Page 100 of A Deception of Courts

Like killing Aldrick, reclaiming Altar’s keys that he’d stolen, and righting all the wrongs that threatened to tear Wychwood apart.

Above the stillness, someone cleared their voice, followed by stern cut words.

“This would be the moment I have to say something, but I admit I am struggling to find the right thing to share with you all.”

I turned back to look at Althea, who stood with shoulders back as she addressed the crowd, Gyah standing a step behind her, a constant shield at her back. I could see the grief Gyah carried in her golden eyes, it almost concealed the desire for vengeance that mirrored what festered inside of me –almost.

“You may expect me to encourage you, or perhaps spark strength back into your hearts with the promise of revenge. But I cannot lie to you. I cannot or will not make promises I am not confident I can keep.” Althea Cedarfall washed her gaze over the mounds of her dead family before her. We all watched as her face softened by the time she regarded her mother’s crowd again, her eyes glistened with unspent tears.

It was her crown now.

“Cedarfall has been violated by evil. Poison. Our enemy saw a moment of unsuspecting weakness and pounced. And so many lives have been stolen from us because of it. We can all agree, Aurelia willneverbe the same.” Althea’s voice cracked, Gyah stepping forwards in response. But Althea raised a hand, signalling she was okay, that she could continue. “Mycity is scarred, mirroring the marks left upon our own hearts, our souls. I know that there is nothing I can say, nothing I can do to help heal you, or give you back what was stolen from you. Nothing that will fix…” Althea choked again, chin dropping to her chest, shoulders heaving as she took a hulking breath in.

I stepped forward instinctively, but Gyah was there in a blink, taking Althea and pressing a kiss upon the wild red curls stuck to her forehead. This time, Althea didn’t make her stop. Gyah’s affection had the desired effect, allowing Althea to gather herself to finish speaking. “Nothing that will fix me.”

Gyah whispered something to Althea, whose forehead creased with lines as she nodded in silent agreement.

I was surprised when I felt my heart crack. I’d thought it’d already shattered beyond repair, but seeing my friend in such a state of grief made me ache for her. We locked eyes and I mouthed my words of encouragement.

“You’ve got this.”

Althea’s jaw tightened, the resolve in her hazel eyes sharpening. She nodded, faced the crowd, and continued.

“This is not over,” Althea bellowed so suddenly the air sparked with heat. “We will not submit as the enemy may hope. Not now, not ever. As long as Aldrick continues his campaign against the realms, more lives will be taken. Our enemy tried to destroy Cedarfall just as they did with Elmdew. But the pain doesn’t stop here. Innocent people will continue dying as long as our enemies breathe. But like the smoke that coils and dances in the wake of the Cedarfall’s mighty flame, I will stop atnothinguntil they suffocate. I will burn them out of their hiding places, scorch everything they hold close, so they know the suffering that is our flame. Not even the winds will dare collect their ashes. The ground will regret them. The water will refuse to wash their memory away. I promise –promiseto see this dark time come to its end. Nothing can extinguish our hope, not even Aldrick and his band of twisted, hateful followers. We will rage, we will consume, and we…will… devour anyone else foolish enough to stand in our way.”

If Althea’s speech had been given at a different time, under a different circumstance, I could only imagine the explosion of applause that would have followed. Instead, the crowd was silent. But no one cried in the quiet that followed, no one uttered a word.

Instead, they all bowed. A wave of respect, cresting like a wave across the crowd, all whilst Althea watched on.

I looked through the crowd and found Erix without meaning to. He hung at the back like a shadow, his arms folded over his chest, wings gathered at his back as though he carried a flag. It seemed he sensed that I watched him, for his silver eyes tore away from Althea and found me.

My breath caught in my throat, Duncan squeezing my hand in response to the fleeting sound.

Rafaela stood beside Erix, her face set into a grimace as she leaned on her golden hammer for support. She, like the rest of us, showed physical signs of exhaustion after our fight.

I was just glad to see they were all alive – my friends. And it was all thanks to the silver-eyed guard beside Rafaela. Duncan had revealed as much.

“There is so much I wish to say to him,” I whispered.

Duncan turned, and followed my line of sight. “You and I both. If it was not for Erix, we wouldn’t be here. Cedarfall would have fallen to Aldrick’s attempts, and more would have died. Erix saved us, he saved you. For that, I am indebted to him.”

Erix had been following our party the entire time since we left Berrow. He’d not made himself known, out of the respect that he believed I wanted him to leave. But his hesitation, his overwhelming sense of duty, kept him close. And thank Altar he had. Because he was able to slip in and save Rafaela, Althea and Duncan – before slaughtering the Hunters who’d stayed behind to destroy them.

Without Erix, Cedarfall really would’ve fallen to Aldrick. Without Erix, I would’ve lost everything.

“As am I,” I replied.

Erix looked away first, and I reluctantly followed.

“Robin, I want you to know I will never forgive myself,” Duncan said, as the crowd swelled, going to pay their respects to the dead. “I should’ve listened to your concerns. Kayne got this far because I allowed him to, because I was too blind to think my… friend was capable of changing.”

“Don’t,” I said.

“No. I need to say it, Robin. I’m so sorry.”

Discomfort clawed up my spine at Duncan’s revelation, but I fought to bury it. Hearing the guilt in his voice, the inability to hold my gaze when he spoke, only broke me down further.

“Even I wouldn’t have foreseen his betrayal, Duncan,” I replied softly, longing for Duncan to believe every word I said in reply. “Kayne tricked us all. No one is guilty but him.”

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