Page 285

Weeping Sisters, he’d never been so free.

Reaching out towards the palace, he sent his power rippling away. Brand envisioned his carving tools in hand, working the rock and diamond like the wood he loved so well. Bit by bit, piece by piece, it morphed and bowed as the mesa shook.

It wasn’t long before creatures appeared below, crowds gathering on the lush ground to point and wonder. Before his parents and brothers sprinted out onto the curving bridges from every direction, guards in tow, bearing witness to the reshaping of their home.

Axanderus rose from the rushing waters in glittering detail, wings outspread and arcing up around Brand’s tower. Every crystalline feather was distinct, his round eyes watchful and glowing, long talons clawing into the riverbed.

Above him and standing on his back, Stirling took shape—softer and smaller, but no less fierce for it. His head and impossible ears formed a new balcony, a thick, curling tail wrapping up and over the arched doorway there. Every strand of fur was accounted for, his wide gaze just as penetrating.

Where the owl promised righteous retribution upon any who might intrude, the fox promised safety to those cradled in his gentle embrace—two things Brand never truly felt until he found Lunara the Moonweaver.

Brand released his hold, the dust still settling when his father’s voice boomed over the Weeping City. “Behold, creatures of The Great Plateau and hear the wondrous news! Our Fourth Imperial Son has bonded with his most blessed mate! May the Sisters shine on the union of Brandir aht Bordoroth and Lunara the Moonweaver for all time!”

Distant and not-so-distant cheers erupted below them as his parents and brothers scrambled to look joyous and presentable, like it was all going exactly to plan.

“Well, I suppose that’s one way to justify all of us being here without properly notifying the populace.”

“I still find that so absurd,” Luna murmured, waving down at some of the onlookers. “Think it’ll work?”

“We’re going to find out,” he answered. “Think it will appease the Council’s desire for our mating to be more official?”

She bit her bottom lip, gaze twinkling. “We’re going to find out.”

Brand nodded, unable to hold back his sigh. “There’s one more thing I need to do.” If he was being honest, there was a part of him that loathed the idea of seeing it, but he had to. “May I pick you up, little moon?”

When she nodded, he swept her up and turned towards the nearby forest, pointing to the spot where the Montriver disappeared between the trees. “There, if you don’t mind.”

The ether wrapped oily fingers around them, a choir of faraway voices whispering songs into his ear as they traveled through the space between. Moss sank beneath his feet when they landed, a lance of nausea twisting in his gut with every step.

Bushes and bark swallowed them, the shadows creeping in the closer Brand got to his and Okthana’s meeting place. Even with Axanderus lighting and leading the way, it still hit like a comet landing when he caught his first glimpse of that jutting formation. Of the little seat at its furthest end.

“Oh, Brand,” Luna breathed, one hand covering her mouth as the other rubbed soothing circles over the dent in his primary horn. “What can I do?”

“Just watch, my love,” he said, setting her and Stirling down, “and be here when I’m done and no doubt need you.”

“Anything.”

He drew in a deep breath, the sight of her with their animals at the forefront of his mind when he faced his final trial.

The cawing of a thousand crows swelled from somewhere deep within, claws raking over his skin, but he ignored it. Replaced it with the lilt of Luna’s humming and the silken feel of her curls as he traversed the sand and outcropping. Let the magic of the Montrealm, of home, soothe instead of stifle him.

With a roar that sent birds scattering, Brand pummeled a fist into the chair his younger self had made, shattering it into infinite, insignificant pieces. He pounded and pounded away at the protrusion until it, too, broke away. Until nothing was left but the grassy bank and running water.

It was done.

Fuck, it was done. Gone. All of it nothing more than a wretched memory he’d do his best to forget.

Chest heaving, he dashed away the last of his tears and turned his back on it forever. What he didn’t expect was to find his entire family there with Luna.

A dam broke and the rage left Brand with breathtaking speed, his knees giving out as the long hours and heightened emotions finally caught up with him. Next he knew, he was engulfed by bodies, arms pulling him closer, tighter, his mum and dad at the center of the vortex.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her tiny hands smoothing his brow. “Sisters save me, I’m so sorry, Brand.”

“We never meant…” Alwyn grabbed hold, squeezing Brand’s nape. “Fuck, son, there’s no excuse. But please, believe us when we say that we love you more than anything in this world. All of our boys.”

Amun, Vann, Mag, and Araxis all pressed their heads to his, rubbing his back, his shoulders, not needing to say a single word. Brand felt their regret. Their apologies. Sensed the pain that each of them carried individually for the scars they’d collected. The secrets they held.

He swallowed, peeking through a gap to lay eyes on his mate, Luna smiling back at him.