Page 106 of A Legacy of Wrath and Reckoning

Zylah wanted nothing more than to pull Holt away to the privacy of their tent, but her brother caught her attention.

Go.Holt’s voice in her thoughts made no attempt to hide his humour at her predicament.He’ll be stationed in the tunnels from tomorrow.

“Hey.” Zack’s exhaustion was palpable as he walked up to her, and it struck Zylah that she barely recognised him as the boy from her memories. Dark smudges sat beneath his eyes, his hair longer than she’d ever seen it. A short beard shadowed his face, his skin pale, and again she was reminded of his humanness, of how much more this all took its toll on his body than his Fae counterparts. “Walk with me?”

“Only if you’ll let me heal you a little.”

Zack scrunched his nose. “I can’t stand the smell of the healers’ tent, reminds me too much of father’s apothecary.”

“You hated the smell?”

Her brother huffed a laugh as he led the way through the camp, nodding at soldiers as they passed. “I never understood it all like you do. It was always something else I couldn’t do for him. Something I couldn’t be. Being in his shop just reminded me of all the ways I’d disappointed him.”

Zylah couldn’t hide her surprise at his words. Their father had never said a bad word about Zack, never voiced any hint of dissatisfaction at the path her brother had chosen. “You were all he talked about to customers. His son, the King’s Blade. Not a day went by when he didn’t remind me of your title.”

“I suppose we excelled in keeping things from each other. Keeping things from you.”

“Zack—”

He held out a hand to cut her off. “I should have said this back in Virian. Before that; it’s long overdue. Your life was sheltered because Father and I thought we were protecting you from the truth. From how painful it might be. But we got it wrong. Very wrong. And I want you to know how sorry I am for that. For keeping things from you.”

Zylah hadn’t realised how much she’d needed to hear it. How much she’d needed to understand why they’d kept so much from her over the years.

“When he was dying,” he went on, his voice thickening, “he asked me to tell you how sorry he was for all of it. How the moment you were taken to Arnir’s prison, he knew how badly he’d handled everything. And after that…” He studied her face, her eyes, her pointed ears.

“Everything happened so quickly.”

Her brother nodded.

“I was so afraid when the bounty hunter took you. When you fled Virian. I thought I’d never see you again. And when I saw you in the tunnels with Holt.” He took her hand and squeezed it. “I’m so proud of you. And I’m sorry, Zylah, for my part in all of it.”

She fought back the sting of tears, a warm tingle of devotion brushing over her skin from Holt down the bond. “Do you know who my parents are?”

Zack shook his head. “No. There were never any lies surrounding how I found you. Every word of that was the truth.”

“Holt promised he’d help me find them.” Neither of them mentioned that her parents were most likely long dead.

Zack smiled, his features softening, his face resembling something like the brother she remembered. “I’m happy for you, Zy. If you’d asked me to pick someone for you, it would have been him. Even if he scared the shit out of me when we first met.”

That elicited a laugh from Zylah. They stopped at a firepit near his tent, logs assembled haphazardly around the flames. “Sit beside me,” she told her brother.

His eyes narrowed. “I fell for that too many times when we were children.”

Zylah shoved him onto a log with a laugh. “I’ve missed you.” She took his hand, squeezed it as he had with hers before letting a little of her healing magic tumble into him, careful not to overwhelm him with too much.

“I’ve missed you too,” he said quietly, squeezing her fingers back.

They sat together watching the flames, and though Zylah knew he likely had a hundred tasks he needed to attend to, he didn’t make any effort to leave. Neither did she, some silent agreement passing between them to take this one quiet moment they had with each other whilst the camp carried on around them, until the sun had long since disappeared over the tree line.

“There you are.” Nye stood on the opposite side of the fire, her expression softening as she watched them both.

“General,” Zack said, pushing to his feet. His features softened, too, Zylah noted.

“General.” Nye grinned, and Zylah suddenly felt as if she’d walked in on the middle of a private joke. “Two Black Veil soldiers are asking to be transferred to you tomorrow. But if you’re busy, I’ll reassign them.”

“I’ll deal with it,” he told her. “Zylah.” His eyes darted over her face again. “Thank you for the top up.” He swept her up into a hug, squeezing her laughter from her like he had when they were children. Another nod in Nye’s direction, and then he was gone, making his away across the camp.

“He’s excelled as a general.” Nye settled onto the log Zack had occupied moments before, her attention on the flames.

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