“I’m not in the mood for your bullshit, Prisca,” I said, with a sliver of respect.
“Shut the fuck up for once and listen to me, brother. You need to step down,” she said seriously. I stifled a laugh.
“Oh? And why should I do that?” I replied, fully intending to patronize her.
“This plan, this obsession with the God Dragon is madness! You don’t even know if it’s real, it could all be myth and legend for all we know. The answer to our problems isn’t killing everyone with Eloria’s power, its fixing our fucking kingdom!” she explained.
I rolled my neck to relieve the tension, and I had hoped she was done with her rant, but she continued. “You need to step down and make Rexius High Lord. You nearly killed Cercies. He’s like family!” she snapped.
For a fleeting moment, I thought she actually cared about my well-being, but I was foolish to think that red-haired, petulant snake was capable of such feelings. Of course, this was about power and control. It was always about power and control.
“Yeah, well, youarefamily, and I would have no issue killing you. Family means nothing to me,” I replied coldly.
She set her glass down and looked at me with more fire in her eyes than I had ever seen.
“Step down, or I will tell everyone the truth, Titus,” she said through gritted teeth. My spine straightened, and I felt my flames bite at my fingertips.
“The truth about what?” I asked with a scowl, my tone mocking, but my stomach dropped. I knew exactly what she was going to say.
“Step down and make Rexius High Lord, or I will tell everyone the truth about Aurelius’s blood magic test,” she said, her threat sharp.
How did she find out? My blood ran cold, yet my flames only grew hotter. I saw their glow reflected on her smirking face. Thank the Guardians we were alone on my balcony, where no one could hear my sister’s fat fucking mouth. A dark thought crept in, of grabbing her by the neck and tossing her over the railing, but I had already almost killed one person today, two would be overkill. Instead, I reined in my rage and answered her.
“Why are you so fucking ignorant? Your pathetic son can’t even control a dragon, let alone an entire kingdom. War tensions are too high. If you leak this, our kingdom will destroy itself from the inside while our enemies destroy us from the outside. Do you want our kingdom to fall? Do you want everyone to fucking die?” I asked, losing my patience.
“Not everyone. Just you,” she replied coldly, an evil smirk on her lips.
Red-hot rage began to burn through my bones and crawl under my skin in the way that only Prisca could. I lost my
temper, smashed my whiskey glass on the ground, and shouted, “Why are you so obsessed with ruling?!”
She did not so much as flinch.
“Because it was supposed to be me!” she shouted back, meeting my fury with flames of her own, the most I had ever seen her conjure. Though I did not show it, it surprised me.
She continued, “I was going to rule behind the scenes with my mate. I was going to correct the imbalance of rights for females in this kingdom. But then you were born, and I knew, I knew that I would never see those changes. I would never right the wrongs that happened to me, that you would be just like our father, heartless and cruel. And ever since that mortal arrived, you have been acting insane. You need to step down, little brother. You are unwell.” She said, tears forming in her eyes, with something dangerously close to compassion softening her voice. Her green gaze lifted to mine, and for a heartbeat it wasn’t Prisca standing there, but my mother. The resemblance struck deeper than I expected, stirring something old and poorly healed in my chest. I shuddered at the unfamiliarity of her tone.
“I will not step down, Prisca, and I will kill you if that is what it takes to keep you quiet,” I said, coldness in my promise. My eyes burned with the same intensity as hers. With my jaw clenched, I commanded, “Now get the fuck out of my chambers.”
She walked to the door, then turned back to have the last word, “Make sure you bathe before the feast tonight. You smell like ash.”
CHAPTER 20
SkyGuard
DELILAH
Istudied the General, he was overcome with loss and shame. Cercies didn’t chase after her. I don’t think he could, even if he wanted to. For the first time in the unbreakable General’s life, he had fallen. His opponent wasn’t a warrior of superior strength, skill, or power, but a delicate, doe-eyed female with long, wavy chocolate-brown hair.
It was clear Cercies had little experience with relationships. Understandably so—he was forbidden to have a mate, so why put any time or effort into dating… eh, courting.
His life was dedicated to the Kingdom of Flame’s military. While visiting Dragon’s Maw, I only noticed a handful of female servants, and that’s where he had lived most of his life. The only encounters with females were probably paid for, or meaningless nights with the ones who threw themselves at him during his travels. When it came to matters of the heart, the master strategist was in unknown territory, completely in over his head.
I took pity on Cercies. Sure, he was rough and gruff and a little barbaric, but he did have a heart. This kingdom had molded him in fire and expectation, sanding down anything soft until only a weapon
remained. It was hard to blame a male for surviving the only way he had ever been taught. Maybe the sharp edges I bristled against were not who he truly was, but who he had been forced to become.
And maybe Cercies was not the only one. This kingdom did not create softness in its males. It burned it out of them. Titus was no exception. He just hid his scars a little better.
