know what to do. There would be no way he could touch Julian within Dunarian walls. Holden would play it safe as he always had, unaware that Julian knew his secret.
The Humans of Marenon had lost a king that night and Julian had lost a brother. Julian did not know how the people of Marenon would respond to this; he barely understood his own feelings. In one sense, Julian felt emptiness and pain. In another sense he felt that the world was better for it, and so was he.
Chapter Seventeen
The night wind blew at Julian’s long hair, whipping it like a horse at full speed. The tears that had stung his eyes did not stay on his cheeks for long as Eden soared through the brisk, pre-dawn air at full speed. Morgan is dead. It was all Julian could think. I killed my brother. Julian couldn’t comprehend all of the implications that went with the death of his brother. There would be a new, probably corrupt, power to rise as the Humans’ leader. Holden would suspect what happened and would try to find a way to bring Julian down. And Julian was now alone.
The mother he never knew was still gone. His father had been gone for several years. And now, his brother was dead. There had never been much comfort in knowing that his brother was alive and well, but it had meant that Julian was not completely alone. He had always hoped that his brother would see the error of his ways and come to the side of light. But tonight had shown Julian that the side of light was grayer than he would have previously thought. Why was Ward Holden working against the Dunarians? What angle was Spencer playing, and why were the Stühocs working with Humans? What could they be planning? Spencer had told Maroke to be readying his troops, but for what? Who were they going to attack, the Erellens? Even Maroke would not be so brave, or stupid. There was no way that they had that sort of power. Unless they did possess the power and the Dunarians just didn’t know it, then all of Marenon was in a lot of trouble.
Julian clutched the medallion in his cloak as more hot tears rolled down his cheeks. Next to the medallion he felt the sealed envelope. What was Morgan thinking? How could any written apology erase the evil he had done? Julian couldn’t bring himself to read it, but neither could he destroy it. He knew that if he simply threw it out now, he would regret his decision, but the thought of reading the tyrant’s point of view on the death of his father, and the way that he brought the kingdom to ruin was sickening. Even in his last words his brother had tried to defend himself. The coward.
As Julian began to think of what lay ahead of him in the coming days, he considered what he had to do. He wondered if Alric Thirsk’s team would be able to handle the mission ahead of them. If everything went as planned, then they would have the medallion within twenty-four hours. He wiped his face, tired. He had been up the entire night and was running on fumes now. When the incident happened with his brother, Julian knew he had to get out of the Human capitol. The city would be going mad, and news of the king’s death would spread quickly across Marenon. Those in the inner circles would know what happened to the king. However, most would think that in a drunken daze, Morgan tumbled over the balcony to his death, which, in a way, was sort of true. Julian shook his head. Marenon will be ripping at the seams in the coming days, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
There would be no time for sleep in the coming night either. Julian would go to Jekyll Rock to give his report and be on his way to just outside of Timugo to meet with Alric and pick up the next medallion. Julian wondered how many days his own instructor had seen like this. Kaden. Kaden! What would be done about Kaden? He was trapped and caged like an animal in Mudavé with no chance of escape. His heart grieved for his friend and mentor, but what could be done? The only person that Julian knew he could trust on the Dunarian Council was Nalani. He didn’t know who else