Page 84 of When the Moon Met the Sun

Not only my father and his advisors and his top general—who, to his credit, looked as though he’d actually been called off of the battlefield—but also my brother. My twin.

Dimitri.

He was alive. And he washere.

My father’s piercing gaze settling on me was enough to knock the air from my lungs and make my anxiety spike. I felt Rayven stir slightly in my shadow, now pooling closer to my feet with the torch-lit chandelier overhead. His presence eased that knot in my stomach just enoughso I could breathe.

I continued to make myself look small, helpless, and scared as I looked back at the king sitting before me, only a few paces and a wooden war table between us.

Dimitri stood like a startled doe at our father’s right hand. His jaw went slack at the sight of me, and I saw him take a step forward before Father cast a cruel looking warning glance at him that made Dimi freeze. It was like my arrival broke him of his trance—but Father didn’t want it to be broken. He wanted to keep Dimi’s leash as tight as possible.

My heart ached at the sight.

Father turned his attention back to those before him.

“Joel, I thought I told you not to let anybody inside this tent,” Father said, though it sounded like a threat.

“Y-Yes, my king, but it’s—”

“Anybody.”

I audibly heard Joel gulp, and suddenly I was reminded why my father was still in power.

Everybody feared him.

After a few tense heartbeats, Father sighed deeply, then waved a hand.

“Everybody but my children are dismissed. And Joel?”

The guard looked upon my father’s face with pure fear.

“Don’t let anybody else inside. At any cost,” Father said, much too calm for somebody who was just reunited with their daughter after months apart.

Joel nodded, and without another word, ushered each person out, being the last person to leave. He cast me a worried glance before letting the tent flap fold shut behind him, leaving me alone with the only family I’d ever truly known.

Chapter Twenty-Six

The moment the tent was sealed off from the outside world, I corrected my posture, rolling back my shoulders and doing my best to no longer look so small and scared.

“Finally. I thought they’d never leave,” I said nonchalantly.

Father’s expression shifted slightly, while Dimi was still frozen in place. As though he couldn’t quite believe his eyes.

I unclasped the cloak I wore and flung it over the back of a high-backed chair, specifically made for those with wings. Then, I walked over to the side of the tent where a basin of water sat. My heart pounded as I turned my back to my father, but I knew with my newfound connection to the earth, and the extra power of my sun stone adorned gloves in my pocket, I’d be able to feel him coming if he moved from his chair at the head of the war table.

I wanted to appear comfortable. As though Father didn’t terrify the life out of me.

I wanted to look like the queen I truly was.

Using water wielding, I coated my hands in a layer of water, then ran them over my face, hair, and wings—slowly. Stroke by stroke, I removed the layers of dirt and grime I had put there in order to make it this far.

Once I had cleaned the dirt from myself, I wielded the water into a small bucket next to the basin, so as not to contaminate the clean water.

“Much better,” I said calmly as I turned back to the two males, who hadn’t moved a muscle. Though I couldn’t help but notice the way Father’s hands roughly gripped the arms of his chair, knuckles turning white.

He always hated being reminded of my abilities. He had forever wanted me to be powerless like Dimitri; he hated thatIwas his true heir and not his son. Reminding him of that, as well as my control over my wielding, would force him to break his composure, even if it was only slightly.

“And here I had thought I’d finally rid myself of you for good,” Father said with only a hint of annoyance in his voice. “Seems as though I was mistaken.”

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