Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Vad
M y wings flexed and then snapped against my back, but for Elara’s sake, I bit back what I wanted to say and do to Silus. I didn’t want to upset my sister more than he already had.
Inhaling, I smelled jasmine and night roses with a hint of a sharp medicinal tang from the twilight bonsais that adorned numerous shelves and small tables in my sister’s room.
Not even those scents could calm my guilt for her learning of our father’s death from someone other than me, nor my anger at Silus's betrayal.
I stepped forward onto the thick indigo rug. “Elara, we need to talk.” I would make it abundantly clear that I didn’t need his permission to speak to my sister.
Silus’s jaw tightened, and he edged closer to her. He looked to her as if silently asking if she wanted him to remain.
But Elara had her head bowed and was weeping into her hands. Teardrops stained her blue velvet dressing gown, and her left foot had slipped out of its matching blue slipper.
Thalen cleared his throat and jerked his head toward the door. “Silus, care to walk with me to pick out some wine? I think we could all use a drink right now. Feck, probably for the next several days.”
“You get it. I’m not leaving Elara.” Silus folded his arms over his chest as his charcoal-feathered wings twitched.
The feck he wouldn’t. He didn’t get to come here and give orders when I was the king’s heir and his ruler. He’d woken her up to tell her about our father dying, and now this ? I wanted to strangle him, but I couldn’t risk upsetting Elara more. “I think?—”
“It’s all right.” Elara scrubbed her face and drew in a ragged breath. “No one has to leave or stay. It’s…” More tears brimmed in her dark-blue eyes.
A sharp familiarity cut through me as I realized how much her eyes and other features were like a feminine version of Father’s. The hollowness in my chest intensified.
She wiped her cheeks again. “Is he really dead? And Briar was involved?”
My wings and shadows bristled. Normally, I was grateful that Silus looked out for her, but he’d gone too far. Informing her of our father’s death and the circumstances was not his place. The fact that the bastard couldn’t have waited until I returned made me realize he needed to learn what was.
Silus nodded. The way he held himself, stiff in his navy surcoat, made it clear he had no regrets about telling her. He had barely moved an inch from her side, and now he was glaring at me with clear challenge, as if to assert that he was here to protect Elara.
With her health and at this hour, she should have been resting, but no.
He’d had to wake her and tell her about Father and Briar before I got back.
It would have cost him nothing to grant me that small amount of time.
I wasn’t only her brother; I was now the leader of this family and soon to be her king.
That came with responsibilities. “Father was murdered. Briar didn’t kill him or participate in planning his assassination. ”
“I didn’t say that she did.” Silus straightened. “I said she was involved in his death, most likely as a pawn. Her presence at a minimum led to someone attacking us. If she had not been here, none of this would have happened.”
“Didn’t realize you’d become a psychic in these past hours.” Thalen snorted. “Who exactly blessed you with this newfound second sight? Whoever it is has you playing the buffoon quite well.”
Silus glared. “Can you prove me wrong?”
“In time, regarding Briar, most definitely,” Thalen responded. “I fear you will only see it once you stop being an ignorant sniffling flightling. You act as if she’s an Aureline contestant with how you’re acting.”
“Please, don’t fight. And he knows she’s not Aureline. Fate would never allow that and risk us losing our magic.” Elara's shoulders shook harder, and she pressed her trembling hands to her face. “I can’t deal with more arguments and all of us being divided.”
The sight of my little sister's pain struck me harder than a physical blow. I crossed over and knelt beside her settee so that I was closer to her eye level.
Silus reached for my arm, and my shadows snapped out and loomed over him in threatening barbs. He didn’t get to tell me not to comfort my sister.
He jerked back in shock as my shadows separated into multiple tendrils, obviously far stronger and more ominous than they’d been earlier this very night. If that wasn’t a sufficient warning, I didn’t know what was.
His lips pressed into a sharp line, and the skin around his eyes tightened, but he pulled back. His gaze shifted to Thalen, who lifted his shoulders in a shrug as if to say, If you cross him now, you get what you get .
This wasn’t the time or the place to confront Silus fully. I’d deal with him later. Right now, I needed to take care of my little sister.
The silence in the room grew weighted, interrupted only by Elara’s futile struggle to stop crying.
She wiped at her eyes repeatedly, sniffed, and scrubbed her face, but more sobs wracked her. “I don’t understand,” she gasped. “Why would anyone do this? Why would they kill him in Mother’s garden? He was on good terms with all the other kingdoms!”
I brushed the dark hair back from her face.
“Father’s murder was cruel and reckless.
Someone is trying to manipulate our kingdom to ensure we choose the queen they want us to have, most likely so they’ll have far greater influence over what we do.
So many of these choices prove whoever is behind his death is vicious.
Briar was framed, and I am confident in saying there are multiple individuals involved in this atrocity.
Anyone with common sense can see that.” I looked sharply at Silus, who remained stoic.
“We will find all who were involved and bring them to justice. The assassination was coordinated, and they didn’t only kill Father.
Several of the guards were slain as well, and they attempted to murder Rhielle.
Captain Finbar and the Shadow Council are investigating. ”
“But...why?” Elara whispered. She grabbed the front of my dark leather surcoat. “Help me understand. Cheating in the bridal competition would just infuriate Fate. Why would they risk it?”
I pulled her close, enfolding her in a tight hug.
She buried her face in my shoulder as she so often had when we were younger and smaller, back in the days when she’d believed I could fix anything.
Years of illness, nightmares, and loss had taught us both that I was far from invincible, and I felt as helpless to protect her now as I had when she’d woken up screaming the night her illness had manifested.
I could feel each vertebra of her spine under my hand. She’d continued to shrink in size since that horrid night. Was I going to lose her soon as well?
I let my shadows ease out and sweep over her shadow, replenishing her magic with the remnants of my own. Her shadow darkened, but the improvement was less than it had once been.
I scanned her room, and tears pricked my eyes.
She had always loved all shades of blue, and her private quarters reflected that, along with her fascination with the sea and the night.
The low lights turned so many of the deep, dark shades practically black.
Not even a hint of light shone through the heavy velvet curtains drawn over the windows.
It was as if her chambers had been drenched in mourning and were warning me that soon I would have to bid her goodbye as well.
I held her even tighter. “We’re going to find out who did this, Elara. I swear.” Silently, I added, And we’ll find a way to save you too. "They will pay, and they will never hurt anyone again. I love you."
“I love you too,” she whispered hoarsely. “Just find out who really did it, and rip them to pieces.” Her hands fisted my lapels. “I want them to suffer.”
I held back a grin. Some thought she was weak, but I knew the true fighter she was. She and Briar had that in common. “They will. I’m already working on the plans.”
“And Briar? What of her? I want to see her. How is she involved?”
At least, Elara knew her own mind and trusted her instincts enough to question what Silus had said.
I drew back enough to see her face as I shifted my hand to hold hers. “They resent her for her success in the competition, and they want to make sure that I marry the bride of their choice instead of mine and Fate’s.”
Should I admit my suspicions about Kaylen?
Not with Silus here.
“And you’re certain she wasn’t involved at all?” Her brows knitted together.
“You shouldn’t ask him that.” Silus stepped closer to her once more. “He’s too biased to see the risk she brings to the kingdom and to us.”
Anger boiled through my veins. Putting Silus in his place would only upset my sister further, but I would address this as soon as possible.
“Says the moron who keeps speaking out of turn as if he wants to die.” Thalen patted his sword, making it clear whose side he was on.
Elara’s bottom lip trembled. She didn’t like it when people she cared about fought.
I had to bring the focus back to Elara. Not because I didn’t want Thalen and Silus to argue—I couldn’t care less if they did—but I refused to upset my sister more than she already was.
“Briar is entirely innocent in this. The plot has always been about gaining influence in our court.” Beyond what they already had.
My thoughts landed on Kaylen, and I shuddered. I suspected her to be a plant, and thinking about crowning her queen made me want to burn my kingdom to the ground.
“I... I will start preparing the funeral.” Drawing back, Elara gripped her robe tighter. “We’ll have to have it for your vestment and the preparation for the coronation. We can’t have a wedding before we lay Father to rest.” She sniffled and blinked. “Have you given any thought to the funeral?”