“I’m sure you’re right.” But he didn’t sound like he believed it. Not that it mattered, because Eira had no doubts she’d eventually be proven correct.
“What can you tell us about the Pillars’ operations?” Olivin’s focus wasn’t anywhere near Solaris. Though silently Eira admitted his persistence was the right call. Whatever was the true fate of the Solaris family would be revealed in time. And if Vi was an ally in hiding, that would be seen when the moment was right, Eira was certain. For now, their focus needed to remain on the Pillars and getting to Meru.
“I’m not sure how much will be useful, but I’ll tell you all I know…” Fritz braced himself, gripping the edge of the bed.
He told them of the Pillars’ infiltration of Risen—their swift and overwhelming rise to power. How there were only three choices for those in the city: death, captivity (which usually led to death), or joining the Pillars’ crazed faith. And he spoke of the armor Allun had mentioned. Fritz didn’t know the truth of it, but he did describe a “golden haze” that the armor surrounded Ulvarth in—from hidden runes, Eira suspected—and how the armor made him basically invincible. Combined with what her parents had said about it, Eira was glad she had the pistol.
The moment Fritz finished telling them all he’d seen and overheard, Olivin began peppering him with questions. They were shot faster than flashfires. Repetitive. Each faster than the last. Fritz worked to keep up, but eventually his answers began circling themselves.
“You honestly expect us to believe that’s all you know?” Olivin finally snapped.
“I’m telling you it is.” Fritz hung his head with a sigh. “Believe me or don’t. That’s up to you.”
“You were with them for weeks.”
“Rotting in a cell!” The exclamation came out of nowhere. Eira had never seen her uncle’s brow furrowed so deeply, eyes so rife with pain. “If you want those answers so badly, why don’t you go and get captured by them?”
“My brother was.” Olivin’s tone became harder and more dangerous.
“Which means you know nothing then.” Fritz narrowed his eyes, Eira had never seen her uncle have this much rage before.
“How dare you,” Olivin snarled.
“How dare you ask me about my time as their captive so callously.”
“If you were captured to begin with and didn’t go willingly.” Olivin’s words were as sharp as a dagger’s edge.
“That’s enough.” Eira might not be the captain of the vessel they were on, but she wastheircaptain. Their leader. And her tone ensured that would not be questioned. “He’s told us all he knows.”
She locked eyes with Olivin. He made a noise of disgust in the back of his throat, shook his head, and practically threw Cullen aside to storm out the door. Ducot took advantage of the opening and followed behind. Eira glared after them, but her gaze instantly softened when it was drawn to her uncle’s as he looked to her with pain.
“I swear it, Eira. I’m telling you all I know. I would never have gone with them willingly.”
In that moment, he had become the child. He appeared scared and broken. A younger man who had endured the worst of the world’s horrors and then some. Who had watched a madking rise to power once before and was now forced to watch that ascension happen all over again.
“I know you are; just as I know that you never would be one of them.” She reached over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him in for a tight embrace. The mug clattered to the floor, forgotten. Eira could feel him trembling in her embrace. “You’re safe now.” She told him what she’d needed to hear so desperately the moment she’d escaped the Pillars and silently chided herself that it had taken this long for that phrase to be uttered.
Fritz drew a shaky breath as Eira felt Alyss moving behind her, sliding off the bed. “Thank you.” A bitter chuckle. “Though, I’m not sure how…given that I’m on theStormfrostand a captive of Adela.”
“About that…” Eira rubbed the back of her neck as they pulled apart, searching for the words.
“We’ll leave you both to it.” Alyss pulled Cullen out the door, closing it quickly behind them. Eira heard the message loud and clear: it was time for her and her uncle to talk.
“You’re not the only one who was taken captive following the coliseum, though it worked out much better for me.” Eira folded and unfolded her hands as though she could repeat the motion until it undid the knot in her throat.
His hand entered her sight, resting lightly over her thumbs. The movement drew her attention to him.
“I’m glad it did.” Sincerity shone in his eyes. Out of everything that he had endured, why did her being all right make him look like he wanted to weep? And how did it make tears threaten her own eyes? “Don’t look so guilty.” He laughed, as if he could read her mind. “Just because I suffered doesn’t mean I would’ve wanted you too as well.”
“I know. I simply…wish you didn’t have to. I wish I’d been strong enough to defeat Ulvarth before he ever became thismuch of a problem.” Eira’s fingers balled into fists underneath his.
“You don’t have to shoulder the weight of the world. It’s not your responsibility,” he tried to reassure her.
Eira slowly shook her head, bringing her eyes to his. The burning behind her lids was gone, and with it the tears she hadn’t let fall. The knot in her throat hadn’t yet unraveled. “Whether it is or isn’t—should or shouldn’t be—it doesn’t matter, Uncle. Iwantit to be my responsibility.”
“Eira…” he whispered sadly, losing the words briefly before finding them once more. “You don’t have to do this. You can come home.”
Home. There was that word again. The same word her parents had used. The word that had only just begun to reclaim meaning for her.
