Chương 69: “Brave”

While the guardian met the Ledger on the ninth floor, the family kept going down. And somewhere on the stairs below it, Lauren had stopped, and turned, and said:"No. You are ten years old and I am not sending you into—" She stopped. Started again.

"There has to be something else. There's always another way. We just haven't—""Mom."

"—found it yet, we need more time, if we can just hold it off a little longer—" Somewhere overhead a deep sound rolled through the dark, and the stair trembled.

"Mom." June pulled back and looked at her mother and said, with the same certainty that had always been the most devastating thing about her: "You know I'm right." Lauren looked at her daughter. Her face did the thing, the fury into stillness, the soothing calm, and then it stopped doing the thing, because there are things the stillness cannot hold, and this was one of them. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"I know you're right," she said.

"I do. But you're my little girl, and I—" She pulled June back in, both arms, all the way.

"I can't, bug. I'm sorry. I don't want to let you go."

"Ren." Cecile's voice was very quiet.

"You knew this was coming. We prepared for it, didn't we?"

"I don't care," Lauren said.

"I'm still not ready." June reached up and put a hand against her mother's face.

"It's okay, Mom. I'll try to be brave. I promise." Cecile crossed to them and took June's face in both hands and looked at her without saying anything. Then she pressed her lips to her granddaughter's forehead and held them there for a long moment. When she let go she looked at Vorrath. Her eyes were dry. Her voice was not quite steady.

"You take care of her," she said.

"You hear me? She's mine. She's been mine since before she was hers." She stopped. Swallowed.

"She goes with you now. You know where to take her." Far above them, the ringing in the stone had stopped. None of them knew what it meant. Only Vorrath did. Somewhere on the ninth floor a thing he had built in the before-before had finished standing between, and the cold that had been held back was coming down the stairs now, unhurried, free to attend to the rest. There was no more time to be ready. He took June's hand, and they went down.