Page 163 of A Song of Air
It’s not like he expected pure, blind loyalty from everyone who joined them. None of the others had given it to him. But he still had the sense that something was wrong.
“My prince?”
Valerio’s attention drew towards Uric beside him. His friend was staring at him with furrowed brows. “Are you alright?”
Valerio opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly the entire castle began to shake. Like the very bones let out a roar and shattered through the halls. The ground trembled, and Valerio gripped tightly to the edge of the table to hold himself steady as the chair beneath him began wobbling back and forth.
It trembled for a few minutes before it just... stopped.
Once the world was steady again, Valerio pushed himself to his feet, his heart thundering in his chest. He recognized the signature of the magic that had rumbled through the castle.
“Father,” he whispered before he broke out into a run. He was vaguely aware of the others rushing behind him, calling out, wondering what was wrong. But his vision tunneled to a single moment, that feeling of wrongness growing far more prominent by the moment the faster his feet carried him. He ran to the throne room and found the air Elemental at the entrance, staring inside.
Valerio pushed past her unkindly, and the scent of blood assaulted his nostrils.
At first, the scene before him didn’t register. Not right away. It didn’t seem real. It felt more fantasy than reality. His mind did not want to believe what was before him. Not the blood, pooling on the floor, not the body of the king, and most certainly not his father’s head, gripped tightly in Weylyn’s hand or the blood tainting Weylyn’s feral grin.
Valerio stood in shock, staring at the scene before him. His heart thundered faster and faster. Behind him, the others had caught up. The moment they registered the scene, shocked gasps drummed a beat in his ears.
His father. The king.
Dead.
Dead.
Dead.
“Y-you killed him...” Valerio’s shock expression found Weylyn’s. And the Fae had the audacity to smile. There was no remorse, no sadness. He just... looked at Valerio as though daring him to do something to stop him, though the deed was already done.
“What have you done?!” Valerio’s magic gathered around him like an accumulating storm ready to be unleashed. “You killed my father. You—you killed the king!”
His magic started to lash out for Weylyn. Ready to kill. To extract revenge.
But within one blink and the next, the air Elemental was in front of Weylyn, shoving a gust of air at Valerio and shoving him back. His magic fractured and broke apart.
He blinked away the confusion, staring at the Elemental and her fierce, protective stance.
“Don’t,” she warned, her hands held out like she was holding her magic at the ready.
“You will stand beside this murderer?” Valerio threatened. His blood boiled. He had known there was something about her, but he’d never expectedthis.
Bryson tilted her chin up. “I will stand beside my mate.”
“Then you will die beside him.”
And Valerio’s magic shot out.
And havoc wreaked through the room.
