Page 63 of Of Empires and Dust

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner,” Calen said, his chest tightening. “You stood by me. When you had no cause to, you stood by me, and I owe you my life… sister.”

“We were meant to be guardians,” Tivar whispered, her dark eyes locking with Calen’s. Calen saw his own agony reflected in her gaze, the memories of his time in the cell overwhelming him.

Calen reached forwards and took Tivar’s trembling hands into his own, then touched the runekey against her shackles.

As the shackles fell, the elf dropped to her knees, shivering, her eyes closing and lips spreading in relief. Avandeer craned her neck forwards and nuzzled her snout into Valerys’s jaw.

Calen drew a deep breath, his gaze meeting Farda’s for a brief moment. Just a flick of Calen’s wrist, just one thread of the Spark, and the deed would be done. Calen’s fingers tapped on the coin pommel of his sword. He glared at the man for a moment longer, then turned back to face the other Rakina.

Chora, Aeson, Harken, Atara, and Thacia all stood before him, the others in a tight semi-circle.

“You know what it feels like to be broken,” Calen said, staring at the five in front of him. “And yet you would inflict that pain on another? Did that make you feel strong? Did it make you feel powerful? Do you know how twisted that is?”

“She deserved to feel it.” One of the other Rakina, a woman with short black hair, stepped forwards. Calen had not spoken to her, but he knew her as Imala. The rage in her eyes was something he knew well. “She deserved to know. Her pain is nothing next to the breaking of the bond. She made her choices a long time ago.”

“Pellenor Dambren is the reason I escaped Berona. When I asked him why he helped me, he answered that ‘time doesn’t move backwards’, that he couldn’t change the things he’d done, but that it would never be too late to recognize the mistakes he’d made.” Calen moved closer to Imala. “When the empire captured me in Drifaien, they clamped those manacles around my wrists. They locked me in a cell, beat me, tortured me. But above all else, not being able to feel Valerys all but tore me in half. When Artim Valdock wrapped his fingers around my throat, I leaned in. I wanted to die.” Calen shook his head and scoffed, staring at Aeson. “You dragged me across the continent. You convinced me of this war, convinced me that this was worth fighting for. Yet here you are, doing the exact same thing the empire did to me – the same thing they did to every one of you. Explain that, Aeson. Explain how we are any better than they are. Explain to me why we’re even fighting this war in the first place. Explain how we can do this to one of our own.”

“She is not one of our own,” Imala snarled, her body stiffening, her tone flashing cold. “And you speak of things of which you do not know, things you could not possibly comprehend. I’ve been bound by those shackles before. It was horrible. I couldn’t feel Amaros’s mind, his soul. I couldn’t feel his heart.”

“Then why?—”

“But it wasnothing—” Imala cut Calen short “—compared to the agony that ripped through my soul when one of these traitorsdragged me into the dirt and drove a spear through his head while he looked into my eyes.”

A shiver swept through Calen at Imala’s words.

“Until you watch your soulkin die, until you feel, and I meanfeel,your soul shatter, you have no place speaking of what it is to be Rakina.”

Calen’s heart broke as he watched the tears roll down Imala’s cheeks, Valerys pulling their minds together.

“Calen is right.” Aeson stepped forwards and moved to Imala, who looked at him, her anger turning to dejection. He placed his hands on her shoulders and held her gaze. “We were betrayed by those we held close, and that betrayal cost us things that cannot be communicated in words. Things that… can never be recovered. But sometimes our pain blinds us. What happened to Amaros, there is no justice for that. But Tivar’s pain will not ease yours, sister. The only justice we will find is in the righting of wrongs, not in the doing of more. In the years since losing Lyara, I have learned that a thousand times over. What’s left of my soul is tarnished. We cannot simply claim to be better than Eltoar and the others, we mustbebetter.”

Imala nodded slowly, wiping the tears from her eyes, her shoulders drooped and trembling, her fury consumed by sorrow.

Aeson inclined his head to Calen.

Calen returned the gesture, the rage in his and Valerys’s shared soul ebbing.

“With that,” Aeson continued, “the continent is changing before our eyes, and decisions must still be made. Before we continue, I must ask that all those who are not Draleid or Rakina leave the Eyrie. We have already denied Queen Uthrían, King Galdra, and Queen Tessara’s presence here. This is for our kind and our kind alone.” Aeson looked to Therin and the elven mages. “You may stay and maintain the wards, but your voices will not be heard.”

Therin responded with a soft nod, while each of the elven mages pressed a fist to their chest and bowed.

Dann, Tarmon, Erik, Lyrei, and Vaeril all looked to Calen. He gave them a reluctant nod. He would rather have them by his side, but he knew this was something the others would not be swayed on.

Once they had taken their leave, each of the Rakina drew closer, circling around Tivar, Farda, and the two other prisoners – the dark-skinned elf and the white-haired woman whose hand was curled into a twisted fist.

Without chains binding Avandeer, the dragon could easily have torn through many of those gathered, but Calen knew she would not put Tivar in that danger. What he did fear, however, was what Avandeer might do if the others decided death was Tivar’s sentence.

With silence again settling in the Eyrie, Aeson stepped into the centre of the circle, his gaze passing along the prisoners. “Farda Kyrana, Ilyain Altair, Hala Nôri, and Tivar Savinír. You are all here today to be judged for what you have done. It would take a hundred lifetimes to list your crimes, so I will state but a few. You betrayed your brothers and sisters. You butchered your own kind. You plunged all Epheria into war. You were instrumental in the near-eradication of the entire Jotnar race.”

“Quite the list,” the white-haired woman, who Calen assumed was Hala, muttered.

One of the Rakina, Willam, spat on the stone, his eyes burning holes into Hala.

“Do you have anything to say for yourselves before judgement is passed?”

To Calen’s surprise, Tivar lifted herself from her knees and stepped forwards. She held her chin high. Slowly, she passed her gaze around the circle, her stare hard and unyielding. “I deny nothing. I did what I did because I believed it to be right. I lovedThe Order, and I willalwayslove my brothers and sisters. But what we had become was not what we were meant to be. I will not make excuses for my actions, and not a day has passed that I don’t wish I could take it all back, but I can’t. I betrayed you all.” She lifted her gaze to Avandeer, who stood over her. “Webetrayed you all. I swear, we believed we were doing what was right, but by the time we saw the truth, it was too late. I ask of you only two things.”

“You have arrogance to ask for anything,” Chora spat.

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