The thought sent his mind back to his father, and Ian looked down once again at Frederich. He had not yet had a chance to confront his father about what had happened all those years ago with Robin. Ian had been a young man at the time, and he should have been fully old enough to make his own decisions regarding friendships.
He understood that his father had been trying to protect him. To protect his loyal, young heart. To protect his growing mind from the confusion of asking too many questions.
He understood why his father had sent Robin away, even if he did not agree with the decision. But now he’d had over ten years to grapple with it. And, while his young mind had tried repeatedly to justify his father’s decision, it was from that moment that Ian had been able to separate himself from all of his father’s decisions.
After that point, he had been able to look at his father’s actions as a king, both trusting them and questioning them.
Someday, when Frederich was awake and strong, Ian wanted to tell his father how angry he was that Frederich had intercepted Robin’s letters. Ian loved his father and always would, but the grief of that decision would stay with him forever.
Ian felt a flicker of movement from his father’s chest. He looked down.
A small bluish shimmer had appeared under Aizel’s hands, seeping down into Frederich’s heart.
The king’s chest rose and fell, the motion so small that Ian thought he might have imagined it. No, his father was definitely breathing deeper now, deep enough to see.
Aizel’s magic was working.
The blue shimmer slowly spread, glowing around the king’s body, wrapping over Ian’s hand and climbing up his arm.
The sensation of the magic was barely there, just a slight warmth.
Ian looked up to see the blue shimmer reacting similarly to Ashlin, Isa, and his mother. It appeared to be seeking them out, spreading itself like a blanket over Frederich’s body because of their presence around him.
Heartened by this, Ian pushed himself to his knees, preparing to stand and relieve Robin.
But Onric placed a hand on his shoulder, pressing him back down. “I have endured far less than you this day,” Onric said. “You are needed here.”
Ian exhaled. His every instinct told him to stand, to be the bigger brother and take on this responsibility despite the logic in his brother’s words.
But Onric was right. Ian needed the blanket of harmony magic that continued to crawl over his body nearly as much as Frederich did.
Robin hadno space in her mind to focus on anything other than avoiding Gareth’s constant blows. Several of them had landed, some knocking her completely to the ground. Her body would be a single giant bruise by the end of this.
A new body appeared by her side. She had no presence of mind to realize that it was Onric until he had firmly stepped in front of her, pushing her back.
Unable to resist his gentle shove, Robin stumbled away from the grueling fight.
Instinctively, her eyes traveled across the rest of the room, scanning for threats. But what she saw in the space behind her was far from a threat.
A beautiful, shimmering blue cloud covered King Frederich and his family members. It was spreading beyond them, slowly seeping into the rest of the room.
Robin’s whole body was drawn to the beautiful scene. She wanted nothing more than to sink onto the floor in the empty space beside Ian and let the light surround her.
But she had a fight to win. It was her job to distract Gareth so the family could enrich the harmony magic enough to dispel the chaos.
Doggedly, she turned back to face Gareth.
Aden and Onric, their swords drawn, almost appeared to be dancing in their fight with the superhuman king. Gareth was still raining blows on them, but the two royally trained castle guards evaded him with ease.
Robin watched for a moment longer to ensure that what she was seeing continued to be true.
Onric looked terrible. A deep purple bruise was forming across half of his face, and blood dribbled down his forehead—the result of Gareth’s previous blows.
But now, Gareth’s blows did not appear to be landing as often.
It was working.
The harmony magic in the room was working.
