Auryn.
“I said no,” she snapped.I won’t let you use that soft voice of yours to smooth the wrinkles out of me right now.
You always say that, and then you fall into my arms and ramble while I kiss you until you’ve calmed down.
She stopped. Glared. And suddenly, Kailorien blocked her path. His hands gripped her waist, capturing her storm, and lifted her up onto a table.
“Would you be still for a moment?”
Her lips opened on a protest when he slid up the hem of her skirts and took one of her sandaled feet in his hand. It was the same one with the broken strap, the skin beneath the torn leather red and swollen.
“I’ve wanted to do this since it snapped on our way to the reception. But you looked so Voids-damned proud of yourself that I didn’t dare take the wind out of you.”
Auryn lapsed into silence as he slipped the straps off of her ankle and massaged the swollen skin. As though in reaction to his touch, her magic shimmered at the seams of the wound.
“You noticed…”
“Of course I did.” He raised a brow. “Did you honestly think I wouldn’t?”
“But, how?”
Standing straight, he braced his weight on either side of her hips on the table and leaned in close. “You are my Bonded. That is how.”
Tears stung her eyes. From his kindness. And from everything else.
"It was you…your magic that snapped Zeera's—"
He kissed her forehead, and that finally broke through all of her restraint. She shook her head.
“That gauze, Kail. Wrapped around the balconies like a blindfold. The Han hidden behind silk while the Council pretends it is whole. The hypocrisy in every word and every bow."
Her hands settled on his shoulders, grasping at the buckles as though he could hold her tethered in the hurricane of her emotions. She shuddered and bit her lip.
"Kail…you canfeelthem, can't you? Their vile intent. Their venomous hearts…you can silence them. You are the Resh'Agar. You are the Arm of the Void. Why can't you—"
She stopped. Gritted her teeth. Shook him, though he didn't budge. No more words would emerge. Her grief had swallowed them whole, and though she wanted to scream, she could only press her lips together and try to hold back her tears.
Just because I can does not mean I should, starlight. Because if I do, I will be no different from my brother. From the very vermin I would seek to subdue.
"Because the Void must be—" she began.
"No," he stopped her. "Because I am not a tyrant. A man who leads with his heart, with only his own voice in his ear, is nothing but a man. Flawed. Selfish. Blind."
She gripped him harder. "How?" she asked, her voice cracking. "How can such corruption have any place in justice?"
He tipped up her chin. "What is justice to you? If I asked Draevan Sol or Sevrion Hale…or even the Companions…would they have the same answer?" He stroked her cheek. "Or the Crafters in the ruined Han?"
When her tears spilled over, he kissed them away.
"I hate this, Kail…"
She pressed her forehead to his and took a ragged breath. "No one sees the weight you carry. No one sees the thousands of souls upon your shoulders. No one knows your truth. Your heart."
He smiled softly. "Because only you were meant to."
She made a frustrated sound. "Thatgirl—Liora. She didn’t honor you as you deserve. She should have bowed in joy. Should have been honored. Instead, sheflinchedfrom you. Shefearedyou.”
He tilted his head, the faintest crease at his brow. “Auryn…there is not a single soul in this city who does not fear the Resh’Agar. You alone… are the exception.”
