The General and his wife had the good sense not to rush in. Both of them knew healing magic when it was being spun. It was clear she was using her voice to channel her magic into him without having a wound to heal, she was mending the spirit. When Kyera realized they were there, her eyes met her brothers and her expression was like a child caught being naughty. Kendrick leveled her an unimpressed and exasperated glare, as she finished the last bar of the song.
"The General and his Wife." Kendrick nodded at the two behind him and Kyera tensed. She pulled her hand away from Talis and stood clearing her throat.
"My lady, General I…" before the words even left her mouth a stinging slap was heard. Kyera's cheek was red in seconds as she barely refrained from stumbling under the weight of the blow. She looked at the Lady general who glared at her fiercely, but didn't respond other than to raise her hand. That raised hand stopped Kendrick from dealing with this woman himself.
"You took both my sons from me. Everyone you touch suffers. Verone fell in love with you and you destroyed him. Talis saw you as a sister and followed you and may yet die for it. Your brothers died yet you survive. You are cursed. Damnation and bad will follow you, leaving bodies in its wake. Half our people were slaughtered… slaughtered and where were you? Your our princess and yet all you bring is death and misery." The Lady General growled her voice and hatred tore at Kyera's very soul. Every word cut deeper than the last, and she wanted so badly to hug this woman. Comfort her and help bring Talis back… she almost believed her. Almost. Kyera's eyes closed as she centered herself.
"No." Kyera said the word softly, almost inaudible the first time. Then her golden eyes slid open filled with fire. "No. I am sorry Lady Soft Paw, but no. You and your husband are to blame for the state this boy is in." Kyera replied fire in her voice that was almost scalding them. The ice in her eyes and fire of her voice a deadly warning.
"How dare you…" The general began and Kyera looked at him. She was going to ban that phrase if she became Empress. That bloody phrase used by every self righteous, arrogant prick out there right before they made a fool of themselves.
"Yes I fell in love with Verone. Yes, I broke his heart and I have no doubt he attacked Kan on my behalf. I am indeed the reason Talis left you and on some level I am the reason he lays on this bed. However, it was YOU who put him in my hands." Kyera replied accepting the guilt that would forever rest squarely on her shoulder just as the bruise did on her cheek.
"We can all agree that it is my fault, the three of us were in the woods and Talis tripped that trap. It is my fault I got caught in it to save him. It was my duty as Princess and his trainer. I broke Verone's heart because I couldn't come home and his frustration caused whatever the hell he is now." Kyera replied and The General looked at her oddly hearing her words. Both he and his wife nodded while Kendrick watched his sister. There was something… new… flaring inside her. Something fighting to be freed. Struggling against the bonds that held it's dark head below the surface of her power.
"Yet you forget who sent Verone to beg me to begin Talis's training that day despite being told he wasn't ready. If he had been caught his blood would have been on my hands. Either way, I refuse to take responsibility for a series of events that I begged Verone not to make me take. Talis wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to be ripped from my home… I lost everything and was reduced to nothing for the second time in my life yet you strike me. All I ever wanted was to be a daughter in law good enough for you… how blind I am." Kyera's fire was finally spent as a single tear escaped her eye, the clear droplet drawing attention to her reddened cheek.
"Yet you married another man before his body was even found." The General's wife's words cut through her to the bone. Her one weakness that she could never change. Seeing him at the wedding after… after all the anguish of his death.
"Enough, Kyera is right, and the marriage was what was best for out people. However she is wrong on one thing…" The general paused and looked deep into Kyera's eyes. "You were always good enough to be our daughter in law, Kyera. Always."