“Jun?”
Theshadows of the rain on the window continued to stream down his face, almost hiding his tears.Hishand shook against mine, but something lit in his eyes.SomethingIhad only ever seen in mine—anger.
Wherehad that boyIknew so well gone?Theone who had simply smiled shyly at his bullies and tried to avoid conflict.Theone who would sing me to sleep in the garden, soothing my bruises from all the fightsIhad gotten into to defendhim.
Now, he wouldn’t sing; that beautiful music from his heart was wreathed in shadow.
“Theyall knewTori.Everylast fae noble inKoronknew whatHadeonwas doing to me, what he would do.Butthey didn’t care.Everylast one of them treats anyone they deem lesser as slaves, as chattel.Lifehas no value to them.Ididn’t understand why you hated them inNiata.Butnow…Isee.”
Hisdark gaze finally fell on me. “Iflife has so little meaning to them, perhaps they don’t deserve theirs.”
“Theyaren’t all like that.”Thewords surprised me.Iknew that it was true.LadyBogata,LadyLovinia, and all the othersIsaw caring for the people ofXyr.Iwanted him to see it, too.Iwanted his kind heart to win out over the pain that strangled it.
“Doesthe kindness of a few excuse the wickedness of the many?”
“Idon’t know.”
Westood in silence for some time, the only sound was the rain pelting the glass of the window, mirroring the tears on my cheeks.Ihad failed to protectJun, and the angerIalways protected myself in clung to him.Ididn’t know if he could survive it.
Mymind drifted, trying to protect itself from those dark thoughts.Itdrifted toAbraxasagain, alone and almost dead in that cave.Iwondered if the forest there would talk to him like they had inTenebrae, a comfort in the darkness.
Mywhole body stiffened.
“Whatis it?”Junasked.
“Iknow whatIhave to do.”
Chapter 23
Tori
Ientered the war room, and it was in chaos.Thecommanders were all bickering with each other.Avlynwas especially heated in a discussion withCommanderTalius.Ilistened for a few moments.
“Wecannot accept this offer.Hewould never hold to it.”Avlyngestured frantically to something that lay on the table.Iapproached, andTaliusturned to me, annoyance flashing in his eyes before he turned back toAvlyn.
“Weare stretched thin as it is.Wemay not be able to stop a direct attack on the city.Thiscould save thousands of lives.”
Avlynhuffed, andIsaw a scroll laid out across the table.Theimperial seal was stamped at the bottom.
“What—”
“Hadeonwants us to surrender.Ifwe surrenderXyr, surrender the whole damn kingdom, he says he will spare our citizens.”Avlyncrossed their arms. “I’drather die first.”
“Andyou may just get your wish,Commander.Youremember what happened last time,”Taliusretorted.
“Hadeonwill never spare the kingdom.Hewon’t uphold this bargain,”Iinterjected.
Taliusturned to me with nothing but disdain in his voice. “I’msorry; what is she doing here?”
“PrincessToriis here to—”Avlynstarted, butTaliusraised a hand.
“Iwould hope she can speak for herself.”Heturned to me with nothing friendly in his gaze.
“Talius,Irespect your desire to protect the citizens of this kingdom.Thatis my desire as well.Butyou cannot believe thatHadeonwill stay his hand.Hedoesn’t care about anything but maintaining his power.Anythingthat threatens that, he destroys.”
“Oh?So, what would you have us do,PrincessTori?Stand, fight, and all die slaughtered on theGoldenArmy’sblades?”Taliusbore down on me, butIdid not yield.
“Doyou think so little of your own army?Wehave the advantage, andXyris not defenseless.Ifwe can prepare for an assault, we could hold out.”
