The Whisper of Dusk

Chapter 2

I'm right where you left me
You left me no, oh, you left me no
You left me no choice but to stay here forever

Tamlin did not think about the consequences his information would do. That it would be used to kill somebody innocent and kind. His guilt was quite strong but as always, he hid his emotions whenever his father was around. He held Ria- Rhys' little sister back as his father bought down the axe. He very much doubted that Rhysand and Cronan would not come for their heads after this but, his father had always been arrogant.

He simply stood and held the crying female as the wings of the Lady of Night were being cut. "We will put them on display," his father mused. His father had always been a bit cruel- no wonder he had gotten along with Cronan once- but this was downright despicable. He had heard from Rhysand what wings meant to an Illyrian. But, he did not say anything in fear of punishment.

"Do you not want to see the gift we are about to send to your brother?" Bron asked Ria whose eyes were still closed; her body taut. His father had beheaded the Lady of Night and put her once lively head in a box with space left for one more. Ria peeked and he felt her breath stumble. Pitying, he let go of his hold, letting her grieve with some semblance of space that he could give her for a few seconds. She took a step and with blinding light, hit his father with her unusual powers. 

Cursing silently, he picked her up from where she had fallen after using what was likely her entire strength and made her stand again. A few soldiers went to his father's aid. He looked up then; making sure his father was not severely injured, High Lord or not. He saw the fury in his eyes and involuntarily took a small step back though, it did not seem to affect its target. Ria' eyes were once again fixated on her mother. "Mother hold you. Pass through the gates, and smell that immortal land of milk and honey. Fear no evil. Feel no pain. Go, and enter eternity." 

She recited the age old saying with such finality and sadness that Tamlin felt his heart soften a bit more. His father though was unaffected. In fact, he was furious. A High Lord then advanced towards them. 

But, before he could take revenge, it all went light. It was strange and weird. He felt no pain but he was blinded. He heard nothing but saw himself surrounded by white mist. It all happened in one blink. Panic rose from within. What was this trick? What happened? He surely could not be dead.

A minute. That's all it took. And in the next blink, his father stood pale in front of him, half their guards dead and Ria nowhere to be seen. "What happened?" Tamlin blinked. But his father only gulped. Then as if in an afterthought, his father rushed to where the box with Rhys' mother' head lay. Beside it, Tamlin saw, Ria' head. And just a few metres past, he saw two freshly cut wings. While Ria' and the Lady of Night' bodies- so mutilated- were strewn nearby.

He vomited.

Later, later, his father and him would bear consequences he would have not expected. A war, he had thought, not two powerful males sneaking and slaughtering his parents and siblings in the dead of the night with only one leaving.

Rhysand was having a tough day. The training had been going rough- the Illyrians under him disobeying his orders. Azriel and Cassian were busy with their own duties, leaving him, the High Lord' prodigy, all alone. He supposed this could be considered practice for when he took over this court and the Illyrians. So wrapped up in his duty, he did not notice the time that passed by- and his promise to meet his sister and mother at a nearby clearing as of present.

Calling out the training soldiers to take a ten minute break, he made his way to the watershed. Gods, the sun just as unforgiving as this camp sometimes. "You look..." Cassian started, walking towards him. "Not a word," Rhys warned him before putting the glass to his mouth.