Flickering Shadows

Chapter 16

Aziel

"Make this quick," I snap. "If Inara has to wake up alone because you two can't spit it out, then this conversation isn't worth my time."

Ravior shifts on his feet, his face becoming impossibly pale as he says, "We found the prince."

Shock zips through me like a flash of lightning, but I show no outward reaction as I look to Levi.

He nods, but his face doesn't hold the triumphant look that usually accompanies his successes. He looks..... shaken.

When Thomas, my advisor, came to my room reporting that Levi and Ravior were waiting in my office, I could barely conceal my enthusiasm as I quietly left Inara to her rest. Looking at them now, though, I can see that something is very, very, wrong.

"If you found him," I start, so low that it almost sounds deadly. "Then why the hell isn't he standing in this room with you."

Ravior lowers his head, sensing the danger in my voice, but Levi only stares, unflinching, at my face.

"We have suspicions," he says slowly, almost hesitantly. "That the prince is working with the Sun kingdom to plan something that is beyond our knowledge at this point."

Ice floods my veins, so cold it feels like even my heart freezes for a second.

"And what causes do you have to make such bold accusations," I all but snarl.

Pointing fingers at royalty is a risk that could get those fingers chopped off. Levi knows this, which is why I know his suspicions lead to a bomb I'm not sure I want to unpin.

Levi clears his throat and crosses his arms, something he does only when he's nervous.

"We followed tracks all the way along Blue River until they just vanished. There was nothing after that, like they had simply disappeared." Levi takes deep breath, and it sounds like it trembles slightly. "I wish that were the case, because all of a sudden we were surrounded by soldiers that had bright yellow sun pins plastered to their chests." He swallows hard. "And your brother was in the middle of them. He wasn't wearing a pin, and his clothes still represented his kingdom, but it looked like he was leading them."

A fuzzy noise fills my head, like cotton rubbing together. The air suddenly feels too light, and my body too heavy.

I always knew my brother was troubled, but to lead a Sun army?

We don't know for sure that that's what he was doing, my wolf says calmly.

What else would he be doing in the middle a Sun army? I snap.

My patience is so thin that I'm surprised it hasn't snapped.

"How are you here?" I ask, my voice bordering on lethal. "If you were surrounded, then how are you standing here?"

"The prince let us go." Ravior speaks this time, his voice questioning, like even he can't believe his words. "He looked at Levi like he recognized him, and then he took our weapons and shoved us in the other direction, never speaking a single word."

That doesn't sound like my brother. He was often the one who caused trouble when life dulled on the edges. He would cause unnecessary riots in the soldiers barracks and stir up trouble in the maids quarters. He was chaos walking, until he wasn't anything at all.

"How close to my kingdom was this interaction?" I ask, becoming the king who isn't personally involved.

This isn't my brother, it's just a man causing trouble on my borders. A threat that needs to be addressed.