George fixes his gaze on me, but I look away. There’s nothing to say.
“Dayton?” George turns to him.
“Kairyn is right,” Dayton mumbles. “We’re worse than Sira’s monsters.”
Silence fills the chamber, sharp and acrid. I welcome it, this discomfort. It is what we deserve?—
Slam!George thumps his coffee cup down so hard on the workbench, it sloshes everywhere. “Now, this is quite enough! It is not becoming of three members of royalty to be so disparaging when so many others are rising to face hardship greater than we can imagine.”
All three of us are on edge by his sudden movement, too shocked to reply.
His eyes crinkle, his gaze softening. “Look, boys. I’ve done terrible things in my life. Things that will haunt me until my last breath. Do you know what kind of monster I saw in the mirror, sitting alone in my cabin in Orca Cove after my daughter sacrificed herself for me? I saw a man who abandoned his child. And there is no greater shame than that.”
He rises to his feet, circling us, his presence heavy, his voice steady. One by one, he meets our eyes, holding us there.
“But do you see me whinging in the dark? Well, yes, but only because I’m stuck withyou three.” A flicker of humor, gone as quickly as it came. “No. I made peace with my evils. I faced them. I looked into the eyes of those I hurt andapologized. And then I spent every damned day trying to live in a way that would make my daughter proud.”
He stops, turning to us fully.
“Now it’s your turn. Stand up and wipe the blood off your pride. You think you’ve lost everything? No. You still have a choice. Make the right one.”
I realize I haven’t blinked in minutes. I give my head a shake, the weight of the helm comforting.
Kairyn lets out a slow exhale and runs a hand through his hair, across his horns. “You make it sound so damn simple,” he mutters, voice quiet but edged with something sharp. “Like we just decide to be better, and suddenly we are.” His crimson gaze flicks to George. “What if it’s not enough?”
There’s something raw in his voice, as if he’s afraid to believe in the possibility George offers. Hope is dangerous. Hope can break a man worse than defeat ever could.
“It’s not simple, Kai. And it’s never enough.” He lets the words settle, heavy between us. “Nothing you do will change what’s already been done. No apology, no grand gesture, no amount of regret will rewrite the past. But that’s not the point.”
He gestures at all of us.
“You don’t do it because it erases the wrongs. You do it because it’s right. And because if you don’t, you’ll wake up one day and realize you’ve let the worst parts of yourself win.”
He grabs Kairyn’s hand and squeezes it.
“Spring is the season of rebirth. For new beginnings. It’s never too late.”
My brother doesn’t respond but looks to where George clasps his hand. Then he puts his own over it and gives a terse nod.
Magic shimmers in the air, and we turn to the entrance of Draconhold to see the golden wolf. Moonlight illuminates the pearly shells and coral laced in his fur as well as the leather bag strapped to his powerful back.
“Where are you going, Dayton?” I call.
“To Autumn,” the wolf responds. “George is right. Neither Farron nor I can change what happened. If this is our fate, then I would weather it together.”
A smile breaks across George’s face. “Run! Run like the summer’s wind!”
Kairyn, George, and I move to the entranceway to watch Dayton lope away from the forge and out of the city proper. Silence falls over us when he disappears from view, but it’s not the sharp quiet of earlier. It is the contentment of hope.
“And you, Ezryn?” George asks. “What will you do?”
I cast my gaze across Florendel to where Keep Hammergarden sits, surrounded by cherry blossom trees. “I suppose it’s time I walk the Hall of Vernalion once more.”
“Oh good.” George turns. “Because I’ve been to the keep and told Tilla to prepare for your coronation.”
19
Rosalina
