Bearclaw Valley a tale of jerusalem

At another time, Aventus might have been tempted to seize his sister by the shoulders and give her a rough shake to snap her out of it. Grief was an old friend to him by now, and he knew it would take time for her to come to terms with it. She had always been closer to Astara, but Merrick held a place in her heart just as he did in Aventus. He drew in a slow breath through his nose, using it to steady himself, and nodded once.

We had the children, he said quietly. Laurel’s. But when I gave the order to kill them, to end her wretched line for good, they all showed their true colours. There are not many left who were truly loyal. Aventus and Arielle lost both Indra and Abel that day. There was no forgiving Val and Æsilfír their hand in that. He hoped he would see them again. He hoped he would be the one to tear their throats from their bodies.

Yet the opportunities for vengeance always seemed to pass Aventus by, as though the very cosmos was aligned against him, every single time.

I do not know where to go from here, he admitted quietly. He was never meant to be the leader. He meant only ever to stand second to his parents, always.