The way Lord Jophiel looked at him after Cassiel had nearly burned his brother alive had been one of fear.
Cassiel had been so caught up in righting wrongs and not allowing anyone to step on him anymore that he became the one who stepped on others.
Go on, Cassiel,Malakel had told him.Show them who you are.
And he certainly had.
Cassiel wrapped his arms around his knees and dropped his head over them. Like Kahssiel,he had good intentions when he came to this world. He only wanted to do right, and to love who he was meant to love. But he had been deceived and lost too much. Was he wrong to try to prevent that from happening again?
This had all been for Dyna, and she put an end to it. Easily. Flawlessly.
He had often wondered why one Celestial would be given a True Bond while others weren’t. It hadn’t made sense to him before. What was the purpose of splitting a soul in two?Elyonworked in mysterious ways, and not everything could beunderstood.
But he understood one thing.
The one to control your flame is not you.
They had been fused like steel, but he cut himself in half.
Half a man. Half a soul. Half a heart.
Without her to fill those places, what else could he become but a monster?
The tread of soft footfalls interrupted his thoughts, and shadows moved across the wall. He looked up at the tiny window with sudden hope.
“Little Prince.”
Disappointment settled in the pit of Cassiel’s stomach. “Sowmya.”
Of course, it wasn’ther. Dyna didn’t want to see him. She could barely stand looking at him.
“How are you?”
“Well, I am trapped in a cage, Lieutenant. How do you suppose I am?” He narrowed his eyes at Sowmya’s silence. “It was you, wasn’t it? Your meddling brought Dyna to Nazar. You deliberately disobeyed a direct order. I commanded you to never show yourself.”
Sowmya sighed. “You also commanded me to protect your mate at all costs, sire. It came to the point that exposing my presence required that.”
There was something in her tone that made Cassiel pause. “Explain.”
Taking a seat beside the small window, Sowmya told him of all she had witnessed while watching over Dyna since he left. Her nightmares. Her long, brutal days of training. Her spiral into depression and use of Witch’s Brew. He felt sick as he silently listened to every danger she put herself in, from jumping through the Druid’s portal to nearly getting herself killed on Tarn’s ship.
“When did she break the compulsion?” Cassiel murmured.
“That very night.”
He shut his eyes. Three months of living without each other, and neither of them had been spared the agony. He left so she could live, but Dyna hadn’t been living. She had been merely existing.
Like him.
He did this to them.
How could he possibly think it was right?
Cassiel dropped his head against the wall. He didn’t save her.
“I have been sent to ask if you have had enough time here,” Sowmya said.
Enough time to decide if he would let his uncle go. Cassiel didn’t know if Lord Jophiel was innocent, but Dyna was right. Sentencing required a trial. Honestly, he didn’t have it in him to argue anymore.
