Sword & Succession - A Darklina AU Fanfic

Chapter 20

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𝕋𝕠𝕟𝕪 ℙ𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕒

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Something had changed in Reagan. Ever since the events in Kribirsk, he'd begun to distance himself. From the Grisha. From his mother... From me.

I guess it shouldn't have hurt as much as it did when Reagan told me he no longer required me as a bodyguard. He was a saint now after all. But the night he'd told me he didn't need me anymore... stung.

I hadn't had the stomach to attend dinner that night, and I'd even turned away Fin when he'd come to my room to mingle. Even in training the other day, I just couldn't seem to get my head straight.

Occasionally, I'd spot Reagan walking the halls alone, or sitting at a desk in the Little Palace's library. He'd spend hours there. Scouring through books, as if searching for something. An answer. But he never so much as looked at me as I passed by. It continued like this for days. 

"Focus Tony!" I winced as Milana clenched the muscles in my right leg and forced me down to my knees. "What's wrong with you? I haven't seen you like this since... Well, I've never seen you like this."

"I'm fine, Mils. It's nothing," I said, getting back on my feet and circling her around the training arena.

My sister gave no detectable sign of worry in her sharp features. But that was just how Milana worked. Hard as stone on the outside, and cold as ice on the inside. With only a tiny flame of remorse in her heart, reserved only for me. "Are you sure?" She asked, throwing a punch my way, that I barely missed.

"I'm fine," I repeated, blocking her second hit.

"Yeah? Well, your racing heart says otherwise."

I rolled my eyes, huffing and sending a small ball of fire hurling her way. She dodged it with ease. "It's not fair to read me like that, Mils!"

"Well," she charged and jumped. Her legs wrapped around my neck and toppled me to the ground. "I wouldn't have to if you didn't keep lying to me." She thumped her boot down on my hand with the special, fabrikator made glove with its built-in flint and steel. Eventually, I hit my hand on the ground, giving up.

She unwrapped her legs and sat down in the dust beside me. "Now," she panted. "What's wrong?"

I spat at the taste of dirt in my mouth before hesitantly replying. "I... I don't know." Technically, it was true. "It's just..." My eyes flicked up and I could feel my muscles tense as Reagan crossed the distant gardens, book in hands. To my dismay, Mils followed my eyes and I saw her hand twitch to read my pounding heart. "Is it Reagan?" She asked.

I looked down, then nodded. "Something's different in him."

"Well, becoming a saint must change people," she jeered.

"I'm serious. It's not like him to be so... distant." I swallowed, hard. "I miss my friend." Milana went silent. But as she opened her mouth to speak, another voice came from across the field. "Tony." I spun around on the ground, to see Finian standing a few feet behind me. The Durast was fiddling with the hem of his kefta nervously as he beckoned for me to come.

"Gotta go."

"See you at dinner?" Milana asked, but I didn't respond.

As I walked to Fin, I found myself glancing at Reagan's small figure nearby. When I looked back at my secret boyfriend, his gaze was sharp as knives. "Hey Fin," I said, putting my hand on his waist in an attempt to be flattering. But my heart wasn't in it. Finian slapped my hand away. "Woah! What's got you so riled up?"