Dawnbreaker by Jodi Meadows

Author:Jodi Meadows [Meadows, Jodi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 2023-11-07T00:00:00+00:00

27.

Rune

Flying had been a lot more terrifying than Rune had anticipated. The wind. The dizzying height. The bruises where the Nightrender’s grip had remained firm the entire duration of the flight.

But true to her word, she hadn’t let go of him once. Her hold had never slipped, never weakened, and every time Rune had felt the agonizing nothing beneath him, she had told him to look up—toward the mountains, across the woods, all the way to the northern plains. It had been the third most terrifying experience of his life (after facing Daghath Mal, and then facing Daghath Mal again), but it had also offered the unique opportunity to see his kingdom—his world—from a spectacular height.

From the sky, Caberwill looked so small. So fragile. This beautiful slice of Salvation could crumble apart the next time the Malstop fell. Too easily he could imagine his kingdom collapsing into the molten blood of the earth.

But now that Rune was on solid ground again, taking one of the secret pathways from the temple to the royal wing of Honor’s Keep, he felt...off-balance. It seemed wrong that he should struggle to stay upright now, since he was a creature of the land, after all, but flying had been so...so...Well, Rune desperately wanted to do it again—and he didn’t. Too wonderful. Too frightening. It was hard to know how to feel about it.

And now he was home.

He’d wanted to dive immediately into helping the Nightrender find her weapon, but Grand Priest Larksong had urged him to tend to the kingdom—and Hanne.

So here he was. Tending to the kingdom. Tending to Hanne.

When the passage let out at the sunroom, he pushed open the hidden door and slipped inside. It was empty, lit by cloud-diffused afternoon light, but for a moment, he could see echoes of his family here: his sisters, still small children, playing by the windows; his brother, a young man, studying the law with their father; and his mother, dutifully training Rune in swordplay in the background, so that he could better protect his older brother.

The vision evaporated when he noticed the large rug had been replaced. It was a similar design—the Caberwilline crest with a dragon claw clutching a crown—but this was newer, the line edges sharper. There were no thin patches from Rune’s family walking the same paths for years upon years.

It was a new rug because the old one had been discarded. Because his mother had died on it. And it hadn’t come clean.

He closed his eyes, swallowing back a desperate cry.

The Malice had taken so much from him. His friends. His family. Perhaps even his future.

Daghath Mal was the thief of all thieves.

Voices sounded in the hall, shattering his building grief and anger. He pushed them aside for now. He needed to be a king. A brother. A husband.

Woodenly, he stepped into the hall just as Hanne, her ladies, and her guards were exiting the queen’s chambers.

Rune froze, half expecting to see his mother emerging from her rooms after. But no.

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