Page 22 of Avaritia

“My obstacle is your enemy,” I corrected. “Leave here. You only missed Prince Damen by minutes, and he will be back. You were foolish to come.”

That made Tanix straighten. He was a fugitive, as were Meridia’s other known followers. They split their time between desolate campsites and the darkness of the in-between to evade capture, which was probably why he was so persistent. An extended stay in the in-between would be enough to make any Shade lose hold of their sanity.

“Come find us when you are ready, Your Grace. We will be your loyal followers until the very end.”

I slammed the door shut in his face, now even more irritated than I’d been when Damen showed up. The utter contempt Meridia’s followers showed for the traditions of this realm was infuriating. Where was their honor? When I won the crown back for myself, it would be because I’d proven myself, and the realm would be on my side. I had no interest in stealing it through treachery.

I’d almost demanded a rematch with Damen when he’d shown up here this morning, the first since he’d defeated me in a challenge years ago. Did he not think I was capable of looking after my own Hunter? My own mate? Verity was fine. She would live comfortably here. I didn’t need to be supervised like an errant child.

Unlike my sister.

I’d come down here to channel my frustration into something productive, but Rainy had beat me to it. She was skulking around in the shadows in a high temper, waiting for me to acknowledge her presence.

Was everyone determined to frustrate me today? Perhaps I should have gone up to my room and called for Verity instead. She hadn’t irritated me yet.

“What is it, sister?” I grumbled, walking around the wooden workbench that dominated most of the space to make sure she hadn’t touched anything. “Speak quickly, then leave me. I am not in the mood for company today.”

Rainy landed with a light thud, having climbed up to one of the upper shelves for her tantrum as she did when she was a child.

The urge to summon Mother to deal with her grew stronger.

“It’s not fair.”

“What isn’t?” I asked absently, internally listing several things in my life that weren’t fair. Namely, that Allerick was stronger than me, followed by the fact that Damen was also stronger than me. The course of my life had been set, I’d already been raised as a future king.

And then they’d come along.

Verity should be living the pampered life of a queen, with an entire retinue of attendants to see to her every whim.

“My entire life, I’ve been waiting for the day when I could finally go to the human realm and feed for the first time. Every Shade gets to do this. It’s a rite of passage. A sign of adulthood. I won’t be of age until I’ve made the trip, so why can’t I go?”

“Because the king is cowardly and lazy, you know this.”

I wasn’t unsympathetic to my sister’s plight. That first trip to the human realm was something every Shade grew up dreaming of—whether they were fearful nightmares about being chased through the dark by knife-wielding Hunters, or fantasies of exploring a realm that was so very different from our own. Rainy had grown up hearing stories of the human realm, as well as receiving an extensive education on how to safely feed, where to feed, how to escape Hunters, and so on. She’d trained for this moment, we’d planned exactly where she would enter the human realm for the first time, and now it was being snatched away from her.

“So, why do we listen to him?” Rainy challenged, glaring at me from the other side of the workbench. “Why should we?”

“Because.”

“Because why?”

I missed the days when she was an infant and couldn’t challenge my authority. In truth, I didn’t have a good answer at hand. While I felt that Allerick’s course of action was directionless at best, I wasn’t about to send my baby sister out to defy his mandate. I was always acutely aware that if Allerick defeated me again, he didn’t have to be as gracious as he’d been last time. At least I’d gotten to keep my home before, there was no assurance I’d receive that grace again.

No, if I was going to outright move against his rule rather than merely demand he change it, I had to be ready. I had to prove that even if I didn’t have the exact physical strength to match my brother, I had a more comprehensive vision for the future of the shadow realm. I would make up for whatever they perceived that I lacked with intellect and a bold approach to solving problems that Allerick could never match.

“Can you not simply do as I say without arguing?” I sighed. Was it too much to ask that everyone just do that?

“No. And you can’t stop me. I will have my moment. Tradition will be upheld,” Rainy declared, stomping out of the room and slamming the door shut behind her. I closed my eyes for a moment, exhaling heavily. I didn’t like to send my sister away, but Mother had the ability to guilt Rainy into behaving. It never worked when I tried it.

“Wilder!” I called, leaning my head out of the door and waiting.

He stepped out of one of the servants’ entrances a moment later. “Yes, Your Grace.”

“Send for my mother to come and collect her daughter.”

In hindsight, perhaps Mother moving out of my home before Rainy was of age had been a poor choice. But her own father had died two years ago, and she’d taken up residence at her family seat—which would be Rainy’s someday if she failed to overthrow me for this one. Rainy hadn’t wanted to move, but it would do her good to spend some time there.

Mother certainly couldn’t stay here. She would be far too intrigued with Verity, and I had no desire to share my mate’s attention.

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