ILLYRIAN PRIDE

Chapter 10

Sorcha had barely had time to sit in silence with her own thoughts. Training in the mornings became more vigorous as the Blood Rite seemed to be soon approaching. And her studies with Devlon continued. But every slip of time she managed between that and sleep she'd been reading.

The intensity of their training hadn't lessened in the slightest, by the end I found myself blinking at black spots in my vision, panting like a hound. I looked to the left, Harken wasn't better off; he panted as well, with his hands braced on his knees.

Our father's footsteps alarmed us, stiffening our bodies until we had the good sense to straighten our spines.

"Useless, the lot of you. How will you slaughter our enemies during the Blood Rite?"

I shared a look with Harken, and in that moment we understood each other perfectly, our whole lives there only had been one enemy; our beast of a father.

It was a peculiar thing to read his thoughts. The ink long dried, but some phrases she could actually hear in his voice. She could almost see his burrowed brows as he wrote out his anger in a hurry, or the way his fingers would caress his bottom lip in hesitation at some of the words left behind on the page.

So far she'd been reading about his mundane life as a young male. In contrast to most of the young males she was accustomed to, he seemed unconcerned with bringing females to his bed and getting drunk on ale. Instead Devlon honed his focus on the upcoming Blood Rite. He mostly mentioned his younger brother Harken, and some arguments he'd had with his father. Nothing too drastic, nothing to indicate what would cause the burning in his eyes that she saw the other morning.

Still she continued to read. Feeling as if she were on the edge of a fruitful discovery.

Sorcha entered Devlon's home in a hurry to get away from the snow, her laundry slightly damp from snowfall. Devlon looked up briefly from his usual seat near the fire. His hazel eyes narrowed in on the book in her hands before he looked away.

"I made tea," he said, pushing the frame of his spectacles further up his nose before returning to his reports.

Sorcha left the laundry on the kitchen table and poured herself some tea. Usually - mostly because of the mating bond - she'd sit close to the fire next to him. Even if they remained silent, it still calmed that relentless tugging on her ribcage.

But tonight she was in a hurry.

"Thanks for the tea." She called as she disappeared down the hall into the bedroom.

We'd entered the Rite together. Two brothers, one family. One unit. And yet we'd never been more distant. I had not known then what had caused this breaking in our brotherly bond, and the hunger and cold and ache of the Blood Rite wore me down enough to snap at my own brother.

I stamped out the fire with haste, "Are you trying to get us killed?" I demanded of him.

"Me?" Harken eyes flashed. "And ruin father's plan of you continuing his gruesome legacy?"

I had become irritated by comments such as these. It was not my intention to follow in our father's footsteps. I had no need for power.

However, unbeknown to me our father's poison had completely taken over my brother. It would seem he was a better candidate as heir, as he was always the easiest to manipulate, the only thing standing in their way was...me.

I shall never forget Harken's eyes; the wildness that overtook them as he flashed his dagger. I was too stunned to speak or move. I did not block his blow. My brother aimed true, his dagger buried in my chest.