Page 165 of A Song of Air
It was Clay who broke the silence. “What do you mean?”
Bryson threw a small glance over her shoulder, searching Weylyn’s eyes for permission to speak. To tell the story he’d kept locked away for so long.
He took a breath and his mind touched hers. “It’s alright, little mate.”
Bryson turned back to the group. “Weylyn is the son of the Unseelie Queen.”
More pronounced silence. And then...
“What?!”Clay shouted. He was staring at Weylyn with open shock.
Weylyn chuckled. “I am only half-Unseelie, half-High Fae.”
“His father was Alfric Rhian of the Gold Court.”
This time it was Corvina’s gaze who whipped up, shock coloring her features. “Wh—what?”
“Your uncle was kidnapped by the Unseelie Queen,” Bryson said gently. “He was held in their court. They had a child. Weylyn is your cousin, Corvina.”
Corvina stared at Weylyn unflinchingly. The shock melted into what Bryson could almost swear was genuine affection. Her voice dropped to a lower whisper. “I’d wondered,” she said softly, “why I felt so drawn to you. Like Mana was telling me something I couldn’t quite interpret.” She stared hard at him, like she was trying to find parts of her uncle in Weylyn. “Is my uncle—”
“Dead? Yes,” Weylyn said. “The queen killed him.”
Corvina swallowed and tears brimmed her eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. “Cousins,” she echoed. “We are cousins.”
“He’s lying,” Valerio spat.
“He’s not,” Bryson defended. “Your father killed his sister and left Weylyn for dead.”
Valerio raised his sword. “I do not believe you, trickster. If that is true, why has he been my father’s faithful lapdog this entire time?”
“Even you cannot be so dimwitted as to question why I would keep my enemy so close,” Weylyn purred. “Foolish Seelie Prince.”
“You know...” Shula interrupted thoughtfully. “This makes sense. Why you’re so mischievous. You’re Unseelie. It’s in your blood to weave chaos.”
“I have waited years for my revenge,” Weylyn declared, ignoring Shula completely. “It would have come eventually. Yesterday, weeks from now, years from now, I would have extracted it regardless. But now?” Weylyn held up the Seelie King’s head, taunting Valerio with it. “He had to die quicker. And a quick death was not what he deserved.”
Valerio growled again. He stared at the head of his father, and Bryson wondered if Weylyn was digging into his mind to gauge his feelings, to understand him just a bit more. She thought he looked confused, torn.
“Waste no tears on your cruel father,” Weylyn said. “Had he not died, Bryson would have.”
“What do you mean?” Corvina asked softly.
Bryson held up her arm, pulling down her sleeve and displaying the golden band that still burned around her skin. “The Unseelie Queen has me tethered to her lands,” Bryson explained. “She would have killed me.”
“She asked for the head of the one that killed her daughter in exchange for my mate’s life,” Weylyn continued. “I swore on my mate’s life that I would give her what she wanted in exchange for Bryson’s freedom. And if it ever comes time to choose between my mate and the world, you can bet I will burn down the entire fucking world to save my mate’s life.”
There was another tense moment of silence. Everyone stared at the head in Weylyn’s hand, at the band around Bryson’s arm.
And then Clay stepped closer towards them. “Maybe... maybe they can be forgiven?” he suggested, turning back to Valerio.
The prince looked at him with barely concealed disgust.
Clay shrugged. “I am sorry, cousin. What can we do? If you kill Weylyn, you kill Bryson. We need Bryson, and I very much doubt she will help us if you kill her mate. She will die alongside him. You cannot win this battle.”
“The king killed your sister?” Corvina asked.
“Show them,” Bryson whispered.
