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“I saw Emilie today.”
Fuck.
I remained silent. I wasn’t sure what she told him, but I wasn’t confessing anything until Cyrus admitted what he knew. Tension lingered in the air as we waited to see who would break first.
Cyrus did, as I knew he would.
“You are supposed to be training her to fight, Ladon. Not using her as a personal punching bag to take out your aggression.”
Lifting a finger, I defended myself. “I never punched her,” I said, but he acted as if he hadn’t heard me.
“I asked you to do this because I thought I could depend on you.”
“You can.” I shook my head and rolled my eyes. Something he caught and offered a scolding gaze in return. I murmured under my breath, “I can’t believe she told you.”
Cyrus raised his voice. “She didn’t tell me. The bruises on her arms and neck were enough for me to figure out for myself. What were you thinking, Ladon?”
“Does this mean you’ll find someone else to teach her?” I asked, trying not to get my hopes up. Even with his unwavering guilt over our father, Cyrus wasn’t the type to change his mind. If anything, what I did would only make him dig his heels in further. He confirmed that a second later.
“Absolutely not. You will do as I commanded you. And you’re not to lay a hand on her again, Ladon. Do you understand?”
Glancing at the floor, I mumbled again, “How can I train her if I can’t touch her?”
“Ladon,” he roared.
I forced myself to meet his gaze. “I understand.”
I did my best to keep my interactions with Emilie and Cyrus to a minimum over the next few days, just to give myself time to cool off. It turned out to be surprisingly easy since they were both busy with wedding planning. The entire castle had gotten wedding fever overnight. I couldn’t walk down a hall without passing a servant carrying cake samples, floral arrangements, or color swatches for linens.
I overheard a woman and a man speaking as I passed, talking about the songs they’d play during the wedding reception. Gods, I couldn’t wait to get this entire ordeal over with, return to my post at Fort Malek, and move on with my life.
Rounding the corner of the corridor, I slammed straight into my mother, nearly sending her tumbling to the ground.
“Are you alright?” I asked, wrapping my hands around her elbows to keep her steady.
“Yes, yes.” She looked flustered as she gently swatted my hands away. “Oh, good. I was looking for you. Lunch has just been served on the balcony and—” she paused when she caught my grimace. “Don’t you make that face with me, Son. You haven’t eaten with the family in three days and I won’t have you missing one more meal, so come on.”
I placed my hands on my hips as she turned to head for the balcony overlooking the sea. It would’ve been comical how she treated me like a child sometimes if it weren’t so irritating. Swiping a hand through my hair, I worked to come up with an excuse. “I can’t, Mother. I have to—”
Spinning in place, she didn't even allow me to fumble through a lie before she was in my face, pressing a finger into my chest. “If you don’t come with me, I will spend the entire evening sharing every embarrassing moment you’ve ever lived through with anyone who will listen. I mean it. I’ll go to the middle of the town square and tell them about the time we went to the beach, and you picked up a crab—you remember—and its little pincers grabbed ahold of your—”
“Okay!” I shouted. A shiver ran through my body, recalling the pain I’d felt that day. I’d rather have kept that story between us. “You’re scary sometimes.”
I meant it as a compliment and she knew me well enough to pick up on it.
She tossed me a winning smile before turning with her arm outstretched expectantly. I looped mine through it and together we walked to lunch.
“Ah, there he is,” my brother said the moment I stepped into his sight.
“Here I am,” I repeated, mystified by his excitement to see me. I would’ve thought after our last conversation that he’d still be annoyed with me. And seeing as I hadn’t spent any more time training Emilie, I’d expected him to be even more upset with my disobedience than before.
Speaking of the princess, her arms were crossed and I could see with perfect clarity the marks on her skin in the shape of my fingers. Apparently, I was a little rougher than I’d meant to be. Still, she deserved it. No one went through training without a scar or two.
“I was about to tell Emilie the good news.”
There was a grating scrape of wood against stone as I pulled out a chair to sit next to my brother. Meanwhile, my mother filled the seat to my left. From the corner of my eye, I caught Emilie glancing my way before returning her gaze to Cyrus. “Go on then,” I said with what little enthusiasm I could muster.
“I received another message this morning from Kalen,” Cyrus started. My ears perked at the captain’s name. Two messages in one week?
