Page 146 of Burn of the Everflame

Teller’s mouth clicked shut. Lily nodded vehemently, taking his arm and leading him inside.

Taran glared. “Good to see you still know how to do nice things for some people. Too bad for the half-mortals you find their exile petty.”

I shot him a scathing look. “That’s not what I meant. You of all people should know that.”

“And you of all people should give more of a damn if they live or die.”

My temper began to fray. “Need I remind you that for years, I had to bribe you into helping me save them by promising to have a drink with you after. You didn’t give a damn about their lives then. You didn’t care about anything that wasn’t in a bottle.”

“Well I care now,” he said hotly. “I helped you countless times. You won’t do this one thing for me.”

“It’s not about you.”

His eyes rolled. “Right, I forgot. Diem’s too fragile to make her own decisions.”

Irritation boiled into wrath. I stepped up to him and snarled. “Watch your fucking mouth when you speak about her. That’s your Queen.”

He bumped his chest into mine. “That’s my sister now, asshole.”

“Then act like it.” I shoved him by the shoulders. “Try being a good brother for a change.”

A low blow.

A cruel blow, especially from me.

So, when Taran’s fist came for my face, I didn’t bother to duck. I savored the crack of his knuckles on my jaw, the pain in my flesh finally a match for the agony I’d been steeping in for weeks.

It didn’t stop me from punching back. Stars were still swimming in my vision when I lunged forward with a wild swing that clipped his shoulder and sent him staggering. Seconds later, he was on me, and we were tumbling down the stairs and into the grass, trading insults and blows.

“Fuck you,” Taran shouted, slamming me to the soil. “You’re supposed to be my friend.”

I drove a fist into his side. “I helped you with everything you asked of me since—” I huffed as his elbow knocked the wind from my lungs. “—since we were children. I say no once, and our friendship is over?”

“This isn’t just any ‘no.’” He grabbed my fist mid-throw and knocked it away. “This is the only family Zalaric has.” He bared his teeth as he landed another jab across my face. “And you’re the heartless bastard leaving them in exile.”

I spat out a mouthful of blood. “I wrote letters. I promised them amnesty. I offered to pay for their passage and find them a place here to live. What more do they need?”

“They need Diem,” he bellowed. He leaned over me, sweat and blood dripping from his face. “Your word means nothing to them. She’s the Queen.”

I grabbed his shirt in my fists. “Everyone needs her, Taran. Every damn person on this continent wants something from her. She can only do so much. It’s my job to protect her.”

“Find some other way to do it.”

“I fucking can’t!”

My voice echoed off the palace’s stone facade. Faces began to appear in windows, drawn by our shouts.

“I can’t.” My arms fell limp at my sides, head slumping against the grass. “I don’t know how. The woman I love is being torn apart, and I don’t . . .” I closed my eyes, my voice as ragged as my breath. “I don’t know what to do.”

The heavy silence stretched on, broken only by our huffs for air and Sorae’s distant wingbeats as she circled the grounds, awaiting Diem’s return as restlessly as me.

Taran’s hand clamped around my wrist. “Come on. Too many eyes out here.”

He tugged me to my feet, jerked his chin, and walked away. I trudged behind him out the palace gate and into the nearby forest. When we were fully hidden from view by a canopy of spring leaves, he leaned his back against a trunk and slid to the ground. I did the same, hunching over my knees and hanging my head.

“I know Queenie’s going through a hard time,” Taran said gruffly. “We can all see it. But she’s been through worse. Remember when her father died? We thought we’d never see her smile again.”

I shook my head. “This is different. I can feel it.”