Ideally heād planned on never having this conversation. Leaving her in the dark as to what might have been her fate was less cruel than telling her. Less harsh than revealing what Irial likely had planned. And Niall thought heād said the court had mellowed out some. One rule change didnāt clear any names. Didnāt absolve any of them of past sins.
āI-ā he hadnāt lied. Not directly. Never directly. Never, rarely, even by omission. But she had questions, perfectly valid questions and fears, and the task had somehow fallen upon him. Somewhere, he can feel the awkwardness coming off their third. Itās beyond tempting to drag Irial in by the collar and make him explain. Because Niall has never had the words for this. āItās not usually survivable and I thought he was done with-withā¦mortals.ā
His voice shook like his hands. Not that he was afraid sheād strike in her anger, but afraid of the ramifications. If she would leave him. Them. Leave them to their not talking and stress and how poorly Niall continues sleeping in the house. āIt wasnāt going to be like that anyway. It hasnāt been since-ā it wasnāt a lie, but the word caught in his throat anyway. āI donāt even know if he was going to do anything. You might have been enough, he might not have needed others.ā
Shadows pooled between them, guardians flickering just out of existence. As if they knew touching either was a bad idea. Usually, they were nicely cold and soothing. Now Niall stomped them out of existence lest they change their minds. If they were even sentient like that. Another thing he has no answer to. āWe thought you didnāt need any more court shit in your life. It can get incredibly fucked up and I know even he wasnāt always comfortable with all of it.ā
@ciarcuirte from here









