Page 113 of King of Storms and Feathers

While I waited for him to look at me, the word brother sounded on repeat in my head, growing louder and louder until it took on a nightmare quality.

Finally, my brother’s eyes met mine, a cold smile spreading over his face, his features a creepy mirror image of my own. Nausea churned my gut. That face of malicious glee didn’t make sense. Ash’s expression was all wrong. Out of place.

Unless…

As I walked closer, my flesh crawled as if maggots wriggled beneath my skin, eating me alive.

Unless this man… this regent who had bought me… was my twin.

I stopped three feet from the dais, and he leaned over his knees, moving slowly like a reptile in the sun. He looked me up and down with eyes that were no longer bright green, like in my dreams. Translucent gold, they matched the scaly splotches of shimmering skin that marred his handsome features.

An obvious gold addict, his face was a beautiful ruin, like fruit left out too long in the sun that was still juicy and bright enough to tempt you into taking a bite. So changed was he from the boy who had appeared in my dreams, that just looking at him soured my stomach.

Bitterness bled from his pores. Did he no longer love me? Perhaps every memory I possessed of him was a lie. A trick. Some sort of glamour or spell.

Laughter rasped from his gold-touched lips. “Do you know who I am?”

Clenching my fists, I raised my chin. “Of course, you’re my brother, Ash.”

A slow blink, then one of his dark brows rose. “The name’s Quin, actually. Ash was only a nickname.”

Quin. Yes, I remembered that name. “Tall as an ash tree,” I whispered.

“Precisely. Welcome home, sister. I must say you look a little worse for wear. Rather filthy and bedraggled. You must be hungry. Exhausted.” He coughed and shook his head. “Are you pleased to see me?”

I forced an expression of calm. The only way to play this was to pretend I thought this alarming man on the throne wasn’t my enemy and be ready to attack.

“Ash, I can’t believe it’s really you. Somehow, I got lost and woke up in the Light Realm with nearly all of my memories gone.”

“Nearly all?” The ruby crown our mother had worn tipped on Quin’s brow as he slouched back against the throne. “So, you retained some memories? Interesting. Tell me about them.”

The icy teeth of fear nibbled down my spine, and I swallowed hard. “I dreamed of when we were children, roaming the forest together. I remembered the fun we used to have, how much we loved each other. And our parents—”

He waved a hand, cutting me off. “They’re dead. Thanks to the fire fae who found them in the forest outside the barrier six months ago.”

The knot of twisted muscle in my stomach turned to stone. I had suspected my parents were dead. But to have it so flippantly confirmed by the boy I’d assumed was searching for me the whole time I was in Coridon was a brutal kick to the gut.

I glanced over my shoulder, noting the positions of the four guards—two flanking the entrance and the others facing each other halfway down the sides of the hall.

“You may leave us, Sonail,” said my brother, not bothering to thank his soldier for returning me in one piece. Maybe Quin would have preferred it if Sonail had presented me in a bag of dripping gore instead.

Sonail hesitated, then dropped my arm and bowed. “Yes, Regent.”

I waited until the sound of his heavy footsteps disappeared, then took a deep breath. “Regent? Who exactly are you standing in for?”

“Why, for you, of course, sister dearest. Upon our mother’s death, you should have been crowned Queen Zali Omala, the three hundred and thirty-third Empress of the Realm of Dust and Stones. It has quite a ring to it, doesn’t it?”

Yes, I thought as I gritted my teeth, the weight of the title making my head spin. The brother of my dreams was a traitor, no better than the power-hungry fae of the realms. And if he was capable of stealing a crown, what else had he done?

Fury wiped sense from my thoughts, and I gave up pretending that we were on the same side. “So you disposed of me just because you wanted the crown for yourself?”

“No, because I knew I’d make a better ruler than you.”

“We could have ruled together. My memories indicate our bond was strong. Every recollection of you was fond and loving. Why turn against me?”

“Perhaps I grew tired of watching you win all the time. And was bored stupid by everyone talking about how special you were. The golden child that was blessed with everything—natural fighting skills, the apple of our parents’ eyes, beloved daughter of our people. And perhaps because of this…” He ran stained fingers over the gold marks streaming from his eyes and down his cheeks.

“Because of the serum?”

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