It killed Jool to hear Onaria gasping for breath. To see the brightness of her blood on cloth, the pain pulling her features taut.
So unfair. They'd just gotten married. He'd hoped for a second chance. A reprieve.
A miracle.
Tucking her into bed, he headed into the yard and kept moving, past the fence to the very edge of the mountains themselves. Glancing upwards, he grabbed hold of the stone and began to climb, needing the exertion. He exulted in the pain as his bare fingers clung to rock. He made it a quarter of the way to the top of the first ridge and collapsed onto a jutting ledge.
Panting with the exertion, he couldn't stop the hot tears that filled his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. Anguish, but also anger. He pounded his fists into the ground, not caring he scraped skin and
