Chapter 22
He didn’t know how long he sat outside the catacombs.
At some point, the day had shifted, and the war rumbled with oncoming night...but still, he sat. Seething. Going over every interaction, in present day, that they’d ever had.
He was an asshole.
He was a savior.
He was, admittedly, trying to give her the world, but only because he’d seen how great she would be. But perhaps he’d pushed too far. Perhaps he’d simply thrown her to the wolves. And she knew better than anyone in Lordach...wolves were no one’s friend.
So, with a sigh, with his pride set aside, Kinlear re-entered the catacombs and made his way back to Six’s cage to apologize.
He would eat his words.
He would choke on them if it made things right.
“Ezer, I—”
He paused just out of sight, because what he saw, inside Six’s cage?
What he saw...
His blood practically hummed, for it was the turning of the tide.
Six was kneeling to her – bowing – her scarred beak pressed so close to the ground that the shavings scattered aside with each breath she took.
He knew this stance, what it meant and what it would bring to life, for his father’s darksoul prisoners had spilled the truth of it, long ago.
The raphon had chosen her.
And still, stubborn woman that she was, Ezer argued against it.
“Absolutely not,” she growled, as Kinlear watched on from the shadows. “I won’t do it.”
Six’s tail twitched.
One dark eye slid towards Ezer and narrowed. A low growl left her throat. Her hackles raised.
“Six,” Ezer said.
Another growl.
Kinlear almost stepped forward, but...no. She could do this. She could handle this on her own. She didn’t need him.
Not like he needed her.
“I can’t be your rider!” Ezer yelped.
Six’s tail twitched.
“No,” Ezer said.
Another tail twitch, almost as if...the raphon was speaking to her.
Ezer put her hands on her hips. “I’m not arguing with you about this. I’m the Minder.” She marched over and reached for Six’s halter as if to pull her back up. But when her hand touched Six’s feathers...
A jolt went through her body.
Kinlear’s eyes widened as she froze...like she was made of stone, unnaturally still. Even her breathing looked like it had paused, as she kept her hand pressed to Six.
He watched, heart slamming against his ribs, unsure of what to do, until she ripped her hand away with a gasp. And she seemed to return to herself, once more.
He’d never seen anything like it, as if they had some sort of visceral connection.
Something magic.
“I can’t fly you, Six,” she said. “I’m not a Rider. That’s not what this mission is for. You are to be matched,” her voice broke, and Kinlear felt her sadness like it was his own, “with someone else.”
He couldn’t help himself.
He couldn’t leave her there, thinking that this bond she’d found, this beautiful merging of two souls...was going to be torn apart. Taken from her.
She said she had nothing left, but she had everything, right here in this dark room with her.
She had a raphon.
She had a prince.
She had a heart that was so willing to be given over to her, and it was his.
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” he blurted.
Damn his tongue, he couldn’t hold it back.
She spun, eyes wide.
“She speaks to you, doesn’t she?” Kinlear asked.
He looked back and forth between the two of them.
“I wasn’t certain before, but now...gods, it’s impossible to deny, the bond you share.
” He was always certain about Ezer. But Six?
Six was the difficult one. “Of course, I was hopeful before, when I first saw the beast standing before you in the Eagle’s Nest.” He’d never forget it.
Not in all his days. “But now...well, it took long enough for her to do it.”
“To do what?” Ezer asked.
Kinlear grinned. “To choose.”
He explained it to her; the truth of how a bond was forged between raphon and rider. She just stared at him as he spoke, as if she were processing, as if she were deciding whether to scream at him or simply stare.
He wasn’t sure which was worse, but he knew, oh gods, he knew...
“She has chosen you.”