Page 154 of The Kingdom's Reckoning
A painting hanging on the wall fell, and Myra ducked.
"What the fuck—" Laurince jumped off the bed, but it only made things worse.
"Laurince," Myra called out, maneuvering to her knees. "Calm down. It’s going to be?—"
"No, no, no," Laurince repeated over and over.
His panic only made him spin faster as he tried to get a full glimpse of the new wings that had grown overnight. Various items fell as the wings knocked over everything in their path. A small vase shattered as it hit the ground, and dozens of ceramic pieces littered the ground.
With each frantic movement, the surrounding air crackled with trepidation and horror. It wrapped around Myra’s throat. Her fingers curled into the blankets as she tried to ground herself and not let Laurince’s emotions consume her.
When Laurince finally caught sight of the wings that had sprouted from his back, disbelief washed over him. Myra stared at them in awe.
Where Armen and Mynhos’ wings were all webbed shadows, Laurince’s wings were nearly incandescent when the slivers of light from outside hit them. The feathers were as white as pearls. Some feathers even had a sheen to them that in the light made them shift colors, as if tiny opals or diamonds had been woven throughout them. They were, simply put, breathtaking. And asmuch as Myra wanted to tell Laurince that, she knew now was not the time.
She erased any drop of terror from her expression and crawled to the end of the bed. She held up her hands, trying to calm him down. "Laurince, it’s all right. It’s going to be?—"
"Nothing about this is all right!" he shouted. "There are fucking?—"
"Wings," Rian gasped, having burst through the doors. "You—you have wings."
"Get rid of them! Cut them off!" Laurince demanded, spinning around.
Myra dodged a wing that came straight toward her.
Laurince shoved Rian out of the way, and Rian flattened himself against the wall as he tried to evade the wings. But when Laurince tried to leave, his wings blocked his exit. He yelled out in frustration and shoved them through the door. A white feather ripped free and fell to the ground.
On the other side of the wall, Phaia squealed as the captain stormed past her. The sound of shattering glass followed in Laurince’s wake, and Myra ran after him, Rian on her heels.
In the small kitchen, drawers opened and slammed shut as Laurince rifled through them. He dug through the contents, tossing them onto the floor carelessly as he searched and searched. "Where are the knives? Where are?—"
Myra and Laurince saw the knives at the same time. She charged, knocking him back and grabbing him by the shoulders. Rian ran behind her and snatched the block of knives before Laurince could grab one.
"Give those to me!" Laurince reached for the knives.
Myra dug her nails into his shoulders. "Laurince," she shouted. "Laurince,stop!"
"Cut them off! I want them off!Now!"
"Look at me, Laurince," Myra demanded. She would not let him harm himself. She refused.
Laurince struggled to meet her gaze, as if by doing so, he would only see what he feared to be true. But Laurince was not a monster, no matter what he believed or what the wings suggested. No matter how Rian and Phaia were looking at him as he screamed and fought them in the quaint kitchen.
When Laurince finally looked at her, the whites of his eyes were red, and water collected on his lash-line. "Please."
His plea broke her. Because no matter how much she tried to calm him, no matter what she said, she could not change this. Cutting his wings off would only hurt him more. And who knew whether they would grow back? Myra had witnessed how much pain he was in yesterday; she would not let him suffer even more.
"We can’t cut them off, Laurince."
A teardrop slipped free at Myra’s words. "I don’t want to be one of them."
Myra slipped her hand to the back of his head and wove her fingers into his hair. "You’renotone of them."
"But—"
"No, you’re still you, no matter what. Got it?"
Tears slipped down his cheek, and he squeezed his eyes shut, sobs shaking his body.
