“… Syrion? Syrion!”
I blinked and looked up at my brother. I saw confusion in his face, and I understood it. There had been times in the past when Daath had tried to hide things from me, things he thought I wouldn’t or couldn’t understand, even just in an attempt to protect me. It had always hurt. I longed to open up to him, to pour out all that was on my mind. Yet I didn’t know how.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Daath, I’m just absentminded this evening.”
I heard his voice reply, but he chose to do so in my mind rather than out loud. Syrion, will you tell me what’s wrong?
I hesitated before answering. No.
I watched him shift. I knew this caused him pain. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what I would even say. I couldn’t explain what had been going on with me. Something for several weeks had begun to feel out of place. It began right after we returned from being trapped by Minerva. I didn’t understand why I felt confused, even scared, and most of all, I didn’t want to admit that I did, not to myself and certainly not to Daath. I could pretend nothing was wrong as long as I didn’t talk about it. Once I opened up, there was no turning back.
I worried Daath would push, forcing me to hurt him further, but my brother knew better than that. I imagined he knew that I would open up when I was ready, as I had known so many times before. He simply nodded.
“I’m going to go to bed,” I said, taking his hand and pressing my forehead to his, sharing a breath. I felt him relax, reminded that our connection was real and unfading. “Goodnight, Daath.”
“Goodnight,” he nodded. He headed for the study. I assumed he was going to reword his invitation to Darce to reschedule our meeting with her. We were going to wait for Myrcedes before we spoke to anyone else, but I knew Daath was antsy for answers. I waited until he was out of sight before I headed out the door. I closed my eyes into darkness and opened them in front of the Moonstone Castle. I pulled my hood up over my head, not that it did any good hiding me. I was massive compared to the majority of residents in the castle.
I walked into the castle and slyly made my way to the entrance of the staircase. I looked up and let down my hood as I began climbing the staircase to the Floor of Dreams.
16
Kalian
I knocked on the door to Myrcedes’ apartment, feeling annoyed that I had to be there. She’d sent Siena to tell me that she wanted me to come to visit her in Seattle to help her with something. I felt like a fucking errand boy, at the beck and call of the oh so gracious newly crowned Queen who’d gone out of her way to save my poor pitiful life. Everyone believed I was indebted to her because she saved my life. There was absolutely no one who believed the Kings were indebted to me for saving them from Minerva, however.
Unbeknownst to everyone so graciously hosting me at the Moonstone Castle, I’d snuck back into the fae realm the day before. I found myself still focused on what I’d experienced there.
I just wanted to know what was going on in my home. I didn’t know where to get answers without making it too obvious that I was back, so I went to the bar. Not many people outside the army knew what I looked like, save those who had been to my trial. I was banking pretty heavily on the hope that none of them would be at that tavern that night. The only outfits I had were the Earth clothes Myrcedes had left me, which were atrocious. Every aspect of the fabric known as denim horrified me. I had sweet-talked the horned sex demon into finding me some more toned down clothing, though I hadn’t told her what I wanted it for specifically.
I walked down to the end of the bar, ordered a beer, and sat. My plan, not that I had much of one, was to listen to the pub talk and gossip. There were two young brownies next to me at the bar that were being quite chatty when I walked up, and I thought I’d hit the jackpot. However, after listening to forty minutes of them discussing the merits of the brownie their master had hired to replace them, I was ready to give up. I stood and pulled out some gold, handing it to the bartender, a short goblin with dark green skin and wide features.
“Thanks, General.”
I paused and turned back to the creature. “Excuse me?”
A shit-eating grin spread across the goblin’s face. “You didn’t think I’d forget your face, did you?”
Realization dawned on me, and I was just barely able to keep from jumping over the counter and tackling the three-foot beast.
“Pukk! You damned monster, why didn’t you say something sooner?” I laughed, sitting back down in my seat and reaching over the counter to shake her hand. I hadn’t seen her since I’d been promoted to General and had come here to celebrate.
“I was waiting on you to recognize me,” she chuckled. Her voice was deeper than most Seelie when they first joined the army as recruits but damned if she didn’t have twice as much charm as that sex demon that had been chasing me around the castle for weeks. “Clearly, your mind was in other places, my boy.”
“I’m so sorry I failed you, madam,” I bowed my head, smiling more than I had in what felt like months. “How’ve you been?”
“Healthy as a spring cockatrice! Finally reached that age where it’s hard to keep a companion around for very long.” She laughed and shook her head, refilling my beer. “I’ve buried three since I saw
