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Zeph embraces Mace once more, whispering in his ear, and then clasps my hands in his own. My chest aches, andmy limbs feel heavy. Despite my head spinning, I still hear Zeph say, "Thank you, Shadowweaver. Be well."
As his body stills under my hands, my chest cracks, and I gasp out, "Goodbye, high priest."
Chapter 44
Mace
Inever considered, as the oldest sibling, that there would be a moment in my life when I would be alone in this world again.
I never considered it.
Which means I never saw this coming.
Grief is not linear. It is not a clear-cut movement from one position to another.
No, grief is a tangle of rotten roots as they grow deeper and wider.
It is a broken door, blown open by a storm and unable to be latched again.
Grief is neither loud nor aggressive.
It is not wild. It is not tame.
No, grief just is.
And today, I am grief.
It's been four hours since my brother died a second time.
Four hours since Viola Mistflow collapsed beside him, andshe has not opened her eyes since.
Four hours.
I am as frozen as both of them, ignoring the residual ache in my side from the injury that was supposed to claim my life but took my brother's instead.
Viola is wrapped tightly in my arms. Her body is still, but her chest is still moving, and I can feel her magic writhing under her skin, working to knit her back together and restore all that she expended during this battle.
"Mace, please, let's move you both inside. You don't have to let her go," Tulip says quietly, hand between my shoulder blade.
But I don't move. I won't.
I will not disentangle Viola's hand from that of her high priest.
She will let him go when she is ready.
Neither of us are ready.
It's been eight hours since my brother died a second time.
Eight hours since Viola Mistflow collapsed beside him, and she has not opened her eyes since.
Eight hours.
My knees ache from where I kneel in the dirt that is now hard-packed and saturated with my blood. But I do not move. No, I will not and cannot move.
My companions bustle around me, taking shifts watching over me as if Iwere some feral animal that would quickly attack.
It's not far from the truth.
