“Time’s running out.”
“I know, but he’s protective and doesn’t want her anywhere near?—”
“Ahem.” Their heads swiveled up in my direction. “Proof of what?” I prompted. Kole merely took a long, savory sip of his ale. He wiped away the foam that lingered beneath his pierced nose before flashing me a wink.
“Nothing that concerns your pretty face,” Ross said into his mug.
“Well, this pretty face would love to know what you boys were saying about it,” I insisted, glancing at Kole.
“Politics.” Ross waved a hand in the air, still not looking at me. A smugness settled in his lips though, irking me. “No place for a woman.”
I frowned, not believing for a second that was the true nature of their conversation.
“There he is. Long time no see, Ariti!” Ross exclaimed behind me, addressing my brother by our family name.
“Come on, Ross, that’s Hippogriff shit about women and politics,” Basil retorted as he approached my side with a glass of water in hand. “Women deserve a seat at the table as much as men. Or have you forgotten the six queens that exist? I don’t seeyoursorry ass wielding any power.”
“Yeah, and look how well that’s working out for Scorpio,” Ross said. “Those women have been too weak to rule. It’s time a man takes over that queendom, like the king of Aries. Talk about power.”
I found it ironic that men from masculine kingdoms boasted about the weakness of women, and yet the territories ruled byqueens thrived on equality of the genders. Not to mention only queens were capable of producing food and water. But as soon as I started speaking to voice such a thing, my words were drowned out and ignored.
“Just because he wields fire doesn’t make him powerful,” Kole spoke over me. “King Zephyr could smother him in a heartbeat.”
“Yeah, well, maybe it’s timewedecide where we want to live and who we want to serve.”
“Shut up, Ross,” Kole snapped. “Not here.”
“That’s not how the world works,” Basil added. “We are all cursed by the same sun.”
“For now,” Ross muttered into his drink.
Kole had a wide, rotating pool of friends he introduced Basil to who all possessed a cynical, bigoted view of life. Basil noticed the same at first, though I’d begun to see his tolerance of them growing. “Cursed by the sun?” I questioned. “What do you mean?”
Kole waved a hand. “Nothing of consequence.”
“What he means, beautiful, is that we are at the mercy of the Astrals and their precious Chosen kings and queens. They have the unstoppable power to tax us to their hearts’ content until we’re penniless and ruined like Scorpio,” Ross lectured me. “And only those rich enough in the pockets of the Chosens have the freedom to roam the realm as they please. Whereas us destitute souls are stuck in the territory of our Zodiac sign, forever. Trapped.”
Basil chugged his water, then sighed with satisfaction. “What is the king even doing with all those Irons anyway?” he asked regarding Gemini’s currency, the same for all air kingdoms. Similarly, the Tin coin was used for all water queendoms, Leads for earth queendoms, and Coppers for fire kingdoms. “King Zephyr taxes everything, yet all we get are fancy windstorms?”
Kole pointed at Basil. “Exactly. Corruption at its finest. You’re catching on quick, Ariti.”
Basil rolled his eyes as though this were an inside joke between them. Kole only grinned at my brother, his gaze dropping to my brother’s mouth. Basil cleared his throat. I could have sworn his cheeks were flushed. Mine certainly were from all the alcohol I’d consumed.
My eyes darted between the two of them. “How is that corruption? Taxes are essential for a kingdom to sustain itself.”
“When you start paying your own taxes, beautiful, maybe you’ll understand,” Ross said. My eyes narrowed as his dipped to my chest. “I don’t supposeyouhave some ideas about how this kingdom ought to be run?”
I didn’t want to fall into whatever trap he was setting for me. “If I did, I’d start with ridding them of pig-headed men such as yourself. Does anyone know where Mel is?”
Ross chuckled into his mug. “See what I mean? Nothing of substance to add. When there’s a lot to see on the outside, there’s not much going on in here.” He pointed to his head. “Just like our king.”
Heat seared my cheeks, anger compelling me closer to him.
“Don’t talk about my sister like that.”
“I’m just messing around, Baze.”
“No one’s laughing,” I ground out.
