Page 28 of Ignite
Brielle clears her throat, the sound wet and strained. “I would like to think so. We’ve been through a lot together.” She hesitates, and I know there’s abutcoming. “But, they’re different. Just as I’m sure they think I’ve changed, too.” The muscles in her neck strain. “The warriors I once knew—once fought beside—wouldn’t abandon their people to hide away here. I don’t know what’s made them abandon their people.Orif we can change their mind and convince them to help us.”
Leda shifts in her chair, her back straightening. I share a look with her, one filled with worry that we made a mistake by staying here.
“You were nearly unstoppable together during the war,” Leda says in a low, almost awe-like whisper. “My mother told me countless stories of the villages and lives you saved.”
Brielle briefly closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “We weren’t as invincible as we thought we were,” she rasps,her hands fisting at her sides. “We lost people close to us during that time, too.”
“Perhaps they’re afraid of going through that again,” Leda muses.
I don’t see fear ruling Aster and Willow, just like I know it doesn’t control Brielle. She’s one of the bravest warriors I’ve met, and I’ve already seen Willow in action.
“If there’s any truth to that, then it would be hard to blame them for leaving,” Brielle says with a sigh. “The things we went through… It would be enough to send any warrior into hiding.”
Maybe them, but not Brielle. She’s still here, riding a wyvern into war again despite having lost her own.
“But you’re not hiding,” Leda clips out, her eyes stormy. “You’re here—risking your life.”
Brielle meets her gaze, a fierceness swirling there as she whispers, “Some of us avoid the pain by staying busy, while others run away from it.”
Every word is laced with torment, and it’s clear that there’s so much more to Brielle that I don’t know.
Brielle turns to me, her eyes glassy. “If I’d known Daimon was alive—that he was your father—we would’ve gone about how we approached him completely differently. I wasn’t prepared to see him, I—” Brielle swallows thickly. “I’m sorry you had to see him that way.”
I look down at my hands, forcing the next question out. If we were going to go up against him again, I need to know more. Beyond my curiosity, if there’s any way we can learn about our enemy better, we have to lay it all out there.
Something pinches in my chest as the wordenemycrosses my mind. I shake it off. I need to focus right now. Maybe if I know more about his background, it could help me learn how he works now.
“Was Daimon always evil?” I ask softly. “Did you fight against him in the war?”
Brielle shakes her head quickly. “No, nothinglike that.” Her gaze drifts to the wall, staring at nothing as her eyes grow distant. “He worked his way up the ranks after receiving the call to be a Rider,” she continues, lost in memories of the past. “The Aegis council head at the time, Keir, took to him early on and trained him. Keir could’ve easily been the Alpha Commander, but he pushed for Daimon to be the one to take it.
“Even when Daimon became our commander, he was often quiet. More reserved until it came time for battle. He was different from the others in leadership positions, orphaned and taken in by Annora’s parents.” Brielle hesitates and slows to a stop, forcing me to face her.
My chest tightens. There’s still so little that I know about my family history. I shift in my seat, feeling Leda’s gaze on me but keeping mine on Brielle.
“Your mother should be the one to tell you about him,” Brielle says carefully. Her eyes search mine, pain flickering in her gaze.
My mother may have kept this from me, but it’s hard to imagine she didn’t have her reasons. I wish I knew those reasons. Whatever they may be, she still chose to let me believe Reichardt was my real father.
The sting of betrayal pokes at my chest, but I push it down. None of these things help us move forward with figuring this out.
“But she isn’t here,” I argue. “This isn’t about me getting to know myfather. Any information that could be helpful in knowing our enemy is what matters most right now.”
It feels as bitter saying it as it did thinking it, and something tells me that Brielle can see right through the flimsy words. But she doesn’t question it, simply nods her head and starts talking again.
“He’s still in there, Lu,” Brielle says softly. “I didn’t mean the things that I said back in the clearing. I wanted to see if I could get under his skin—break through whatever darkness has a hold of him.”
I blink, my skin itching from the weight of her gaze.
“If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have reacted the way he did,” she adds. “I pushed the wounds that would hurt the most, and beneath all that anger, there was pain.”
Was she looking at the same man I was? The only thing I saw in his gaze was unadulterated darkness. There was no mercy in his eyes, no flicker of light. He was trying tokillus.
Daimon was the fleet’sleader—somehow going from wyvern commander, fighting for the crown, to the Lord of Shadows, serving Vidaris.
I want to know if he tricked everyone into believing he was a good man, or what could’ve possibly caused him to fall so far—want to know what runs through my blood.
“I know you knew him in another life, Brielle, but…”
