The rough wall is cool against my bare back.
My dress spills onto the floor, layers of emerald coating the cellar stones beneath. The bottle’s neck is strangled between my fingers while sweet wine stains my lips.
“To the Silver Savior.” The liquor has loosened Kitt’s lips, allowing a rare moment of praise directed at me.
My head is dizzy, and yet, I still shake it at him. The king resembles nothing of the sort as he sloppily raises his own bottle into the air. His Enforcer grins beside him, happily following his brother’s lead while I simply laugh at them.
Frowning, Kitt slides a hand beneath my elbow, pushing it upward. My bottle rises in turn, earning a satisfied look from the king. “Now,” he tries again, “to the Silver Savior. The most fearsome Ordinary. And—” Stopping suddenly, he offers a contemplative glance at Kai. “Is there anything you’d like to add, Brother?”
In response, the Enforcer clinks his bottle against ours. “And to many more terrifying speeches like that one.”
Kitt hums his approval before fixing his gaze on mine. I clear my throat, feeling the wine cloud my thoughts. “To an untied Ilya.”
I take a swig from my bottle, spurring the brothers to do the same. The cellar is damp, illuminated only by dull, flickering lights. Long shadows fall over the king and his Enforcer, but huddled this close together, I can see them clearly—and can’t help but smile.
“How did you know those things?” Kitt inquires. “About… who was it? Commander Orson?”
Kai nods. “He’s a pain in my ass, so I quite enjoyed the show. But, yes,” he continues slyly, “I would also love to hear how the Little Psychic pulled that off.”
My look is smug. “And to think you ever doubted my Elite ability.”
“Rightfully so.”
“Less bickering,” Kitt demands with a cough. “More explaining.”
“Fine.” I sigh, thinking back to the moment I saw the commander a handful of hours ago. “When he raised his hand toward me, I immediately noticed how red and raw his palm was. There were scrapes and bruises where calluses would form, telling me that he had been using that left hand far more strenuously than normal. And what Elite uses their hands more than any other? Obviously, a Crawler.”
“Yes, obviously,” Kitt muses. He seems like his old self with me tonight. Perhaps that is thanks to the alcohol.
“I then realized that his hand was so wounded because he no longer had the use of another,” I continue evenly. “So, when I glimpsed the stiff glove on his right hand, everything started to click. He was concealing a wooden limb in place of the one he’d lost.”
“And his wife?” It’s Kai’s skeptical voice that asks this. “How did you know about her?”
I blow out a breath. “Honestly, that was even more of a gamble. I glimpsed a tan line on the Crawler’s wedding finger, and yet, he wore the ring on the one beside it. The wife wore her own ring proudly while glowing with that sort of health that most Healers do.” I twist the steel ring on my thumb. “Father taught me how to point out a Healer from nothing but the glow of their skin. He would tell me how most use their abilities on themselves to stay looking as young as possible.”
Clearing my throat, I glance up at the stunned brothers. “Anyway, I could see how she reached for him, only to be ignored. I figured then that she must have tried to save his hand and was unable to.”
“And he despised her for it,” Kai finishes softly.
“I’m sorry,” Kitt cuts in. “But how the hell did you know that was all true?”
I shrug, swallowing another mouthful of wine. “I didn’t?”
“It’s all a gamble.” Kai shakes his head at me. “That is a dangerous game, Gray.”
“Oh, I am well aware,” I admit. “But so much of observing is taking risks. Coming to a logical conclusion. And I have been wrong before, sure, but I’ve spent a lifetime mastering this Psychic ability.” Frowning, I add, “Though, I haven’t had much need for it over the past few weeks.”
“You could always practice on us, if you like,” the king offers.
Kai laughs, and the sound has my gaze snapping to his as goose bumps tickle my bare arms. “Yes, why don’t you read us, Gray?”
I laugh. “You think I didn’t do that the moment I met you both?”
“Well,” Kitt urges. “What did you learn?”
“That, you”—I gesture to Kai—“were a cocky bastard. And, you”—a nod at Kitt—“were a charming prince.”
The Enforcer smirks wryly. “And now?”
“You’re even more so,” I answer sweetly.
“What about me?”
I force my gaze toward Kitt. “I’m… I’m not sure anymore. You are far more difficult to read.”
The king watches me for a long moment. “Well, you will have plenty of time to figure me out.”
“Right.” I swallow. “The wedding is in three days.”
This was as much a surprise to the kingdom as it was to me. I froze on that dais, hand in the king’s and heart in my throat.
Three days.
So soon I would lose my freedom, my heart, my love. Kai’s eyes flick to mine, and the hurt in his gaze only amplifies the grief in my own. I will be tethered to him for the rest of our lives, but not in the way either of us had hoped.
“Easel insists that we perform a second ceremony on Loot,” Kitt says curtly. “He thinks it will help unite the people further if the slums are included in our celebrations. It’s unusual, for sure, but—”
“I think that’s a great idea,” I add quickly.
Kai’s nod is distant, but I don’t miss the bite in his voice. “Two weddings. Even better.”
And then he is on his feet.
“Kai—”
He cuts through my plea with curt words of his own. “There is much for me to do before the ceremony.” Those stormy eyes meet mine. “I’ll give you two some time to figure one another out.”
Before I can argue, he’s disappeared up the shadowy stairs.
I loose a sigh into the damp air. “He has a lot on his mind, I’m sure.”
“You, mostly.”
I whip toward him. “I’m sorry?”
“There is no need to feign surprise, Paedyn.” Kitt’s words are clipped. His face dulls without his brother to brighten it, gaunt cheeks stark in the flickering light. Ruling has already taken its toll on him. “We both know that Kai’s heart belongs to you.”
“And you,” I add sternly. “He loves you enough to not interfere with your plans.”
Kitt stares down at his bottle, swirling what remains within it. “Time will tell.”
I clear my throat, unsure what should come out of it. Kai is typically a topic we avoid poking at. So I let us sit in silence for several tense moments before finally scrounging up enough words to fill the gaping space between us. “I picked roses.” I should clarify. “For the wedding. I hope that’s okay?”
He almost smiles, though I can’t decipher what emotion lies beneath it. “Yes, I would have chosen those myself.”
“Really?”
“My mother seemed to like them,” he says distantly.
I straighten against the stone wall. “You don’t talk about her much.”
“I don’t know enough about her,” he counters. “Only the little that Father deigned to tell me and, now that I am king, what I’ve found out on my own.”
Disgust coats my tongue. “He should have never kept you from knowing her.”
“I am the one that killed her, after all.” The king sounds as though a shrug is stuck in his throat. “Perhaps that was why I was never good enough for him.”
I fight to keep my voice even. “That wasn’t your fault, Kitt. Didn’t she die in childbirth?”
He nods. It’s a distracted movement. “She died. I lived. Father hid her memory from me.” His gaze grows distant after the devastating words, fixed intently on the wall behind me.
“Kitt, you—”
“It’s getting late.” He runs a hand down his face, thoroughly wiping it of the sadness once settled there. A cough rattles in his chest. “We should get some rest.”
The king stands. I follow his lead.
“I won’t be my father.” He walks stiffly toward the steps while I hang on every word. “I—we—are changing Ilya. And long live the queen who has helped make that happen.”
