Page 145 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
The unspoken words lingered in the air like smoke.
‘Quite wise,’ Adriana said, lifting her glass though she did not drink.
Adriana excused herself swiftly, the weight in her chest too heavy to bear in stillness. She went in search of Cronan so he might summon the king. Once she had seen him depart, vast and silent as ever, she returned to the hall where the three Fae remained seated. The rest of their party had been shown to chambers to rest, their journey written in the dust of their clothes and the fatigue in their limbs.
‘Did you know him well?’ Rio asked quietly as Adriana paused once more beside the carrier.
Adriana nodded, then remembered Rio could not see the gesture. ‘Yes,’ she said instead. ‘I watched him grow. I watched them all grow. And now two of them are dead.’
The words felt like splinters in her throat.
She wouldnotcry.
But it was becoming harder and harder not to sink to her knees and let grief tear her open.
Then came the sound.
A cry, so raw and so broken, that it was almost inhuman.
Adriana stiffened.King Ozul.
She shot the Fae a tight look before turning sharply towards the doors, but before she could reach them, two hounds wrought from shadow burst into the hall, their forms shifting and snarling like living smoke.
Seconds later, King Ozul followed.
He filled the doorway—broad-shouldered, towering, crowned with magnificent horns befitting his right. Even in age he was formidable, his features still handsome, his frame strong and unyielding.
A king.
But not now.
Now he was only a father.
He did not acknowledge a single soul in the chamber. He crossed the distance in a heartbeat and dropped to his knees beside Kage’s body. With trembling hands he lifted his son, cradling him against his chest as though he were still a child.
His cries shattered the hall.
They struck the stone walls and came back again, echoing like something ancient and wounded beyond repair.
Adriana did not move. She stood where she was, watching the great king bowed upon the floor, howling at the heavens as tears carved tracks down his face for yet another lost child.
No one dared speak.
No one dared breathe.
The shadow-hounds circled him, whining low and confused, their forms flickering as though grief itself unsettled them.
And in that suffocating silence, Adriana allowed herself one small, private moment to mourn.
Not only for Kage Blackburn.
But for all they had already lost.
And for all they were certain to lose.
…
That very night, the castle emptied.
