"They're not all traitors."
I let go of the wall and my stomach, and held out my hands. “Okay. So. . .who are the other people burning outside our fucking window?”
He didn't answer.
"Kenji?" My hands shook at my sides. "Who else is in that fire?"
"Some of the traitors' families."
No.
The room spun. I grabbed for the wall again, missed, and stumbled back. My vision went white at the edges and I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't. . .
Families. He burned their families, and I’d been the one to help him do it.
Panic crashed inside my chest. "Children?"
"No." His voice was firm. "Never children, Tora."
The relief lasted half a second before the horror rushed back in.
"Then who?"
"Spouses. Some parents."
“Parents?”
“Yes.”
“Their h-husbands or w-wives?”
“Yes.”
“Burning because of what they did. . .”
“Of course, Tora.”
I'm going to be sick again.
And I didn’t want to be weak or soft. I wanted to be a fucking beast and push through this.
A tremor ran down my spine, ice cold, like I'd been plunged into a winter river.
No. Get your shit together. We’re not going to lose it right now.
I clenched my jaw so tightly I thought my teeth would shatter.
Kenji watched me with that calm dragon mask of his, and his silence roared louder than his words ever could.
Through the swirling nausea, my mind spun with the images of the pyre. A wave of dizziness washed over me. I stumbled, my heartbeat pounding in my ears.
“Tora,” His voice was softer now, but I didn’t want soft, I wanted answers.
“Just give me a minute.” I closed my eyes, hoping to shut out the world, the fire, the burning bodies, Kenji. My fingers brushed across the rough stone wall, grounding me. I took a deep, shaky breath, feeling the chilled air fill my lungs to the brim.
It tasted like ashes.
I opened my eyes, and saw that the dragon-shadow had closed in his wings. Yet, the dark beast still watched.
