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I knew he hated me when he stopped teaching me how to read. I would show up at the library for the lessons he originally insisted I take, and he wouldn’t be there. He stopped training with me, he stopped having lake days with me, he stopped playing blackjack with me, he stopped laughing with me, he stopped speaking with me, he stopped loving me, and then he left.
When his mom died, his Shadow blood unleashed. Although Pater had Shadow blood, the queen didn’t, so the kingdom was always curious to see if either of the two sons carried the trait. Anyone who had Artis blood would have no idea if they carried a trait, until it was unleashed. That typically happened after some sort of traumatic event, almost as if the blood released itself to protect them.
After his mom died, Bennett used his craft as a release of his anger. He would lash out at any and everyone, using his craft with no training, and who could tell him to stop? He was the prince. Only one person had more authority than him.
One night, when he was really worked up and angry, I awoke from sleep and felt the odd sensation of rope, like a snake slithering up my body. It tightened around my legs and then my arms, binding me to myself. If I hadn’t screamed for the guard in the hall before the shadows made their way to my neck, I could have died. I was suffocating when the guard barged into my room and seized Bennett, causing him to lose his concentration on the shadows and release me from their bindings. I had bruises on my body for days after the attack and even years later I’d still wake up from nightmares with the feeling of shadows around my neck.
His anger and aggression became too intense, and Pater was worried for the safety of those in the castle. He tried to help Bennett with his craft, but Bennett refused to listen. Without any training, Bennett was a danger to everyone, including himself. So, the king sent him away to the snowy kingdom of Vicinus to stay with his brother, Bennett’s uncle, and have him train Bennett in his craft. Pater kept me updated throughout the years and said that Bennett was doing better there and had learned to control his craft. He told me he was happy there, and selfishly that hurt my feelings as a child, because I used to make him happy. I used to be his friend. Now I just hoped with his return I wouldn’t wake to shadows wrapped around my neck again.
???
I wasn’t sure when I fell asleep, but I woke to the sound of soft footsteps coming from the stairs. I tore a stuck piece of parchment off my face and sat up.I didn’t know what time it was, but one look at the sky told me it was deep into the night. Possibly later than midnight.
The blanket I lay on was bunched up in certain areas where I must have kicked in my sleep, and my papers were now scattered all across the floor. I started to pick up my things so the astronomers could do their work. It had been a while since I’d been interrupted by them, so I was surprised that they had come tonight.
I was still packing my papers when the door opened. “Sorry, I'll be right out. I didn’t know you were going to be here tonight.”
I turned my head to face the door, but it wasn't the astronomers who looked back at me. It was Bennett.
How can someone look the same, but also completely different? He had the same navy eyes that I stared into when I was healing him at the circus, but they seemed sharper now, with a confidence embedded into them. His black hair had grown out more and curled over his head, bunching up like spindles of yarn over his forehead.
Damn, he was tall now. He had to have grown at least a foot and a half since I last saw him. I was tall for a girl from Veladis, but even still he towered over me. His lips were fuller, his cheekbones high, his jaw sharp. He didn’t have a broad or big build like Miles, but rather his body was leaner, like he was chiseled by hand to perfection.
Shock was plastered on his face as he saw me, and, unsure of what to say, I opted to my usual defense mode of silence. Apparently, so did he.
The silence I found comforting before was suffocating now.
Time felt frozen, and he stared as if he was drinking in the very image of me, studying me like an artist who wanted to paint this exact picture.
I felt awkward and stupid. I was the best assassin in the kingdom and could hardly muster up the courage to speak a simple greeting.
“You look different,” he finally said, his voice deeper than I remembered.
“So do you.”
He responded sarcastically, looking around the room, “I guess that’s what happens when we grow up.” His eyes fell on me and traced my body from my head all the way to my bare feet, and I cringed, wondering what I looked like to him.
“So, you still come up here?”
I nodded. “I do.” Thinking this could comfort him, I said, “Some things are different, but some are also the same.”
He shook his head in annoyance. “Everything is different now.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He stepped fully into the room and waved a hand dismissively. “Let’s just say my perspective on this palace and who runs it has changed since I was twelve.”
Bennett walked over to one of the windows at the far end of the room and rested his elbows on the windowsill, looking out at the kingdom below. He was wearing light gray breeches and a loose white long-sleeved shirt that flowed around his body from the wind. It was similar to what he used to wear as a kid. Something he would have described as un-prince-like.
I started to join him and asked, “Are you referring to Pater? Because he hasn’t really changed much since you left, either. He’s still the same.”
He laughed in annoyance. “That is true. He is still the same selfish, ignorant, and inexorable ruler as before.”
I stood next to him, matching his stance at the window.
“Excuse me?” I said, taken back by what he just called his father. Pater was one of the few people I trusted wholeheartedly, and I loved him as if he was my own blooded parent. “Pater is an incredible king to his people, and you know it.”
Assuming he was just playing around I gave him a slight nudge, as if nothing had changed in the last eight years.
