Shame should have probably been washing through him, but it wasn’t. He didn’t feel an ounce of regret about having it out with Cethin. Probably shouldn’t have done so in the middle of a sacred forest, but beyond that, no regrets.
Tybalt didn’t seem surprised by that statement, but the obvious disappointment radiating off him still made Razik somehow even more tense. He might not regret his fist meeting Cethin’s face, but Tybalt’s disapproval would always matter, even if he didn’t want it to.
“What else?” Tybalt finally said.
“We were attacked in the middle of the night by more phantoms. Kailia and I defended the company, while the others helped by using her arrowheads. No one was hurt.”
Tybalt finally looked at him, arching a brow.
“No one was injured inthatbattle,” Razik amended begrudgingly.
“I’ve heard how Cethin came to this state, but not your charge?”
Your charge.
The one he was responsible for.
Point taken, uncle.
Because it was that situation that he did feel ashamed about.
“From what I’ve gathered, she was stalking a stag and was attacked.” Razik answered.
“By the phantoms?”
Razik shook his head. “Ariadne, Bram, and Draven went to investigate the scene. We didn’t get much of a chance to take it all in, but they were Avonleyan.”
“You’re sure?”
“As sure as I can be without seeing them closer. More than that, Kailia was covered in burns and what looked like thorn and vine imprints. Not to mention her clothing was soaking wet,” Razik answered. “Leads me to believe Fae or Avonleyan.”
“I’ll wait for Ariadne’s report before coming to that conclusion,” Tybalt said tersely.
Razik once again gnashed his teeth to keep from biting back a retort.
“Niara is unsure which of them will wake first,” he said when the silence stretched on. Which was ridiculous. He relished silence, but not when he was sitting here drowning in his uncle’s disapproval of everything he’d done and said in the last two days. “I understand I could have handled things differently?—”
“Couldhave?” His uncle finally turned to face him fully. “Everything about this should have been handled fucking differently. You are all trained better than this. I trained every godsdamn one of you, but you?—”
He shook his head, turning away from him, and gods, the action shouldn’t make his chest ache like this.
“It was clearly my mistake to place you in this role,” he said, sounding like he was speaking more to himself.
“It wasn’t,” Razik cut in. “You’re right. There’s something off about the entire situation. Abouther.”
“Clearly, based on the fact she’s managed to stab our king multiple times,” Tybalt said. “I obviously haven’t trained any of you as thoroughly as I should have. Something I’ll be taking into account for future training.”
Yep, saw that coming. Brutality was in their future.
“The failings aren’t yours,” Razik replied.
Tybalt turned to him, a brow arching again. “Are you accepting responsibility then?”
Razik steeled his spine, holding his uncle’s stare. “I am. For all of it.”
A glimmer of respect flickered in Tybalt’s eyes, and the relief that rushed through him eased a fraction of the tension in his limbs.
Until Tybalt said, “I’ll review positions and have your replacement figured out by the time you all return to Aimonway.”
