Page 171 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
Whatever had happened to Kassian, she knew, and she felt his pain.
“...Did she run away from you?” Kassian asked with a strangely hollow, choked-up voice.
Kassein was surprised by how accurate his older brother’s guess was, but after a second, he realized that, perhaps, his older brother actually understood him better than anyone.
“Not of her own will,” Kassein confessed after a while. “She had to.”
His brother let out a strangled chuckle that had nothing funny to it.
“Maybe she doesn’t want to be found,” he muttered, staring at the rain. “Maybe that’s just your wishful thinking.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Kassein retorted, his brother’s eyes flying back to him. “...I’m a dragon, Brother. I don’t let go of what I own, of my treasure. ...And sheismine.”
Nothing had ever made him feel so strong, so determined. He wanted it all: a future with Alezya in the north, her mountains she could return to whenever she wanted, the child she needed back. He wanted it all with her. Facing the brother he feared the most was nothing compared to the prospect of losing that future.
Kassian stared at him for a while, silently, as if gauging his younger brother, reassessing him for the first time in a long time. Shenan and Sadara remained quiet, both holding their breaths.
“Kassian–” Sadara started, but Kassian interrupted her, raising his hand.
“...Take it,” he muttered after a while, leaning back.
He’d spoken in such a low voice that his three younger siblings exchanged glances, equally confused.
“You’ll let me have the north?” Kassein insisted, barely believing his own ears.
“Whatever you want to do with it,” Kassian shrugged. “Be an emperor, a king, a tyrant... Whatever suits you. I don’t care. ...Take the Shadelands and whatever lies beyond. I don’t care anymore.”
Kassein nodded and didn’t comment.
Now that his facade had slipped, he could see his brother’s actual state, and he didn’t like what he saw. Kassian’s eyes had already drifted back to one of the windows, watching the sky without seeing it, ignoring all three siblings who were staring inconfusion. One could tell his thoughts were far beyond, toward someone or something out of his reach.
“...Kassian, you know if you ever need our help–”
“Go away, Kassein. All of you, leave.”
It wasn’t a tone that left any room for refusal, although Sadara looked like she wanted to say something.
Still, Kassein gave his older brother one last glance, and turned away, his siblings following him out of the throne room. Whatever monsters Kassian was battling, it was for his older brother to deal with. Right now, he had to focus on the north and this incredible new reality.
That was it. He owned the north. He’d expected his older brother’s refusal, to have to fight maybe, not to walk away with an answer that would change the continent’s history. Kassian had just agreed to fracture an empire that had stood centuries with its borders unchallenged, leaving Kassein a fraction of the Empire, giving it away like it was nothing.
Kassein had never dreamed of becoming a king or an emperor; he’d never envied his brother’s throne for a second. But what he wanted was the power to own those mountains up north. To deal with the tribes, crush those who resisted, and own those who’d submit to him. He didn’t care if he became the Dragon Tyrant they’d feared for decades; nothing would stop him from making the north safe for Alezya and her child.
For their children.
“That was unexpected,” Shenan said with a light-hearted voice.
“You shouldn’t have been eavesdropping,” Sadara scolded him.
But their older brother shrugged.
“So?” he asked, turning to her. “WhereisKassian’s little–”
“Kassein,” Sadara ignored him, “I’m glad you came back, even if it’s just for a short while... I’m guessing you don’t want tostay for a bit? This is dreadful weather to fly in, and Tievin could see his family.”
Kassein glanced at the Intendant, who raised an eyebrow, hopeful. He let out a faint sigh.
“We’re leaving in an hour,” he told the Intendant.
