Page 199 of The Mercy of Dawn

Cyril didn’t say another word as he led her the short distance back down the hall. She walked on legs that seemed unsteady, a blood-stained sleeve pressed to her face as she fought to get a handle on her tears.

Mikael didn’t think he had it in him to leave her.

There was no way in any of the hells it was healthy for her to be alone.

“Do you want me to stay? I can talk to my mother later.” Mikael asked as they came to a stop in front of his door. He tried to cup her face in his hands, tried to get her to look at him for even a moment, but she bristled and stepped closer to the door.

“No, you can go, I—” It took an inordinate amount of effort for her to swallow.

Her eyes didn’t leave the floor. She looked like utter hell, with her scabbed-over cheek and the purple bruising that filled the hollow of her eye. It was easy to overlook when she was flushed and smiling earlier, but the contrast now to her gaunt skin was impossible to ignore.

“I need a few minutes to myself…if that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay.” Mikael would not push her on this, not when he couldn’t even fathom how she felt. He nudged open the door and motioned her in. “There are comfortable clothes in the dresser at the end there, if you want something else to wear.”

Cyril nodded absently and wandered in. He waited until she was halfway across the room to close the door and jog back to his parents’ suite.

Chapter 48

Mikael slipped through the unlocked door and followed the sound of voices down the corridor into the sitting room his mother always preferred to spend her time in. He’d always hated it there. The regality in its blue and silver floral wallpapers and plush, cream-colored furniture made him uncomfortable.

His parents stood at the fireplace, in front of the network of polished steel flowers and vines that made up its decorative screen. His mother’s head rested against his father’s shoulder. He hadn’t expected to see tears in her eyes when she turned around.

“What in the hells happened?” he asked.

Mikael didn’t bother with greetings or niceties. They were certainly past the point of that today. Or at least, that’s what he thought.

The narrowed glance Lars shot him said his father thought otherwise.

Runa sighed and wiped at her face with one long sleeve of her robe.

“My reasons should be obvious, but I do not want Cyril going back to Helia,” she said, sitting down on the sofa. Lars settled in beside her, and Mikael took a chair opposite them.

“That makes sense.”

“Your father and I, we—” His parents exchanged a glance, and Lars nodded. “We’ve offered Cyril sanctuary, here in Reykr, should she want it. We agreed on it weeks ago, truthfully, but with everything that has happened… There was never a good time for me to broach the subject with her, not with the grief she was navigating.”

Runa let out a slow breath and wiped at her face again. Seeing his mother lose her composure like this was not something he witnessed often in his life.

“And what does sanctuary mean, exactly?” Mikael asked.

“Formally?” his father said. “We would issue her refugee papers, based on the grounds of serious risk to her life in Helia. After that, it would take a few months, but we’d be able to get Cyril her citizenship. She is part moon-fae, after all, and since your mother, well…”

Lars’ eyes slid over to Runa.

Her smile was a sad, tight thing.

“I’m one of her guardians.”

Mikael blinked. “You are?”

“I am.” Runa nodded. “It was what Malia wanted, and Hector and Dion saw that her wishes were honored. Obviously, Dion had precedence, given he is her blood, but in…” She blew out a shaky breath. “In the event that they were gone, and Dion could not fulfill his duties, her care would fall under my responsibility.”

“That’s very touching, but—” Mikael ignored the sharp look his father cut him. “Why does it matter who her guardian is? She’s an adult.”

It bothered him even when Cyril talked about it, but he just added it to the long list of things he realized he didn’t understand about the fae of the south. Things he wasn’t overly interested in understanding, either.

“It matters because highborn women in Southern Carinae don’t have the same rights they do here, Mikael.” Runa’s expression softened into something empathetic. “There they get passed from the care of their families to the care of their spouse, and because Cyril is not married, it means Dion is still responsible for her under their laws.”