Aydra was so frustrated, she felt herself on the verge of tears. “He told me no lies,” she said through clenched teeth.
Rhaif huffed impatiently. “Look at you,” he snarled. “Weeping over the fate of a few deceased men not of your own kingdom.” He paused crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you see this said boat?”
She almost balked at his question. Her weight shifted and she blinked twice. “No,” she managed.
“Did he show you the graves of the men he lost?”
“No.”
“Did he have any evidence of such a ship? Prisoners? Information? Perhaps even… oh, a boat?” he mocked.
Her fists tightened at the edge of the desk as she stared at him.
“That’s because there was no such ship,” he said, now walking around her. “The Venari lie, my sister. Had I sent aid, had I told you about it, we would have walked into an ambush. The Honest and Venari have been after this kingdom for a century. He told you of this boat so that he could get you on his side, turn you against your own kingdom. The Venari are relentless. They are poison. Cursed. The only reason he is invited to any banquet or Council meeting is because they are born of the Sun as we are. We merely keep them here so that they continue thinking they are in charge of the southern realm.”
“Are they not?”
Her brother let loose a loud cackle, one that would have rivaled their own mother’s had he been in competition with her. “My dear, sweet, sweet, sister,” he mocked, cupping her face in his hands. Her jaw clenched. “So naive to the darkness you spent so much time in this last fortnight…Tell me…”
—He seized her throat in his fingers.
“Did you fuck him, too?”
Her breath arrested in her throat. Her hand shot to his wrist, widened eyes pleading.
“Rhaif—” she nearly choked on his name “--put me down,” she managed as she felt her feet leave the ground.
“Did you wrap your legs around him as you do every other man to walk our halls?”
Aydra stopped fighting him, and allowed her eyes to roll in the back of her head.
“Did you let the wolf taste you—”
She felt for the creatures out his open window.
“—Allow him to fill your mind with his lies—”
Help, she called out.
“—fall submissively into his trap—”
The noise of wings filled her ears.
“—live up to the stupid girl you’ve been your entire life—”
Squawks of crows pierced her hearing.
“You are—Ah!”
Aydra’s knees hit the ground.
Rhaif screamed out, his arms flailing wildly in the air, and he stumbled backwards. The air filled with black wings, diving and pecking at his figure. Aydra coughed and rubbed her throat. Her nostrils flared at the sight of her brother being attacked, swatting away at the birds he’d not thought she would call. He fell to the floor, hands thrown up over his face, blood pouring from the slashes on his hands. Aydra grabbed the corner of the desk and pulled herself up to lean on its surface. Her own raven paused on her shoulder, and they stared at the scene before them.
Wait, she told them.
The birds ceased and came to a rest on perches around the room.
Shall we kill him? her raven asked.
Rhaif removed his hands from in front of him, revealing the slashes he’d received on his face. One had slashed across his brow and cheekbone, barely missing his eye.
“You’ll pay for this,” he hissed.
“Do you think that frightens me any longer?” she hissed. “Threats of fire and rape? You have done what you will to me to the point I am numb of it. You cannot hurt me.”
He managed to pick himself up to his knees then, wiping his face of the blood trickling down his cheek. “No. But I can sedate you.”
Her brows raised. “Sedate me?”
“You want to no longer be in charge of this kingdom’s security?” he growled, getting to his feet. “I tire of your games, sister. I have done nothing but try and protect you from yourself. If you would just… behave. Your duties to this throne can be stripped to nothing more than the hand of the king at banquet. I implore you. Sit in your dresses and keep your mouth shut.”
“Or what?” she almost mocked. “What will you do? I just told you. You cannot hurt me.”
“No,” he agreed, eyes flickering over her figure again. “But if you’d like your sister to remain oblivious—”
The raven shrieked off her shoulder as she lunged at him.
Her hands curled around his throat and she shoved him onto the floor. Her knees sat on his hands over his waist. “If you dare touch her—”
Blue flames engulfed her hands. She made herself stay there for as long as she could stand it, willing him to burn and burn her to the point that she could not feel her hand any longer. But the flames wrapped themselves down his body and curled around her legs, and she was forced backwards.
She fell on her back, but pushed herself up to a seat immediately, shaking the agony of the blisters on her hands and thighs. Her eyes pricked tears, but they did not fall as the chills ran down her spine, and she did a double-take at the look of satisfaction on his face.
“What happened to you?” she whispered. “What wronged you? You were not like this. We used to love one another, play, fight, laugh… And now… now you’re nothing more than a monster undeserving of his crown. You promised me. You promised to be better than them.”
He straightened the collar on his shirt and shifted the weight on his feet before beginning to tug at his sleeves. “It is your choice, sister,” he said in a level tone.
Her jaw clenched, and she swallowed hard, feeling her nostrils flare just slightly at his threat. “Don’t touch her,” she pleaded. “Don’t you dare.”
“Then I suggest—” he took two steps forward,
