Emperor of the Dead

Chapter 19

***
November 9, 1800
Juele Fiore

It had been days since Ytger had woken up and Juele Fiore still hadn't gotten the chance to go see her.

"Princey," Lara started, staring at his eye bags and elegantly crossed legs as he sat on a stool too thin to be functional, "you've really ought to take a nap. You've been here almost a week straight."

He smiled. "It's your fault I'm still here. I've been forbidden from leaving the lower levels of the castle until I get the answers the king wants from you."

Lara sank into the sack of hay in the corner of her cell. "Just schedule my execution. I've forgotten much of what happened already."

"You may think so, but you reveal a little bit more every day."

Time went on and the sunset yet again and another day went by without the chance to meet his sister. Another day stuck with the criminal who ruined chances of peace between Tereline and Auber and his marriage. He'd started looking forward to it after that late-night chance meeting with the princess, but here he was, the ring still on his finger wondering if Maya wore it too.

Jules swore to the god he wouldn't be the king's errand boy anymore. Just because Lara spoke to no one but him didn't mean it was his responsibility to suck her dry for answers that didn't even matter in the long run. All that mattered was that she lied about her motivations during the attack to everybody, she allowed Kronos' men inside for intentions Juele was yet to decipher, and she was scheduled to die anyway.

What good would it be learning her character now?

Unless she was an excuse to keep Juele... "busy".

Another week went by with the same nonsense before Juele earned an audience with the King. An opportunity to beg for a meeting with his sister, and to his surprise, earn permission.

Constantly failing at his task for longer than two weeks without a chance to escape certainly took a toll on his mindset, and Juele was convinced meeting Ytger was the only event that could heal his poor soul. To rejuvenate the boredom and emptiness imprinted onto his state of being.

As he jogged across the hallways, Jules couldn't help but imagine how he would greet his sister for the first time. Would a hug suffice? Was a kiss on the cheek inappropriate now that years had passed?

Upon his arrival, Ytger skipped all formal greetings and got straight to the point. "Arrange a meeting for me with Dain, please."

Jules gripped the door, his heart falling to the ground. "Excuse me?"

She cleared her throat, adjusting her position on her bed. "I'm sorry I didn't greet you properly, but I really must see him."

Jules wasn't sure whether his heart hadn't recovered from jogging all this way or if it beat out of rage. Such disrespect wasn't what he expected. He had hoped for a hug, a pleasant smile from the sister he hadn't spoken to in years.

If he had known that Ytger considered Dain more important than her brother...

"Dain isn't worthy of speaking to anyone but the rats that have infested his house as of late."

Ytger's expression darkened, looking to the floor. "I know."

Angered, Juele's mouth failed to produce words or comprehensible sounds. "If you know then why? What does he mean to you that you failed to have a proper reunion with me? I-I came running to your room the second I was free of all the duties the king put on my shoulders and the first words out of your mouth are not of yourself or me but of the man—the coward who failed his sister and turned into a piece of dirt now that he has the taste of money again."