“Hecan.”
Almost unconsciously, Bastion took a deep breath.Now that it had been pointed out, he could feel the subtle Yvri magic enveloping him.It held the nostalgia of late nights playing cards with Endre, and the relief of falling into bed after a hard day’s work.He couldn’t decide if this was genius or irresponsible.
Then, something drew Bastion’s attention, making him completely forget Minato.Something he couldn’t describe–a featherlight caress on his mind–and he knew, without seeing her, that Ulla had entered the room.
Bastion turned, chest tight.
When she materialized from the throng, his breath caught.Without sunlight to illuminate her, she looked like a shard of night sky come to life.
Her eyes caught on him.
A wide, white grin full of fang split Ulla’s face.He hadn’t thought she could be any more beautiful, but with a smile, she was absolutely devastating.A wild, ridiculous desire flared to life inside him.He wanted nothing more than to make her smile like that again and again and again.
He rose and pulled out a chair.Maybe it was the music relaxing him, lowering his inhibitions, but he didn’t try to hide his awe, or the hunger he felt.Mild embarrassment had accompanied him away from their conversation that morning, and he’d done everything to keep from dwelling on her.Besides, daydreaming was a distraction that got soldiers killed.
The sight of her made him think she was worth the risk.
She held his gaze, a sparkle in her eyes as she sat in a hiss of satin.Captivated, Bastion sank down beside her.
He would have gawked at her all night if a heavy hand hadn’t landed on his shoulder.Trepidation flooded him, like a sudden downpour, breaking his enchantment.Bastion looked up at Nesrin.Outwardly, she was as calm and collected as ever.His eyes shifted to the jittery guard behind her.
“Come with me,” she said, her voice deadly quiet.With her eyes on Rowan, she turned to the guard.“Stay with him, please.”
Bastion’s stomach plummeted.
He knew that tone.That posture.
Ulla stood first, a sudden grimness to her countenance.Bastion followed, his mouth sour and his stomach knotted.
They followed Nesrin out of the Great Hall, away from its warmth and community, ascending stone steps that grew colder and colder.The slap of her heels had the same doomed echo as a cell door creaking closed.They emerged onto the battlements gilded in the last light of the day.
In the bay below, three ships were silhouetted against the amber sea.
Halfway down the ramparts, Captain Hywell peered through a spyglass, his mouth flattened in a severe line.Without saying a word, he handed Nesrin the spyglass.Whatever she saw made her jaw clench and her throat bob.She gave Bastion a searching look and offered him the spyglass, too.
He lifted it to his eye.It only took a moment for him to find the source of their disquiet.
A body.Hanging from the yard.
Ulla put a hand on his arm and stifled a gasp, as if she had looked through the spyglass herself.
“Who is it?”Nesrin asked, her voice tight.
Bastion choked out one word.
“Haddrick.”
Chapter 15
The ships sat there, still as driftwood.
The only movement was the dropping of anchors and the furling of sails.Then nothing.Dark crucifixes against a twilight sky that faded to darkness.
Bastion stared at the silhouette of Haddrick’s body until he couldn’t see it anymore.
You failed.You failed.You failed.
He hadn’t just failed Haddrick.He’d failed Rowan.Hollowness returned, and his stomach curdled at the prospect of telling the boy he would never see his father again.Bastion had vomited after his first few battles, his mind and body rejecting the carnage around him and the hand he’d had in it.
