“Don’t,” was all I said.
“Don’t what?” Kaden lifted a single brow. “Admit the truth? Monsters are fine with you as long as it is the right monster, but what’s the difference between Dianna’s rage and ours? Would she not do the same to protect her family? You?”
“Don’t try to twist this to deflect from what you have done. You are the epitome of Dianna’s rage. She sacrificed for her family from the very beginning, and you used that to turn her and control her. So, what are you hoping for here? Pity? For you? For him?”
Kaden shook his head. “Not pity, but a fraction of understanding. Once again, I am begging you to let Isaiah have the life and freedom our father denied us. I am damned and far past the point of gaining any forgiveness. I deserve that, I do, but he doesn’t. Take my life again and let that be payment for his. I am not asking for a way out for me. It’s too late, and I have accepted what happens afterward, but I’d beg for him. He deserves a chance.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. A flicker of understanding as Kaden, heartless, evil, and cruel Kaden, begged me for Isaiah’s life once more. He begged for his brother’s life in exchange for his own, just as Dianna had done eons ago.
“You beg for him as if his actions alone don’t condemn him. He is not innocent or good.”
Kaden smirked, and some of the dried blood coating the left side of his face flaked off. “You will learn that not many are, but none of this was his fault. It was mine. I dragged him, just as I did her, to the lowest part of the world, and he followed me because he is loyal and he loves me. He came with me because I am his big brother. If anyone should be punished for it, it’s me.”
Smoke curled around us, growing thicker as the remains of the ship behind us crackled and bent, the metal creaking loudly. Silence fell between us. The answer he wanted was not one I could give. We walked up the embankment, ships continuing to fall and break around us as Nismera’s armada fell. The destroyed ship behind us exploded, and a part of me wondered if it had waited until our conversation was over. Was the outcome of our altercation so important that time had held still to see if we would shape or destroy the world? I wondered what path we had unwittingly chosen.
68
NISMERA
A few days later
“Several warships and smaller vessels were destroyed. Milani and Ennis are in the infirmary. If they wake up from their comas, their burns will take time to heal.”
“How is this possible?”
His hands ran across the lapels of his council garbs before he mustered enough courage to form words. “Ayla is calculated and beyond strong. Smart. From what the other councilors and I witnessed on the remains of Rashearim, she is powerful. On her own, she nearly managed to disband The Hand and Samkiel over her sister’s murder, and now she is no longer alone.”
“Is the witch with her?” I seethed.
Rolluse shook his head. “I have heard not. She has acquired the sons of Unir, my liege, and the erratic blond celestial Kaden turned as well. A single Ig’Morruthen is disruptive, but four is unimaginable destruction.”
I lowered my hands, intertwining my fingers as my leg began to bounce beneath the table. My traitorous brothers not only lived, but they had also defected. I should have smothered them as children.
“With time, the power she has, and those she has on her side, I am afraid—”
My eyes shot up, cutting Rolluse off. I watched with satisfaction as sweat beaded on his brow.
“Afraid of?”
He opened his mouth and closed it. My back went rigid with tension while I waited.
“Go on,” I said. “Say it.”
“Her power could rival that of the gods,” he said. “Could rival yours,” he continued in barely a whisper.
The council room fell into a cryptic quiet, everyone looking at me, even the recently promoted one. Sure, the promotion was due to an outburst when one of my councilors misspoke, but they were aware of the rules. A challenge to me meant death, and I’d gladly send them all to his realm if I needed to. They were nothing but talking bags of bones, tissue, and blood, and bodies could be replaced. They mattered not to me.
Rolluse’s eyes held mine as the veins in his throat bulged, filling with all the blood desperately attempting to reach his brain. I could just pop his head off and be done with it.
“How many of my armada do I have left?” I asked, and to his credit, Leviathan didn’t flinch beneath my glare. I didn’t miss the breath Rolluse released when my attention was no longer focused on him.
Leviathan folded his ancient, worn fingers and looked around the table at the members of the order and my close council. “About thirty percent of the armada remains, and they are requesting sanctuary.”
None of the councilors spoke, and I clenched my hands a bit tighter, concentrating on stilling my bouncing knee. Everyone watched me, waiting with bated breath for my answer.
“Very well. I shall allow it. Clear the back courtyard near the forest and set up a camp for them, but keep my city blind. If they think that is all I have left …” My voice trailed off. Anger and burning hatred, like a hundred snapping wild beasts, bit and barked in my head, but I maintained my calm, cool facade.
“On a positive note, my king, we have secured the medallion for you,” Rolluse said. “We shall have Quill begin his preparations.”
