Page 89 of Forged By Malice (Beasts of the Briar #3)

88

Ezryn

A ll my life, I have strived to bring honor to my people. To my realm. To my family. To myself.

Now, as I step out into the sunlight, all the eyes of the capital stare at me with shame.

Guards escort me and my hands are bound, but it is unnecessary. I would not shame myself further by trying to escape punishment. My face was witnessed by the soldiers I slayed, by the other High Princes, by my brother’s guard. There could be no greater dishonor.

I wear the starlight silver armor that was specially crafted for me when I took the mantle of High Prince. The helm I bear is forged from the most precious metals. If this is to be my end, then I shall lay down my life with what pride remains.

The crowd parts as I walk from the keep toward the dais where my brother stands. A sensation flickers near my heart, a pulling and a pleading all at once. I look up at the ramparts.

Rosalina.

My mate…

Her expression is one of sheer anguish, tears glittering in the morning sun. I nearly killed her. My curse had almost broken. I had finally found my mate and she wanted to accept the bond with me … But why? In what way did I deserve to love someone as pure as Rosalina? To be loved by her?

The beast roils within my chest, antsy and restless. He wanted to be rid of me.

I suppose I needed him more than he needs me.

I look down, unable to hold her gaze anymore. Not only have I shamed myself and my family, but I have brought great shame upon her as well. She is mated to a creedbreaker.

My only respite is that I know by accepting whatever punishment is bestowed, I will regain a sliver of honor. I once passed judgment on Kairyn, and now he will pass judgment on me. A cycle, like that of the seasons. It seems fitting.

I think, deep inside, I knew this day would come. I was destined to answer to him for taking our mother away.

A guard pushes on my back, urging me to ascend the stairs up to the top of the dais. My brother looms before me, his shadow long. I cannot bring myself to look up at my father. Perhaps a small mercy of his condition is that he is not lucid enough to understand the disgrace of his eldest son.

“Kneel,” Kairyn says lowly.

I do, sinking to my knees at my brother’s feet.

“Before me is the High Prince Ezryn,” Kairyn booms. “He is here to face trial for the most grievous of evils. Our High Prince has broken the sacred creed, forsaken his oath to realm and citizen, and revealed his face outside of kin.”

The crowd gasps, their horror giving way to sobs and cries of outrage. I stay still, though each breath is a struggle.

“Not only did Prince Ezryn reveal his face, he brutally murdered those who witnessed it and then desecrated one of our most sacred spaces,” Kairyn continues. “As steward of Spring, I shall bestow judgment.”

I bow my head. Many years ago, it was I in his position, publicly decrying him. I understand him and hold no hatred. Duty before blood. The realm before the heart.

“Do you deny the accusations, Prince Ezryn?” Kairyn asks.

Distantly, I note he is not using my full title. “I do not,” I respond.

The crowd gasps again. My hands seize into fists as I feel the weight of their shock. That space beside my heart aches.

Kairyn steps toward me. “Then I will do what I must—”

“Wait!” a voice croaks. The sound is dusty, as if unearthed after being buried for centuries. My father rises to his feet.

“Sire!” a guard cries and rushes forward to steady him, but my father pushes him off.

“F-forgiveness,” my father says. “L-let us have forgiveness—”

His words are cut off by Kairyn, who grabs him roughly by the shoulders and pushes him on to the chair atop the litter. “Sit, Father. You are ill. This betrayal has caused you too much distress already.” He nods to the guards. “We shall return you to your chambers so you may rest.”

“Wait…” I think my father says, but the guards lift his litter and carry him inside the keep.

Kairyn’s heavy breath reverberates beneath his helm. The crowd has started murmuring now, repeating my father’s word: Forgiveness.

Don’t they understand? There has been no royal pardon ever granted in history. I would make no special request for myself.

Even in my father’s most feeble state, the people are loyal to him. It is testament to his many long years serving beside the High Princess, for his leadership in battle and government. They must mourn who he used to be, as they mourn my mother. This dedication … They’re extending it to me.

“Forgiveness for High Prince Ezryn!” one of them calls.

“Amnesty!”

“Show mercy, m’lord!”

And then one voice cries out above all the rest, and a body flings between me and Kairyn. Arms spread wide, hair blowing in the breeze, is my mate. “High Prince Ezryn removed his helm to save my life. I am his mate. It is written in both the stars and the creed that we are to witness all of one another,” Rosalina breathes. “I was then set upon by those guards and he tried to protect me. It was an unfortunate accident, but High Prince Ezryn did not willingly forsake his creed. Your father, the rightful steward of Spring, has passed the judgment of forgiveness. Let his decision stand.” Her body trembles, but I feel her resolution as strong as steel. “Please, Kairyn.”

Kairyn looks around. He must feel it, as I do. He’s lost the people. They’re rallying behind me.

Could Spring possibly offer forgiveness to a creedbreaker? Could there be salvation?

Kairyn stands still before suddenly throwing back his head. “Well! The people would like to offer mercy to one who makes a mockery of our way. I see how it is.” He shoves Rosalina to the side and snarls to her, “ I am the rightful steward. Your mate named me so before you wandered into a river.”

Rosalina glares at him but stands off to the side, arms crossed.

I notice now Kel, Dayton, and Farron have made their way close to the dais. What must they think of me, to see me in such shame?

“Very well then,” Kairyn says, holding his arms out. “Who am I to speak against the wills of the realm? They beg for mercy. I shall grant it. Just tell the people one thing.” Kairyn lowers down so we’re helm to helm. The dark void where his eyes should be blazes with shadow. He says the words slowly, as if carving away at me with a serrated knife: “Who killed our mother?”

I take in a breath.

Kairyn rises to his feet, voice booming. “Answer it for your faithful citizens. Who murdered High Princess Isidora?”

My voice breaks. “I did.”

“Louder!” Kairyn roars. “Let the realm hear the truth. Who murdered Isidora?”

“I did!” I cry, sinking inward.

“Ez, no!” Kel yells from the side of the dais.

My voice barely carries. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to—”

“But if it wasn’t for you, our mother would still be here,” Kairyn hisses.

The crowd is in an uproar now. Words of forgiveness have been replaced with that of murderer .

Ezryn, don’t listen to him. It’s Rosalina’s voice crying out in my head. I want to hold on to it … But another voice screams louder.

Murderer, Kairyn’s voice growls in my mind. You murdered our mother.

“He admits it!” Kairyn yells aloud. “And so, a sentence must be given.”

Rosalina rushes forward, throwing her body in front of mine again. “It’s not fair! He doesn’t deserve this, and you know it, Kairyn. Leave him alone!”

But I do. I’ve deserved this for decades. The Enchantress thought she cursed me with my beast. Instead, she only gave me another way to kill, to wreak my malice upon the world.

This is my true penance.

I look to Keldarion. Perhaps it is the bonds woven through our love for Rosalina, or perhaps it is the centuries of brotherhood, but he understands. He steps upon the dais and grabs Rose around the waist. “Come on.”

“No! No!” Rosalina screams, scraping at his arms like a wildcat.

“For Ezryn,” Kel breathes.

She looks to me, and there’s betrayal in her eyes. Not for the same reason my people are betrayed. Because I’m not fighting.

But this is how it has to be. I never took responsibility for our mother’s death. I must now, and fate has deemed it be on this public stage. The world will know me as I have always known myself.

Kai leans down, knocking his helm against my own. “They all expect that I’ll kill you, brother. The people. Our father. Your family.” He looks down. “I suspect even you think that is my plan.”

“Then do it.”

“Isn’t that the tragedy of it all?” There’s a sadness in his voice. “It would be a mercy to kill you. It would rid me of so many insufferable problems. And yet, I find even now, I cannot do it. I cannot bring myself to end your life.”

“I never wished to bring you sorrow, Kairyn.”

“Yet that’s all you’ve done. Mother and Father’s favorite. The perfect son. The flawless leader. Then to take her away from me…” His voice cracks, and for a moment, I can picture the child’s face behind the mask. “You should have killed me during the Rite. At least then my soul would have redemption.”

“Is it too late for us?” I whisper. “Perhaps we can seek redemption together—”

Kairyn laughs, a joyless sound. “There is no place that will shelter me for the things I have done. I suppose we are one and the same, aren’t we? Except you’re on your knees, and I am on a throne.”

“Kai—”

My brother stands and looks to the crowd. “For the murder of High Princess Isidora and the breaking of his creed, I depose Ezryn, son of Thalionor, of his title of High Prince. I order Spring’s Blessing to be passed to the next in line.” His breath sounds like rolling thunder. “Me.”

“Are you crazy?” Farron cries from the side of the dais. “You haven’t been prepared to take the Blessing! It could kill him! It could kill you!”

I force myself to my feet. “Brother, don’t do this. Our magic is not used to being merged. It will be too much—”

“I’m not you,” Kairyn says. “I will not bow to the magic as you did.”

“Then kill me,” I urge. “It will pass naturally. It is safer—”

Kairyn turns. “I already told you. I cannot do that. So, you will pass the Blessing to me. Now. Either I will get this power, or it will claim us both.”

All hope drains from my body. I turn to Kel. “Take her away.”

Kel’s eyes blaze with ice. Rosalina is still clutched in his arms. “Ez, don’t do this!”

“You can’t trust him!” Dayton cries, slamming his fist on the wooden dais.

But there’s nothing left.

I have received my sentence.

I have lost my honor.

I am not fit to be High Prince. By all rights, it must go to Kairyn.

A guard releases my bonds and I lay my hands on Kairyn’s chest. “Protect our realm.”

Kairyn only nods.

I have never been taught how to pass the incredible power of Spring on to another person, but there is an ancient knowledge that lurks within the magic. The Blessing itself seems to protest, clawing at the inside of my chest. But I force it outward. It doesn’t belong to me anymore, shouldn’t belong to me.

It needs to go to someone who can protect Spring.

My brother, for all his faults, will see this done. He has already safeguarded the mountain villages and proved himself a valuable leader to the acolytes. While the other High Princes may disapprove, they will offer their guidance. I pray my brother can fulfill the role of a great ruler for Spring that I was never able to embody.

The sheer weight of the magic swells within me, a torrent of raw power coursing through my veins. The air crackles with energy. A connection forges between us, our magic linking like chainmail. As I release the first surge of magic into Kairyn, a searing agony rips through my core. It is as if my very soul is being torn asunder.

I am unraveling, my essence being broken link by link and instead being attached to my brother’s being.

The magic is a maelstrom, an uncontrollable force that threatens to consume me entirely. I cry out and my vision blurs. The world around me fades as I pour everything I am into him.

My brother’s form begins to glow with an ethereal light. I am diminished. The wellspring of my own magic is empty, and I am hollow.

My vision comes back in specks of light. I’m on all fours, breath heavy. Sweat drips out of the bottom of my helm. When I look up, I see Kairyn, radiating like the sun itself.

“I have been reborn,” he calls out. Two green vines crack through the dais, seizing my wrists to my side. Kairyn laughs.

I feel nothing. I know there should be sorrow. Regret. Despair. But I am nothing.

Though two things still linger quietly, hiding beneath my heart. A whimpering beast…

And her.

“It is done,” Kairyn snarls. “I am the new High Prince of Spring.”

Heavy feet thud beside me. Kel lays a hand on my shoulder. I shrink away from his touch. “You’ve gotten what you want, Kairyn. Let us take Ezryn now and leave you with your realm.”

“Address me with my proper respects, High Prince Keldarion.”

Kel takes a shaky breath. “High Prince Kairyn, we will remove Ezryn from your care now.”

“A thoughtful idea, but one I cannot allow. For my brother’s punishment is not yet complete.” Kairyn pulls my head up by my helm. “My brother is hereby banished from the Spring Realm, never to return.”

The crowd cries out. An aching emptiness shoots through my body. Banished … from my home.

“He will see himself through the gates of Florendel to the outskirts of the city,” Kairyn continues. He turns to Kel. “When he arrives there, you may do with him as you wish. I would recommend not taking him back to Castletree. I am part of that domain now, and everything within the Spring Wing—from its treasures to the staff—belongs to me.”

Now, Dayton and Farron are on my other side. “Enough of your spectacle. We will see him out the gates,” Dayton growls.

“That is not how things are done in Spring,” Kairyn hisses. “Remove yourself from this dais before you dishonor your so-called brother anymore.”

None of them move.

“Go,” I whisper. Still, they do not move. “GO!”

Kel goes first, his eyes filled with pain as he looks back at me. Dayton and Farron follow.

I dare not look at Rosalina.

Kairyn places a hand on my shoulder. “You know what must happen now, big brother. The final punishment for a breaker of creed.”

I close my eyes, my head suddenly so heavy.

“Guards!” Kairyn roars. “Remove his armor!”

There are hands all over me, stripping me of my breastplate, my greaves, my gloves. My beautiful armor is thrown aside across the dais, scuffing against the wood.

I kneel before my brother only in the long-sleeve black shirt and trousers. Ranger’s cloth, nothing more.

And my helm, of course.

My brother places his hands on either side of my helmet. I look up at him and can almost see his eyes peering down at me, so full of resentment. Of sorrow.

“Spring,” he says shakily, “you will now gaze upon the face of the leader who betrayed you. Observe his flesh and witness his shame. Creedbreaker. In the long histories, your name will be reviled. And all who love you shall behold how far you have fallen.”

With those words, my brother rips off my helm.