Talon the Black by Melissa Mitchell

Author:Melissa Mitchell [Mitchell, Melissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781792194337
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

37

Kastali Dun

Talon sat before his shields, eyeing them in silence. Firelight danced upon them, casting long shadows around the sitting area of his chambers. Outside, a thunderous storm threw itself upon the keep’s walls, breaking the day’s humidity. Inside, all that could be heard was the crackling and popping within the grate. No one wished to speak, especially not he.

Three days of funeral games had come and gone. What he thought was an adequate postponement of the inevitable was no longer so. Tomorrow the dreaded trial would arrive, and he would be forced to confront that which he wished to avoid: the added trouble this foreign woman had created. He had half a mind to further defer the trial, knowing he was in a poor state to act as its mediator, but this was his duty.

He gave a heavy sigh and turned his gaze back to the fire. Duty was always the driving force behind his role. He had every reason to despise it. Duty urged him to face each day anew, and duty kept him hard at work late into the night. Such was the way for a king—a lesson that took him years to learn.

He never wanted to be king. As a young Drengr, he denied such a task would come, but it had, painfully so. When his parents were ripped from the world, he was forced to take up the position, despite his hatred of duty, despite his dread for responsibility.

“No good will come from tomorrow,” Reyr murmured after the silence grew too great. He met Reyr’s golden eyes, noticing the intensity within them. It often felt like Reyr could read the writing of his soul, and sometimes it was too much. He looked away and found the others were also keen, their gazes turned intently upon him.

“What would you have me do, Reyr? Cancel the trial? Policy demands it.”

Koldis snorted. “The Lower Council demanded Claire’s head too, yet you did not acquiesce.”

“I already know your arguments, Koldis. You have given them often and without restraint. All of you have.” He afforded each of them a stern glare. “You would have me speak with this woman in private. You would have me look the fool.” These paths had been crossed more than once. The conclusion was always the same. “Without a trial, my people will believe I am weak. The Council will feel slighted. All will claim that this temptress has me eating from the palm of her hand. Am I to abandon the law?”

“Yes, yes.” Reyr waved a hand in annoyance, his fires stoked. “The people cry for justice. We all know they do. Since when have the people come before your duty to do what is right?”

“And what is right, Reyr?” He refrained from raising his voice, so much so that it was nearly too low, like the warning growl from a berated cat, or the stifled snarl from an irritated dragon. It took very little to arouse the beast within. Besides, he already knew the answer Reyr was bound to give.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.