“Eat. I’m sure you’ve worked up an appetite from your travels,” she said.
Araes raised the chalice Phaon placed beside him. His brow and cheeks were wind burnt and faint dark lines curved under his eyes. He must be exhausted from the travel.
Exhausted from the war. Her eyes softened.
“Please. Eat. From what I’ve heard about your history, you’ve earned it,” she said. Her voice lowered with each syllable as her shields wavered.
The lieutenant nodded and helped himself to a full serving of roast. Silence hung heavily between them as they finished their meals. Every so often, Tethys found words wandering up her throat as if to make quiet conversation, but this man was a stranger, an intrusive force in the sanctuary of her home. She hated how stiffly he sat opposite her, how his massive hands wrapped around her fine silver utensils. Each ticking second was kindling for the furious blaze roaring within her. Her anger wasn’t directed at Araes, he was simply following orders. No; it was toward the spidery old nobles that sat on her high council: Kalos, Drakon, Alisia, Messene, and Ophis. Their motives were clear in placing a guard dog in her home.
He was to keep her chained,docile.
She tensed. The cool metal fork bit into her palm until it drew blood.
“All rise for King Procyon,” the servant outside announced, whipping Tethys from her spiraling rage. Eosabove, the whiplash was constant these days. Araes rose to his feet and stiffened to attention.Like a loyal little soldier, Tethys thought, the grape on her tongue souring.
“Ah, Lieutenant Araes, no need for formality, please, relax,” Procyon said, placing a hand on the mortal’s shoulder. Tethys watched Procyon puff his chest and grin. She rolled her eyes and sipped her wine.
Fucking men.
“I trust the journey wasn’t too tiresome,” he said, taking his seat beside Tethys. Had they been in Canissa, she would sit beside Procyon’s place at the head of the table. However, this was her realm. Her domain. And so, much to Procyon’s opposition, he sat beside hers.
“It was a grueling ride, Your Highness. So it’ll be nice to spend some time back home,” Araes replied. His voice was a half octave deeper than Procyon’s and she knew her brother had noticed.
“Good, good. I bet your wife will be enthralled to have you back in her bed,” Procyon chuckled and slurped an oyster from his plate. Tethys’s stomach turned as she watched the salty juice drip down his beard. Her brother truly was beastly.
“I am unmarried, and even if I was, I wouldn’t be residing with her while carrying out my orders,” Araes said. The way his lips strung together each consonant and vowel was ragged from years on the battlefield, but also silky with honor.
Tethys hated the way the sound scratched an itch at the far corner of her mind. Yes, he was beautiful, and slightly entrancing. Yes, she couldn’t stop watching his lips. But he was nothing more than a loyal dog to her jailers. This she was sure of with every fiber of her being.
“Where will you be staying?” Tethys asked, watching as Araes forked a slice of roast from the serving platter.
“Daddy dearest didn’t tell you? Oh, this’ll be good,”Procyon chuckled. “He’ll be staying at the manor.”
Tethys nearly choked on the wine as she sipped from her chalice once more.
“What? Why?” she asked, stiffening in her chair.
“With the tension between our realms still rising, I’ll be returning to Canissa in the morning. Depending on how long it takes to locate the idiot mortal leading this little rebel group, I might not be back in Venia for a while. Lieutenant Araes here will keep guard all hours of the day,” Procyon said.
Tethys bit her cheek. She wasn’t surprised the council would jump at the opportunity to place their little rats, but stationed in her home? Not even the staff resided here. This manor, once being Eos’s earthside home, was left to her andher alone. It was her safe haven. The place she didn’t have to piece herself together or maintain a level of presentability. Now, with the constant presence of another, where would she go when she fell apart?
“I’m sorry Lieutenant, but no. I do not need nor want a cohabitant.” Tethys scowled. Her lower back ached from the stiff posture she’d taken. The sliver of what remained hers was rapidly narrowing more and more. How much could they take from her until they had everything?
“It’s not your decision, Tethys. Otto has already given the order. He will stay here,” Procyon’s voice was stern.
Araes swallowed hard, clearly uncomfortable at the predicament he’d found himself in.
“And does Otto not answer to me?” she asked. Her fist cracked against the mahogany table as she rose to her feet.
“Let’s not get hysterical, little bird,” Procyon huffed. “Otto takes direct orders from the council. You’re welcome to appeal their decision, but with Father’s backing, well…I’d not waste my breath.”
Araes settled into his chair. His face was a mask of indifference as he bore witness to the Autumn King’s derisive remarks. Tethys bit into her cheek harder, her caninespressing into scar tissue until she tasted the tang of iron. Waves of trembles rushed through her body, threatening her undoing. She pinched the bridge of her nose and breathed deeply, coiling her rage back around its spool.
“Proc, please. I will not share a roof with a complete stranger, let alone one of the council’s littleweasels,” Tethys snapped. This washerhome.Her realm. And yet, not a soul in it allowed her the freedom to truly live in it.
“It is for your own protection, Tethys,” Procyon replied with an arched brow. Her anger…amused him? Rationality pleaded against her, but she sank deeper into that blinding rage.
“I do not need protection! Not in my own home. My ownrealm. Am I not also an Immortal Child?” Tethys’s voice cracked as she felt her regained control slowly slip away.
