Page 97 of Tears of Gold

“There’s something I don’t understand,” I murmur into a lull as Harper deals a new hand. I turn to Erritt. “How can your own brother attack you and get away with it? I mean, family relationships aside, isn’t your wellbeing as a royal sacred?”

Erritt taps the side of his two cards against the wood. “You’d think so, but with my brother, things are complicated.” He sighs. “It wasn’t always like this. We used to p-play and fight like regular boys, although he was always d-domineering. But you see, when an Exerin prince is crowned as the heir, he becomes the living embodiment of our dynasty, and that is untouchable.”

“Basically, the fucker can do no wrong, as far as his father thinks,” Skye grumbles.

“He can’t be v-viewed as doing wrong,” Erritt corrects pointedly. “There’s a difference. The emperor lashed him for provoking Chengan to assassinate me, which is why Anik took his anger out on me this time.”

I shudder at the cycle of abuse. “Thankfully, Chengan failed.”

The guys exchange a look that freezes my blood.

“He didn’t fail, Ava.” Skye holds my gaze, and my heart wrenches with the dark despair in his liquid brown depths.

“What? I only heard he injured you.”

Skye clears his ragged voice. “Chengan had gotten Erritt’s death charm off, and he was starting to fade, as elementals do when they die. It was Harper who brought him back.”

I whip around, mute. Harper bows his head, a pink blush tinting his ears. “I just did CPR.”

Both Erritt and Skye scoff, and the fragmented pieces of the story fit together. I’d bet my jade necklace this is why Erritt allowed Harper into our group—he can literally trust him with his life.

I suck in a jagged breath, tears filling my eyes as I think of the rippling scar across Erritt’s chest.

“Don’t cry, sweetheart,” Erritt croons, pulling me off the couch cushion and hauling me to his side. “I’m healing.”

His stoic attitude only makes it worse. The tears trickle down my cheeks. “But wouldn’t your parents stop him? How could they allow this?”

Erritt sucks in his bottom lip and shares a pained look with Skye as I wipe my tears on my sleeve. His arm tightens around my shoulders, and I sense the internal struggle within him as the silence stretches.

“The authority of the Exerin c-crown is absolute, Ava. That was made clear to me many years ago. When I was young, I had a friend, someone I wasn’t supposed to associate with. His name was Dante, and he was the son of a sculptor and goldsmith who would come to work on the palace walls. When he visited the palace, I’d sometimes skip out on m-my lessons to play with him.” Erritt fades, his attention locked on a distant place where we can’t follow him, and I pull his arm tighter around myself.

His voice roughens when he continues. “One day, Anik, the newly crowned heir, got upset when I wouldn’t tell him where I went. He—” Erritt swallows hard. “He forced his way into my mind and discovered the truth.”

I glance at Skye and catch the pained look in his gaze. I know how it feels to have someone force their way into my mind, but I think Erritt’s referring to something much more violating, especially given the strength of his mental shielding. Skye once told me he thought Erritt could only handle a woman’s touch in bed, and I think I know why now. My throat fills up like there’s a rock wedged in it.

“Anik attacked Dante, and my friend hit him back. We were all young and stupid, me most of all. Anik broke Dante’s arm in three places, and I told my father about it, thinking he would dispense justice.” Ice crusts on his blond lashes and he presses one knuckle to his teeth.

“What happened?” I ask softly, dreading the answer.

“My father had Dante impaled on a stake and left to die slowly for daring to raise a hand to the royal heir.”

My own tears pool again as I trade horrified looks with the other guys. Skye’s lips press together with resignation, telling me he knows this story.

Harper shakes his head, curls sweeping across his eyes. “The brutality of the Exerin empire is infamous, even across the other realms.”

Erritt’s chest heaves as he pulls himself back into the present. “That day, I understood Anik was untouchable, and the crown can never be accused of wrong-doing. My father didn’t even glance my way, no matter how much I pled for mercy.

“And it’s not just that. There are a hundred other stories I could tell, but it all boils down to the appearance of royal authority. Nothing else matters, not even for a prince.” He shrugs his shoulders as if this life-altering event were no big deal—or rather, he’s become so accustomed to the abuse that he’s given up.

Skye harks deep in his throat and spits into the fireplace, his lips curling with disgust.

Erritt glances at him but doesn’t reprimand him for spitting at Anik’s name. “He was just paying me back, but unfortunately, I made a mistake.”

He squeezes me once, then releases me to pick up his cards. I blink away my tears and crawl back to my cushion.

“Whose turn is it?” Erritt asks, scissoring his two cards between his fingers.

I know he wants to drop the topic, but I can’t let it go yet. “What mistake, Erritt?”