A Trial of Sparks & Kindling (Fall of the Mantle Book 2) by Yolandie Horak

Author:Yolandie Horak [Horak, Yolandie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-23T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 29

Sera held Lance’s hand.

He didn’t move an inch, didn’t wince, no matter how hard she squeezed. He just accepted it as part of his punishment. The guilt danced in his eyes, but he remained stone-faced, stoic.

Try as she might, she couldn’t blame him. Had she been a slummer, she’d have done the same as Lance. She’d have rallied the people and would have spread rot. Her father’s rot-scarred face would be a reminder of what she’d allowed to happen in Aelland.

When she was queen—and she would be queen—her people would never suffer like this again. Never.

Magnus was so small in the bed. A once-proud man; a duke, reduced to little more than sallow skin and jutting bones. He struggled for air, and his chest and throat sputtered. Blood? Bile? Whatever it was, he didn’t deserve this.

Heaviness clamped around Sera’s stomach, constricted. She should have let Magnus rest. She’d known about the cancer and shouldn’t have had him help Laroche.

Dorian Cutter sat on bent knees, his head and neck bowed over his father, the bedspread riddled with dark spots beneath his head. More tears plopped down, but he didn’t make a sound. His hands were fixed around one of his father’s, knuckles white.

Cara was in love with Dorian’s brother. Did Nathaniel Cutter look like Dorian? Did he have the same tall frame? How short she must look next to him if he did. Was Nathaniel blond and stoic, like Dorian? Would Magnus also live on in his features—the pointed nose, and calm, blue eyes?

If only Cara and Nathaniel were here. If only they could witness the end of a hero.

A groan sounded from the room next door, and Sera turned her face in that direction.

Jerry and Ahmed shared a glance, then Jerry hurried to the door. Low voices sounded—was Laroche awake? Jerry appeared in the doorway a moment later and beckoned to Lance with curled fingers.

Lance squeezed Sera’s hand then left.

She frowned. What now?

Rustles sounded, followed by another groan, then Jerry returned. He pushed Laroche in a wheelchair.

“Papa.” Her knees wobbled beneath her, and she half-stumbled to Laroche’s side.

The end of his nose was gone. Wounds riddled his face and hands, oozing through their bandages. Some of his fingertips were also covered in bandages. What was left of those fingers would be amputated the next day. How many would he lose? He smiled at her. Weak, small, but alive.

Sera’s eyes filled and tears ran freely down her face. For once, she didn’t care. Let them all see her weep for the man who’d raised her. Let them all see her weep for the man who should have raised Cara. And for the man who did raise Cara, just for four years, but those years had proved to be the most important of all.

“He wanted to be here.” Jerry gestured at Laroche.

“I’ll bring him.” Sera took Jerry’s place behind the wheelchair.

Lance put a hand on her shoulder, an anchor, and remained behind her as she pushed her father to Magnus’s bedside.

Magnus’s eyelids fluttered open.

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