It was near dawn when Ki and the others pulled up on the docks in front of The Phoenix. The early risers, mainly fishermen and dock workers, were already starting their day, and a few stopped to look on as the group exited the carriages and assembled in front of the ship. Ki stepped slowly out of the carriage as Thatch offered his hand as support. His skin was almost burning, and Ki realized her own hand had been cold despite the balmy air. As soon as she was on the ground she let go of him and stepped to the side. She could pretend to herself that she didn't see the look of concern on Thatch's face. She was fine. She had done what she'd had to in the situation and that was the end of it. She didn't need Emmie and Ori's worried looks and she was certain Emmie would corner her on the ship to talk, but Ki would avoid it at all costs. She didn't need to talk about it. She had killed King Edmond. She had taken the life of an ungifted man, who, despite his motives and actions, could have remained alive and banished instead of lying cold on the marble floor in his own home. She had taken a father and a husband from a family that had been torn apart in more ways than one in a single night.
If not me then someone else would have done it, she thought to herself. She had protected the lost heir, the true ruler of Eslea and she needed no one's pitiful glances and talks to tell her it was all okay. She had kept her mind shut off from the others, but she had felt Thatch's warm caress on her walls several times during their ride to the docks. She hadn't let him in. She couldn't. Not right now.
"Kianna, love, come back to me, please." Thatch's words echoed in her head and her heart started beating faster. His voice had been that of a beloved's caress much like his hands on her face had been and it was as if he had broken through the cracks in whatever dark wall she had put up around herself in that moment, allowing her to finally breathe again. All she had been able to focus on was his face, his eyes, his soul that looked back at her, pulling her out of the darkness.
Had she meant to stop before killing the king? Could she have stopped at the precipice before going over? No. The answer was clear in her mind, and she didn't feel an ounce of sorrow or regret. She had felt in control for the first time in what felt like forever. She had overheard Harrod Fellan talking to Gregory Ember about her loosing control of herself, but they couldn't have been farther from the truth. Loosing control of your gifts made you a danger to everyone around you, but Ki didn't feel out of control. An icy calm slid slowly down her spine as she looked out beyond the ships in front of her to the sea. She had felt King Edmond's lungs collapse as she had expelled every last breath of air from his body. She had felt her friend's shocked emotions when she had spoken to them through the bond, had felt how both Ori and Emmie had closed off, leaving only Thatch. When he had stepped in front of her, engulfing her entire vision with just his face and his body. They just didn't understand.
Back when they had fought against the foreign ravagers Thatch had killed several easily and no one had batted an eye. It had been different circumstances, but fact of the matter was that she had taken a life that needed to be taken.
The rest of the events had happened in a blurry haze in Ki's mind. Thatch had wrapped his arm around her and escorted her out of the throne room followed by the others. Then the carriage ride where she sat tugged into Thatch's side, no one speaking a word until they finally stepped out onto the docks.
"King Raegar will be livid," Harrod spat and cast a narrowed glare in Ki's direction.
"Isadaya kept her title, and her sister is the queen. That's already a better position than what she had before." Emmie countered with a stern look. She did look a little paler than she had earlier, but Ki figured she was just tired from being up all night. She was definitely prepared to sleep for a few days herself.
"Preposterous," Gregory chimed in as he clutched his satchel filled with all kinds of official documents. "Aethorin does not lower itself to deal with such criminal acts. We should have left the girl here." They talked as if Isadaya wasn't standing just there next to them, quiet and just listening to them discussing her.
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The Water Howlers - Book II ✔
Fantasy*Sequel to The Air Howlers* The King of Aethorin summons the Four to the capital where he gives them a surprising assignment that will bring them across the Aederlas sea to the Kingdom of Eslea. Here they encounter foreign magic as well as a Kingdo...
