A Betrayal of Faith ✔

SIXTEEN: A War is Brewing

Harudan sat at his desk as he had for the last few days. Sir Jonin was gone, later than they had originally planned, but still gone. The next time Harudan would see him, he'd have his brother in hand. It wouldn't take long, he knew, but every second that crawled by felt longer and longer.

He had no idea what they would do to his brother. He'd just tried to kill the Princess. For all he knew, she'd taken Nerin as a bargaining chip, or something to use against him. And it would probably work. Nerin was his family, his baby brother. He wasn't going to lose him to an Askari Princess. Jonin would make sure of that. If he didn't, Harudan didn't know what he would do. He couldn't hurt his friend.

He missed Nerin, missed his constant sneaking around and showing up in places he shouldn't. It was a permanent thing in his life, even when his father had been King. For months, his main job had been to take Nerin from whatever meeting he was listening in on and escort him back to his room. He'd always had the feeling that their father was a little bit proud of Nerin for the things he did. It showed cunning and intelligence, characteristics his father used to rave on about.

Ignis the drake sat in his usual spot on the desk, curled up in a little ball. If anything came up at the palace, he'd promised Jonin to send a message with the little drake. It was strange not having his friend by his side. They'd done everything together. Harudan had been the one to convince him to join the King's Guard so that when his father eventually passed, they could spend even more time together.

They just hadn't expected his father to pass so soon. Harudan barely felt ready to take on his role as King when his father died of sickness in his sleep a little over a year beforehand. He'd spent his whole life getting prepared to take over the Kingdom, but he had thought he would be a lot older than his twenty-three years.

It had been hard, trying to explain to Nerin what had happened to their father. He'd understood, of course, he had, the boy was smarter than anyone Harudan had ever met, but he still struggled to comprehend the fact that their father would no longer be there to look after him. Maybe it was easier for him, he hadn't had to deal with their mother's passing. He'd only been a baby at the time.

Harudan never blamed him. He'd been ten at the time. He had understood, barely, but he knew it wasn't Nerin's fault. He was only a baby, only a couple of minutes old when their mother passed. Their father blamed him for a few months, didn't come to hold him when he was crying. That job was given to the maids and Harudan.

Instead of blaming his baby brother, he did research. He borrowed books from his uncle's laboratory and library and discovered that his mother's death was a common one. And so, in the middle of his grief, he became the one to raise Nerin. He played with him, taught him what he needed to know. It took a long time, but eventually, their father came to see him as his son.

Nerin probably didn't remember it. He'd only been a toddler at the time. He'd have no idea about the things his father went through. Over the years, he asked about their mother, but Harudan could only give him the basics. He barely remembered her now. He was only a child at the time. He told Nerin how beautiful she was, how fun she was, how much she loved both of them, even if she'd only known her second son for a few minutes.

Jonin would bring him back. Harudan needed him, needed to explain what was going on to him. Nerin had seen it all and that wasn't fair. He probably believed his brother was evil, if the Askari Princess had gotten her claws into him. He was only a child, gullible and easy to manipulate. Harudan wasn't going to lose him that easily.

But they had already wasted so much time. Jonin hadn't been able to leave until midday due to the Guard needing his command. Three people had died and it needed to be sorted out. Then there was getting the trackers and the dogs ready to go. It was dangerous to travel in winter, even with their powers. They had to make sure the dogs would be safe.