Wildfire

Ninety Three

Even rushing down the halls with my husband and father by my side... I feel terrified... 

But also empowered...

I had stood my own against the man who sought to keep me from my husband and I had been prepared to breathe my last breath protecting my home, husband, and kingdom and I had done so with such little hesitation that I do not even stop to think and consult my protectors on whether or not it was wise or simply stupid... I had simply done what needed to be done... And in the end, my family still came to my aide and I know that they shall do so again... Except this time... It is my husband who shall take the lead...

My small stature had been an advantage while inside the narrow palace walls, but outside in the open, Emrys can spread his beasts magnificent wings and finish what he had started when he had snuffed out the Hirai family carriage to serve the justice that they deserved for being so very cruel and snatching away my sense of safety and my vision... And I intend to fly right under one of those mighty wings of his so that I might aide him as an extra set of eyes to guide him so that he need not to worry over being temporarily blinded by the brightness of his own flames... The flames that already so very ready to come pouring out of his mouth by how hot his body has become... The temperature of his flesh causing his skin to shift to the most intriguing shade of flushed, his robes starting to smolder the closer we get to our destroyed ballroom and the party crashers who have so greatly offended us... Or at least... The ones still among the living...

I do my best to not look closely at the faces of the bodies that we pass... Papa told me that looking would only leave me feeling ill and that if I am to be Emrys's eyes so that he can focus on reducing our offenders to nothing but molten puddles of ash and scorched ichor that I will be in no shape to perform my duties as his wife... Something I cannot allow to happen...

So even though the instruction had come half-shouted at me once our feet were finally letting us fly over the decorated tiles now so chipped and lined with obsidian dust so dark it could be mistaken for charcoal, our footprints being the only thing we leave behind, I do my best to try not to recognize the robes and faces of the people I have come to know and cherish in the last fortnight... And I keep my eyes on Emrys's back so that his long flowing hair might guide me as it catches on the wind, his braid having come undone somewhere in the middle of his shouting at Cho for betraying us... 

...

Emrys

...

I had tried... Tried to take a single moment to decide whether or not to tell the two men following me what had drifted off of Cho's lips while the man lay dying gripped by the flames that his own ally had flung at him with little to no discretion... But in the end, I had decided that some things are best left unsaid until there is a moment long enough to process those things thoughtfully and with a thoughtful heart... And we did not and do not have time to waste... 

For every moment that we hesitate more people could be getting hurt... Especially if Cho's men are also traitors... It feels like the only ones we are actually able to trust is our family, and our own personal guards, which I have not spotted lying unmoving on the ground thus far which is both a relief... And a worry...  For as much time as the six of us have spent together these last fourteen days they have been invaluable to me... And cherished by Rayne... And I do not think either one of us can manage to stomach the thought of our closest allies ending up as betrayers and backstabbers... 

It would fracture what is left of our souls with how fragile they already are at the moment, my heart holding a strange ache overseeing my father have to be put down as nothing more than a monster when I know in the beginning of his life he had simply been a man so in love with his wife that her death left him nothing more than a crumbling shell filled with too much bitterness for his mind to handle... It is tragic... 

It is just...

But it is also tragic... Even if the others might not see it so... Maybe I only see it so because I am... Or rather... I... was... his son... I knew of him before the ache had blossomed in his own heart... 

So even though I know that it was needed... And I am thankful that I am not the one who had to lead him into true darkness... I cannot seem to shake the melancholia that has settled around my shoulders with as much weight as the joy I feel over finally being ridden of one of our tormentors completely and permanently...

 And it is so odd to be at such ends with myself... Wanting to feel the slight tug of sadness in my heart because I know if tragedy hadn't struck he would still be among us as a sane man and ex-ruler of many able to relax and enjoy the rest of his years... While at the same time feeling such an unrelenting urge to finish this ridiculous attempt at a coup so that we might celebrate the ending of such a vile man... 

I know that it is important to understand why I feel such things towards Xiang's death... Just as I know that Rayne shall need to talk about having to decide whether the man lived or died... And over the violent act of justly relieving Xiang of his vision... But there is no time for us to stop and talk about it... The two of us will be able to talk about it later tonight while tangled up with each other.... Sadly, at the moment though, Rayne and I barely have time to strip of our robes upon coming into the room that was once set up for our wedding party before we are blurring the lines in our minds with our beasts until our limbs start to elongate and we shift for the first time together in order to take to the skies while Akeno carries on on foot so that he might keep an eye out for allies and hidden enemies alike.