Page 93 of Between Imminent Fates

Derikles remembered when Isaiah had returned from retrieving Circe that day. She had curled into him, hiding her face and shaking like a leaf. His sovereign’s armor had been covered in blood, and the burden of his responsibilities seemed to weigh on him more than ever. It had been one of the occasions Derikles remembered clearly thinking he never wanted to lead a clan of his own.

Isaiah had paid the price for what he did that day. Not only in the vicious wounds he bore, and the recoil that put him down for nearly a week, but emotionally. He had devoted himself to raising Circe and healing her mind, but had never been the same man, nor the same leader from that day onward.

“And Isaiah didn’t take your life?”

“He didn’t even know I was there,” Rayn spat.

Jeremiah interjected, “Rayn’s a Shield. He must have manifested that day.”

That would have been the only way Isaiah wouldn’t have noticed. Had he known a child was there, he’d have taken a much different approach.

“He never would have let you witness the sentence if he had known you were there,” Derikles stated, “nor would he have abandoned you after. You would have had a home with us. Been shown kindness and taught right from wrong. He wasn’t—isn’t—a monster.”

“You didn’t see him murder twenty of your own family, did you?” Rayn shot back. “Isaiah is the monster of my childhood, and he got what he deserved. I don’t care that thousands died—I finally got my revenge.”

***

The moment he returned to clan lands, Derikles began debating how to inform the lieutenants of Rayn’s history with Isaiah.

Over the previous week, they had watched the message Isaiah had left. Connected to them on a psychic level, Derikles could feel their reaction—even if they’d been outwardly stoic. None of them wanted to admit that their sovereign was gone.

The prevailing thought seemed to be that Derikles was simply keeping the throne warm for when Isaiah returned. Part of him refused to believe that his sovereign was incapable of recovering. Despite a lifetime of knowing that psychic burnout led to psychic death, their generational knowledge had been wrong before. Key had proven that on the battlefield.

Isaiah had been larger than life: a gifted swordsman, a talented leader, and a loyal friend. If Derikles examined himself in the same way, he came out wanting. The clan was struggling under the unprecedented change in leadership, and though he was trying to meet their needs, it was difficult to find his footing. He just didn’t believe himself worthy of the position he’d usurped.

Reopening the wound by revealing Rayn’s history could destabilize the clan further. Circe would be deeply affected. She had just lost a father figure in Isaiah, and now he’d reawaken trauma from her past.

It was a delicate situation, and he’d have to consider how to best approach it. Lucius, her mate, would be essential. Perhaps it would be better to tell him first and partner together in revealing the truth to Circe

A telepathic ping from Jaeda pressed against Derikles’ mind.What is it, Jaeda?

Rukia wants answers.

He was unsurprised. Rukia had known he was going to audit Rayn’s interrogation today. The water Elemental would demand to hear what happened, and he wouldn’t keep them from her. If Circe was there with her, it would complicate matters.

Who else is there?

Just Lucius and I,Jaeda replied.

Without delay, Derikles teleported to Isaiah and Rukia’s home. It functioned as a meeting space for them even with their sovereign indisposed, and he didn’t see that changing.

He knocked once on the door before letting himself inside. Jaeda was already there, sitting in the armchair reading a book. Though outwardly, she looked relaxed, there was a stiffness in her shoulders that revealed far too much about her state of mind. Lucius nodded in greeting, but Rukia’s arrival made him flinch.

“Why did Rayn want to kill Isaiah?” Her eyes narrowed. “Is he dead now?”

“No, he’s not dead—not yet,” Derikles replied. “Nero interrogated him, and we discovered that when Rayn was a child, he witnessed his clan being killed. He was the sole survivor. The clan—”

“What does that have to do with Isaiah?” the water Elemental interjected. “With theCitizens?”

“Rayn’s sovereign abducted two of our clan members and murdered one, Rukia,” Derikles said softly, “Isaiah teleported there in response and was attacked. He defended himself—and the one he went there to save.”

Jaeda’s mouth dropped open as she put the pieces together.

“Isaiah never knew Rayn was there,” Derikles continued. “Rayn manifested as a Shield and hid, staying out of sight until it was over, but that doesn’t change the fact that he witnessed our sovereign claiming the lives of everyone he loved.”

Turning to Lucius, Derikles confirmed, “Rayn was a part of the clan that abducted Circe and her mother. We need to talk about how to tell her.”

A sudden, sharp sting of pain stabbed through Derikles’ clan bonds. Spinning, he found Circe in the doorway, her own Shield engaged—and keeping him from registering her presence.

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