"So let me get this straight…" Alaric said slowly, trying to process it. "Your magic is killing you."
"Exactly," Queen Seraphira answered.
"My body and my power are no longer balanced, one is overshadowing the other. This flesh is only a vessel, and when the vessel is damaged, not even the most powerful—"
"—can survive," Alaric finished, finally grasping the gravity of it.
Lila added, stepping in with restrained urgency, "Her Majesty would not be in this condition if Baron had not sabotaged her. She already shares a life force with him, and when he siphoned her power the last time, he placed unbearable strain on her body. That was what triggered all of this."
"And yet," Asher said flatly, "he still walks freely."
"Baron and I share a life force," the Queen snapped. "You cannot suggest I kill him."
