“No! No!” Rosalina screams, scraping at his arms like a wildcat.
“For Ezryn,” Kel breathes.
She looks to me, and there’s betrayal in her eyes. Not for the same reason my people are betrayed. Because I’m not fighting.
But this is how it has to be. I never took responsibility for our mother’s death. I must now, and fate has deemed it be on this public stage. The world will know me as I have always known myself.
Kai leans down, knocking his helm against my own. “They all expect that I’ll kill you, brother. The people. Our father. Your family.” He looks down. “I suspect even you think that is my plan.”
“Then do it.”
“Isn’t that the tragedy of it all?” There’s a sadness in his voice. “It would be a mercy to kill you. It would rid me of so many insufferable problems. And yet, I find even now, I cannot do it. I cannot bring myself to end your life.”
“I never wished to bring you sorrow, Kairyn.”
“Yet that’s all you’ve done. Mother and Father’s favorite. The perfect son. The flawless leader. Then to take her away from me…” His voice cracks, and for a moment, I can picture the child’s face behind the mask. “You should have killed me during the Rite. At least then my soul would have redemption.”
“Is it too late for us?” I whisper. “Perhaps we can seek redemption together—”
Kairyn laughs, a joyless sound. “There is no place that will shelter me for the things I have done. I suppose we are one and the same, aren’t we? Except you’re on your knees, and I am on a throne.”
“Kai—”
My brother stands and looks to the crowd. “For the murder of High Princess Isidora and the breaking of his creed, I depose Ezryn, son of Thalionor, of his title of High Prince. I order Spring’s Blessing to be passed to the next in line.” His breath sounds like rolling thunder. “Me.”
“Are you crazy?” Farron cries from the side of the dais. “You haven’t been prepared to take the Blessing! It could kill him! It could kill you!”
I force myself to my feet. “Brother, don’t do this. Our magic is not used to being merged. It will be too much—”
“I’m not you,” Kairyn says. “I will not bow to the magic as you did.”
“Then kill me,” I urge. “It will pass naturally. It is safer—”
Kairyn turns. “I already told you. I cannot do that. So, you will pass the Blessing to me. Now. Either I will get this power, or it will claim us both.”
All hope drains from my body. I turn to Kel. “Take her away.”
Kel’s eyes blaze with ice. Rosalina is still clutched in his arms. “Ez, don’t do this!”
“You can’t trust him!” Dayton cries, slamming his fist on the wooden dais.
But there’s nothing left.
I have received my sentence.
I have lost my honor.
I am not fit to be High Prince. By all rights, it must go to Kairyn.
A guard releases my bonds and I lay my hands on Kairyn’s chest. “Protect our realm.”
Kairyn only nods.
I have never been taught how to pass the incredible power of Spring on to another person, but there is an ancient knowledge that lurks within the magic. The Blessing itself seems to protest, clawing at the inside of my chest. But I force it outward. It doesn’t belong to me anymore, shouldn’t belong to me.
It needs to go to someone who can protect Spring.
My brother, for all his faults, will see this done. He has already safeguarded the mountain villages and proved himself a valuable leader to the acolytes. While the other High Princes may disapprove, they will offer their guidance. I pray my brother can fulfill the role of a great ruler for Spring that I was never able to embody.
