Duskfire Glacier dynasties and dystopia

soon, lane appears. though arius was unsure if he'd done too good a job convincing her he wasn't power-hungry as their sister had been ( was ? ) — for he remembers all too vividly how she acted — the worst of his fears are put to bed by the fact that she is here and joins him at his side.

she speaks in a manner that insinuates that she links issorartuyok with her. he is not so sure that he is eager to know what issorartuyok makes of wintersbane's death. had his father's existence — suffering and unwell as it was the last month of his life — been the only buffer between the duskfire legacy and a total coup?

i was with him when he died, arius admits, the words tumbling out of his lips without his total consent. it was not a soft death. it was violent and horrific. no one had asked but there was a slight relief in admitting that he had witnessed something utterly horrific. it assures, arius ( true or not ) that nothing else could hurt him; and though he understood and appreciated ( and would express gratitude for ) the condolences offered to him they did not quite penetrate the armor he's built up.

he glimpses at ensio, then lane before his glacial gaze settles once more upon meerkat. i appreciate it ...but there was nothing you or issorartuyok could've done. perhaps it was the inclusion of the glacier's new alpha male, previously left out, that pricked at arius. and in fact it was probably better that he hadn't been present because there was no telling that arius would've been rational if he were. he might've done something very wintersbane-like and challenged issorartuyok right then and there before his father's body had even been cold or buried.