𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅

chapter fifty-one

Third POV

A long pause of silence weighed in the drawing room after the girl left. Drakkar's eyes lingered for a moment longer on the door Emriana had just walked out of before turning to face his brothers with an absent expression.

Zeke's large hand tilted his glass in a round motion, moving the remaining liquid and ice around as he pulled his lips into a tight line.

"I can't have this conversation with you anymore, Zander," Drakkar broke the heavy silence of the room. Both boys looked up at him. Zander's grip on the armrest tightened like a snake as he sent his brother a scowl.

"I didn't do shit," he snapped back as he straightened his posture in an aggressive stance. Zeke scoffed at his words which only added to Zander's frustration.

"This is getting old, you know, defending daddy—

"Fuck off, Zeke," Zander spitted toward him with so much venom. Zeke looked rather amused than frightened as he took the final sip of his drink, letting the last ice cube dance on his tongue before melting.

"The King is in the wrong, and you know that," Drakkar said in a knowing tone after a brief moment, his eyes set on the opposite wall where a large painting of the royal family stood. It was easy to see Emriana's resemblance to them. They all shared those same green eyes.

"Why are you protecting him?" He added as his eyes moved to find Zander's narrowed one.

"It doesn't matter," he replied with a low growl.

"Yes, it does because if you're willing to go against Emriana for him, we got a big fucking problem!" Zeke exclaimed, lowering the empty glass on the center table with a high-pitched thud.

"Zeke, calm down," Drakkar remained calm, knowing better than to feed their hostility, knowing it would only be a matter of time before it got out of control.

"The hell's wrong with you? I'm not going to fucking calm down! He's always pulling this shit on us," he spat at Drakkar, who only released a passive sigh, rubbing the side of his temple.

"Just stop fucking yelling," Drakkar muttered, and Zeke rolled his eyes before slumping back in his seat and sulking like a child.

Drakkar took a moment before starting again, wanting the tension to dissipate. He often found himself in this situation, being the mediator among the triplets. Both his brothers were so quick to react without thinking that it led to many arguments.

This was a side that they often tried to hide from everyone. They didn't want people thinking there could be a fissure in their united front. It could come up as a weakness for their potential enemies. They had to appear in sync, always on the same accord, even if this was far from reality.

"Zander, why are you defending him after everything?" Drakkar repeated the words said earlier. Zander barely made any move to let him know he had heard him, just a minimal shoulder shrug.

Zander was like a vault. No one knew what was truly going on inside his head. He never shared his thoughts and feelings with anyone. Zeke and Drakkar thought that Emriana might be able to become the exception, but even her power over him had a limit.

"We can't keep having this argument. There's some shit you're not telling us clearly because if there's one person among the three of us that should hate him more, it's you. What does he have over your head?" Drakkar tried, but Zander just shook his head swiftly.

Zeke released a sigh of exhaustion as he stared back at his brother.

"I'm just going to throw this out there. I would be down to wipe down the old man," Zeke said with the uttermost casualty. Zander took a large inhale to calm himself down while Drakkar looked at Zeke with surprise.