Page 415 of Kingdoms of Night

“I don’t deserve you, friend.”

Branch waved at Linden and he ran to his father. Embracing Linden with a force that made Viridi’s heart quake, Branch whispered to his son as tears ran down his cheeks. Viridi knew a bit of that emotion. It was how he’d felt when he’d awoken to Isa’s face. He had feared she died and that he had been dreaming.

“Yes, you do. I know you have strong reasons for what happened today.” Felix gave his shoulder a squeeze, then stepped back as Father approached.

“Ten of our own were murdered today.” Fatigue drew Father’s face into long lines and slashes. “Tell me, my son, what prompted you to side with those intruders and attack your own?” His features held the pinch of rage, but his eyes were sad, an emotion Viridi had never seen on his father until now.

“I didn’t side with them. That was a terrible coincidence,” Viridi said. The others talked with one another, narrowing their eyes at Viridi and Felix too. “I meant to show you exactly how it will be when I am fully the Thorned One and I no longer have control over my actions. You don’t hear the trees. You don’t realize that they are against us.”

“But you are theirs. How could they be against you?”

Viridi shook his head sharply. “They want me to thrive, but they don’t care for my heart and who I love. They are driven by some motivation I don’t understand. I think perhaps we are meant to change or perhaps to be wiped from the Earth. Maybe our time is over, Father.”

Father’s eyes went cold. “No.”

Viridi lifted his hands. “That was only the start of what is to come if I should survive. When they take my thoughts, all I see is their view. And they want to kill every last one of you.”

“That cannot be.” Father frowned and cocked his head. “Why are you lying?”

“I’m not. Why would I lie? What do I have to gain by terrorizing my own people?”

“You want the human woman. You want to reign in my place.”

Viridi clenched his jaw. “I don’t want what you want, Father. I’m not you. I don’t thirst for power. I never have. You know this, but you refuse to believe that as well. I don’t know what else to do. I tried to walk into the sea, but they pulled me back.”

“Who?” Felix’s voice was kind, but fear sharpened his tone.

“The trees. They took hold of my mind and body, forcing me to walk back to shore, keeping me from ending my life in order to save you all. If I leave this island, they will strike out at you. You must leave.”

“I will never leave my island,” Father said.

It was no surprise. “As for the second wave of intruders, I’ll let Isa explain.”

“They enslaved me and my ward, Nico. Seigneur Brune is a greedy, ruthless, cold man. He must believe there is treasure here. I don’t think he would do so much to get Nico or me back. Besides, he wasn’t focused on us during the fighting. It didn’t seem that way to me anyhow. My guess is that he saw your island the same time I did, when the storm broke through your wards.”

Father glared at Viridi and he knew he was thinking about Viridi’s inability to help them rework those wards and how much of this was all his fault.

“I regret what happened here. I will mourn those we have lost. But I did as best I could have with what I know and with what I could control. This tragedy is not Isa’s fault or my own. It is fate.”

“The slaver is still on our land,” Rom said loudly, his curly hair tossed by the wind and his eyes unblinking.

Viridi exhaled slowly, the weight of it all pressing down on his shoulders. “Let him have it. The trees will end what he has started.”

Rom grinned wickedly and the rest joined in, Felix too.

But not Father.

He crossed his arms and set his gaze on Viridi, stare never wavering as Viridi and Isa detailed the suggestions that Werian and Rhianne had made if the others agreed to join in on the journey to another island.

They gathered what remained of their ruined belongings, small bags of pottery, books and scrolls, carved memory circles. The young ones took up whatever toys they could find in the rubble, their cheeks stained with dirt.

Viridi didn’t even bother to return to his castle. All of his staff was here and he didn’t want to look on a life he wouldn’t be able to enjoy ever again. He had to look forward instead, forward to a life with Isa in a new place. If the trees would let him leave…

He prayed to the Source and the god Arcturus that leaving the cursed trees here wouldn’t be the end of him. He prayed even more sincerely that it wouldn’t be the end of anyone else.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE

ISA

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