****
Of all the exciting ways I had envisioned my time in the king’s palace, spending my days in the Grand Chamber wasn’t one of them. Two masters of decorum drilled highborn etiquette into my ears until I was certain I’d go mad. When it wasn’t the proper address or the correct way to curtsy it was my expectations as a princess and those were even worse. I believe the phrase “sire a son” was repeated so often my cheeks would be permanently inflamed.
Darren wasn’t even nearby. He was in the palace, but he might as well have been deployed. He and Blayne were stuck tending to Crown affairs the entire week. I didn’t even have the pleasure of dining at his side—the king had ordered the servants to bring all their meals into the war chambers.
I couldn’t bear the thought of the great long hall on my own so I spent most of my meals in the kitchens. Luckily for me the cook, Benny, was there, and he was more than willing to entertain an awkward girl.
True to his word, he had taken a bride shortly after Priscilla left the premises. When he wasn’t feeding me pasties or complaining about his demanding new wife, he was telling me tales of Darren as a child.
It wasn’t hard to notice almost all of the stories took place after the prince’s sixth year.
“What was Darren like before?”
The cook pursed his lips. “A terror.”
I started to laugh—until I caught the serious gleam in his eyes. “A terror? Surely you are talking about Blayne.”
The man shook his head. “That one used to pick fights with anything that breathed. He was the complete opposite of his brother in fact.”
I leaned closer on the counter. “Blayne was the ‘nice’ one?” What the palace must have been like if that were true.
“You see the boys as the men they are now.” Benny pulled out another tray of scones and began heaping them on racks to cool. “They were much different back then.”
“What changed?”
“Well…” The cook frowned. “One of the healers swears up and down the boys were brought into the infirmary one night—Blayne the worst of the two—and Darren still clutching a knife.”
My stomach churned, and I set down my juice, all appetite lost. “Do you think Darren…?”
“All I know for certain is the king commissioned Commander Audric to start training him for the School of Knighthood the very next day.”
“And Blayne?”
“Different than before. More outspoken, colder… I dare say like the one you know now.”
What happened? I stared at my glass in dismay. What would make Darren attack his older brother? Blayne was terrible—I had my own experience to attest to that, but if what Benny said was true then the heir hadn’t always been that way.
A wave of cold swept across my skin. “Did Blayne ever try to hurt Darren?”
The man shook his head. “If you had known him then, you would have never even thought to ask.”
“Do you…” I swallowed, thinking of what Darren had done at our ascension. And what he was rumored to have done years before to his own brother. “Do you think Blayne hates him because of it?” Their discourse was always frosty, and while I had assumed it a natural progression to their relationship, I now had to wonder if it was something darker to do with their past.
“My dear.” Benny’s eyes met mine. “Blayne doesn’t hate his brother. He loves him. Darren is the only person that boy has ever cared for, beside himself.”
“But… why? If Darren—”
“Why not?” The man shrugged. “It doesn’t have to make sense. They fight and they yell, but in the end they are brothers. Blood carries a much stronger pull than their hate.”
“But—”
“Darren feels the same way about Blayne.”
“He doesn’t.” I was certain.
Benny’s eyes narrowed. “Have you asked him?”
“N-no, but I know...” I trailed off. How did Darren feel about his own brother? I had never bothered to ask. I had assumed he put up with Blayne as the heir but...love? Did he love the same person who had tried to hurt Ella? The same person who had tormented me? Was he struck by guilt for their past?
“They are brothers,” Benny repeated softly. “That is a bond you cannot break.”
****
“And we meet again.”
I glanced up to see Paige waiting in the corridor. She had one arm propped behind her head and the other hand looped around her belt.
I grinned. “You have guard duty tonight? I was beginning to think my favorite knight was a figment of my imagination.”
She slid into step with me as we turned the corner. Was that a smile I saw cross her face? “No imagination, my lady, they’ve got—”
A cloaked arm reached out and grabbed me by the wrist, yanking me into the dark hallway beyond. I opened my mouth to scream—one hand reaching for my dagger’s hilt through my heavy skirts and calling on my magic to light the room—just as Paige leapt forward, her broadsword already drawn and calling for back up.
My attacker released me just before my casting or Paige’s blade could reach him, chuckling as the black hood fell from his face.