The memory of Elion setting off last year, only to return with a shattered core, broke me in ways a doctor's touch could not repair.
"The mission that killed him." My voice cracked on the needles of my pain. I reached for Taegen's hand and squeezed as desperately as my muscles would allow. "Please don't leave me in the dark as he had. Where will you be going? Just what did my brother die for?"
Taegen worked a remedial smile across his face that did nothing to soothe me. He squeezed back. "Calm down. I will tell you everything."
After pulling away from me, he walked over to the window, soaking in the moonlight that glittered across his pale skin. "Before your brother passed, he'd been building an alliance in the East. As you know, Queen Filomela is indifferent towards humans. She's even held conferences with them."
"And that's why my father isn't fond of her."
