A wave of displeasure swept through the hall. Even if the people could forgive the Mad General for taking liberties, because of his loyal service, a simple officer was a different matter entirely…
“I don’t believe it,” Elaine breathed, lowering her blade.
Nero had pulled the helmet off his head. It rolled along the floor with a ringing sound, drowning out the whispers that had begun to quiet down. The Commander moved his red collar away from his face and smiled broadly. Elaine dropped her sword. She covered her mouth with her hands and started crying.
Primus collapsed onto the throne.
“Father, sister, did you really think that I would miss this celebration?”
“Eren!” The Princess exclaimed and rushed into the arms of her laughing brother.
Eren...
Nero...
While the people applauded and whispered, Hadjar felt like he was falling into a bottomless, icy abyss.
Years of planning. Thousands of hours of anticipating every possible issue. Hundreds of days of preparation. All of it had turned out to be worthless before Fate and the fact that his most loyal friend, his blood brother… was in fact his cousin.
Crown Prince Eren, Primus’ son, Elaine’s brother, was Nero. His Nero.
The man who’d fought side by side with Hadjar in hundreds of battles...
The man he’d once dreamed of killing.
Chapter 197
Hadjar stood on the balcony, smoking strong, fragrant tobacco. He had found the small bag full of fragrant, dried leaves in the treasury of ‘The Black Gates’ sect. He had taken only the tobacco, a pair of old scrolls, and hundreds of small, emerald-green coins out of the sect’s vault. He didn’t need much from life to be happy: comfortable shoes, clothes to keep him from getting cold, his sword and its scabbard. The rest would follow naturally.
Once, back in his childhood, he’d wanted to sit on the high throne, like his father. Alas, Primus had managed to take that dream away from him too. Over the five years he’d spent in the traveling freak show, Hadjar had become accustomed to the life of traveling to a new city every month.
It had been easy to move from place to place, not making any friends or acquaintances, just wandering through the endless expanses of the world.
“Honestly, I never even imagined that you would end up fighting my sister.”
Nero had materialized beside him silently. Or was he Eren... Hadjar didn’t know how to address his friend, brother... enemy? For some reason, Fate liked making his life harder and harder with each passing day.
Right now, Hadjar missed his days of being a wanderer more than ever. The slave collar had weighed him down far less than his connection to others and his past.
“I couldn’t have even imagined you having a sister.”
Hadjar took the tobacco out of his pocket and handed it to his friend... or his future foe?
Nero... Eren took the tobacco, put it in his pipe, and stood next to the former General. He rested on the side of the balcony and directed his gaze toward the Mountain of Kings hidden in the darkness. Haver’s castle had stood there, once upon a time. Hadjar had been taken there by his father only a few times and banned from visiting it alone.
However, that hadn’t prevented Hadjar from doing so anyway. During one of those visits, he had broken his arm, knocked out four of his teeth, but had been able to catch the wind... He missed his faithful companion. He missed their enlightening ‘conversations’.
“I swore a blood oath to my father,” the Prince breathed out a puff of smoke in the shape of a fox’s snout.
Hadjar had never understood how he did it.
“Serra didn’t look surprised at all.”
Without saying a word, they turned around in unison. The celebration was in full swing. The people sang and drank at the long, wide tables. Off in one corner, Lithium, Primus, and some aristocrats were discussing something.
Fools, jugglers, acrobats, and circus performers roamed between the tables. Bards played, young people danced, and old men filled their bellies. Wine flowed like a river as people discussed the recent fireworks.
Serra and Elaine sat nearby, chatting about something. Unlike with Nehen, the witch of the desert had quickly found a common language with the Princess. At this point, Hadjar was done trying to understand women...
“I found a loophole,” Eren shrugged... or Nero did. “Father had formulated the oath in a way that made it so that I couldn’t tell anyone except family members about it.”
Hadjar choked on the smoke he’d inhaled and looked at the other man in surprise. He looked like he always did: cheerful, daring, and benevolent. He looked more like a loyal friend and a brave officer than a prince. He didn’t look like the man who had witnessed Hadjar’s parents’ murder.
“Did you marry her?”
“The same evening that Leen died,” the Prince nodded. “I immediately realized that you would lead us into Balium. Sorry, buddy, but knowing you and your nutty plans, it felt like only a matter of time before we died. I didn’t want to go to the house of my forefathers unmarried.”
“Does the King know about this?”
Hadjar exhaled a column of smoke that broke up Nero’s smoky fox’s face. Soon, the gray smoke mixed with distant black clouds, which seemed to caress the glittering moon and the stars dancing around it joyously. It was a truly beautiful evening.
“He might’ve guessed.” Eren... or Nero said, then added, “He probably has. After all, he isn’t that stupid. Although I sometimes suspect that he actually is.”
“You’ll be executed for saying that.”
“No,” the Prince said. “I’m the heir, and, well… Let me tell you a secret: my father can’t have children any more. So, if he doesn’t want the family line to end, then he must tolerate me.”
Hadjar turned his back to his friend. He looked at Elaine. She was beautiful, but instead of the beautiful young woman she was, he always saw a small, laughing girl in her place. He wondered who she saw when looking at him…
“Why did the King
