kendall cross

Everything seemed fine, but only for a moment. Valia felt something seize her mind, like a hand around her throat, forcing her to look at something she didn’t want to see. The stars she normally saw through her subconscious, those flickering lights, were brushed aside, and beyond them, new stars could be seen. However, they didn’t produce light, so much as bend the light around them, staining it with malevolent haze.

“I’ll admit, we could have certainly used a healer and an archer on our team. But I know how Sophia feels about me, and how you feel about Valia. If the four of us traveled together, she and I would have been a distraction to you two, and your relationship would have suffered for it.” He stood over Alexis and held out his hand to her, just as he did when they spoke in the snow. “You two deserved a fresh start, a chance for your love to bloom in the sun instead of wither in our shadows. I apologize for the arrest and messiness that happened after I beat Seraph, but I am glad to return here and see you two living your lives, free and in love. That’s all I wanted for you two.”

Sophia clutched her hands tightly. “But I did know. I knew she had that venom because I helped her transfer its abilities to a vial of Abernathy’s Ichor. I warned her what would happen, how dangerous it was to keep that bottle, and implored her to destroy it. She didn’t listen and told me to keep it a secret. To my shame, I did, and now I have the king’s blood, and the blood of countless knights and soldiers on my hands. Cyrilo said she would take responsibility for anything that happened, but all she’s done is go with the flow, hiding behind lies. Every time I try to talk to her about it, about us facing our sins, she silences me. She did it today, which is why I came to you. I must admit, I’ve lost a great deal of respect for her.