Page 95 of Secrets of Ruin

CHAPTER NINETY-THREE

Whatever joy Ryker managed to experience during the wedding and reception vanished the second he returned to his father’s castle. The freshly built, much-too-large monstrosity was not the castle he grew up in.

All that remained of that castle was a destroyed heap of picked-over rubble that had helped build this much larger counterpart. While much of the realm had struggled under the burden of the ghoul war and Leo’s subsequent capture, his father somehow flourished.

But that wasn’t surprising; his father always had a way of coming out on top… like pond scum.

Ryker still hadn’t gotten used to the size of this place, the echoing slap of his steps against the stone, and the countless new rooms. He doubted he ever would, as he didn’t spend much time here.

This wasn’t his home, and his father wasn’t a man he wished to see daily. If he had his way, they’d never see each other again. But as much as he loathed the man who helped create him, he’d been raised with a sense of duty and had a responsibility to this realm.

He hated his father, but this realm was his home. Even if he felt completely out of place here after the war and his imprisonment, he wouldn’t leave.

He would if he could, but he’d promised Leo that if something ever happened to him, Ryker would look over Tempest and those who resided in it. That promise came before Leo’s capture and after an especially brutal day on the battlefield against the ghouls.

They’d lost many soldiers that day and almost lost Leo too. Neither of them spoke while they sipped wine near the crackling fire in Leo’s tent.

A white bandage covered the gaping wound in Leo’s chest. Before Leo was bandaged, Ryker could see his king’s heart beating.

He didn’t know what Leo pondered, but Ryker spent most of that time replaying the events of the day and all the many things he could have done differently. And how bad it could have been if they’d lost their king.

Hindsight was worthless, considering it was over and couldn’t be changed, but he couldn’t stop beating himself up over it. They’d lost too many good men and women that day, and he was their general; he should have saved them.

But none of them had seen the ambush coming, and for that, they all paid. They’d removed the two arrows he’d taken to his back and chest, but they still wept blood.

However, he was alive, which was more than he could say for dozens of others.

He didn’t know how much time passed before Leo spoke. “Promise me that if something happens to me, you’ll look over Tempest and its citizens.”

“Nothing will happen to you.”

Leo’s brown eyes were haunted and shadowed when they met Ryker’s, and, looking back, Ryker wondered if his friend knew his time was coming to an end.

“My brother is an idiot,” Leo stated. “I should have had children, but it was always something for the future.”

“You still have plenty of time for that.”

A sad smile tugged at the corner of Leo’s mouth before he shifted his attention back to the fire. “Perhaps. If it doesn’t happen though, you are the one I would choose to rule Tempest.”

“I’m not a ruler, Leo.”

“You rule over these soldiers with expertise and heart; my brother would see them as expendable pawns to help win this war, but you don’t.”

“Neither do you.”

Leo sipped his wine before speaking again. “No, I don’t.”

And that weighed heavily on him. So many of those they lost that day were young and starting lives that were cut too short.

Ryker knew Leo would far prefer to end this war, but the ghoul king refused to negotiate, and Leo wouldn’t concede any of Tempest to him; he couldn’t. They couldn’t live with ghouls in their land; no one would be safe then.

If Leo agreed to let the ghouls have a small piece of land, they would one day want more and come for it. Nothing ever sated their voracious appetites.

No, Leo couldn’t turn away from this war, but neither of them wanted to fight it.

“Promise me, Ryker.” Leo didn’t look at him again, but his voice was urgent as he spoke. “Promise me you’ll watch over Tempest and its citizens.”

“I promise.”