Chapter 439
Lucien sat comfortably in his chair at Helion's golden table, and eyed his father silently. The High Lord of the Day Court looked reflective, sitting with one ankle over his knee and his chin resting in one hand. The older male had not spoken since Lucien had walked in, and Lucien was uncertain if he should interrupt the deep thought processes evidently taking place.
He wanted to ask so many things, however. He wanted to ask how many of the Court the High Lord thought would show up to help clear out the Throne Room. He wanted to ask if Helion had given his guard and soldiers the choice. No doubt many of them had lost those they were close to, and it would be so very difficult a thing to do. Lucien wanted to know if that choice had been offered to them or if the High Lord expected them all to show up and do their duty. He rather thought that Helion would be the kind to allow those who did not wish to take part the opportunity to offer their help elsewhere, but this Court was so very efficient, and that usually came from everyone doing their job.
"Do you think it was correct?" Helion asked, and Lucien glanced at him again to see his father's amber eyes on his face. "Ostracising Amala instead of putting her to death?"
"Ah…" Lucien lifted his own ankle up to rest against his knee, a position mirror to the way Helion was currently sitting. He did think that had been the correct decision, but he could see that the High Lord was still weighing the choices. "Do you regret it?"
"I do not know." Helion sighed, leaning back in his chair. "If I did, I could always have her hunted down by Eris' hounds… but…" he sighed again, scrubbing his hands over his handsome face, "She was young… and I do think she was manipulated by Colm…"
"I agree." Lucien nodded, "I don't think she was a willing participant in any of it." He paused for a moment, "You drew a firm line with her." He said, "Everyone witnessed it, and it is known that you will not allow those who would betray you to remain… Her life here is over, as if you had ended it." He nodded again, tilting his head, "But… she still has the opportunity to make a life elsewhere."
"Yes…" Helion lifted his gaze to the golden ceiling. "I do not wish to be a butcher."
"And that is why your Court are so loyal." Lucien watched his father thinking, "The way they all joined you in that fight was impressive…" Amber eyes came to meet his own once more. "Most High Lords cannot claim such love from those they rule over. Nobody would have lifted a finger to defend Beron…"
"Beron was an arrogant tyrant." Helion muttered, and Lucien nodded.
"Yes," He agreed, "And he would not have hesitated to have Amala executed."
Helion got to his feet then, all feline grace and power in his movements. Lucien followed him. "It is time," the High Lord said, "To finish the Throne Room."
"The pyres have been built?" Lucien asked as they headed for the door. He had seen the beginnings of the collection of the wood needed, but he had not seen the pyres being put together. Helion nodded, his face stoic.
"They have."
By the time they arrived in the Throne Room, much of the work had been completed. Someone had cleaned the blood from the dais, and most of the bodies of the courtiers had been removed from the piles they had been dumped in by Colm and his followers. Stopping by the door, Lucien was surprised by the number of the Court who were present, and it seemed as if most of them had decided to come and be a part of this horrible necessity. Helion moved off to the right, and Lucien drew a steadying breath before he made for the remaining bodies by the wall.
Bending, he reached for the body of a female and he paused when he glanced at her face. He recognised her. It took him a moment, but then Lucien realised that she was the one he had helped with Tamlin when the balcony had collapsed. Tamlin had lifted rubble off of her with him, and Lucien had helped get her up to the Palace again to get further healing help. Sorrow moved through Lucien then, thinking that this poor female had survived that horror only to have her life cruelly ended not long later. The savage wound at her throat told him exactly how she had died and he grit his teeth as he lifted her from the ground.
Following the others, Lucien carried the body of the female faerie, whose name he had never known, out the door and down a short corridor. This led him outside and there he found the funeral pyres that had been built. They had not yet been lit, and Lucien followed the others to one of the pyres which had not yet had bodies placed atop it. Carefully, he laid the female in his arms atop it and stepped back, looking at her face once more. He hoped that, before these pyres were lit, somebody would say something kind for those who had been lost. Then, he turned and walked back inside to collect the next body.