Chapter 12 Kieran
Kieran
“Tell me all that you know about the rot,” Gabriel presses, a smallsword in his hand.
We’re standing in the training hall, a place I once knew well, back when I was permitted to train with him.
As a gardener’s son, I shouldn’t have been given such freedom, but King Hugo felt sympathy for me after my arrival.
Once Gabe, Gen, and I became close companions, I was allowed to do anything the Ashcroft siblings did.
I see it clearly now: I was a sort of pet to the Ashcrofts.
A redblood companion meant to entertain the young crown princess and her siblings—but always to know my place.
To never hope for more than what was freely given.
Striving for more, hoping for the love of a princess, was strictly off-limits.
He gestures for me to choose my own weapon, so I reach for a smallsword meant for training. How did we end up here? From agreeing to speak privately about the rot to preparing to duel in a practice ring?
I stare down at the blade in my hand. It’s not as though I haven’t kept up my training. Yes, there were years where I didn’t see the light of day, let alone a weapon, but since then, I’ve made good use of my elevated position and found time to hone my swordsmanship again.
“You do practice, do you not?” Gabe asks, a hint of his old cocky grin tugging at his lips. He was always an arrogant prick, even when he was my best friend.
“Of course. I just wasn’t expecting us to discuss the state of your mines while fencing.”
Gabe shrugs, the motion so familiar it catches me off guard. Something inside me twists—familiarity, and yet distance so vast it feels foreign. “I always practice at this hour. It’s a routine I refuse to miss. Now—about the rot.”
He walks to the court and takes his position, waiting. I oblige him, curious to see if my renewed training is enough to overtake a prince.
“Many of the mines along the coast were so far gone when I purchased them that I permanently closed them and took it as a loss. I wouldn’t wish my greatest enemy to work in those conditions.”
He raises his sword, swagger returning to his step. “Do you have many enemies, Blackwell?” The way he says my name cuts, and he attacks with such speed that it nearly takes me by surprise as I quickly step to block his offense.
“You’d be surprised how many people hate a man for rising above his station.
” I counter in a quick, rhythmic tempo that’s been drilled into me since childhood.
His lunge is predictable—the same move he’s relied on all his life—and I deflect it easily.
The gleam in his eye turns feral as he advances again.
“And how many people fell during your rise, Blackwell?” he snaps, his strikes growing sharper, more exacting.
“I thought we were talking about the rot, not my business success.” I counterattack, forcing him onto the defensive as I swipe and parry.
He growls in frustration as I catch him off guard. “Rot, yes. Cases have been reported around the country.”
“Impossible,” I snarl as we move in a steady rhythm of back and forth. Despite the years I spent trading a pickaxe for a sword, we’re still evenly matched.
“It only spreads when the land can no longer bear misuse. But that’s not what’s happening here. That leaves only one way it can spread.”
We’re close enough now that I can see the sweat dripping down Gabe’s face—but it’s the anger in his eyes I don’t expect.
“Someone is misusing helachite, causing the rot to spread.”
The thought shocks even me: helachite rot, intentionally unleashed across the kingdom. I use a quick parry that was once my signature move, a reflex so ingrained I forget I should be trying to keep Gabe from recognizing my swordsmanship.
He drives his elbow into me, shoving hard. It takes everything I have not to stumble. “Kieran—it is you.”
I falter at the sound of my real name. He drops his sword, lunges forward, and punches me square in the face.
The blow lands hard and fast. I hit the ground with a thud.
“Gabe! No!” A feminine voice fills the training hall, and my vision blurs as I try to make out the figure rushing toward us.
“He left you!” Gabe’s voice is venomous as he spits the words at Gen. Of course, it’s Gen. “He has to know what that did to you. He deserves worse than to be knocked out flat.”
I want to protest—that the only reason I left was because of her, that leaving cost me everything I’d ever valued—but I can’t find the words as the two of them stand over me.
“It doesn’t matter,” she counters. “It’s in the past. I don’t want you hurting him on my behalf. He’s absolutely not worth it.”
Slowly I push myself up on my elbows, my vision sharpening on the siblings. “How did you recognize me?” I ask.
“Your fencing style,” Gabe replies. “It’s evolved, but hardly at all. You need a better instructor, by the way. Felt like I was fencing with a novice—you were always terribly predictable.”
I nod. I should have known he’d see through me. “Did you bring me here to test that—to see if I was who you thought I was?”
Gabe scoffs. “Of course, you idiot. I don’t know how you didn’t see it coming. Genny told me who you were, but I didn’t believe her until I watched your mannerisms in the meeting this afternoon.”
I stand, unsteady, feeling the swelling in my cheekbone grow. “Now it’s off to tell Mommy, is it?”
Gen snorts. Gabe rolls his eyes. “Why would we tell her? She’s kept far too much from Genny for us to trust her.”
I’m not surprised. Every interaction I’ve seen between Gen and her mother shows that the queen still treats her like a little girl, not like a woman about to be crowned.
And for her part, Gen doesn’t seem to mind being stuck in the same role for the past nine years.
It only proves she’s as complicit as her mother in Naseria’s problems.
Gabe picks up his sword, stepping closer to me with the casual ease of a cat toying with its prey. “Tell me what you’re really doing here, Kieran. Why return now after nearly a decade of lies?”
“I’ve been nothing but truthful. I’ve worked closely with Queen Kalise and Prince Leland for years. Your mother heard of my plans to build an intercontinental railway and contacted me herself, hoping to secure the line through Naseria.”
“Enough,” Gen cuts in. “Gabe, Prince Leland and I came across the rot in Covington Park. We need to speak with Mother immediately.”
Gabe shakes his head, then looks at Gen. They lock eyes, speaking in that wordless way only siblings can. That irritating connection between them is something I’ve never understood. Some things never change.
I step closer to Gen, watching the heat rise in her cheeks. Her reaction makes me want to reach out and brush my fingers against her soft skin. “I can tell what you’re doing, Gen. We’re going to be working closely for years if I agree to build the railroad through Naseria.”
She retreats, moving nearer to her brother, who’s still holding that damn smallsword. “I’m ready to find a different contractor. We don’t need Blackwell Industries for our railway.”
I can’t hold back my laugh. There’s no one else on the continent capable of safely developing helachite infrastructure.
My patent—secured in Icelantica, Naseria, and Wylan—on the process for safely manufacturing raw helachite guarantees that.
I wouldn’t trust anyone else to handle the mineral safely.
“That’s impossible. Furthermore, if you don’t believe me, ask Gabe what you missed while off with the prince. Queen Penelope is intentionally keeping things from both of you.”
Gabe’s eyes meet mine before he says, “It’s true. It seems Mother is trying to isolate information from you.”
I close the space between us. “If you want the truth, meet me tonight. You know where.”
“Absolutely not,” Gabe barks out, disdain evident on his face. “Who do you think you are, Kieran? If you want to meet with her, you’ll meet with me or Prince Leland as well. Or just tell us what you know now, you ass—we’re already here.”
Gen brings her gloved hand to her brother’s arm, and I catch the glint of the rock on her ring finger, even through the fabric. A jealous pang cuts through me, and I have to consciously relax my jaw as I stare at Leland’s ring on her gloved hand. Did he touch her? Did he feel her gift?
“I’ll be fine. If Kieran knows Mother is keeping information from me, I’ll meet his demands. After all, he wouldn’t dare touch me.”
“Call me Blackwell. You’ll slip up soon, and everyone will be wondering why you’re calling me by the name of your dead lover.”
“Right. Blackwell, then,” she replies, her sapphire-blue eyes studying me.
Gabe regards me darkly and lifts his sword toward my stomach. “If she reports anything untoward, I will personally disembowel you.”
I look at Gen, ignoring her brother and his blade. “You have my word that you’ll be safe with me, Princess.”