Page 172 of Flameborne: Chosen

I shook my head and licked my lips. I couldn’t do this. Donavyn couldn’t truly expect me to—

“Apparently our sister has something to say,” Ronen said quietly, then turned to me. “Whatever it is, Bren. We’re here. We’ll listen. We have to. It’s an order,” he said with a small smile.

Well… fuck.

48. A Wall of Man

~ BREN ~

It was awkward as all hell, and I kept fighting tears. But Donavyn must have stayed to make certain I told them. Because even though he was out of earshot, he stood, watching, a warning in his eyes.

I was half-grateful for his concern, and half-ragingthat he thought he could force me to tell my brothers such a—

“Tell us, Bren.”

“We’ll listen.”

I went very still. But it hit me that even if I disobeyed the order—which I wasn’t prepared to do because I couldn’t risk any further trouble—they would just keep asking me until I told them. And maybe thiswasthe best time, since I’d already made a fool of myself earlier. Maybe I should just get all of it out of the way at once, and then I could try to claw back respect in the aftermath.

My stomach churned. I kept needing to swallow.

“The General says I have to tell you what happened the day I was Chosen,” I mumbled, sending a dark glare past my brothers to where Donavyn stood, watching from the doorway.

I stammered, and halted, and messed up my words. But eventually I got the bare truth out.

Ran away from home.

Father rejected me.

No money.

Upset. Certain I was useless.

Ruin’s name wanted to come to my lips, but I shied away from telling them I’d been within the Reach grounds. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t see their concern for me do war with their respect for Ruin—I would lose. Iknew that. Besides. Donavyn didn’t know that part, so he couldn’t have been ordering me to tell them. So, I skipped that and spoke as if the Dragonmaw Cliffs were the reason I’d walked up here.

I climbed, despairing. Hating myself. Seeing no future.

Then the Cliff’s gave and I tumbled towards the Dragon Fang Rocks.

My brothers stared, wide-eyed and utterly still. I swallowed hard. “Akhane saved me. AndChoseme. She says it wasn’t because of that, but—”

“Of course, it wasn’t,” Ronen broke in gruffly.

I looked at him warily. Our eyes caught and something fierce blazed in his.

But then Gil spoke up. “I’m glad you didn’t.”

I blinked and turned.

Gil stared at the floor, his jaw rolling. He kept glancing up—to me, to Ronen, to one of the others. “My older brother killed himself when I was small. Losing him like that almost killed my parents. I was so young, to me it felt likeIlost them too. I don’t think my brother would have done it if he understood how much we loved him. So, I’m glad you’re here, Bren,” he said softly, his eyes somehow sadandangry.

I sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up—”

“I almost died when I was twelve,” Harle blurted, his voice shaky and darker than I’d ever heard him. We all looked at him. He kept his eyes down and his hands in his pockets. “It’s scary when you can see it coming.” He lifted his head enough to meet my eyes and I saw such compassion there—a shared pain—that it made my eyes sting. “But being that afraid, it made me braver when I lived through it. And I think that’s the only reason I was strong enough to travel alone to meet the dragons when I was old enough. I’m glad you’re here, too,” he said softly.

“Th-thank you.”

“And I think it’ll make you stronger in the long run.”