Page 85 of A Song of Air
Bryson resisted the urge to stand up and bow, aware that eyes were suddenly on her back, causing an itchy sensation to glide down her skin. She fought back a shiver as she stared at the prince, who in turn, looked right at her.
“We are leaving,” he announced with no preamble, his voice a grave whisper. “Tonight.”
The words sent a jolt of electricity down the line of everyone. Even Bryson found herself blinking with surprise. While the intimate details of his features were concealed from her, she could still make out every slashing angry line of his expression.
Something had happened.
Something grave.
“So soon?” Shula asked. Her confections and chocolate scent was oddly comforting, though it began to lace with the sharp smell of worry and fear.
“We have done what we came to do,” the prince said. “It is time we move on.”
“You’re leaving?” Bryson found herself asking.
Her own worry settled tightly in the base of her gut and wouldn’t dislodge from there. It twisted her insides, made her sick. They couldn’t leave. Theycouldn’t. She had waited what felt like years for them. She hadn’t even gotten to know them the way she’d wanted to thanks to Arlo, and now they’d be disappearing.
Prince Valerio’s gaze softened in her direction. “Come with us,” he said.
Bryson’s entire body jolted as though she’d been slapped with a bolt of magic.
Valerio turned to Malika. “Bothof you.”
Iona beamed at her sister, her eyes encouraging.
“What?” Malika looked to be as shocked as Bryson felt inside.
“We set out to find the fourth Elemental,” Valerio said. “We found you, Bryson. We have told you what we need from you. We have told you what is coming. The decision now is yours. Come with us. Help us fight the war. Help us restore the glory to the Fae and take back what is ours. Help remake our world.”
There was a quiet intensity to his words and a certain rightness about them that seemed to settle over her. Like they belonged within her very system. Like they were a wish, demanding to come true.
Help remake our world.
The world her mother had fought and died for. The world that had fallen and, in that aftermath, had taken her father and sister from her. The world she dreamt of before her own life had turned upside down. The world she thought she’d never have again.
He was offering her a chance to take it back.
Suddenly, a cacophony of things collided within Bryson’s own mind. Voices, reasons, arguments, parrying back and forth within her head. Her mother’s urgence, telling her to take the chance. To fight for the monarchy she’d lived and died for. To do the great things she was always meant to do. Her father’s voice, whispering words of peace. Peace that they could have if only she went with them. Arlo’s voice, his venomous hatred for the Resistance bleeding through the cracks of her mind, urging her to tell them to fuck off. Reminding her of the debt he was owed.
Then there was that darker voice.
The one steeped in violence and wanted revenge. It wanted blood. It wanted payment for all that she’d lost. That anger overflowed through the cracks, and she pressed shaking fingers to it, lest it seep out completely from her control.
“But Arlo—”
“Arlo Blackwood has refused to help us,” Valerio interrupted Bryson. Anger seethed beneath his carefully constructed surface. “So we leave tonight. Come with us,” he urged, stepping closer. “Help us fight. Please, Bryson. Help us.”
Prince Valerio didn’t seem the type to beg. He seemed the type to take what he wanted. He was an Seelie Prince for Mana’s sake.
Bryson and Malika shared a look then. For a second, Bryson had her best friend back and she knew that Iona could not interpret the expression on Malika’s face. But Bryson could. She knew, she understood on a level that the others couldn’t.
Becausetheydidn’t have ties to Arlo, they couldn’t understand the sudden reluctance that flowed through the both of them. The need to speak, alone, and discuss this sudden turn of events.
“We need to think about it,” Malika answered for the both of them. She pulled away from the Resistance. From her sister. And, to ignore the look of hurt that Iona flashed her way, settled her gaze on Bryson instead.
“We do not have much time,” Valerio said with barely concealed frustration. “Please decide quickly.”
“We will,” Malika assured, walking towards Bryson.
