Page 180 of Fearless

“Kitt, calm down,” Kai orders. “You’re not yourself right now.”

The blade flashes in this flickering light. “I didn’t want it to be like this. Really.” His eyes are on me, but I’m not entirely sure heseesme. Delirium curls his lips into something that makes me shiver. “But you’ve forced my hand. I can’t have a lost princess stealing my throne from under me.”

“Kitt, stop—”

“I’m not after your throne!” I hurl the words at him, cutting off Kai’s and hoping to break through this haze of hysteria Kitt wears. “I never wanted it. This is all in your head!”

He looks down at his sword. The king seems to be somewhere else entirely. “Of course you want the throne. All you’ve ever wished for was power.”

Kai steps forward, and I’m unsurprised to see him pause at an equal distance from myself and the king. That is where he has always stood, torn in two different directions.

Duty. Desire. Loyalty. Love.

Like always, he strains to hold on to both. But his grip is slipping, and a cruel reality is setting in.

One cannot have both.

Kitt lifts the sword, angered that his brother stands in its lethal path. “I’m doing this for us, Kai. For Ilya. She is all that stands in the way.”

“Let’s just talk about this.” Kai lifts his hands slowly, just as one does when attempting to calm a spooked animal. “You and me, Brother. We will work through this. You’re not yourself—”

“This is what I was made to be!” Kitt’s voice cracks. “If this is not myself, then I don’t know what is. I was created to be king, and that is what I am. That includes making the hard decisions. The brave, the benevolent,andthe brutal.”

The sword flashes as Kitt surges toward me.

Kai would never hurt his brother—I know this as much as he does. So when the king lunges toward me, I expect this breath in my lungs to be my last.

Death allows me a single moment to accept my fate. He reaches for my hand like an old friend, our reunion at long last. And I am content.The father who would never dare hurt me is waiting beyond, Adena at his side, and Mak next to her.

The sound of singing steel rings through the room when Kai blocks his brother’s blade with a fire stoker. He’d only just snatched it from the hook when Kitt swung, forcing him to step beneath the arching blow and halt it with trembling arms. Kitt drags his sword across the length of the stoker before stepping back. “Get out of my way, Kai. That’s an order.”

“Not until you calm down.” The Enforcer flips the stoker in his palm. “I will fight you all night if I need to.”

Hurt flashes across Kitt’s face. “You’ll never stop choosing her until she’s gone.”

The king attempts to shove past his Enforcer again, but Kai steps into the blade’s path. That iron rod counters the swinging sword once again, though its pointed tip expertly avoids Kitt’s chest. I watch Kai, noting how deliberately he remains on defense. This is not a fight he intends to win—only one he wishes to put an end to.

I can do little more than shake my head at them. “Stop this, both of you!”

The stoker Kai holds clashes against his brother’s sword. “I’m not choosing between either of you!”

“You already have!” Kitt pants. He shoves a shaky finger toward the empty space beside Kai. “She told me!”

Staring grimly at the indicated nothingness, Kai murmurs, “You’re sick, Kitt. Let me help you.”

“Sick?” The king’s tone is terrifyingly calm. Then he’s laughing, the sound somehow more frightening. “Greatness is not a sickness, Brother. And once she is gone, you will see that.”

A clashing of metal ensues. Jagged shadows are painted across the walls, scrawling an ever-changing story of this battle between brothers. It’s hypnotic, the way they flow in and out of each other’s ferocity. Thisis a dance well practiced, one they have been partners within for years.

I blink at their forms, at the fluidity they find within each other. This is hardly a fight—this is reminiscence. It is as though they are back in the training yard, sparring with a routine that is second nature.

Kai steps in, arcing his weapon. Kitt falls back to catch the attack with the blade of his sword. A cross of metal hangs between them as both brothers strain against the other’s strength. They push away. Resume the routine they created as boys.

This is the Enforcer’s distraction.

I watch them anticipate each movement.

Calm Kitt down without hurting him in the process.

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