Heir to Light | Fablehaven AU

Garreth's interlude

━━━━━━━ ♚ ━━━━━━━

Panic threaded Garreth's pulse as he marched towards the throne room. Bile threatened to rise in his throat, and his watery eyes couldn't be hidden from his father.

Somehow, he couldn't get the shock to vacate his eyeballs. It was terribly annoying. Garreth tugged his green shirt down. He was a prince in a long line of beguiling men—and he should not be failing to keep a calm mask. Frustration curled his fists.

He hadn't felt this much turmoil since before he had met Kendra. She had calmed the incessant storm he was used to.

She was the most beautiful and kind person he had ever met, and his heart had jumped overboard by their first date. Sure, at first, it was a little networking, a little politics, but he couldn't lie to himself that by the end of their treehouse rendezvous, he had fallen hard.

And it had seemed perfect. A crown princess currently without a kingdom was literally the perfect date, and she also had to be intelligent, funny, and genuine. It was perfect.

Those couple of months were bliss. But, no, she didn't matter anymore.

The royal halls he was walking through were empty as most people had been diverted to search for the last remaining fugitive, the Prince of Fablehaven. That was in Garreth's favor. He didn't particularly want to see anyone, and it would strain his patience if he did.

Nevertheless, his luck was rotten, and he ran into his sister. The one person who could get under his nerves—no, not even get under—trample his nerves with little consequence.

She brushed her tight coils out of her face and glared at him. Her puffy dress made her hands on her hips look a little absurd. "What the hell, Garreth?"

Eve had always been a force to be reckoned with. An annoying, pushy force.

Her upset was often warranted and righteous, but Garreth couldn't care less about it at the moment. She sympathized with magic users and often got into rows with Lord Dalgorel about it. There was no doubt that Eve was upset about this situation.

"Eve, I cannot deal with you right now." He pushed past her. That was just another complication he did not need.

"I just talked to Kendra."

He whirled back around to face Eve. Her glare had deepened, but she held herself up like someone who knew she had the high ground. She had talked to Kendra? What? How? Why?

Kendra was supposed to be in the dungeon.

...Eve did not sneak down to the dungeon.

Oh, have mercy.

And he thought his emotions couldn't be drained even further.

"I am going to break her out of that cell with or without your help." Eve looked him up and down. Garreth felt that specific blend of bloodthirsty rage made especially for siblings rise up, but he pushed it back down. He needed to clear his head, not further muddy it. He needed to keep at least a semblance of calm. "If you have the gall to oppose me, just don't tell daddy dearest, alright?"

Never mind, that rage was back, and he wanted to strangle her. She had never understood the importance of pleasing their father, and never even tried to keep the peace. She did not just insult him because he did that exhausting duty for the both of them. "Eve, you have no right to speak like that."

"Why not? I love Kendra. So, I'm saving her. You apparently don't, because you're letting her die. I hope you choke on guilt."

Her words slammed into Garreth. Love was the most grotesque word to him at the moment. And maybe, he would choke on the guilt of condemning someone he held dear. But not a sorcerer.