Page 65 of Steeling Light
I stare at my father, who looks as though he’s just walked out of a pyre. His clothes are gone. Most of his flesh has been burned to ash, leaving exposed muscles and bones. I can see his blade and the Brand’s secret hiding places inside him, covered in bone.
In the silence that lingers, I hear Maeve screaming, but it doesn’t matter. Today is not about the Wyrdling girl who has become so much more than I believed her capable of. Today is about the man who gave himself to protect the ones who couldn’t save themselves.
And it’s about my father. The one person who caused all of this pain and heartache for so many. The oathmark climbs my arm, and in its wake, it leaves ash. My arm is useless because I have hurt Ainslee by accepting my role in this. I didn’t fight. I was not the man I swore to be.
But I can be now. I can protect her from every other horrible thing that my father will most likely do to her. I can be the man she deserves. I can be her shelter so she can show her light to the world. I can take away the person who’s caused her so much pain.
Before, when I’d tried to fight my father, I’d been hopeful. I’dwantedto kill him. Deep down, though, I’d always thought that Cole was invincible. I’d believed he could do anything, that no one was as strong as him, and that he’d find a way to kill my father.
Now he’s dead. The man that I’d truly believed would save us all is gone, and there’s no one else. If I can’t stop him, he will destroy this world, and more importantly, he’ll destroy Ainslee.
I begin to shift back into myself, and I reach into the secret cavity inside myself to draw my sword. “I’m sorry,” I say. The words aren’t for my father, though. They’re to Cole. They’re to the one we all trusted to save us when he was just a High Fae, no different from the rest of us. We shouldn’t have put that burden solely on his shoulders. We should have been stronger.I should have been stronger.
My father turns to me, finally truly seeing me. Not with the eyes of a father who is disgusted by his son, but with the eyes of a man on the battlefield. For the first time, my father is seeing me as the rest of the world has always seen me. I am not some unimportant soldier. I am the Prince of Steel, and he knows it.
He summons the power of the Steel Gauntlet, covering himself in armor that my sword cannot penetrate, but I was the first to wear the relic. “That won’t stop me.” My blade comes down just as accurately as ever, and I sever his hand from his arm, separating the relic from him.
My father screams as the steel covering his body disappears. “The heart,” I say softly, repeating the lesson he taught me when he had first begun pushing me to duel Cole. “The heart is the only thing that the House of Steel cannot rebuild or move. It is always in the left breast. It is always weak to a strong blade. Even the one who wears the Painted Crown cannot survive their heart being pierced.”
My father shakes his head in disbelief. “No, I was supposed to die to Cole Cyrus. Calyr told me that the one who killed me would have dark hair and wield a black blade.” So that’s why he’s been afraid of Cole for my entire life. That’s why he’s tried to get me to kill him. Not because he wanted me to be strong. No, he simply wanted to end the one who was going to kill him.
I bring my blade up for a fatal stab, and my father says, “No. I command you to put down your sword.” This time, when I refuse, there is no pain. Blood calls to blood, but I have a stronger tie now. I don’t care about his approval. I don’t care about his Crown. Gethin Rahn’s blood may run through my veins, but my purpose is no longer to be his legacy. It’s being Ainslee’s shelter, and I cannot do that while he still breathes.
I am her sword and shield. Not his.
“No one commands me anymore, Father. You’ve done everything to ruin this world, and the only man to try to stop you is dead. I refuse to accept that he died in vain. Rest well, Father.”
My blade moves just as my father taught me, slipping between the ribs to pierce the heart. Then there is only silence as the light in my father’s eyes fades. His body collapses, still burned by Cole’s immolation. I stand in the quiet for a moment as his blood drips from my sword to the ground in soft splashes.
My father is dead.
And I do not feel an ounce of pain, nor an ounce of happiness at the fact. All I care is that Ainslee is safe. I glance down at the oathmark around my wrist. It no longer burns.
Chapter 37
What is more important? That the goal is achieved or that the ones closest to you stay safe? Sometimes, you must cut off the leg to remove the rot. This is why we are called priests. We hold no loyalty other than to the Order.
~Rhaskar Thorne, The First Book of the Priest
Ainslee
Cole is dead, and Rhion is the reason. I stare at the pyre that holds the man I followed for so many years. He was willing to die so that Maeve could live, and yet I know he wouldn’t have done that for me. No one searched for me. Sia told me he knew I was lost, but he did nothing to save me.
I cling to Rhion. Cole was my friend, but I am not Maeve. I was not the world he was trying to save. I would never be the most important person to Cole, but I am the most important person to Rhion. He swore he wouldn’t let anything happen to me. He swore it, and he meant it.
Rhion Rahn is neither a rebel nor a champion of the world. He is a man who loves long walks and enchanting. He laughs louder and kisses more passionately than anyone I have ever met. Yes, he commanded soldiers, and yes, he is incredible with a sword, but he is not Cole Cyrus.
Yet, he’s the one who killed Gethin. He’s the one who was willing to let the entire world burn to save me. He’s the one who pulled me down from that wall and used spellstones filled with dead Steel soldiers’ essences to heal me. He is not the man I followed, but he is the man I love.
The world will hate Rhion because of his part in Cole’s death, but I don’t. Maybe I’m selfish. Finally. Maybe I learned the same lesson that Cole did in the end. I’ve seen the smile he still wears in death. I wish I’d been there to witness the glory that he’d passed into the void with, but I already know how he felt.
He was alive in a way he never was during our immortal lives. He’d found purpose during the Shattering, but that hadn’t made him burn that brightly. No, it was Maeve who showed him what life was.
I press my body closer to Rhion as Maeve climbs the ladder back down to the ground. Cole Cyrus was my friend, my leader, and my Prince. I had felt as much a part of the House of Flames as he was. I lived there. I experienced Casimir’s brutality. I… I was his family.
But I would have chosen Rhion over him just as Rhion chose me over him. Just as Cole chose Maeve over me.
There is a difference between loyalty and love, and all of us are learning that the heart will always win that battle.
