I pull free of the guards and search for Kairyn. He’s standing motionless behind the soldiers.
“What is the meaning of this?” I run to him, grab his breastplate and pull us face to face. “Call them off.”
“There’s nothing I can do, Keldarion. You know it as well as I.” His voice is a deep rumble. “My brother’s face has been witnessed by others outside of kin or mate bond. This is the creed in Spring. Ezryn must accept the fate of his actions.”
“There has to be something you can do.”
“Look at him.” The owl’s helm drifts from me to Ezryn, kneeling quietly amidst the ring of soldiers. He allows himself to be jerked forward, for his arms to be bound behind his back. “Ezryn would never forgive us if we dishonored his own commitment to the creed.”
I snarl and shove Kairyn away.
Rosalina doesn’t stop running. She barrels into the nearest guard, pulling at his arm. “Stop it! Get away from him!”
The guard shakes her off, then pushes her to the ground. “Stay back or you’ll be next.”
Icy rage coils up my body, and I’ve crossed the space between them in less than a second. “Place a hand on her again and I will remove it.”
The guard sneers at me. “This doesn’t concern you, Winter Prince. These are matters of the Spring Realm.”
Rosalina clutches me. “Kel, we have to do something!”
At that moment, Dayton and Farron reach us. Their eyes are equally pleading. They’re going to follow my lead.
My chest heaves with breath as I shift my gaze from my mate to my brothers to Kairyn. Then finally, I look to Ez.
Our eyes lock and ever so slowly, he shakes his head.
Pain cuts through my heart. It would be so easy to dispatch each of these guards and rip off his binds.
It is so much harder to understand why I must let this happen.
I lace my fingers through Rosalina’s and step back. She turns her gaze toward me, her expression filled with questions. “Kel?”
“We can take them,” Dayton growls. “What are we waiting for?”
The guards drag Ezryn to his feet.
“Are we really not going to stop this?” Farron whispers.
“This is Ezryn’s will,” I respond. “His honor demands he answer for breaking the creed.”
Rosalina tears from my grip and runs to the line of the guards as they begin to march Ezryn through the grove.
“Ez,” she cries.
He doesn’t—can’t—meet her gaze. “Let me go, Rose,” he whispers.
Kairyn follows the troops at the back. I grab his arm as he passes. “Remember,” I growl, “Ezryn showed you mercy once.”
“I am all too familiar with Ezryn’s mercy,” Kairyn says. “I’ve had to live with it.”
The guards, the Prince of Spring, and the High Prince turned creedbreaker march from the grove, and I am left among the wreckage.
84
Rosalina
“Hello! Are you listening to me? There’s something wrong with the flowers!” I bang louder on my chamber doors in Keep Hammergarden. “Hello! I need to speak to High Prince Ezryn, or even Kairyn! Just for a moment.”
I growl, white flames licking up my palms. I’ll burn this place down if it comes to it.
The door creaks open, and I immediately stagger back as Marigold trots in, rolling a trolley of coffee and cookies. She casts a withering glare at the row of guards outside my room. Eldy and Astrid toddle in behind her, then close the door.
“If I’m a prisoner, Kairyn should show the courtesy of putting me behind bars.” I scowl at the closed door before slumping into a plush white chair beside the window. Outside, the late afternoon sun glows a soft pink, and cherry blossoms and petals float in the breeze. It’s too peaceful, too pretty and bright.
Moments like this would make a lot more sense when surrounded by a storm.
“I usually say there’s nothing a hot cup of tea can’t fix. But I … Well—” The delicate cup shakes in Marigold’s fingers, sloshing liquid on to the floor.
“Here, let me,” Eldy says, taking the cup and placing it on the table beside me.
He’s a human again. After he warned Ezryn of my drowning, he said he’d landed and focused on returning to his prior form. The spell had ended, and he’d shifted back into a fae. Apparently, it was quite the start to some of the Spring staff, seeing their naked majordomo running through the halls.
After that, he’d arranged a party to rescue Astrid and Marigold from the top of the mountain. They were already heading back down, cured of their hypnosis thanks to the water I’d doused them in. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured, my own wounds healed when my mate bond awoke.