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“Katie Hayes?” Darla said, her tone dropping. I didn’t understand why for a beat, but then it hit me, and I felt shame I hadn’t gotten it right away. “You… you wouldn’t have happened to know a…” I watched the column of Darla’s throat bob as she swallowed. “A Tristian Hayes, would you?”
“Tristian Hayes?” the assistant said, all smiles. “That’s my brother. He joined the military a few years ago. Is he stationed with you?”
It was as if time stopped right then and there—Darla and I staring at each other. Tristian Hayes, the scout who had started everything, and one of our two casualties during our mission to my coven. Out of nowhere, I was listening to his death cries all over again, playing them in my mind in an awful, awful loop.
But of course, time didn’t freeze, and Katie quickly caught on that something was wrong. I schooled my face into a neutral expression, but it was too late.
“He hasn’t sent us a letter in a long time. Did… did something happen to my brother?”
I could see Darla’s mouth moving, but no words were coming out. Not that I could blame her. More than a month ago, she’d kissed the man. In fact, hers were the last lips to touch his.
So, I bit the bullet, so to speak.
“Your brother died in action. Our captain made sure to send out his condolence and benefits package to your family, but it must have been delayed.”
“My…” the girl dropped the laces of Darla’s dress, her lips trembling. “My brother is dead?”
“He fought bravely, and I can say for a fact I wouldn’t be alive without him.”
“I, uh, I have to go. My mother…” A sob fought its way out of Katie’s mouth. “She doesn’t know. I… I have to go.”
With that, she rushed out, her cries ringing in my ears even as she sprinted down the hall. For a moment, the room was absolutely still.
Seraphina was the one who spoke first, slowly sinking onto her couch. “I didn’t know the war was affecting people all the way here,” she murmured, her expression pained but contemplative. “We don’t really talk about it in the capital, do we?”
Darla and I both shook our heads, and I had the feeling our collectively brighter mood wouldn’t return. As Halle went behind the modesty panel to help Darla, the rest of us continued in somber silence.
When we left, I could still hear Tristian’s cries as he was pulled away by the enemy, ripped to shreds just out of our sight.
Chapter 22
Kai
“Are you prepared to meet the future love of your life?”
I didn’t want to turn, knowing exactly who was standing behind me, but it wasn’t like I could just keep staring at the courier who’d dropped off the reports from the possible Shrouded Shriek sighting and attack.
“You’re dismissed,” I said flatly.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Then they ran off, no doubt as eager to escape my uncle as I was. However, instead of running away, I slipped my mask back into place and faced him.
“I assure you, that wasn’t something I’ve been concerned with for quite a while.”
I went to brush past my uncle but paused when I felt him grip my arm tightly—not so hard I couldn’t get away, but with more pressure than he should ever use against the crown prince. I wasn’t some little boy he could bully anymore.
“I know you think you’re above all of us here,” he hissed. “But you need to realize, if you do live to be old enough to ascend the throne, you’re going to need allies, and that pretty face of yours will only go so far with that holier than thou attitude to go along with it.”
He was right in some ways. I did, indeed, need allies, and that’d always been the biggest hang-up in standing up to my father when I was younger. Plenty of people in the court liked me, thought me charming even, but not charming enough to risk standing against my father. That was an entirely different level of devotion, and I hadn’t commanded a lick of it back then.
But I just wasn’t willing to prostitute myself, literally or figuratively, for power. I had a duty to my people, and I wanted to lead them well, to do right by them. But when I dreamed at night, it was of bright blue eyes and blonde hair. It was of gently rocking on a porch swing with Ayla’s head resting in my lap. It was of making food together and washing dishes side by side after.
Nowhere in those dreams was there a throne or any political machinations. I was forever going to be Captain Kai rather than Prince Nikolai.
I could only hope I’d transition gracefully into King Nikolai. That was a lot of weight on my shoulders when I already felt pretty burdened.
“So, I highly suggest you get your head on right and take this political alliance I’m setting up for you.”
