Page 170 of Death of the Glass Angel
“I’m sure,” Felsin said calmly.
Pushing Brand out of his way, Gemellus grabbed Janus, pulling her away from the opera house despite her faint protests. “Relax.” He said, wrapping an arm around her.
“No. I can’t leave Talon. Not the way I left Eros.”
“Janus. . .” Gemellus stopped, taking her by the shoulders. “Felsin has it handled. Talon will be fine. I promise.”
“What. . . what did Felsin mean?”
“The right of exile is an ancient tradition,” Gemellus said quickly. “Life for life, memory for trust, one place for another.” He glanced back. “Talon will be absolved of sin, and Felsin will be exiled in his place.”
44
Felsin
Strange, how writing has comforted me these past few years. I will miss the boy, but his departure is for the best. We sometimes do not realize better days will come. We refuse to believe they will arrive. And for some, they do not. But we shall never reach them, unless we take the next step forward.
-Excerpt from Alfaris’ private journal
Felsin stood in his room for the last time, packing a small bag. His body ached, bruised from his tumble into the sinkhole.
He stared at the stars he’d painted the ceiling with in his youth, remembering something Alfaris had often said.
‘You’re still a novice. You have much to learn.’
Felsin turned his palm over. How many secrets yet hid within this magic?
The door flew open and Mother strode in. Bandages wrapped her chest, hidden beneath a tartan robe. “Are you ready?” She asked.
“As I can be,” Felsin said shortly. “I never imagined being exiled.”
“I could.” She leaned on the door frame, smiling.
How could she claim to love him, yet stand there smiling, knowing his doom?
Felsin stepped back in shock. “You. . .did you want this to happen?”
The smile Heras wore deepened before fading. “Is it cruel to say I prefer this end to your death?”
“Then everything didn’t go to plan?”
“Spirits, no.” Heras folded her arms and walked past him. “Fate is what this moment leads to. Stray even a step, and the canvas changes.”
Watching her closely, Felsin kept a distance between them. “The mirage evoker wasn’t supposed to be there, the night at the inn. What would have happened, had Janus died as she was meant to?”
“Nothing.” Heras unfolded her arms and turned to him. “She was the cornerstone of the sky, the one piece I needed to remove.”
“But she still lives.”
“She does.” Heras tapped a crystal ball wistfully. “But the path has changed. She is harmless, without you.”
Curling his fingers behind his back, Felsin leaned toward her. “What are you doing, Mother?”
“What I’ve always done. I love Altanbern dearly. Charged with its keeping, I will do everything in my power to see its people prosper. So fascinated by the ancestors, you never looked toward the people who live now, nor those who come after.”
“I didn’t realize they had it so bad.”
“Of course you didn’t,” Heras said. “Why accept the poor and destitute when we could save them? Why persist in being the alliance’s weakest link when we could prosper?”
