Page 62 of A Ballad of Beasts and Brothers

He is very well informed. "Professor Riggs is under the impression your nephew and I share a magical bond."

"And you are of the opinion you do not share this bond?" There is a playfulness in his gaze that makes me pause.

"You don't believe in Tethering, do you?"

"I don't believe Tethering is what draws Atlas' attention." His feeble attempt to hide his smirk doesn't go unnoticed.

"Forgive me, your Majesty, but you're a shameless snoop."

He barks out a hearty laugh, throwing his head back in reckless abandon. "And you, my dear, are a breath of fresh air. No one has ever dared to call me a snoop before."

"And yet, you do not deny it." I feel the left corner of my mouth tick upwards as I bring my teacup to my lips and enjoy Soren's warm laugh rumble across the garden.

"Fine," he raises his hands in surrender. "I will leave whatever is happening between you and my nephew alone. Just do me one courtesy."

"Which would be?"

The sweet smile that stretches across his face lessens and his joy is replaced with caution. "Don't hurt him. Atlas may give off the appearance of being cold and unfeeling, but out of the three of them, his heart is the most fragile."

"I have no intention of hurting him." And I mean it. I might not know where we stand, but whether I'm upset with him or not, at the end of the day, I care for him deeply.

"Good." There's that glorious grin. "If you do break his heart, I am not sure you would escape Soraya's wrath."

The mention of Atlas' fire-wielding mother stills my heart and I nearly drop my cup. Riggs' description of her Transcendent state is what nightmares are made of and I have no intention of incurring such an end.

"Speaking of my sister," Soren's voice draws my undivided attention, "are you prepared to meet her next week?"

"I can't say that I am." The words spill out before I have a chance to mull over my response.

"Ahhh," he teases, "so you've heard about her affinity, have you?" When I nod, feeling my cheeks heat, he waves a dismissive hand in the air. "Soraya might be capable of unleashing hell, but I assure you, she is one of the kindest and most loving people you will ever meet."

"If she likes you, I imagine."

"Even if she doesn't, my sister knows the consequences for taking a life, with or without magic." There's a sadness in his voice that makes me wonder if the rumors are true about Soren assassinating his father to save his sister and best friend from the executioner's block.

"My apologies," I place my hand on top of his, drawing his far-off look. "I'm sure your sister is quite lovely, and I look forward to meeting her."

His smile doesn't stretch far, but it's something, considering the fact I can tell something is bothering him. I would never assume I'm privy to such thoughts, but part of me wishes he'd open up, so I might be able to help him in some way.

"Have you received word from my parents yet?" I ask, hoping to change the subject.

He shakes his head. "Midori is an eight-to-ten-day journey by ship. We were hoping our messenger would have returned with a response by now but..."

"Has something happened?" My heart thrums in my chest.

"We fear our messenger wasn't allowed to leave Midori."

"What you mean to say is," I start off slowly, not liking the thoughts formulating my head, "you believe your messenger convoy is dead."

"Yes," he says with a straight face, not reacting to the way I flinch. "In a show of good faith, we didn't send any fire wielders into the city with the messenger. He was escorted by dozens of our soldiers, and even though one of our warriors is worth ten Midorian ones, we sent them into the lion's den with no way out. I hope I'm wrong. I hope their trip was delayed, or that your parents were late in drafting a response, but going by the sick feeling in my gut, I fear I sent Tronovians to die."

I can hear the pain in his voice, the guilt, and it weighs heavily on me, because he didn't send Tronovians to their deaths. I did. Me being here is a threat to every Tronovian. I should have known my parents wouldn't believe I came here of my own free will. Even though Vesper knows the truth that I chose to journey to Tronovia with the Harland brothers, I have a sneaky suspicion she kept that bit of information to herself, hiding it from Bastian as well. It wouldn't benefit her in any way to vouch for me. Her mission is to retrieve me by whatever means necessary and after I charred her arm on the docks in Kongar, I'm sure she won't rest until she gets her hands on me.

"We will give it another week or so before we send another convoy – "

"No," I interrupt him, drawing his confused gaze.

"What?"

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