Page 45 of Court of Treachery

Erika was on her feet before the vision ended, pointing at Harper with a shaking finger. “Youare his kin?” she snarled. Brand rose and placed himself between them as Harper and Aedon scrambled to their feet in the centre of their living space. She ignored Aedon, pretended not to see the frown he cast her way, but it pierced her nonetheless.

“Erika,” Brand said in a warning voice. “Do not be blinded. It was not her sin.”

Erika swore in a harsh tongue. “I have been travelling withyou—withhisblood—all this time.” She was pale, her body shaking with suppressed rage.

“It is not her sin, just as it was notyoursin,” Brand said through gritted teeth.

Erika’s hand flattened the roughly cut fringe over her forehead.

“All I know is my mother died to protect me,” Harper said in a low voice. “I don’t know anything about her other than her name.”

Aedon stilled beside her. “Saradon…” he trailed off. Erika flinched at the name. “In the beginning, he was a revolutionary. He fought for the greater good, for the people, against anoppressive and greedy elven king. Toroth’s father. Somewhere along the line, his intentions grew less noble. He did not care who he harmed. For his sins, his entire family was executed. No one knew that he had any surviving children.”

“Except the king,” Harper said.

“Yes. Who knows how he found out. Toroth and his father continued the purge. They hunted Saradon’s House…yourHouse… to extinction, for fear it would happen again.”

“My mother couldn’t help who she was,” Harper said softly. “Was she guilty of no other crime?”

Aedon shook his head. “We have no way of knowing.”

“But Raedon killed her anyway,” Harper said, her voice flat.

“When you are of the Winged Kingsguard, you follow any and every order,” Aedon spoke softly, but with steel in his voice.

Harper stared at him.He defends his brother?

“As the general, even more so. Youarethe king’s will.”

Harper finally began to piece it all together. Why he hated the king so much. Why he was an outlaw. Aedon had once filled that role, as well. She fleetingly wondered how many orders Aedon had been forced to fulfil that he otherwise would have refused. She wondered how many he had killed on the king’s orders, against the will of his own heart. She did not ask. She did not want to know. She felt sick. Harper gripped the back of a chair to keep herself upright.

For a moment, she looked at him in a new light. Aedon, the general of the Winged Kingsguard. Stern. Unflinching. Emotionless. She didn’t know if she’d be able to see him as simply Aedon, the cheerful and charming outlaw anymore. Simple, friendly, open Aedon. Or… the individual that she had danced upon the line of feeling attracted to, drawn by the alluring sense of freedom he offered her. Fleetingly, Harper felt grateful it had not been he upon the dragon’s back. She had nodoubt the outcome would have been the same. His brother was bad enough, but for it to be him… Her heart would truly break.

If that were the case, my time with them would be over.

Even so, she knew deeper in her bones than before that she could never pursue him, knowing what she now knew. She looked at him with fresh eyes as he stared back impassively, wondering how she had ever been attracted to him. Wondering how she had not seen the dark side, the shadowed past, that all his merriment concealed. She knew so little of him. Her attraction to what he offered had been nothing more than wishful foolishness. It sealed the certainty within her utterly. Her attention slid to Brand. As he calmly watched her, she knew he understood what was in her heart.

“I do not judge you for your blood,” Brand said to her, then turned to Aedon. “Just as I do not judge you for your blood—or your past actions.”

“Neither do I you and yours,” Aedon murmured with a half-hearted smile that did not reach his eyes. His gaze dropped to the floor.

Brand turned to Erika, his eyebrow raised.

She pursed her lips, as if trying to keep the words in, then blew out a breath. “I will not judge you by your blood,” she growled and shoved past Brand to storm from their quarters. Harper watched her go. The door slammed after her, shaking dust from the ceiling.

“She will be back,” Brand promised. “You know she is quick to anger and needs to burn off that energy before she can see clearly again.” He usually went with her, but now he lingered, as if unwilling to leave Harper and Aedon alone. Grateful, she drifted toward him.

“I think I’ll call it a night,” she said. “I’m not hungry, and I don’t want to train anymore today.”

Brand laid a hand upon Harper’s shoulder. “As you wish, friend.” The word sent warmth through her, and she smiled up at the great warrior gratefully. “I, too, have had enough of the day, but I had best go see that she is all right.” He jerked a thumb at the door.

She did not acknowledge Aedon as she made her way to her room and barred the door. She heard Brand retreat, too, leaving Aedon alone. Harper quickly washed herself in ice-cold water and dressed again to sit cross-legged upon the bed, the scratchy but warm bedspread around her shoulders. Placing a candle upon a plate in front of her, she watched the fire slowly consume the tallow as her mind slipped to another time and place.

She had so many questions, but one nagged at her repeatedly.

Who am I?

37

---