“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my brother,” Andrian interrupted, silencing Gabriel. Kol turned, an eyebrow lifted. “Perhaps we could have a few minutes alone to get reacquainted?” He didn’t know where the words came from or why he thought they were worth Kol’s wrath, but an instinct had surged, along with the return of his dull, thudding headache. Despite his mother’s betrayal, Andrian would always feel the need to protect her.
Now, that instinct extended to her second son.
Still, he cringed internally. Of all the questions to ask…
Kol surprised him with a slow smile. “Of course! Family is soimportant, after all.” That grin turned sharp and Andrian tensed. “I will leave you two to reminisce. Gabriel, a priestess will be by shortly to show you to your rooms. I expect you to join us at court tomorrow.”
Gabriel dipped his head. “Yes, Your Eminence. Whatever you command.”
Kol nodded one more time, locking his burning red-gold eyes on Andrian with a look laced with dark plans and promises.
This wasn’t a gift; far from it. KolwantedAndrian to have this time with his brother—to get to know him again.
Why?
The two brothers were silent as Kol strode from the hall. They still did not speak until the god’s footsteps faded from earshot, and even then, they waited.
After what felt like a suspended age, Gabriel’s shoulders sagged, the hard lines of his face falling. It was like he became ten years younger, shedding the weight of his lordship and status before Andrian’s eyes.
When he looked up, Andrian was shocked by the tears lining his brother’s blue-gray eyes.
“It’s so good to see you, brother.” Gabriel lurched forward, throwing his arms around Andrian.
Andrian stood rigid as his little brother embraced him. Shock and confusion rippled through him like waves through water. Kol’s lingering look, and the darkness it held, still glimmered in his mind's-eye.
But this was hisbrother. The only other person alive who shared their mother’s blood. So, despite his lingering dread, his tense hesitation, Andrian lifted his arms, wrapping them around his brother’s frame.
Gabriel was tall—nearly as tall as Andrian. He had filled out, too. His father had always been insistent about his sons knowinghow to fight, how to succeed at all things; it came as no surprise that he would have Gabriel trained, as well.
Despite Gabriel’s adult body, at that moment he was every bit Andrian’s little brother.
“It’s good to see you, too,” Andrian murmured. “Though, I feel as if I’m meeting you for the first time.”
Gabriel chuckled, pulling away. He still clasped Andrian’s shoulders, gray eyes scanning his face. “I suppose so,” he answered slowly. “But a part of me feels as if I’ve always known you. All the stories the staff at Antoris told of the lord’s eldest son—my big brother—who’d been chosen to serve a queen…” Gabriel swallowed, smiling hesitantly. “You have no idea how much I looked up to you for that.”
Andrian grimaced. “It wasn’t a choice of mine to leave, Gabriel. I was Marked. I had to go.”
“What does it matter? The gods found you worthy of something even more than a lordship. I have always admired that.”
Andrian had never seen it that way. Gabriel was certainly missing the full truth of the story, and it was clear their father—Julian—had never spoken to him the way he used to speak to Andrian.
But this respect and admiration for the life the gods had chosen for Andrian? Coming from a blood relative? It wasn’t something Andrian was accustomed to. He certainly wasn’t sure how to feel about it.
“How’s Antoris?” Andrian asked, searching for something to say and asking the first thing that came to mind.
Turns out, it was the right thing.
Gabriel’s face broke into a wide grin. “Still cold as balls, but…it’s nice. Father isn’t there much, so I’m the lord of the castle most of the time. And”—he paused, cheeks filling with color— “my wife, Claire, is its lady.”
Andrian blinked. “Your wife? You’re…you’remarried?”
Gabriel nodded, still blushing furiously. “Yes. She’s from Tolona, a daughter of a merchant family. It was an arranged match, of course, but…” He chuckled, running a hand across the back of his neck. “But thankfully, we took to each other quite well. And she just had our first child—a son. That’s why we thought it best that she remained in Antoris.”
A son. Andrian had anephew. Despite all that was cold and dark in the world—the risen vengeful god, all the ways he’d failed his queen, the knowledge that he may never see her again—Andrian couldn’t stop the warmth bursting through his chest. Nor could he stop the genuine smile that stretched across his face, half-forgotten muscles straining.
He clasped Gabriel’s shoulder. “That’s amazing, little brother. I’m so happy for you, truly.”
Gabriel smiled—an open smile, no hint of the wall Andrian had trained his whole life to keep up. “Thank you,” he murmured, meeting Andrian’s gaze. “I…amhappy.”
