“Yes. Is that so much to ask for?”
“I don’tnotbelieve in your skills.”
“A glowing review. Thank you so much.”
“Earn it then.”
“I intend to.” Lyra grinned. “I told you. Today is my day. I feel it in my bones. No one else has caught anything yet either, so, I’ll show you.”
Kade hid a smile behind his mug. “Actually, Lord Aykal made a kill yesterday.”
“No,” moaned Lyra, cursing.
Porthos laughed. It earned him a hard shove from his brother.
Lyra turned to Kade again. “I knew him, you know. Killian, before I…moved west,” Lyra started, changing the subject. His tone casual and light though his eyes sharpened with curiosity. “He never mentioned having a brother.”
Here they go. “I can’t imagine he did. Killi was orphaned by the war, so my parents took him in. He was more a ward? A farmhand? We weren’t even raised in the same house. It’s just a name.”
“A farmhand?” Lyra said in disbelief. “Killian? Captain of the King’s GuardthatKillian? A farmhand?” There was a long pause. “I don’t see it.”
“It’s been a long time. I think his new position suits him better.”
Lyra hummed in agreement. “It certainly does. He’s made himself quite indispensable to my cousin, gained his confidence and loyalty. A very hard thing to do. My cousin doesn’t trust easily.”
“Killi’s earned it.”
“Yes,” Lyra said, his voice hardening. “He has.”
Kade didn’t know what to say, so he stayed silent.
“They’re very close, these two brothers,” Porthos chimed in. “The captain visits the infirmary quite often. Hokda hates it.”
“Hokda hates everything,” noted Kade, but he didn’t argue the rest. He thought of Killi, out there with the king so soon after nearly dying, and his stomach clenched painfully. They had only been separated for twenty-four hours and Kade was close to losing his mind. He didn’t know how he was supposed to last another three days.
“Killian is lucky,” Lyra said, bringing Kade back to the moment. “That he was placed with a family such as yours. The war was an awful thing, a stain on everything and everyone it touched. Many came back unrecognizable. Yes, Killian is very lucky to have met you.”
Kade winced. He couldn’t say he agreed with the sentiment. Meeting Kade was perhaps the unluckiest moment in Killi’s entire life. Everything bad that happened to Killi could be traced back to Kade and his parents. Though selfishly, he wouldn’t change it for the world.
“Fyar and I fought in the war, you know,” Lyra continued. “Marching through Valle’s mountain range. It was the worst. Cold and dry and barren. Nothing like Netyere, though Netyere was very different back then, under Uncle Numar.”
The mention of Fyar piqued Kade’s interest. Lyra spoke of Fyar easily, like nothing was wrong. The brothers were very good actors, Kade had to give them that. They hadn’t even flinched when Fyar had appeared as scheduled the previous morning, the picture of perfection, not a hair out of place.
Kade had been watching them closely.
It wormed at him, made him doubt, but he had to be sure.
“Was it better?” Kade asked, unable to stop himself.
Lyra’s face pinched. “No. No, not better. Just different. The weather is better now, I’ll give my cousin that.”
Porthos made a sound of disagreement. “Not everywhere.”
“True. It’s always so rainy back west,” Lyra pouted. “I swear Fyar does it on purpose just to spite me.”
Kade chuckled awkwardly. “Would he do that?”
“I have no doubt.” Lyra let out a harsh laugh. “A petty bitch that one is, I swear. He holds grudges like no other. He’s always been like that, even when we were kids.”
