Sliding his hand down his face muffles his voice as he says, “You can’t keep doing this.”
I take another sip from the decanter and pull it from my lips with a pop. “You’re wrong; I can.”
“You can’t disregard all your responsibilities. People are counting on you. Families are missing their Cyffred members in Lucent City, the Khiros here are harming soldiers in an attempt to get inside the sanctuary and partake in the amplification ceremony. You are an absent king and Pliris is gradually falling into anarchy.”
I bolt out of my chair and slam my fist into the top of my desk. “I have one responsibility. One. Do whatever the fuck you want with the rest of it. The only briefing I want every day and night is our progress with finding Raelle.”
“Kyron—”
“Contact the Sibyls again and tell them to at least give me a location in Allaji to find Zek, or I will burn their temple to the ground,” I say through clenched teeth.
“They have already said they won’t get involved.”
“Make them and get the fuck out, Borin.” I point to the door just incase he forgot his way.
With a nod, my advisor gathers his papers and stands. “As you wish, Your Majesty.”
I shake my head and drink from the bottle again, sinking into my leather chair.
I’ve got to hand it to him, he’s the only one here who has any idea how I feel. Even with that sickening feeling, he walks into my office twice a day to spout a ton of shit I don’t care about. I don’t know how he does it or why he even cares, but he does. And I don’t.
Leaning back, I cross my arms over my chest and close my eyes. I haven’t slept much in the past two weeks. Every time I drift off, I’m haunted by nightmares of what is happening to Raelle. My fucked-up head has conjured some grotesque shit; so much so, that it’s jarred me from sleep to expel the contents of my stomach on multiple occasions. Her unknown circumstance makes me long for the days of recurring nightmares about killing my father. And that’s saying something.
I’m not sure how long I’m out, or if I even fell asleep at all when a knock comes from my office door. “Go away, I’m busy,” I say, sinking deeper into my chair.
The knocking sounds again.
“Go away!”
The door swings open, and I crack one eye open, preparing to rip into whoever barged in.
Greer steps inside and slams the door shut, her mohawk of mahogany hair bound in a braid that sways down her back. “What the hell are you busy doing? And why does it smell like sweat, alcohol, and rotting food in here?”
“I’m busy sleeping, I can’t remember the last time I showered, and I don’t feel like having visitors,” I mumble.
“Too bad.” She plops down in the chair Borin occupied earlier and puts her feet up on my desk. Crossing her muscular arms behind her head, she puckers her lips and lifts a brow.
“Get on with it so you can leave and do something useful,” I grumble.
She remains silent, a blatant defiance to my command, and continues to stare at me. I close my eyes again, unable to stand the scrutiny. She isn’t one to show her emotions, but I see the concern in the line between her brows, the pity in her coiled muscles, and the disappointment on her down-turned lips. Like everyone else, she held high expectations of me. I destroyedeach and every one of them without an ounce of remorse.
“You’re a real asshole, you know that?” she says just as I’m on the verge of unconsciousness.
“There’s something I’ve never heard before,” I sardonically reply.
“She would hate to see you like this.”
“Don’t use Raelle to guilt me, Greer.”
“I’m not using her to guilt you, I’m telling you what she would think of the man she put her faith in to rule in her absence.”
My mind flashes with an image of Raelle sitting in Greer’s place with the same look upon her face. I can see it so clearly, hear her tell me she never thought this is how I would rule… that I was a mistake. It stings; the pain falling just short of losing my parah.
“Get out and go find her,” I say with a raspy voice.
“I’m not leaving.”
“You are. I’m commanding you to get out.”
