The Night's Child | The Night Court Chronicles

Chapter ★ Ten

Emrys stood dumbly in front of the small house for a good few minutes, just starting at the edifice.

Holy gods...

His hands were beginning to shake- he couldn't control it. He hadn't been here for months... he hadn't thought he'd ever be back here.

But with more steel than he thought he had in him, Emrys stepped over that threshold.

Slowly, he entered the main room, not touching anything, not letting his gaze linger on anything too long lest he send himself spiraling into down some dark, endless pit he couldn't pull himself from. So instead, he trained his gaze on his sister. "We're in private. Let's talk."

Without another word, Rhiannon drew from her belt a dagger made of ash and placed it down on the nearby table. Her eyes were trained on Emrys as she spoke. "A small scouting group was training outside the Court of Nightmares- one of the newcomers found it... but they found it near the wooded area where Osiris was found after his hunting accident. Cassian and Azriel decided it would be better for me to speak to you first before taking it to our father, so you need to tell me, Emrys... is there anyone who would have wanted to murder Osiris?"

Emrys felt like she'd stolen the air from his lungs when she's brought out that blade. He'd thought he was free and clear of all of this it has been months. He hadn't thought anyone would be looking for it in those woods. And his story- it had been believable enough. Even still, he couldn't stop staring at it.

"Fuck..." he breathed under his breath, not loud enough for Rhiannon to hear, but he had to brace his hand against one of the chairs surrounding the table to balance himself, to keep himself up right.

"I- I can't...," he tried again. "I can't think of many people that hated him enough to want him dead."

He didn't think he was going to be able to talk his way out of this one. But Rhiannon didn't know it was him. Not by the way she spoke, or how she posed the question. Not yet, at least... she still didn't know.

"Emrys, I need you to think, long and hard." Her features, so similar to their father's, seemed to softened slightly at Emrys' reaction. "I will do everything in my power to find out who murdered your mate, but you need to help me. And I will only be able to keep it quiet for so long - I won't tell you the arguments I had with Cass and Az over this. It won't be long before word that his death was anything other than an accident, and Father will not be able to turn a blind eye once it reaches him. I'm trying to do you a service, Emrys... Please, let me help you."

"It was me," Emrys breathed out shakily. He was beginning to feel dizzy as the gravity of the situation, the consequences for his actions, were finally catching up to him, . "I killed Osiris."

There was no way in hell they would end up coming to any other conclusion unless Emrys led them on a wild goose chase for the next few centuries. And honestly, Emrys didn't have the energy anymore. He would rather spend the next few centuries in the Prison than keep this going for much longer. It already felt like a daily burden he carried, like a black mark on his soul. He didn't need to continue pretending it wasn't there. And now there were three of the closest people to him that knew. And he didn't know what any of them were going to do with that information. Out of all of them, he trusted Iradessa the most with his secret. But if Rhiannon saw fit to punish him, then let her.

He knew he promised Ira that he would fight it, but he just didn't feel like it now that he was here.

Rhiannon had stilled as though the ground was just swept out from underneath her, and Emrys knew that took a lot. She furrowed her brows at her brother, staring at him a moment longer before doing a quick sweep of the house, as if to ensure they were alone, that the windows were drawn and locked. She just finished locking the door they had walked through before she finally approached her brother, her countenance shifting to the face of the Heir of the Night Court who just discovered her brother was the murderer she was expecting to have to hunt down.