I don’t even flinch. The others watch on anxiously.
I get to my feet slowly.
Unfurled from my spot so I can brace my hands against the table top. So we’re leaning head to head, eye to furious eye.
“It must be so easy for you, brother,” I say quietly, fury an undercurrent dragging my enraged tone forward. “To throw your tantrums. To pass your judgments. Soeasy. You know why?”
His cheeks are snagged with red ire, mouth silent.
“Because you haveneverhad to make hard decisions,” I tell him. “I have always been the one to do that. You just get to sit by with your outbursts and your righteous anger, and tell me what a shit job I’m doing at everything, while you haven’teverhad to carry the load that I carry. Andthat’swhat you don’t get. You’ll never get it.”
His eyes flash, but his impatient anger will never win out against my enduring rage.
“I am not going to be blackmailed. I am not going to send Auren to be put on a stage for the world to rip her apart for their own political gain. I am not a dog to be called to heel, and if youeverquestion my motives for my kingdom again, then I won’t hesitate to put you in your place.”
His chest heaves. Eyes flared, fists curling at his sides like he’s going to leap across the table and throw the first punch.
I fucking hope he does.
“So you can stand there and spew whatever bullshit you want as my brother. But at the end of the day, I am also your fuckingking, and you will do as I command.”
The silence between us is a sword.
Double ended, pointing in both directions between us. It hovers in the air, stabs against my skin, keeping us held beneath sharp tips and readying to pierce us both through. We’re both held motionless, waiting to see which of us is going to fall on it first, which of us is going to bleed.
My relationship with my brother has always been complicated. Since he went from an innocent boy to a man layered thick beneath mantles of resentment.
And I always take it.
I always fucking take his anger, his arguments. Because for the most part, I deserve it. I destroyed our mother’s mind. I’ve imprisoned her in a cave she can never leave. I’ve made him non-existent, stuck beneath a helmet to play a part as my double.
And my father killed his.
But when it comes to this, when it comes toher, I’m not going to fucking take it.
Because he’s right. My prioritieshavechanged. And I will let the world corrode and crumble in order to protect her. But that doesn’t mean I won’t do everything I can to protect my people too.
For several moments, nobody in the room moves. I don’t think Lu is even breathing. We’re all waiting to see if he’s going to explode, to finally throw that fist he’s making and aim for my face.
But he doesn’t.
I’m not sure who’s more surprised.
Instead, he turns and stomps out of the room, letting the door slam shut behind him. The moment it’s closed, my tense shoulders immediately slacken, hands dropping away from the table.
“Well,” Judd says, breaking the awkward silence. “That didn’t go so well.”
Lu sighs. “You know how he is. He’s protective of the army.”
“We all are,” Os replies. “And the rest of the kingdom. Doesn’t mean he has to act like a little shit about it.”
She glances at the door. “He’ll come around.”
Os grunts.
“So...is anyone else feeling a little Wrathy?” Judd prompts as he rolls back on his heels with a grin. I appreciate the gesture—appreciate him trying to lighten the mood. “When you give Manu your answer, they’re probably going to have some retaliation planned,” he says to me. “Does that mean we get to go fuck shit up for the other kingdoms?”
“Absolutely.”
