Page 14 of A World of Ruins

‘Frey—’ My throat hurts as I try to speak. I wish I could take back what I said, but Freya wipes the teardrops from her face, turning to Rydan as he leads her away.

CHAPTERSIX

‘I said I was fine, Illias.’ I swat his hand away as he keeps grabbing my face to check for bruises.

He scowls down at me, using his Aerian maroon tunic sleeve to wipe dirt off my brow. ‘Just because you hated whenever I would try and clean your cuts up after a fight at the village doesn’t mean you can still push me away and act like it is nothing.’

I stir on the edge of my bed. Iker is staring at me from the doorway while Idris leans against the window of my room, looking out as day slowly turns into evening.

‘What happened between you and Freya for her to react this way?’ Illias asks as I take hold of his two fingers and sigh.

I shake my head to the ground, unable to erase the wounded look on Freya’s face. ‘Like I said, it was a silly argument,’ I whisper. ‘I shouldn’t have said the things I said to her.’

‘Whatdidyou say?’ The question comes from Iker.

My eyes fly in his direction, and I open my mouth, keen on saying whatever comes to mind, but I am stumped. Telling my brothers that Gus is Darius’s father will cause more chaos than there already is. They trust Gus too much.

Idris must notice the turmoil going off inside my head as he says to the boys, ‘Leave us for a moment.’

My shoulders stiffen, and I shift on the edge of the bed. Talking with Idris alone means he’s going to lecture me; and that is the last thing I need. The last time he wanted to speak to mewas to chastise me for falling in love with a criminal who is also a dragon shifter.

A grimace sneaks up on my lips as I imagine how this conversation will go, but Iker scoffs, shaking his head at Idris, which startles Illias and me. And before he turns to face him, I catch a small glimpse of contempt in his eyes. A look I have rarely ever seen on Iker.

‘What is it that you have to say that you can’t say in front of us?’

Illias looks over at me, his eyes wide and knowing as if he has dealt with this too many times now. Idris doesn’t even utter a word at Iker, his stoic gaze unbreakable.

‘Come on—’ Illias tries to yank Iker away, but he is unable to move him from the spot.

Iker shoves Illias off, and I stand up with blunt force, not liking this sudden hostile situation between my brothers. ‘No, I want to know,’ he says, jerking his chin at Idris. ‘What is it, brother? The role of a father figure in our family gone to your head?’

‘Iker.Stop,’ I warn.

‘Why is it always us two having to leave? Do you not tire of being so demanding?’ He steps into Idris’s space, squaring off as he pushes him. ‘So controlling—’

‘Enough.’ I jump between them, pressing my hands against their chests before they can enter a brawl that Illias and I will have to break up. ‘Don’t you see what is happening?’

The harsh look in both their eyes settles to something gentle as they land on me, and whatever possessed them to act this aggressively towards each other stops.

I lower my hands. ‘Nothing is right any more.’

‘Nothing has been right since you left home, Nara,’ Illias whispers, and I bob my head knowingly.

‘Yet do you believe any of this is helping us right now?’ I gesture to the whole room, metaphorical meanings and all. ‘I just got thrown through the air by my best friend. Iker and Idris clearly have something to resolve, while the previous king of Emberwell is alive and a danger to our world. I don’t know about all of you, but I am tired of this, so can we justpleasefocus.’

The whole room lapses into silence. I know they agree with me. Too much is at stake. We are no longer in our village dealing with dragons or goblins stealing from our cottage. This is mightier than all of that.

‘Illias,’ I say, looking over as Iker’s head hangs low, his curls dangling over his forehead. ‘Take Iker somewhere else to calm down.’

As Illias nods, heading out of the room with Iker, I take a long-deserved breath before returning to reality.

‘And you!’ I spin around to look at Idris with an accusatory finger pointing in his direction. ‘What is the matter with you?’

He raises a bushy brow. ‘Shouldn’t I be asking you that, considering the incident outside?’

My head tilts, and I throw him a look as if to say that it’s a stupid question. Before Iker tried to confront him for his own reasons, I knew Idris would have asked me this either way.

‘Why do you ignore Freya?’ I say, making his eyes jump until he reverts to his stone-like expression.

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