Page 14 of The Night Prince 2

“Now, Aquilan, here is what needs doing in the Empire first–”

“Vesslan!” He’d jumped up from where he’d been sitting on his bed, forlorn and alone, and dragged his elder brother into his arms. “You’ve returned! I thought… I thought…”

“Of course, I’ve returned. Truly, I never left,” Vesslan had answered with an awkward laugh. “What nonsense is this? We cannot spend our time hugging and crying, we must work. There is much to be done.”

Aquilan had not contradicted him with what they both knew was true. That Vesslan had left. But he’d come back. And that was all that had mattered. “I am simply relieved you are here. With me.”

“Yes, Aquilan, I’m here. By your side. Always,” Vesslan had murmured.

Now Aquilan was treating him like an impediment rather than a guide. Vesslan had issues. He had blindspots. But so did Aquilan. So did everyone. Guilt assaulted him. Here he was asking his brother to lead with his heart when he hadn’t.

“I should have come to the Eryas Palace last night. Or, at least, asked you to join me at the Dawn,” Aquilan said. “But I wanted to get a feel for what is going on with the humans especially here before I met with the great Houses.”

Vesslan nodded thoughtfully. “They might have made you do something imprudent before you had a chance to get your own thoughts in order.”

He was surprised that Vesslan saw this and understood it.

“I made promises, but how I honor those promises… I must be careful about it. The humans did not ask us to save them nor did they agree to payment. And, in a way, it is our world impeding on theirs which caused this,” Aquilan said, wondering internally again what the Night Elves had so wanted to warn him about.

“I understand, Aquilan. The large Houses are overly eager. But I would help you push them back,” Vesslan assured him. “If you will but let me assist you.”

Another wince. “Yes, yes, of course. I want your assistance. We are a team. You and I.”

“Of course, we are,” Vesslan’s tone was light, but Aquilan found himself looking over at his brother curiously. There had been many times when they’d disagreed, but never so much as about coming to Earth and fighting the Leviathan. Vesslan clearly was still upset about the whole situation. “And as your elder brother and a person most certainly on your side, let me just warn you that the Houses lost people. Children. Parents. Siblings. They paid in blood for the lives of those humans. Land could never truly repay them for their sacrifice, could it?”

Aquilan nodded slowly. “No, it could not.”

Vesslan reached over and put a hand over Aquilan’s nearest one. “So I would just advise that when you impart your desire to provide for humanity, you don’t give the impression that the great Houses are getting scraps in return for their great losses.”

“No, no, of course not,” Aquilan rushed to assure him.

Vesslan squeezed his hand. “Well, let us finish this excellent breakfast and then…” He looked hopefully at Aquilan, “you will come see the palace that I built for the Sun King’s rule, yes?”

“Most certainly.” Aquilan inclined his head. “I will be happy to see it.”

“Do recall your appointment this evening though, King Aquilan,” Helgrom suddenly said.

Aquilan blinked. “My appointment?”

“Yes, the finale of Finley’s most excellent game tonight. The culmination of all his planning and… maybe… the beginning of the next game,” Helgrom explained.

“Oh, yes,” Aquilan answered uncertainly.

They’d spoken of the game last night and he was a keen listener to stories. But there was no talk of him attending. Not that he would be adverse to it.

“Declan will be there after all. Don’t want to disappoint him,” Helgrom muttered into his beard.

My Shadow!

His heart quickened. He could feel heat rushing into his cheeks.

“Declan? Oh, yes, I absolutely must be back in time for that game. Must support Finley.” Aquilan felt how wide he was smiling and he couldn’t help himself. In fact, he didn’t even try.

“Who is this Declan?” Vesslan frowned.

“A survivor, brother. He, Finley and Gemma Baston are the three survivors of the battle of Lightwell,” Aquilan explained.

Before diving back into his food, Vesslan shrugged. “Yes, well, there will be political points to be made for being around them, to be sure.”

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