Page 103 of The Silent Mountain
“You claim you are here for me,” I push. “But where were you when I was in captivity? Most of the clan members think you are a traitor!”
“I am not a traitor!” Stefan exclaims, his eyes flashing with anger and hurt. He barely shows his emotions, usually, so this comes as a surprise. He looks exhausted all of a sudden. “Do you think I am a traitor?”
Do I? I try to think of the last couple of months and the work Stefan put into the clan and into protecting me. “No,” I say. “But I don’t know what else you are.”
“What do you think?” he asks Theodor.
“I think you are a coward,” Theodor says promptly.
“You have no idea how things were for me,” Stefan exclaims. “And what I had to battle. You don’t know anything.”
“So, what were your reasons?” I push.
Erin clears her throat, glancing at Stefan. “You are making this very difficult. Why don’t you just tell them?”
Stefan sighs. “I was under the command of the late king.”
“What…” I blink. “My father commanded you?”
“It wasn’t just a command, it was a promise deeper than anything else,” Stefan admits.
“You are talking about an oath between your beast and his?” I ask.
“One after another, the royal court was falling,” he says quietly. “On the night before your father was killed, he sought me out. He told me I am the only one he trusted enough to stay alive and the one with the best judgment. He wanted me to run and hide somewhere and survive until the war was over, and then to return and serve you. His focus was on you only. In a way, I agree with Theodor’s anger because it was unfair to Elio, his only other child, who managed to escape death. But the oath prevented me from doing anything but wait.”
I stare at him. “By Aengus.” I sigh. “But my father could not have known that I’d survive!”
“He knew of the prophecy,” Stefan admits. “And he hoped you would make it.”
“My father knew of the prophecy?” I frown. “I doubt it. Not to badmouth my father, but he wasn’t smart enough to correctly read the prophecy, and he for sure didn’t have the right allies to help him. Unless“—I look at Stefan—“you understood the prophecy correctly.”
“I had an interpretation of it,” Stefan admits. “And told your father about it years before the war. He dismissed it back then, until the last days he was living. He must have remembered it again at that time.”
“Why did you never say anything?” I ask. “I thought you abandoned us; everyone here thinks you abandoned them! I even asked you about it when you returned, and you just gave a weak excuse.”
“He isn’t wrong, Stefan,” Erin says quietly. “You cannot play martyr, suffer silently, and expect everyone to understand you.”
“You were able to do it, Erin,” he mutters. “See through the façade.”
“Yes, but Iaman outsider,” she says. “I don’t come from a place of hurt and trauma. The dragon shifters went through years of war and loss; they have lost almost everything. There is not one single person here who hasn’t lost family or friends. You cannot expect the same perspective from them that you do from me.”
“Maybe part of me wanted to punish myself for hiding, while everyone either died or fought.” He sounds unusually tired. To my own surprise, I feel like my anger has vanished completely. I didn’t expect him to be under an oath.
“I apologize for my harsh words,” Theodor says to him.
“It’s alright. I probably would have thought the same,” Stefan admits.
“And now?” Erin asks.
I let out a sigh. “I know, you aren’t happy about this, Stefan,” I say. “And I understand why. But without Alana and Elio, there is no chance for me to see another day. I am bound to Alana. There is no possible way I would survive losing her. Can’t you see that?”
“If you put it like that,” Stefan sighs.
“Besides, we need to take risks,” I say. “I have been passive until now because my goal was to protect the clan, but the danger is constantly looming over us, and we have been attacked more than once by different threats. It’s too much. We have to fight back before the threat comes for us again, and certainly before it has harmed Alana and Elio.”
“I agree.” Erin surprises me by agreeing.
“Thank Aengus, that Alana is with Elio,” Theodor mutters. “They face a chance that way.”
