Silence - By Kailin Gow Page 0,54

he laughed once more, and leapt out into space.

Briony didn’t care, she was too busy kneeling by her father, trying to heal him as she had Kevin. King Waltham shook his head, whispering up.

“It is too late, and I am too old, Briony.

Saving me would take more strength than you have. I am just glad I could be here to help you.” Briony had to kneel then, so that he could whisper into her ear. “I wish I had time to spend with you, so that I could see you learn what you’re capable of, child. You wil have to learn that from Vigor and Sophie, instead, now.

That dragon of yours wil help, too. But know this. The scepter is safe, for now, but you wil have to keep it that way.”

“I don’t care about that,” Briony said.

“You should. You must. You must promise me you wil keep it safe. Promise me.”

Briony hesitated, but then nodded. “I promise.

How do I even find it, though?”

King Waltham smiled. “You wil find it. It wil begin cal ing you, if you are the true heir of Palisor, and you wil know where it is.”

“You can’t die,” Briony said, trying not to cry. “I just found you. I only just found out what I am.”

King Waltham looked past her, and Briony got the feeling that he wasn’t looking at anything she would be able to see. “You are the daughter of kings and queens. Heir of my blood. Rule Palisor wisely. It wil protect both of our worlds. Always know, daughter, that I loved your mother dearly, and I love you and Vigor.”

With that, the ancient king closed his eyes, gave a last gasp, and died in Briony’s arms.

Epilogue

With the King’s death, came silence. Nobody in the room spoke. Even the vampires in the room have felt the thunder that rumbled through the entire castle, shaking the stone wal s and floors with anger.

The King of Palisor had died, and the land felt his death, trembled and wept with it. As if to show the depth of anguish Palisor felt, a fresh wave of rain poured down to the ground fal ing freely like tears.

Nobody seemed to have the right words. Kevin moved to Briony, taking her gently into his arms and drawing her away from King Waltham while Briony cried. This hurt more than she had thought it would. She had barely known her biological father, yet somehow, that made it worse, not better.

pan> If it was bad for her though, it was worse for Vigor. The normal y expressionless young Hugtandalfer took his father’s body up in his arms, cradling it like a child, grief clear in every line of his face. He wouldn’t look at any of them directly.

“I’m too late, then.” Briony looked up to see the King’s brother, Leytham, entering the room. Vigor looked up too, and for a moment, there was more anger in his features than grief.

“Yes, you’re too late. If you had been here-”

Leytham nodded. “I would have fought that battle for him. I was not. It’s not me you’re angry with though, is it my prince?”

“I was fighting Marcus. I could have taken him. I should have fought instead of my father, and I didn’t. I didn’t.” Vigor looked away again. To Briony’s surprise, Aunt Sophie moved over to him to lay a gentle hand on his shoulder. Vigor tensed as she did it, but seemed to relax as he saw who it was.

“I have lost a brother today,” Leytham said, and then sighed. “Such a stupid word, lost. It makes it sound like I have mislaid him somewhere. Let us say it as it is. My brother is dead.” He shook his head. “And even that is not the worst of it, because there is no time to grieve. Whoever holds the scepter holds the key to Palisor and the mortal world both, and the vampires wil take it if they can.”

Right then, Briony didn’t care. She was too busy just holding onto Kevin. Even as she did that, though, she looked over his shoulder at Fal on. The young vampire was staring straight back at her, his eyes unwavering. There shouldn’t be the urge to hold him at a time like that, yet there it was, deep in the heart of Briony. She wanted to go to him and hold him as tightly as she held Kevin. Wanted his arms around her too. She could see that Fal on wanted it as much