34
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The whole Saoghal army cheered.
“But… But they’ve surrendered?” I muttered to myself. Urram let out a huff.
Raegan sat proud upon his stallion, his sword pointed at his enemies. “A valiant fight, it was indeed! You need now only hope the guards of Mag Mell do not frown upon your years of treachery.”
Rìoghail started to walk. Raegan was going to slaughter them.
Something deep in me, something hollow and confused and broken cried out. This isn’t right.
Urram’s head turned ever so slightly to the side, his eye meeting mine.
“Descend, Urram,” I growled, my grip renewed on his spikes.
Descend, he did.
We slammed down against the earth, his leathery body a solid mass between the Rachainn and Raegan.
Rìoghail squealed as he slid to a halt, even going so far as lifting slightly onto his hind end and striking the air with his hooves.
“Move, Olivia,” Raegan growled. He was unrecognizable. His eyes were neither the dark of Choilltean nor the light of Cluaineach, but red-rimmed and furious like only wrath lived in him. From head to toe he was drowning in blood, that of his own and that of others.
I stretched tall on top of Urram, my eyes boring into his and trying to bring sense back to him.
“I said move,” he hissed again.
Queen Tonn, King Nevan, and Diarmuid had all started to walk behind Raegan, likely eager to assist him in the utter desolation of the Rachainn.
But it was wrong.
I knew it was wrong. Why couldn’t they see that?
“No,” I finally said. My voice was thunderous, carrying across every inch of the meadow.
Raegan’s face stretched into something poisonous as he let out a scoff. “No?”
“No,” I repeated, squaring my shoulders as I stared at the Prince. “Do not harm them, Raegan.”
A bitter cackle erupted from him, joined soon by the other monarchs who all shook their heads. Urram was solid beneath me, his winged fore-legs sturdy against the ground, his whole body rigid as his head swung left to right in warning of anyone stepping any closer.
“Look at them!” I pointed back towards the Rachainn, who were all still on their knees with their heads hanging. “They’ve surrendered, Raegan. They’ve surrendered.”
“I do not care,” he snarled, palming his blade in his hand as Rìoghail snorted and pranced on the spot. “They slaughtered hundreds of us. They will receive no mercy in their final hours.”
Raegan pushed Rìoghail forward. Although unsure, the stallion moved.
Urram growled, low and viscous, saliva spewing from his maw as heat gathered at the back of his throat.
“This is not the way of your people, Raegan.” I tried a softer voice, something capable of reason and gentleness. It didn’t reach him, though. If anything, it simply poured oil over far-too-hungry flames.
“What do you know of our people?” he spat, Rìoghail still prancing back and forth with his nostrils flared and his mane swinging.
“I know that this is not right. They have surrendered. Punish them if you must. Exile them. But Saoghal will weep before us if you free more blood upon Her. Do not,” I begged him, tears lining my eyes as I tried to find something within Raegan worthy of pleading with him.
Something capable of saving him from himself.
“Move now, Olivia, or I will remove you myself.”
Urram hissed, his serpent tongue lashing out behind his teeth as a large glow emanated from the back of his throat.
Gliocas screamed as he leapt from Raegan’s shoulder, shifting mid-air into the creature of crimson hide and carmine eyes. There, he balanced himself and stood proud in front of Urram, guarding Raegan, his own mouth opening and a flame gathering behind his tongue.
“No!” I howled at them, at them all. “Enough of this! Can you not see? Kin and kin, blood and blood, life for life… End it now, Raegan. Be done with it! Let it lift from your shoulders and take the victory for what it is.”
Urram braced beneath me, his wings lifting as if he prepared himself for war. Gliocas did the same, their eyes never moving from one another, two flames prepared to meet.
“Raegan,” I pleaded.
The Prince finally looked at me. Looked at me, not through me, not over me, but at me.
“They are your people. Whether you agree with them or not. Whether they agree with you or not. Their ideals are different from yours, that much is true, but it’s not your job to force them to think as you do. It is your duty to protect them.”
His face pulled tight as he stared at me, Rìoghail finally standing still.
“Yes, they’ve done awful things. But can you honestly say Saoghal has not done the same to them? How many of them were killed simply because they dared to think differently to your Kings and Queens and gods?”
Some of the Rachainn were moving behind me. Not standing, they wouldn’t dare to stand, but their heads were lifting. Their eyes were brightening.
Urram released another guttural growl. Gliocas matched it.
I slipped down from Urram’s shoulder. It was probably a stupid idea, but I did it anyway. It was the only way that Raegan might see me as something other than a threat.
“You do not need to be your father, Raegan,” I said, taking small steps until I was standing in front of Urram. His head lingered behind me, a promised threat in his eyes as he watched everyone staring at me. “You are allowed to do things differently.”
The Prince continued to watch me, something turning behind his eyes as his sword hand fell.
“Only the strongest of people can forgive those who have wronged them. Mercy is not a weakness but a strength, Raegan. For all the mercy they didn’t offer us, find it within you and weaponize it now.”
Something changed in Raegan.
His features softened, his shoulders rolled forward, and he nodded.
There were shouts of outrage behind us, but he didn’t care. His body tightened as he accepted his silent decision.
~
As everyone began to group up, pixies being directed to the containment and imprisonment of the Rachainn, it was hard to consider this a victory. Not when I looked out across the plane and saw wings torn from backs, ears carved from heads, and bodies splattered in every direction.
Because in the end, the blood on the field was of them all.
They all bled red.