Page 116 of An Archer's Redemption

Chapter 50

Declan

Cooks raced between boiling pots and sizzling pans as they prepared the royal household’s noon meal. Heavenly aromas of herbs and fresh-baked bread hung in the air. The Royal Chef, leader of the brigade, kept a watchful eye each time a cook added ingredients or seasoning. He wore a perpetual scowl as he dipped one of the dozen clean tasting spoons from the pocket on his sleeve, then thrust a taste into his mouth. Most of the time, his scowl turned into a relieved grin, and he would nod appreciatively to the cook.

So absorbed in his work was the man that he had failed to notice Atikus and me suddenly appear where one of his white-coated cooks had stood only seconds before.

The Chef nearly jumped out of his puffy hat.

The smallest cook, who looked more than fourteen years old, ran out of the room screaming, “Guards!” at the top of her lungs.

“Youwouldhave to land in the kitchen of all places.” I turned to Atikus with a smirk and an eye roll.

Atikus wiggled brows above twinkling eyes. “It is lunchtime. If I remember correctly—and youknowI do—the Palace has the best chefs on the continent. Just smell that bread!Of courseI landed us in here.”

The Chef ventured a nervous step forward, baffled by our banter almost as much as our sudden appearance. “Uh . . . hello?”

Atikus smiled broadly and offered a shallow bow. “Please forgive our rude arrival. We did not mean to startle you. I am Arch Mage Atikus Dani, and this is Declan Rea. I am not quite sure what title he has now. We are here to see your Queen and her guest, Guardsman Keelan Rea, but . . . would you mind if we tasted a bite of that hot bread before we bother Her Majesty?”

I couldn’t cover my mouth fast enough to stifle the laugh that tumbled out.

Silver-plated guards arrived as Atikus finished his first roll.

He was still licking the butter off his fingers when sword points appeared at his collar. We were ushered into a small room that looked strikingly similar to the study back at the Saltstone Guild. Atikus flopped into a leather chair, kicked off his shoes, and poured a glass of liquor from a nearby decanter.

I shook my head. “Really? Make yourself at home. Think I should ask one of the guards outside to bring us a pillow for your feet?”

“That would be wonderful,” Atikus said, wriggling his toes through stockings that showed more bare skin than fabric. He held up the decanter. “They wouldn’t put this here if they didn’t want us to enjoy, now would they?”

I chuckled and shook my head, then tossed myself into a chair across from my insufferable traveling companion.

A moment later, the door flew open, and Keelan barged in.

When he saw Atikus, his entire face lit up—and then he saw me.

He stumbled into a side table.

My big brother’s discomfort made me flinch. “I know. They’re weird, and everybody’s scared of me now.”

My head drooped.

Keelan closed the gap between us in two strides and lifted me out of the chair, wrapping me in a tight hug and lifting me off the ground so my feet dangled like I was seven years old again.

“You’ll have to do better than swirling eyes of death to scare me away, you puffy-headed idiot. You should know better.”

I didn’t fight the embrace the way I had when we were children. Instead, I wrapped my arms around Keelan and buried my head in his shoulder.

“It’s so good to see you, Kee. You’ve got no idea how much.” The beginning of a sob shuddered through my chest. Keelan started to release me, but I clung to him as a desperate man clings to a life raft in the ocean.

That’s what Keelan had always been for me: a beacon in every storm. I’d just been too wrapped up in my own insecurities to see it.

I knew he would be there for me no matter what.

Keelan’s arms were the safest place in the world. They always were.

Even now, as a twenty-year-old with immensely powerful magic, I found comfort in my brother’s embrace.

Keelan pulled back to find my face streaked. “Dec, what’s wrong? What happened?”

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