Page 166 of A Song of Air
Weylyn tensed, but eventually she felt his mind touch hers. And she knew his mind was touching everyone else’s too, sending the memory directly into their brains. The same images he’d shared with her. His sister. His love for her. The pain as he was struck down. An even greater pain as he watched his sister die before his eyes.
And then he was pulling back, leaving everybody stunned.
“I am sorry for your loss,” Clay said, and the words were genuine. He was staring at Weylyn as though everything had finally fallen into place. As though he finally understood his reasoning. And then slowly, he went and stood beside Weylyn and Bryson both. Corvina followed with slower but surer steps.
They turned and faced Valerio, but he still held his sword up and still pointed it in their very direction. He did not drop it. He looked torn. Angry. And revenge brimmed around him like a tangible toxin.
“Valerio,” Iona said. “I think... I think you should put down your sword.” She stepped backwards in their direction, siding with them.
“Iona,” Julius snapped. He glared at his mate as she took Weylyn’s side and stood firmly on Valerio’s end, his big arms crossed against his massive chest. “He killed the king. Whatever his reasons, he still broke the law. He should be punished.”
Iona glared at her mate. “I know, but... I can’t condemn him for it.”
They stared at one another, and Bryson could almost visibly make out the rift that splintered between them.
And then Shula broke that tension by slowly making her way towards Weylyn’s side.
Ryker followed, though stopped in the middle, as though he wasn’t sure who to stand with. There he stayed.
It was Valerio, Uric, and Julius who stayed firmly on one side.
And just like that, The Resistance was divided into two.
“Valerio,” Clay whispered. “Cousin, put your sword down. We need the Elementals.”
And they couldn’t afford to alienate a single one of them.
Bryson saw that war on Valerio’s face as he took them all in. He needed them to win his war, and if he killed Weylyn, he’d have to kill Bryson too. And if he killed Bryson, they didn’t have a chance at returning to their former glory.
There was no winning in this situation.
And Valerio seemed to realize it too, because he slowly, reluctantly, lowered his sword. And then the tears slid down his face, almost unbidden. Angry, full of sorrow.
And Bryson’s chest ached for him. Because even if the king was a monster, he was, after all, Valerio’s father.
“Do not cry, Valerio,” Weylyn said as he reached into Bryson’s pocket and pulled out the mirror they’d taken from Unseelie. It activated at his touch, glowing brightly within the throne room. He held up the Seelie King’s head to the surface and that light swallowed the bleeding head, taking it back to Unseelie, where it would hang above his mother’s throne. “After all, you are king again. And is that not what you wanted?”
Valerio made a choked sound and looked away.
The light disappeared along with the mirror.
And the band circling Bryson’s arm vanished to mark a debt paid.
And finally, they were both free.
