A Court of Truths and Revival

An Understanding

SEREN

Nausea swelled within Seren and if she weren't already on the ground, she'd have wound up there the moment Helion's library came back into view. A deep, baritone melody lingered in the corners of her ears, but she couldn't focus on the words or on anything other than what she'd seen.

Her father had been there. Well, what remained of him.

The arms around her loosened their grip, allowing her to slump forward as her head spun.

He'd kept ahold of her shadow so that it didn't wander off.

"Mother above!" Someone exclaimed, "What happened? Time expired on the spell." Seren was too lost to look up from the ground to make sense of who spoke. "We thought you lost amongst the shadows."

Koschei had led her father to her young mother. A game spanning longer than they'd all thought.

"Seren, gods Seren, you're shaking." Was she shaking? Was she even breathing? She couldn't be certain of anything anymore.

He hadn't told her everything. There hadn't been time. But she could make more time.

"Azriel, what the fuck happened to you two?"

Seren's wide, tear-filled eyes rose at the sound of that name. Rhys was fraught with worry as he crouched down on his knees before her. Whatever he saw in her gaze darkened her own. Seren opened her mouth but only a croak sounded. Would her brother believe what she'd seen? Even if he did, it would likely upset him.

"Cronan," Azriel said from behind her as he ran a surprisingly gentle hand up her spine. "His soul was hidden amongst the shadows."
Rhys went still, his hand stopping halfway to her cheek as he'd been about to wipe away a tear.

"I beg your pardon," Helion said as he cleared his throat after the silence began to grate. Such an occurrence was confounding for someone with so much trust in his libraries.

It wasn't Azriel who spoke next, but Rhys, who'd finally recovered his voice. And it was sharp enough to kill. "Has he been speaking to you, Seren? Whispering vile things in your ears?" He said it as if every mounting problem could be boiled down to that possibility.

Seren flinched, unsure of what she was being accused of. "Wh...what?"

Rhys's presence filled the outside of her mind, wanting to be let in, but she did not grant him permission. Instead, he spoke once more. "Azriel mentioned that you talk under your breath to him. It concerned him—is concerning for us all."

Goosebumps prickled Seren's skin as stark exposure chilled her. It wasn't embarrassment, but betrayal. One she should have expected. Of course, Azriel had taken note of a habit she struggled to break, but he'd told Rhys about it rather than confronting her. How many conversations had they had about her? How freely did they share their concerns about her? Did they sit around and discuss her over wine and cheese? Was she nothing more than the baby sister that lost her mind and argued with the dead?

It was a fair conclusion for Rhys to jump to, but Seren didn't even know how to answer, so she let the gathering hurt respond for her. Twisting to face Azriel, she scanned his emotionless face for any sign of denial. There was none. "Why would you tell him that?" Her voice cracked, rising higher. "Why wouldn't...why..."

It didn't matter why he did it. What mattered was what she'd been told.

Seren didn't give him a chance to respond, not that he was likely to anyway. Twisting back to her brother, she countered his question with one of her own. "What lies beneath Ramiel?"

Her brother was not the sort to be surprised, having a habit of anticipating what those around him will say or do, but her question melted the crinkled lines of concern from his face. His eyes darted left, gauging Helion's reaction. She hadn't thought it a matter of secrecy, but now she could sense Rhys's unease as the faint scent of fear wafted from him. What would make the most powerful High Lord nervous?