I emerge around the curtain. All three men look at me with similar pained expressions.
“She needs help.” I state the obvious.
Twino nods. “They do have some supplies here, and talented Arcanists who have already taken a look at her and are working on a strengthening draught.”
“I’ve seen their ‘supplies.’ She needs real help,” I say flatly. Gregor’s eyes dart to the opening of the room with a slightly worried expression. I just shrug. I hardly care if someone overhears.
“At least she’s alive,” Ren says softly, almost trailing off. I hear what he doesn’t say:unlike Jura.
I look to Gregor, and he hears my unspoken question, giving a slight nod. He told them.
“I’m sorry about…” I sit heavily on the floor by the lantern, the words too much. The day too much. Every part of my body hurts, but nothing more than my heart. “Jura saved my life. She took the others out with her—there’s no way they could’ve survived. I wanted…There wasn’t time to…She didn’t…”
I can’t find the words. What can I say to them? What can I offer when her final words were for me to run, and I did—I left her to die in agony like a fucking coward?
Twino eases himself down next to me. He has a long, thin board he’s using as a makeshift cane. I can only imagine the pain he’s in after today.
“It was a good death,” he says quietly, staring into the lantern. “She died to save a friend. I hope when my time comes, someone can say something half as kind about me.”
“It’s not as though any of us are dying comfortably in our beds,surrounded by family, at a ripe old age.” Gregor lands heavily on the other side of the lantern.
Ren says nothing as he sits next to Twino, their sides pressed against each other. He rests his temple on his partner’s shoulder.
I struggle to think of something comforting to say that might ease the grief. But words fail me.Just like I failed them…
“Wish we had some mint tea,” Ren says softly. “Jura always loved it most before bed.”
That simple sentiment has tears pricking at my eyes. I inhale a slow, shuddering breath. If I break now, the tears will come, and they won’t stop.
I can remember the little balcony gardens Ren kept for Jura’s cooking overflowing with mint. The aroma of the tea that she’d place on my nightstand when I was up too late reading or inking, Arina snoring softly beside me. Our little home in the lofts and attics above the Starcrossed Club.
Safety. Family. Gone—no,destroyed,all thanks to one man.
“We’ll find some.” The words crack. I barely manage to get them out. “We’ll mourn her properly.”
“At least we’re together still,” Gregor says, though the optimism is hollow. “What’s left of us.”
The words hang heavy with the weight of all we’ve lost. Bristara’s wisdom and guidance. Jura’s warm nature, her laughter that could fill a home. Arina’s spirit…
“How did you all manage to get into Halazar to break me out?” I ask, shifting the topic slightly so I don’t suffocate underneath it all. “And thank you, by the way.”
“You’re more than welcome,” Twino says. “As for the how…Kaelis came to us.”
“There’s a story there,” I prompt.
He chuckles softly. “We were planning to try to get to you. Thanks to Ravin’s parading you through the streets, we knew you’d been taken back to Halazar, and we knew we couldn’t leave you there…if you were still alive.”
“Glad you are, and it wasn’t all for nothing,” Ren adds.
“So we stole a boat,” Twino continues.
“Jura was confident she could navigate the currents in complete darkness. We were planning to go at the next new moon,” Gregor adds. “But the enforcers discovered the missing vessel faster than expected. They were on our trail, led by someone new.”
“Emilia,” I finish. The heir to Clan Tower being assigned a leadership role immediately upon graduation by the heir to the throne is fitting.
Ren nods. “We thought we were done for. We had nowhere to go, no safe haven. Then Kaelis showed up.”
“Thought he was going to be our demise. But…I was wrong. He was the one to save us.” Gregor does not sound pleased about this, despite it meaning he survived the whole ordeal.
