AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Robert and Albert took care of things initially, allowing Henri and Gervaise to take heads from behind," I said. "I was never involved." Gavin, arms crossed tightly over his chest, wasn't convinced.
"There's something else," Erland said. "You must come back to the palace with us immediately."
"What is it?" I turned to him. Erland looked worried.
"Lissy, your dad and stepmother are at the palace, and your stepmother is about to have a meltdown," Tony said. "That's the only reason we started looking for you, and we had to ask Reemagar to track you down since you went AWOL and we couldn't find you."
"Oh, lord, what's wrong?" I asked, beginning to get shivery and sick to my stomach.
"You must come, little mate," Connegar said. "It concerns your brother."
"Oh, no," I muttered, too terrified to Look.
"Kiarra, Adam, Merrill, Pheligar, Flavio and Kyler have also come, and Cleo is on her way with Rhett and Harvel, I think," Winkler added. Well, this was looking worse by the minute.
"Let's go," I said, trying to keep the quaver from my voice. "Robert, Albert, thank you. Same to you, Henri and Gervaise." I wanted them to know how much I appreciated their help. I think the Larentii folded us back to the palace. I nearly breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Wyatt in Amara's arms, but that relief was a bit premature. Wylend folded in and he wasn't happy, I could tell that right away.
"What the blazes do you mean, his immortality has been removed?" Wylend thundered. Oh, dear God.
"Belen handed out punishment for Griffin's premeditated mistreatment of Roff and Toff," Kiarra was at my side immediately.
"There is only one way out of this," Belen appeared in a flash of light. He had everybody's attention immediately. Thurlow had slipped in, and I hadn't seen him enter the room in a conventional way. Using a bit of his power, now, I suspected.
"And what is that?" Wylend forced himself to be respectful to Belen. Belen was the one who'd removed his heir's immortality, after all.
"Lissa has the power to restore Wyatt's immortality or allow the sentence to go forward," Belen said. "If the sentence is allowed to stand, Wyatt will either have to earn his immortality or die after a normal lifespan. If an accident does not take him first."
I was looking from my father to Amara to Belen. Griffin refused to meet my gaze; Amara's dark eyes were begging me silently for a reprieve. "Get Roff for me, please," I sighed. A few minutes passed while Winkler went to fetch Roff.
"Roff, honey," I said when he came to stand beside me, "I need your help. Belen here removed Wyatt's immortality, as Griffin's punishment for taking your memories and for setting Toff up to be kidnapped. Belen says I have the power to restore Wyatt's immortality, if I want. Otherwise, he'll either have to earn the immortality back or die as he normally would."
Roff was now staring at Griffin, his face set. He was learning that his memories had been deliberately removed, rather than having lost them after the attempts on his life. "You took away the memories of my children, and my love for Lissa," Roff rustled his wings. He was beautiful and angry at the same moment.
"I have no excuse," Griffin muttered. He wasn't able to look at Roff. Amara wept and Wyatt began to snuffle.
"My anger is directed at you, father of Lissa. You have not treated your child well at all. Have you?" Roff was coming into his own—I hadn't failed to see it these past few weeks. Amara sobbed. "I have no anger for your mate, or your youngest child," Roff went on. "And it appears that they stand to be harmed the most by this. If Lissa wishes, I will not stop her from reversing the judgment." Roff had gone to stand in front of Griffin, handing my father a hard stare.
"Whatever she decides, Griffin," Merrill spoke up, "our relationship as it was is at an end." I blinked at Merrill—he was handing out a judgment of his own, it appeared. His handsome face was set and he was angry. "I thought of you as a brother for so long. Thought you were providing assistance or favors because you cared for me in that way. I see now it was all a lie." Merrill disappeared in a blink.
The silence that came after Merrill's announcement was profound. Griffin hung his head—I knew he truly thought of Merrill as a brother and somehow, he'd managed to f**k that up, too.
"Well, then," I said. "Well." I glanced at Thurlow, who stood against a back wall. Rigo had come in quietly and now leaned against a wall nearby. Garde, Shadow and Kifirin had also come. "Before I give my decision, I want to talk about pain," I sighed, turning back to Griffin. "Pain we inflict on others or they inflict on us, intentionally or not. I think all of us here have had a little of that, from time to time. Some more than others."
I focused for a moment on my nieces, Cleo and Kyler. Kyler nodded slightly, as did Cleo. "I think I can speak for my nieces as well as myself, regarding this matter," I went on. "Whenever I've seen a child suffer, after suffering myself, well, I always wanted to take that suffering away. Speaking from experience, I know just how devastating it can be. When I was small and lying in my bed at night, in pain after being beaten by a jealous, sadistic man, I wished that someone would come and take me away from him. My mother was too weak and frightened to do it, so she and I both suffered. Griffin," I turned to my father. He looked up at me, finally.
"Do not make me regret doing this. Bear in mind that I'm doing this mostly for Wyatt and Amara. Least of all for you. Even though you've walked away from me, taken from me and mistreated those I love, you are still my father and I can't bear to see you suffer." I dropped my corporeal body and gathered power around me, pulling it in until I was shining too brightly even for my overly large ballroom to contain. I loosed my power, then, giving Wyatt back what had been taken away. I could have been vindictive and made Griffin suffer for his interference. I'd had enough of suffering, I think. I was learning, too. Griffin might not be able to blindside me again. Ever.
Amara was still crying, but these were tears of joy, now. Griffin had the oddest look on his face but no words, for either Roff or me. "Honey, let's get out of here," I took Roff's hand and folded away.
* * *
"Brother, your daughter is better than you," Jeral informed Griffin and folded away.
"My heir is immortal again?" Wylend wanted to make sure and attempted to lift Wyatt from Amara's arms. She allowed it. Wylend checked the baby over himself, grunting with satisfaction after a few moments.
