“Girls?”
“Yes?” Delphie turns back.
“If the storm begins again … Well, whenever you should see the Golden Rose, tell her … tell her not to be angry with me, all right? And tell her, thank you. For knowing me as I now know myself.”
Delphia nods, then looks toward Kairyn. “Hey, Ez?”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t be afraid to make a big move,” she says and flashes me Dayton’s signature grin.
“But do it logically,” Nori adds.
I nod and offer them a genuine smile. They turn and follow Mozi into the desert. I watch until the three figures become silhouettes.
Now, there’s nothing else left to do. I go and face my brother.
Kairyn doesn’t notice me as I take my first steps onto the bridge; his helm is tilted skyward, and I know he’s focusing everything on the sandstorm.
Against my better judgment, I cast a look over the side of the bridge. The canyon plummets down thousands of feet, so far that the bottom is hidden by darkness. I wonder if it goes all the way to the Below.
I know the moment Kairyn sees me because the world goes silent. The wind dies instantly. The sand stills. The desert doesn’t even dare to breathe.
The morning light bathes Kairyn in a fiery halo. He stands rigid, his long shadow stretching before him. The token of the Queen hangs on a chain around his neck.
“Here we are, brother. Together at the end of the world.” His voice booms over the expanse.
I say nothing.
“You know it has to be like this, don’t you, brother? Alone in the darkness, you’d feel me, wouldn’t you, as I feel you? A constant reminder that while one of us lives, the other must suffer.” His words descend into a raspy growl. He touches the wooden token that hangs over his chest plate. A light flashes, materializing into a war hammer, one of the Queen’s weapons: the Hammer of Hope.
“Even after I made you pay for your crimes, after I banished you, destroyed you in battle, you still continue to vex me!” Kairynhauls the hammer over his shoulder, then brings it down, smashing a huge chunk of sandstone out of the railing. “You haunt my soldiers through the desert, disrupt my affairs, and steal the nobles I mean to make prisoner! Ever since we were children, I could never do anything well enough for you, could I? You always had to challenge me!” With another roar, he smashes the other side of the bridge.
I stay still, silent.
Kairyn stalks closer, light glinting off his hammer as he brings it down once again on the stone in front of him. “Is this what you wanted me to turn into, brother? Is this what you wanted to make me?”
My chest is heavy with grief at his words. “It’s not too late, Kairyn. I’m not here to fight with you. I’m here to offer you a second chance. You don’t have to side with Sira. We can fix this. Together.”
A half-laugh, half-cry tears out of him. “How dare you speak to me of such notions? You failed me, just as you failed Mother. As you failed Father!”
I take in a deep breath. Feel the steadiness of my feet on the stone, the warmth of the sun on my skin. “I know I have, Kai. I am so sorry.”
Kairyn staggers back, hammer crunching against the stone as it drags. “Stop. It’s too late. I have nothing but what they give me.”
“That’s not true. You are a son of Spring, not of the Below. You have our people, our home. You have the beauty of the Vale and …” Unconsciously, I reach up and touch the ragged points of my ears. The storm that once swelled in my breast stays quiet. “And you have your brother’s love.”
Kairyn shakes his head back and forth. “There is no path to peace while both of us live. You couldn’t kill me, yet you won’t die!”
I close my eyes. So, this is how it will be. I only hope I can give Delphia and Nori enough time.
“Draw your blade,” Kairyn says. “Draw it and let us see this through.”
“I won’t fight you.”
“Then this will be the end of you, brother,” Kairyn says sadly. “I will mourn you.”
My brother attacks.
