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Plume, tears streaming down her face, tried to disentangle Viola and Zeph from one another and I lost control, my magic pulsing out of me and bringing Lightning down around us in a protective cage of electricity.
I don't have the mental capacity to deal with the new way my magic behaved.
"Mace," Morrow says, crouching in front of me. "Viola is going to be fine."
"I know that!" I snap at him, never once taking my eyes off of my partner. "I know she's going to be okay."
"So why don't you get up and let's bring Viola inside to lay comfortably on a bed, and you can get something to eat and clean up."
I ignore his suggestion. Of course, it's a good one. Of course, it makes sense.
But I will not.
I cannot.
Her hand still grips his tightly.
He gave his life for me.
He wanted me to live more than he wanted to live himself.
Why?
Why is my life worth more than his?
She needed him. She's soon to be the only God for the realm. A human from the Lowlands who never wanted anything more than to win the Race and live a quiet life and now she's a God.
She'stheGod.
She needed her high priest.
Talking about Zeph in the past tense feels inappropriate.
He's right here in front of me.
How can he be a part of my past?
It's been twelve hours since my brother died a second time.
Twelve hours since Viola Mistflow collapsed beside him, and she has not opened her eyes since.
Twelve hours.
If grief had a time limit, it would far exceed twelve hours, but I fear my countdown may be frozen in stasis, waiting to resume until my partner opens her eyes.
Despite the fact that she has yet to move, yet to wake up, I know she's alive. I can feel it in every particle of my body. I know that the surge of extra magic from the Gods and the energy expended have put her body in a holding pattern to recover.
I know all of this.
And yet, I cannot let her go.
"No, no, I'm done. We can't let him continue like this. It's been half a day. How is she ever going to recover out here in the elements?"
I think that's Tulip's voice. I don't care much to focus on it.
"What are we going to do with her? We have no Healer."
That one was Morrow. My eyes are unfocused but trained onViola and the way her lips part slightly when she takes a breath.
