Page 412 of Of Empires and Dust
“I’m sorry I wasn’t better.” Dayne let go of Baren’s throat and pulled his brother close, warm blood spilling over his chest andarms. “I love you, and I will always love you. No matter what you did. You’re my little brother, and I should have protected you.”
Dayne squeezed Baren in his arms, holding him there for what felt like a lifetime before lowering him to the ground and looking into cold dead eyes.
“Dayne.”
Belina stood in the doorway,staring down at Dayne, who knelt with his brother in his arms, both of them covered in blood.
She was too late.
The shrivelled pieces of her black heart cracked a little more as she looked down at Dayne sobbing and shaking. Her Exile. Her family.
Dayne leaned over his brother’s lifeless body and planted a gentle kiss on Baren’s forehead.
“He’s gone…” Dayne whispered, looking up at Belina, his face smeared with blood, body covered in bruises and cuts.
Belina just stood there, staring down. She wasn’t good with death. She was good at killing, but not death – not death that mattered. Death that cut pieces from the ones she loved, and there weren’t many she loved. Just one. One flawed man whose entire life was built around others. One flawed man who had found a way through the armour she wore.
Dayne rose, stumbling forwards, his body weak. He looked past Belina to the doorway behind her. “I’m going to peel the skin from his bones,” he said, voice trembling. Dayne leaned down and picked up a sword resting in the pool of blood. “He’s taken everything, Belina… everything.”
“No,” Belina said, moving to force Dayne to look into her eyes. “He hasn’t.”
Dayne stared at her and through her, eyes raw and red.
“We will hunt him down, and we will make him understand the true meaning of pain. But not today, today?—”
“Today!” Dayne rounded on her, a rage in his eyes untamed like she’d never seen. Dayne held a fury in his heart, but he had always been in control. That was not the case now.
Belina held her ground before turning back towards the door and holding out a hand. “Come here. Don’t be shy, little one.”
Dayne dropped the sword, steel clanging against stone, and he fell to his knees, cupping his hands around the cheeks of the small child who came at Belina’s call.
“Arkin,” Dayne whispered, pulling the boy in.
“I’ve been keeping track of him across the days.”
“Where’s my father?” the boy asked, trembling.
Dayne only squeezed him harder, and when Dayne stood, Belina could see the pain in his eyes.
“It will take time,” Belina whispered. “For now, your sister needs you. I can get him somewhere safe.”
“I can’t just let Loren live.”
“You choose now,” she said, staring into his eyes. “Family or vengeance. You can’t have both today. Wewillcross that last name off your list, I swear it. But your sister needs you. Choose what matters, Dayne.”
Dayne clenched his jaw, then dropped to one knee in front of his nephew. “Belina will keep you safe, all right?” He kissed the boy’s forehead. “Are you brave? You look brave.”
The boy nodded, sniffling, tears staining his cheeks.
“Good, because I’m a little scared right now, and I need you to be brave for the both of us. Can you do that?”
The boy nodded again. “My father says you’re a bad man… Are you?”
Dayne gave Arkin a sad smile. “I’m trying not to be.”
“Come,” Belina said, taking the boy’s hand. She looked at Dayne. “I’ll get him to safety, and then I’ll come back. Don’t die in the meantime.”
“No promises.”
