Page 156 of The Eye of the Fifth
Kyra seemed to know that too, for as Naal turned to leave, she said in a venomous voice, ‘Win has gone. The manor house is empty. The Valfell fae are tormenting Avaldale. Perhaps your efforts in controlling everything and everyone around you should have been refocused on protecting your mate.’
The words sunk to the bottom of Naal’s heart, sharp and heavy, but she did not linger. She left swiftly, before she did something she knew she would regret.
???
Gedeon.
There were no tears on the other side of Gedeon’s cell wall now. He’d expected them to come, expected to hear Kyra’s sobs the moment that Naal Westerra departed. But they did not come.
Only silence filled the air, still taut from the remnants of their argument.
The silence was worse than tears somehow. He wanted to say something to her. But what? Would she even care to hear his voice?
He hadn’t seen her yet. Her cell was to the left of his, and she hadn’t needed to pass him to get there. He hadn’t even heard her voice before Naal had come. But… he’d sensed her. That scent of cinnamon and pine was unmistakablyher.
How he’d known that, without scenting her before, without evenseeingher in the flesh… he couldn’t think on it.
Her voice, harsh and gravelly, filtered through the compacted ice wall. ‘I know you’re there. No point pretending you didn’t hear every damn word.’
Gedeon moved slowly to the front of his cell. ‘No pretence from me. I just figured you were done talking.’
‘I am.’
‘Well, then.’
Silence once more. Gedeon waited, knowing she would be the one to break it again.
‘I’m no better than the likes of you.’
It wasn’t an insult. The harsh tone had disappeared, replaced by something Gedeon knew all too well.
Self-loathing.
‘That’s not true,’ Gedeon said quietly.
‘You heard everything. You heard what I did. I thought I’d feel relieved once my brother was free. It was supposed to be that way. I thought I was doing good. But… there’s blood on my hands. Blood that needn’t have been spilt.’
‘The blood on your hands was unintentional. You cannot blame yourself for collateral damage, not when your actions were done out of loyalty. Out of love.’
She gave a humourless laugh. ‘Collateral damage? That’s how you view it?’
‘Yes,’ Gedeon said without remorse.
‘Is that what your mother taught you?’
‘No. I had to learn that for myself.’
‘So, you created a coping mechanism to deal with your guilt?’
Gedeon had never thought of it like that. It sat uncomfortably. ‘For the greater good… yes.’
‘And how do you view thatgreater goodnow?’ Kyra said. Gedeon didn’t miss the sneer. ‘You’re here because you’ve defected from your mother. You’ve switched sides. What evenisthe greater good to you anymore?’
No answer came readily to his lips, for none made sense to him yet. There was the truth of it, pure as the unspoilt snow on the rooftops of Phaenon City. ‘I haven’t quite figured it out.’
She snorted. ‘At least you’re honest.’
‘No point lying about anything now. Especially as I may very well be dead this time tomorrow.’
