Asher's eye twitched, and he seemed about ready to fight, but instead he sighed and let his brother go. "I have more important things to do than fight you, Dean." And then Asher left the room, avoiding both our gazes.
I kept my eyes on him as he disappeared down the hall. "He is acting strange," I said.
Dean nodded. "So you've noticed it, too."
"So have I." A third voice. A new voice. The Druid. Varis stepped in from the balcony, his white clock drifting in a wind I could not feel. His bald head gleaming in the torch light as his silver white owl perched on his shoulder. He must have flown there silently. How long had he been listening?
"Asher and I have spoken briefly," continued the Druid. "He was… nicer than usual."
I raised an eyebrow. "Nicer? And this is an odd thing between you? Considering you two were—"
"Yes. It is odd," said Varis, cutting me off. "After what we have been through, our talks are full of sorrow and regrets. At least, they used to be. Now he is too polite. Too formal."
Dean rubbed his chin. "Polite? You're right. Something is wrong with Asher."
"We should keep an eye on him," I say. A thought tickles at my mind. What if… no. It couldn't be illusion. He is too identical to the brother I know. It would take great knowledge and great power to cast such a spell. No one would be capable of it. No one I have ever heard of.
I turned to the Druid. "Varis, tonight we leave to search for Arianna."
He bowed his head. "Then I shall leave as well. Zyra and I will search the skies."
Dean looked hesitant. "So we leave Asher alone to rule our realms?"
"Only for a while," I said. "Besides, what harm can he do? The realms are ancient. They are hard to change from their ways. And if he does something disagreeable, then we will undo it upon our return." I pause. "Though these circumstances are not ideal, Arianna must come first. She must."
They both nodded, and then we parted ways. I packed my things for travel, and then I made my way to the healing tents. I had been there often of late. To see Kayla.
She wasn't in her room, so I searched for her in the healing tents. Perhaps she'd gone there for more medicine.
I did not expect to find my half-sister in a white bed, her skin paler than usual, her limbs weak from atrophy. The healer, Seri, stood over her, applying damp cloths to my sister's head.
"What is this?" I asked. "She was on the mend last I saw her. I was only gone a few days."
Seri gritted her teeth. "We found her like this in her bed. We cannot wake her."
I clenched my fist. "Why has she relapsed so suddenly? What did you give her, Fae? What?"
Fear appeared in her eyes. But then it passed, replaced with concern. "Nothing new. This must be a result of the concoctions the Prince of Envy gave her. They have assaulted her mind, driven her to hallucinations and madness. A relapse isn't out of the realm of possibility in a case like this."
"But she was doing better," I said, my voice loosing its thunder in grief and worry.
"She was running off a last burst of energy, my lord," said Seri. "But when it expired, her body shut down. She collapsed."
I looked at my sister, my dear sister who endured torture unspeakable. Torture that would have broken many I know. "When will she wake?"
"I do not know, my lord. She is fighting a difficult battle. A battle to regain her mind. It could take days. Weeks. Perhaps even longer."
My fist fell apart into a trembling hand. "But, she will wake, yes?"
Seri looked away, her eyes nervous. "It is possible, my lord. But it remains to be seen whether it is the Kayla you know who will wake, or another."
"No." I punched the wooden pillar to my side, breaking it in half and almost sending the tent falling upon us. But it held, supported by other beams. I looked at Kayla and thought of the story Varis told me, of his sister who was never the same. If only I had done differently. If only I had grown in my powers. Perhaps I could have ridden to Stonehill sooner. Perhaps I could have saved her.
Seri took my hand, rubbing it gently. "It is not your fault, my lord. You retook this city. You stopped the torture of Fae and Shade. And you saved Kayla from a fate worse than death. Because of you, she still stands a chance."
"Because of me…" I whispered. "It is because of me that this happened at all."
Then I pulled back my hand and left. It was on my way back to my quarters, when I passed the inn at the base of the castle, that I saw him.
Tavian Gray.
He sat at a table outside a tavern, drinking under the bright sun. Drinking. While my sister lay asleep unable to wake.
I stepped forward and knocked the cup from his hands. "How is it that you drink and find pleasure while Kayla suffers? How have you recovered so quickly from the tortures inflicted on you both?"
The Fae sighed, flicking back his thick dark hair. He was a massive man, coiled in muscle, larger than any Fae I'd ever seen, at least as large as me. "Your brother spent more time on her than he did on me," said Tavian. "I wish it were not so. I wish I had stopped him."
At his words, I calmed. It seemed we wished the same. "I heard you were leaving."
"I was," he said, picking his cup back up from the mud and refilling it from the flagon of ale on the table. "But then I heard she'd relapsed, and I couldn't leave her this way."