The sheer weight of the magic swells within me, a torrent of raw power coursing through my veins. The air crackles with energy. A connection forges between us, our magic linking like chainmail. As I release the first surge of magic into Kairyn, a searing agony rips through my core. It is as if my very soul is being torn asunder.
I am unraveling, my essence being broken link by link and instead being attached to my brother’s being.
The magic is a maelstrom, an uncontrollable force that threatens to consume me entirely. I cry out and my vision blurs. The world around me fades as I pour everything I am into him.
My brother’s form begins to glow with an ethereal light. I am diminished. The wellspring of my own magic is empty, and I am hollow.
My vision comes back in specks of light. I’m on all fours, breath heavy. Sweat drips out of the bottom of my helm. When I look up, I see Kairyn, radiating like the sun itself.
“I have been reborn,” he calls out. Two green vines crack through the dais, seizing my wrists to my side. Kairyn laughs.
I feel nothing. I know there should be sorrow. Regret. Despair. But I am nothing.
Though two things still linger quietly, hiding beneath my heart. A whimpering beast…
And her.
“It is done,” Kairyn snarls. “I am the new High Prince of Spring.”
Heavy feet thud beside me. Kel lays a hand on my shoulder. I shrink away from his touch. “You’ve gotten what you want, Kairyn. Let us take Ezryn now and leave you with your realm.”
“Address me with my proper respects,High PrinceKeldarion.”
Kel takes a shaky breath. “High Prince Kairyn, we will remove Ezryn from your care now.”
“A thoughtful idea, but one I cannot allow. For my brother’s punishment is not yet complete.” Kairyn pulls my head up by my helm. “My brother is hereby banished from the Spring Realm, never to return.”
The crowd cries out. An aching emptiness shoots through my body. Banished … from my home.
“He will see himself through the gates of Florendel to the outskirts of the city,” Kairyn continues. He turns to Kel. “When he arrives there, you may do with him as you wish. I would recommend not taking him back to Castletree. I am part of that domain now, and everything within the Spring Wing—from its treasures to the staff—belongs to me.”
Now, Dayton and Farron are on my other side. “Enough of your spectacle. We will see him out the gates,” Dayton growls.
“That is not how things are done in Spring,” Kairyn hisses. “Remove yourself from this dais before you dishonor your so-calledbrotheranymore.”
None of them move.
“Go,” I whisper. Still, they do not move. “GO!”
Kel goes first, his eyes filled with pain as he looks back at me. Dayton and Farron follow.
I dare not look at Rosalina.
Kairyn places a hand on my shoulder. “You know what must happen now, big brother. The final punishment for a breaker of creed.”
I close my eyes, my head suddenly so heavy.
“Guards!” Kairyn roars. “Remove his armor!”
There are hands all over me, stripping me of my breastplate, my greaves, my gloves. My beautiful armor is thrown aside across the dais, scuffing against the wood.
I kneel before my brother only in the long-sleeve black shirt and trousers. Ranger’s cloth, nothing more.
And my helm, of course.
My brother places his hands on either side of my helmet. I look up at him and can almost see his eyes peering down at me, so full of resentment. Of sorrow.
“Spring,” he says shakily, “you will now gaze upon the face of the leader who betrayed you. Observe his flesh and witness his shame. Creedbreaker. In the long histories, your name will be reviled. And all who love you shall behold how far you have fallen.”
