Page 78 of When the Moon Met the Sun

She was shaking from head to toe, her eyes full of tears, unable to tear her eyes away from Ezra. In an attempt to spare her fromfurther pain, I stretched a wing out in front of her to block her view of Ezra and Quinn.

“I… I just wanted to come help,” she said, her voice small and so unlike her usual giddiness, still staring at where she last saw Ezra. It was obvious she was falling into shock.

“I just wanted to help,” she said again, a tear escaping and gliding down her cheek.

“Well, you didn’t help, Margo. Not at all. You’ve just ruinedeverything!” Quinn screamed, tears cascading down her face as she continued to murmur to Ezra how everything would be alright.

I picked Margo up as she began to crumble, trying my best to keep it together myself as I watched Ezra grow paler from the blood loss quickly overtaking him.

My panic and fury must have alerted Byn that something was wrong, because I watched as Atlas and Lychen came barreling towards us.

Byn and Teagan leaped from the wolves’ backs and broke out into a sprint, and I ran to meet them, a sobbing Margo in my arms.

“She’s alright. Physically, at least,” I reassured the two siblings quickly approaching, worry etched onto their features.

I handed Margo over to Teagan, who seemed eager to make sure my claims about her younger sister proved to be true for herself.

The moment Margo was taken from my arms, Byn cupped my face, tilting my head side to side and looking me up and down.

“You’re alright? You’re not injured?” he asked, his concern written across his face.

“I’m fine, Byn, but…” I trailed off, then turned and motioned towards where Ezra and Quinn remained on the ground thirty feet away.

Immediately upon seeing them, he broke into a sprint heading for the couple, and I did my best to stay hot on his heels while Teagan took Margo over to the wolves to calm her.

Coming to a stop, Byn and I both took up a side each next to Ezra, with Quinn cradling his head in her lap and Byn applying pressure to the wound now.

“It’s going to be alright, Ezra. Just hang in there. We’ll find Chess and he will fix it, you’ll see,” Quinn said through her tears, which she was desperately trying—and failing—to blink back. She moved to get to her feet, as though to go find Chess, when Ezra’s hand flew up to stop her.

“Stay,” Ezra said simply,weakly. When Quinn went to argue, Byn simply cleared his throat to interrupt.

“Congratulations, you two. I knew it was only a matter of time,” he said with a voice thick with emotion, then motioned to Ezra’s inner arm, where Quinn’s family crest—a flaming crystal—was inked onto his skin. I was confident if Quinn removed her own armor, we’d see Ezra’s crest marking her skin, too.

Sometime in the last couple days of preparation for this battle, they must have slipped away and gotten married.

My heart ached in my chest, and I knew for a fact that Byn was hurting, too. Even more so.

He had to watch his brother fade away.

And Quinn, her husband.

Ezra responded to Byn with a weak smile, but the motion looked pained, and it was obvious by the blood soaked cloak that he was fading fast.

Tears welled in my own eyes as I watched the interaction and the weight of it. Ezra was the first person to really try to make me feel more at home in the South. He made sure to continuously go out of his way for me to make me feel welcome. Without him, I wasn't sure I ever would have come around to feeling at home with Byn.

Byn reached out to Ezra and they gently clasped arms.

“Thank you,” Byn’s voice cracked. “You’ve been there for…everything. Ever since we were toddlers, you’ve been there. You’re my brother, in every sense of the word. When I asked you to watchout for Margo, I never thought it would come to this.” He looked away. “And I amsosorry.”

“If I could do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing, Byn. You have to know that. You, Teagan, and Margo are my family, too, just as your parents were,” Ezra said, his breaths wet and labored. “It’s been the greatest honor I could have asked for, to watch you grow into the king you were always meant to be.”

Tears escaped both males’ eyes, and Byn quickly wiped them away, glancing towards me. Ezra did the same, offering a small smile.

“I knew you’d come around,” he teased, despite the situation.

I chuckled, but it was a weighted sound.

“Thank you, Ezra. I wouldn’t be here without you,” I said thickly, knowing he’d understand what I meant.

---