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The castle was so peaceful at this time. So quiet you could hear a mouse. Magical lanterns floated high in the air, emitting a warm golden glow. Their luminance dimmed behind me as the ones in front of me came to life. It was like my own personal spotlight following along as I wandered the castle corridors.
“I’m surprised to see you up so late.”
I stiffened and gritted my teeth. It was usually impossible to sneak up on me. I’d blame it on the lack of sleep.
When I turned around, Cyrus was leaning against a door frame, his arms crossed and a frown on his face. It was the door to his office, so I assumed he’d been working late tonight. Maybe it was the lighting, but he looked older than I remembered. The wrinkles on his face were more prevalent, and his hair was thinning in some spots. Sometimes I forgot the toll that being king took on him, but it had never been more obvious than it was at that moment. He looked as tired as I felt.
“Couldn’t sleep. And you?” I asked, curious what matter was so pressing that he was still working in the middle of the night.
He jerked his head to his office, a silent invitation to come in. An invitation that I couldn’t refuse, even if I wanted to.
His desk was an absolute mess. I understood his office was the one place the servants wouldn’t touch, but this disaster rivaled a pigsty. I took a seat and examined the heaps of papers and maps. A patch of ink had dried in the corner where a bottle still sat, tipped over. A letter dated three months ago looked like it had been used as a napkin. My nose scrunched as I picked up what appeared to be an old banana peel.
Cyrus met my gaze and shrugged his shoulders. “I know it’s a mess. I’ve had a lot on my plate, literally.” He gestured at the clutter before us.
I dropped the rotting peel back on his desk and settled into the seat, crossing my arms over my chest. “So, what did you want to talk about?”
“I need a reason to talk to my brother?”
He was stalling, and it only made me more eager to know what was on his mind. “No, not usually. But when those chats come at two in the morning, I do wonder.”
Cyrus sighed and leaned back in his chair across from me. “I received a message today from Kalen.”
I straightened in my seat. I didn’t think the captain of the northern stronghold would get back to us so quickly. It’d only been a few days. “Did they find the missing scout? Is he dead?” My skin went cold and my leg shook with restlessness. I wanted to jump up from my seat and race to Fort Malek myself just to check and see. These men trusted me and I’d failed them twice now. Losing a life under my watch was a feeling I’d never wanted to know.
Cyrus raised his hand to keep me seated, like he knew I was ready to bolt from the room. “Yes, they found him, and he’s alive and well.”
My brows pinched together. “How is that possible?”
“This is good news, Ladon. Aren’t you glad now that we didn’t go barreling in with an entire army? Reyna would’ve had all our heads on a stake.” He smiled, but I didn’t feel the same sense of relief. Reyna would have our heads regardless if we started a war or not. I couldn’t believe he was being so naïve.
“Reyna already took the head of a scout,” I reminded him. “Or do you think his head just detached itself?”
His face flinched almost imperceptibly, and I knew I’d struck a nerve. I didn’t care if it irritated him. He was smarter than this. Doubting Reyna, the ruler of Murvort, would only lead us to our ruin. “How do you explain the murdered scout?” I asked again.
Cyrus shook his head and frowned. “An accident. An animal perhaps.”
Unfuckingbelievable.
I scoffed and clenched my fists until my nails bit into my palms. “You can’t be serious, Cyrus. I know you don’t want to start a war, but you can’t be this blind. You know it had to be Reyna and her forces. If you don’t respond to her blatant disregard for the treaty, then she will see it as an open invitation to breach our borders and infiltrate our lands.”
Cyrus lost whatever trace of a smile he had. “You don’t understand. The weight of the world, of our people, lies on my shoulders. I can’t lead them into war without due cause. I won’t risk their lives unless I’m certain it's necessary. We’ve been at peace for centuries and I don’t intend to end that streak anytime soon.”
“You’re a fool if you don’t think Reyna will end it for you.”
“Do not patronize me, Brother. You may be High Commander but I am King,” he said in a tone that sounded foreign—too powerful and mismatched to the kind, gentle brother I knew.
“Then act like one.” The words came out louder than I’d intended and it only served to highlight the silence that followed.
He eyed me with a burning temper. I spotted the flames of his power flickering in his pupils, but he kept them at bay. It was a dance we’d been doing since the day our father died and Cyrus had been forced to fill his role. I tested his patience, and he gave me the leniency I didn’t deserve. Thinking it would somehow make up for the fact that he sat where our father should’ve.
It never did. No amount of coddling would ever bring back our father. And it wasn’t Cyrus’s fault that he so quickly had to place that crown on his own head. A fact I’d told him over and over again, but it never seemed to sink in. He still felt some sense of responsibility for my pain.
The silence was suffocating and when I could no longer take it, I moved to stand. “Is that all, then?”
“No.”
The agitation written on his face was enough for me to take a seat again. I got the feeling that whatever he was about to say was worse than the news of his indifference toward Murvort.
