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“What?”
“You just thanked Glyn for the first time ever.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I must’ve thanked her before.” I click the wardrobe button and watch my crisp, ironed shirts roll before me.
“No, you haven’t. You’re too egotistical to thank others or even see merits in them.”
“The only people whose merits I refuse to honor with even a glance are incompetent fools. Glyn doesn’t belong on that endless list.”
“Because she shares your genes?”
“Precisely.” I snatch an off-white shirt. “And she’s also never been daft. Just a bit too hung up on emotions for my taste, but oh well, as you constantly remind me, not everyone is built from the same genius clay you and I are made of.”
“You…think you and I are the same?”
“We’re identical twins, Bran.”
“Not in thinking.”
“Not one hundred percent, no.” I put on my shirt and start to button it as I look at him with a tilted head. “But you’re suppressing something, and as long as you’re doing that, we’re not too far off in hiding our secrets, are we?”
A somber look passes in his eyes, and if I weren’t in such a hurry, I’d explore it with more vigor. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You never do, Bran.” I grab his shoulder and squeeze on my way out. “You never do.”
He catches my arm. “Where are you going?”
“Don’t worry. I’m not off to instigate a new war unless chess counts.”
“You’re really just going to play chess?”
“I know, right? I’ve become too boring for my own good.”
He gives me a quizzical glance, but he lets me go. “Remember, Lan. If you fall back into your manipulation and chaos patterns, it won’t work.”
“Yes, Mum.” I do a mock salute and I’m rewarded with Bran’s snickering.
On my way out of the mansion, I shoot my cousin Eli a text.
Landon:Remember the exchange of favors we once talked about?
Eli:Ready to go down like a little bitch?
Landon:Only if you turn into a smaller bitch than my highness.
Eli:Your arrogance will get you killed one day.
Landon:Not when your arrogance is alive and thriving. Now, as much as I love talking shit, I need something.
Eli:The question is, do you need it enough to lose your bargaining chip?
Landon:Yes.
Eli:Prepare to lose the race as the best King grandchild.
I ignore him. Eli thinks that I have only one bargaining chip, but he’ll learn, after I get what I want, that there’s no pushing Landon King to the side, not even by the hands of another King.
After sending him instructions about the possible proof that can make my theory a reality, I drive to the chess club.
