13
We bury Cassian that night. Welsian found the perfect place—a clearing high behind the Royal Residence. It’s surrounded on one side by trees but clear on the other, allowing a full view of all of Erador and its vast mountains. Their custom is to conduct funerals at night under the moon. They don’t lay ribbons over the coffin like elves do, but they do mourn in silence. Like elves, gargoyles believe there are no words to lessen the pain of losing someone.
A second coffin rests near Cassian’s. It contains the former King’s wing bones. Howl had kept the bones as an act of aggression after burning the King’s body. The bones hum and buzz in my ears like they did in the mines, but now I recognize the sound as a trigger.
While I stand at the head of Cassian’s coffin, my tiara glows as my Queen’s heart responds to the King’s bones, an ancient recognition of royal blood between them and me. It vibrates through me for a final moment before the sensation eases and the bones fall silent.
It conveyed one last message: I must protect the gargoyles.
Baelen stands one step behind me. He has been true to his promise to stay close but not in a way that invades my space. He spent most of the afternoon working with Arlo to reunite the remaining children with their families. I’m both sad and relieved that only a few children remain who have no family left, but the Priestesses are mothering them to the full. A handful of the gray-haired females cluster at the side of the clearing now. They remind me of my Storm Command, dressed in stormy gray dresses. They are older, grandmotherly females, but the air tingles around them: a remnant of the deep magic they once wielded. Talia is the only Priestess who can command it now.
All of the clan leaders are here too, including Senturi. There is no point trying to keep Senturi in the dark about Grayson Glory’s threat, so I took him aside at a quiet moment and told him everything.
As I place my hand on Cassian’s coffin where it’s elevated on top of two rocks, I’m glad I don’t have to speak. I can feel whatever I need to feel. Cassian was complicated. The first time I met him he was trying to capture Talia and he really didn’t make a good impression on me. Then Cassian was sent to keep an eye on me in the mines. He certainly did that. But over time he changed—so slowly that I didn’t notice until his transformation was complete. Then he was my friend and ally, a protective force in my life.
I clutch his bone lash, holding it close. Welsian retrieved it from the battle. He told me that it’s my choice whether to keep it or bury it with Cassian: neither choice is wrong.
I clip it to my belt in front of the watching gargoyles. It’s the only signal they need. Four big gargoyles step forward to lower both coffins into the ground.
Then every other gargoyle in the clearing rises off the ground, soaring in a swarm high up above our heads. It’s an imposing sight. The males’ wings absorb the moon’s light, darkening the sky, while the females’ catch the light like diamonds. They swoop low over the coffins, one last flight for Cassian and the fallen King. Then they soar away into the night.
I wait quietly for the four gargoyles to finish their work. Then they, too, rise up and fly away.
Baelen wraps his arms around me, a comforting presence, and kisses the back of my head. He whispers, “You haven’t told me.”
It’s true. I haven’t told him anything about Cassian. I start to speak and then I can’t stop, the words tumbling out of me. I tell Baelen everything, even the parts he won’t like. I turn to make sure I’m facing him. I can’t hide from any of it. He rockets through all the emotions: fury, fear, gratitude, fury again. Well, mostly fury, especially about the naked bits. And even more so about the part where I climbed into Cassian’s bed. I don’t leave anything out, none of what Cassian said or did.
When all of the words have broken out of me, Baelen says, “He never touched you.”
“No, never like that.”
He wants to be furious at Cassian. I can tell he does. He paces beside the fresh mound of earth that covers Cassian’s grave. But there’s an element of respect in the way Baelen contemplates the fresh earth. Cassian was honorable, respectful of me, and that in turn deserves acknowledgement from one male to another.
My voice breaks. “He loved me, Baelen. He knew I couldn’t return his love.”
Baelen doesn’t seem to know what emotion to feel: torn, angry, sad, but then… he crosses the distance, brushes the tears from my cheeks, and gathers me into his arms. “I’m not sorry you couldn’t, baby.”
A breeze grows beneath my feet. Baelen’s storm power springs into life, lifting me away from the graves. The growing wind plucks at my clothing. Other than the fight with the guards, he’s barely used his power. A whole lot more of it simmers beneath the surface. He lifts me above the gravesite, carrying me far above Erador, so high that I imagine I can see the border on the distant horizon.
He says, “This is your country. This is what you’re protecting now.”
Beneath us, a thousand cerulean-blue lights glitter, each one a gargoyle home.
His body heat increases to counteract the cold air, but I stop him. “Let me try.”
I’ve been practicing using my Prime power and it’s time to test it out. I close my eyes and focus on the golden stone resting against my forehead, the opposite force to my Incorruptible power. Heat washes through me in a rush, from the top of my head to my toes, so fast I gasp. A pocket of warm air builds around me. In response, Baelen’s grip relaxes, releasing me to float a little higher.
My eyes shoot open. “Don’t drop me.”
He laughs. “Never. Remember, I won’t let you fall. But… baby… you’re doing this on your own.”
He’s not holding me at all. I consider the force around myself, sensing the freezing temperature of the air outside my warm bubble—my Incorruptible power is making it colder out there, which in turn makes me float. “Well. Okay then.”
He takes my hand and leads me down through the air. As we approach the ground, a lone figure beside the Crimson Court catches my attention. I swerve in that direction, tugging Baelen’s hand.
“That’s Indira. But I don’t see Erit.”
“Do you want me to give you a minute?”
