish speaking before you do anything?"

I push his arm away and struggle to pull myself up. The fever only thinly covers my body and though I burn, I have enough energy to sit up and look the Darkling in the eyes. "I promise, just tell me what's wrong."

The Darkling puts the rag on the table and clasps his hands at the edge of the bed. The action only makes me more nervous. "Ever since you got this new power, it's been hard for you to hold it in, correct?"

I nod my head slowly with confusion.

"With so much power coursing through you after the most recent Sun Summoner death and no outlet to release it, an amplifier can have an extremely negative effect on you as your body struggles to handle the sudden surge of power."

My head grows dizzy, but not from the fever. This can't be happening, what the Darkling was going to say, it had to be a lie. My chest thrums with panting, panicked breaths.

He kept his eyes directly on mine when he said, "Mal's amplifying ability has a negative effect on you, which manifested in the form of a fever."

I tear off the sheets, the fabric felt like it was made of fire. I blink quickly as my eyes grow blurry and wet, tears hanging off my eyelashes. "B-But Mal isn't an amplifier anymore!"

The Darkling takes a small step back, "He wasn't. But...."

"What did you do?" I whisper, my voice so small and quiet as the waves of anger roll off me.

The Darkling's face hardens, "I had David test his amplifier resurrection theory on Mal. We sacrificed the life of a Grisha to bring back his amplifying ability, which now we know works. Mal had no idea we did this."

I sputter out words, I can't believe this.

No, actually I can believe this. This is exactly what the Darkling would do.

"So what? I can't even be near him?" I say, my voice growing increasingly in volume.

The Darkling shakes his head, "No, you can't. Which makes him a dangerous target for those who want to hurt you. But I can't kill him since it would start the amplifying prophecy again."

"So I've had him removed."

No

He can't mean

I scramble for the Darkling's hands, holding them in my own as I plead for myself to be wrong. "What did you do?"

The Darkling pulls gently out of my small hands and he takes a few steps back from the bed. I listen desperately as the tears roll down. "He's being taken offshore onto another ship right now. From there they will take him to a secure prison where he may live out the rest of his life. Once he dies of natural causes, the threat of the amplifier prophecy will be gone."

"NO!" I scream and jump for him, toppling off the bed. The Darkling moves to grab me but I push him away viciously.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" I shout at him, stumbling backwards. My chest lights with fever now and I can feel my legs straining to hold me up. "NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HAD LEFT ME ALONE!" I raise my arms to put distance between us when he tries to step towards me.

"I can't even hold my fiancé." I cry softly into the silent room. It doesn't matter that I officially broke up our engagement, he was always still my fiancé.