The Shadow Throne by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Author:Jennifer A. Nielsen
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2013-12-06T16:00:00+00:00

Long after Tobias and Amarinda had gone to sleep, I sat awake near the fire, exhausted but unable to sleep. While my fingers brushed over the single coin in my pocket, I watched the flames dance along the wood, and the smoke swirl into the air in whatever direction the wind sent it. What must it feel like, I wondered, to be something that drifts in one way or another, with no will of its own. From my earliest years, I had always been the very opposite of that, endlessly compelled to fight against whatever force seemed to push at me, even when it was for my own good. Such a fool I could be. I vowed to try to change that part of myself. But only on the condition that the rest of the world stopped trying to make me change it.

After some time of letting me be alone, Mott came to sit beside the fire as well. He nodded at Tobias and Amarinda, and in a hushed tone said, “That was a noble thing you did earlier tonight. I would’ve expected more anger from you.”

“Why? They did nothing wrong, and deserve their happiness.”

“You didn’t feel that way earlier tonight.”

“No, but I do now.” I turned to face him so he could see my sincerity. “They should be happy. They have a long life ahead.”

“So should you, Jaron.”

I snorted softly. The odds of that weren’t exactly in my favor.

But Mott only said, “If she were here, Imogen would tell you the same thing.”

When I closed my eyes, her face came to my mind, as it always did, in the moment her fingers caressed my hair. More than once while in Vargan’s prison, I had dreamed about her, that we were together somewhere in the afterlife and I was begging her forgiveness for my mistakes. And though the details of the dreams had receded from my mind like waves from a beach, I remained certain that she had made her peace with me.

When I opened my eyes again, I looked back at Mott and said, “I think she loved me.”

“Of course she did.”

“Why couldn’t I see that before?”

“You always knew it. But you had the princess, your duty to the betrothal.”

“That I did.” I sighed and gazed into the fire again. “Villains and plots and enemies are simple things to me. But friendships are complicated, and love is harder still. It has wounded me deeper than a sword ever could.”

“If you hurt deeply, then it means you love deeply too. Love is a powerful thing, Jaron. In the end, love will help you win this war.”

I chuckled. “That’d be a fine new strategy, I think. When the enemy wields a sword against me, I’ll simply express my love for them. They’ll be so shocked, they’ll collapse on the spot and the victory will be mine.”

“I daresay you will be the first to claim victory that way.” His soft laughter dimmed when he saw I had grown serious. He added, “Tomorrow we will rejoin the war.

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