Chapter 12
Atlas
Lephyrin’s throne room was in ruins. Water dripped from the shattered windows, pooling in the cracks of the marble floor. The lifeless body of their father had been removed, but the stain of his death lingered.
Atlas had never truly imagined himself on the throne, and certainly not like this. Not while his brother, the one person in the entire realm he trusted to no end, became a traitor to the crown.
Draevyn just aided their father’s murderer.
The room had cleared, the guards storming the streets in search of Esmyra, though he knew they likely wouldn’t find her. He hadn’t spoken a word to Draevyn in the last few hours, unable to stand the sight of him.
Atlas stood at the base of the dais, staring up at the throne that was now his, when footsteps sounded from behind him. A familiar warmth pressed against him as Draevyn stepped up to his side, but it only made his lip curl in disgust.
“You helped her escape.” The words were clipped as he tried to hide the tremble in his voice, his hands balling into fists at his sides.
Draevyn huffed through his nostrils, but he said nothing.
He didn’t even deny it.
Atlas scoffed as he turned to face him. “Not going to defend yourself?”
“She would’ve died,” Draevyn finally said, his voice sharp. “If that bullet—”
“Esmyra deserves to die.” The room dimmed as Atlas’s shadows crept in.
He couldn’t even believe this was a conversation… This was the highest form of treason. Draevyn betrayed their king. He had betrayed their father for the woman who kidnapped him and held him hostage for a fucking month.
Draevyn’s eyes darkened, but he didn’t move. “No. Our father deserved to die.”
The words hit Atlas like a punch to the ribs, nearly knocking the air from his lungs.
Their father had been a tyrant. A cruel man, one unworthy of the throne, but he was still their king. He was still their father.
“You let her storm in here like a godsdamn force of nature,” Atlas spat, his voice booming off the walls of the room as he turned away from him. “You stood there while she drowned him in front of us, and then you helped her run!”
Draevyn exhaled sharply. “You think I wanted that?”
“Yes,” Atlas said through his teeth. “I think you want her more than you ever wanted to stand by your own family.”
His brother flinched, but his gaze never wavered. “You weren’t there, in the dungeons. You never saw what he did.”
“Drae, please fucking save it.” Atlas held up a hand, his face twisting in disgust. “I know what he did in the dungeons. I know he killed Blackwood. I’m the one who told you.”
Shadows crept into Draevyn’s eyes, but they appeared more like smoke. It was something Atlas had never seen in someone other than himself. “I’m not talking about what he did to Blackwood,” Draevyn started. “I’m talking about what he did to me.”
The scowl on Atlas’s face dropped, his heartbeat kicking up. “What are you talking about? Yeah, he put you in the dungeons and I got you out.”
Draevyn took a step up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, and it took everything in Atlas to not shove out of his hold. “That day when we were young and I lost control of my flame…”
Atlas’s stomach dropped, his throat tightening as he tried to swallow. “What did he do, Drae?”
Draevyn sighed and shook his head. “Blackwood isn’t the first person he’s used velsinyte on. I’m no stranger to it.”
Father had been using velsinyte on Draevyn?
“What?” Atlas took a step toward him. “He had it back then?”
Draevyn averted his gaze to the floor. “The day after the healers announced that Mother had succumbed to her wounds… the king tried to take me back to Irah’s temple.”
Atlas’s eyes flared wide. “He what?!”
Draevyn scratched at his beard, refusing to meet his stare. “He planned to beg Irah to take the power back. I don’t think he cared if it would kill me or not. Father just wanted me gone.”
Bile climbed Atlas’s throat. “And what happened?”
Drae let out a low, lifeless laugh. “The god never answered. He told me to call on my flames. To demonstrate the destruction caused, but when I tried… I-I couldn’t.”
Atlas blinked. “What do you mean you couldn’t?”
“I mean something was blocking my power. It was there, lingering within me. I could feel it, like the flame was just barely flickering, but it refused to answer me when I reached for it. No matter how hard I tried.” Draevyn’s stare went distant.
“So where does velsinyte come to play in this?”
“At first, I think Father thought Irah took the power back. He struck me in the center of the temple to make sure I wasn’t lying. But once we were heading back to the capital, it came back. That was when he realized it was—”
“The temple’s land.” Atlas cut him off, putting it together himself. “That’s where Varis has been mining it? The velsinyte.”
Draevyn nodded. “He had cuffs made for me and would place me in them whenever he assumed my emotions were too erratic. And about ten years ago, when I was seventeen, I took them. But that was before he had the cell built. I think the cage was originally for me, but he quickly saw opportunities to use it for others. It was only recently he had his ring and bullets made.”
“What do you mean you took them?”
“I took the cuffs and hid them, hoping he would never have access to velsinyte again. Of course, that wasn’t how it turned out.
This was all before we knew where Varis was sent.
It’s also why the priestesses now reside in the capital.
The king removed them from their temple so his men could have full control and access to the velsinyte. ”
Atlas’s eyes darted back and forth between his brother’s. “Ten years ago was when—”
“When he sent me out to sea,” Draevyn finished for him, shrugging. “And now you know. The man truly hated me to my core, Atlas. I was willing to stay away. Willing to look the other way for your sake.” He paused, his jaw ticking. “But I wouldn’t for her.”
The pity settling in Atlas’s stomach quickly morphed back into anger. “Why? Why her? You would fight for her but not yourself or your kingdom?”
Draevyn’s spine straightened, and suddenly, Atlas’s little brother seemed to tower over him. “He took everything from her. It was only right she took it back! I was trying to calm the situation so she wouldn’t hurt anyone else, but you wouldn’t listen. I let her take what she was due!”
A burning sensation ignited in Atlas’s chest—a feeling he’d never once felt toward his brother. “And you still believe she cares for you after that?” He let out a bitter laugh, stepping closer. “Esmyra told you herself… she doesn’t want you anymore. And yet you still burn for her.”
Draevyn stiffened, flames dancing in his eyes.
Good. Let him feel the weight of it. Let him understand that no matter how much he tried to justify it, no matter how much he wanted to rewrite the truth, she was their enemy now. Esmyra had always been their enemy.
The kingdom would demand retribution. The lords and nobles would never bow to a king who let his father’s murderer go unpunished.
But more than that… Atlas had trusted his brother to no end. And now, that trust was shattered.
“I’m the king now,” he said, his voice low. “And I will not allow you to undermine me the way you did him. She could’ve killed Elowynne!”
The thought of harm coming to his soon-to-be wife set him into a fit of rage. Draevyn thought he would burn the world for that wretched sea witch, but Atlas would drown the world in darkness for his chosen bride.
Draevyn exhaled sharply through his nose, his body rigid. “Esmyra was defending herself against Elowynne’s magic! She had no fucking right to barge in there and attack her!”
Atlas narrowed his eyes. “You think that matters? You think the rest of the kingdom cares who threw the first strike? The only thing they saw was Esmyra killing our father and nearly taking the rest of us with him.”
“No harm would’ve come to Elowynne if she just stayed out of it,” his brother snapped, heat rolling off of him in waves. “Your wife, or soon-to-be one, forced Esmyra into a nightmare—”
“She defended me!” Atlas’s scream echoed through the chamber. “Elowynne defended her king. Something you should’ve done instead of running after your evil goddess like a lovesick fool.”
“You think I should’ve just stood by while Esmyra was screaming?” Draevyn looked like he’d been struck. “You don’t know her like I do. She never would’ve done that unless she was in some actual form of agony. Elowynne twisted her mind—”
“Esmyra was going to kill me!” Atlas’s voice broke, the echo of it deafening. He couldn’t even believe this was a conversation they were having. “Drae, what are you not understanding about this?”
His brother fell silent. And for a moment, there was only the sound of their ragged breathing.
Then, Atlas’s voice dropped to something colder. “You chose a side. And you chose wrong.”
Draevyn’s fists clenched at his sides. “I chose to stop a war.”
“No.” Atlas exhaled slowly, shaking his head. “You chose her. You chose Esmyra. And in doing so, you started one.”
Draevyn didn’t answer.
Atlas took in a slow breath as the pieces started to fall into place.
Esmyra—Kaelypso, whatever the fuck her name was—wasn’t invincible. For all her godhood, all her power… she bled. The mark of it still stained their marble floors.
His bullet had proven that. The way she had faltered, the way she had fallen to her knees, and the way Draevyn had reacted to it. She had a weakness.
Atlas’s lips pressed into a thin line as the fury inside him twisted into something sharper.
“I should’ve known,” he muttered, pacing in a slow circle, ignoring his brother’s heated glare. “All that power, and yet she ran. You forced her to run because she had to.”
Draevyn took a step forward. “Atlas, whatever you’re thinking of doing… just let it be. You don’t understand what she’s capable of.”
“No.” He exhaled through his nose, his mind already forming a plan. “I understand exactly what she’s capable of. And now I know how to stop it.”
Draevyn tensed, the flames at his fingers betraying his unease. “Don’t make me choose, Atlas. Don’t make me choose between you and her.”
“Why?” Atlas snapped, desperately trying to shove down the ache in his chest. “Because it would be her?”
Draevyn sighed, shaking his head. “No, I’m not saying that. But you don’t need to do this!”
“Yes, I do.” Atlas turned to face him, his decision already made. “The kingdom needs me to. She killed our father.”
“He killed hers first!” Draevyn pleaded.
Atlas scoffed. “So, what of it then? A father for a father? A pirate for a king?”
Their father was dead. Murdered by her magic. Atlas wasn’t about to let that go for nothing.
“Velsinyte. I want more of it. I need a lot more,” he thought out loud while turning toward the guards at the door. “Send for Varis,” he ordered.
One of the men bowed before stalking out of the room.
Draevyn’s nostrils flared wide as the veins in his neck strained. “You’re planning to hunt her.”
Atlas was done letting Draevyn in on his plans.
Regardless of if it was a one-time occurrence, he couldn’t tell him what he planned to do.
Not when he knew Draevyn loved the woman for reasons he couldn’t comprehend.
So, for now, Atlas would keep him in the dark.
If Draevyn wanted to stay by his side as he was crowned king, then he would be welcome.
But any privilege he had with the crown was now gone.
Only he wouldn’t let him know that.
Atlas let a slow, cruel smile stretch across his lips. “No,” he lied, voice cold as steel. “But when she comes back, we’ll be ready.”
And once he captured her—once she was bound in chains that even a goddess couldn’t break—he would show her exactly what it meant to steal a king’s life.