KylanA rush of heat flooded my veins. How dare they?“I’m your Crown Prince,” I reminded them, my tone sharp. “Move.”The two exchanged a quick glance. One of the guards lowered his eyes and bowed a little. “I’m sorry, Your Highness,” he began carefully. “But His Majesty has instructed—““You better fucking move,” I cut him off coldly. “I was already itching to tear someone to pieces. Don’t tempt me to start with you.”I didn’t give myself the chance to see the fearful look on their faces and shoved both aside before pushing through into the tent.As soon as I entered, the king was already chuckling to himself. He must’ve heard everything. Hearing everything…it was nothing new to him.Other than a table and a chair, the tent was empty inside. The king sat stretched into the chair that looked far too great for a tent. He had a steel cup in his hand, and his eyes were fixed on mine as he took a long sip.It appeared there had been a few witches he had managed to charm, or threaten, int
KylanThorne flew in, his wings making more noise than necessary before he landed on Varius’s shoulder. I felt a deep anger within me as I stared at the raven.So it is him…Varius patted the raven’s wing. “There you are,” he said. “I’ve been looking for you all over.”My gaze hardened as Thorne’s dark eyes locked on mine. He made a low sound, almost like he was counting down the seconds before he would attack again. I reached for Violet at once, pulling her behind me. It was of no use as she shoved my hand away and stepped beside me.“Stop,” she hissed.Stop?Stop what…protecting her?Jumpie scrambled up my arm and settled on my shoulder, her tail twitching as she prepared for another fight. Thorne tilted his head at her, studying her too closely. My jaw tightened because whether he was Baelor himself or Baelor’s pet or whatever that thing was, I would choke that bird before I let it get anywhere near her.Varius’s eyes widened from behind. He was sending us a message I couldn’t quit
KylanNone of this made sense, and I didn’t want it to make sense. I didn’t want to hear anything from that man’s mouth.He had just confirmed that whatever will happen, will happen, and that was enough for me. Who cares about how it would happen if the end were all the same?“We still don’t want to hear it,” I decided. “So you can—”“You might not want to hear it,” Violet spoke up. Her voice was clear and sharp, and her eyes bore into mine. “But I do.”I looked at her, surprised. She didn’t flinch, didn’t look away. I hadn’t expected her to speak up like that, but she did, so I had to respect her decision.“If it’s up to us to decide how it happens, I want to hear it,” she said, determined. However, I couldn’t agree. We weren’t even sure whether we could trust him yet.I took a breath, reminding myself that we were in this together. It wasn’t just about what I wanted to do. “Okay,” I exhaled. “Okay, we’ll listen to him.”“I don’t have long,” Varius spoke. “He cannot see inside my hea
KylanI waited for an answer, and could quickly tell that there wasn’t going to be one.Violet tried to smile through my words, but I saw a tiny falter in her eyes. I knew her too well to know it did bother her. She would hold onto it for a while, think it over, and because we talked about all of this, she would end up telling me—just not now. And that was fine. As long as she wouldn’t use her eyes for them, I could live with that.“The only thing that bothers me,” she sighed, “is that your hands are empty and you aren’t doing anything.”I chuckled, nudging her shoulder lightly.“Now come on,” she grinned and tugged my hand again, pulling me toward one of the huts. I gave a surprised hum. From the outside, it didn’t look like much, but inside it was full of crates, folded blankets, herbs, and many other things.Such as Trinity, who had Dylan pressed up against the wall, kissing him like her life depended on it. Violet and I both let out a groan at the same time and looked the other wa
KylanI leaned against one of the huts, my arms folded as I scanned my surroundings. People were moving all around me, carrying wood, crates, helping the villagers, but my head wasn’t there.It was still back in that cavern.The Lyperian stone…Kayden…His accusations…The way he had thrown a bone at my feet. He had done a lot of things, but that one really topped it all. Was he insane?I had been close, so close, to losing my shit right there, but I believe I hadn’t. My reaction was actually quite mild compared to what it could have been.I could’ve snapped completely, but I didn’t because of Violet. I hated that she had been caught in the middle of this. I hated even more the thought that she might believe I could slip back into the cold, uncaring person I had been when we first met.I glanced at Violet, who was holding a crate with Trinity, laughing as the two spoke about something. Dylan was with them too, carrying one of his own. He was in a good mood, but with Trinity around, he
Violet“Kylan!” I gasped, spinning to him.Kylan’s blunt solution made Kayden release a growl. Varius didn’t look as surprised.“I think you should consider it,” Kylan shrugged, as if he had just made the simplest suggestion in the world.Varius let out a low chuckle. “And abandon these mountains again?” His eyes hardened, though his tone remained calm. “No. You don’t seem to know the way of the witches, crown prince, but these are our mountains, and you would have to drag these witches out of here.”My chest ached hearing that. They were stubborn, loyal, bound to these mountains, even if it killed them. And you know what? I respected it.At the end of the day, these were Lyperians, and these were their mountains.“It’s not what I want either, but I cannot help you with the stone. You haven’t given me any reason to trust you. There are many things here to consider,” Kylan said coldly. “I apologize for what the king has done to you and your people. They didn’t deserve that, and if nece