“Our upbringing.” Sawyer grabbed a napkin off the table and wiped at Kuya’s mouth. Kuya playfully nipped at his fingers, causing the prince to smile tenderly. “The war with Onyx started before my birth, but Cedric was a toddler when the conflict heightened. He witnessed the knights marching for battle. He felt the fear as our father armored up to join the fight.”
“The king fought too?” I asked.
He nodded. “My father is loyal to his people. He cares deeply for this kingdom and would lay down his life if necessary to protect it. Many demi-humans sided with Onyx during the war. One of them was a wolf who served at my father’s side as his loyal advisor. He betrayed my father to ally with the demon lord, nearly resulting in the king’s death when he led the men into a trap. So I think my brother views all of them as traitors.”
Okay, it made sense. But it didn’t excuse Cedric’s shitty behavior and attitude.
A different man in uniform approached. Brown hair was swept back from his face, and his amber eyes stuck out against his dark skin. “Prince Sawyer? The king has requested your presence as well.”
“Thank you, Sir Anton,” Sawyer responded. He then looked at me. “With Cedric back, my father more than likely wishes to have a family meeting. Our trip to the sea will have to be postponed for another day.”
“That’s okay. It’d be best to wait for it to warm up anyway so we can fully enjoy it. Unless there are, like, monstrous sea creatures that will try to eat us. Then I’ll just admire the water from a safe distance.”
He smiled. “The sea monsters never journey this close to the kingdom, though they stir quite the trouble for the merchant ships during their travels.”
Kuya clapped a hand on my shoulder, his rainbow eyes twinkling. “Kuya will bite the monsters to protect Evan.”
“My fierce kitten,” Sawyer murmured as he touched Kuya’s jaw, his voice dipping. He then withdrew his hand and quietly cleared his throat. “I look forward to our next visit, Evan. Take care of yourself, and do try not to get lost in the woods again.”
“Can’t make any promises,” I said with a grin. “They don’t call me the Thorn Prince for nothing.” A name that had most definitely stuck within Maddox’s unit of knights, thanks to Duke.
Sawyer gently squeezed Kuya’s hand before releasing it. “Do you mind walking Evan home while I go see the king?”
“Kuya doesn’t mind.” He bounded closer to me, grabbing me by the wrist. “Come, come.”
After saying goodbye to Sawyer, Kuya and I found the path leading from the palace garden and walked at a leisurely pace, neither of us in any sort of hurry. He skipped down the trail and hummed, stopping every so often to admire a flower or chase a bumblebee.
“Evan?” Kuya rose from the grass, where he’d pounced toward a butterfly. He dusted off his pants and fidgeted with the strings connecting the front of his crop top. His sudden seriousness took me off guard.
“Is everything okay?”
When his gaze lifted, his eyes glistened. “Kuya tries to be happy but can’t.”
Damn if that didn’t make my heart hurt. “What’s wrong?”
“Prince Sawyer has to find a wife,” he said weakly, returning to my side. He had plucked a dandelion from the grass and slowly rolled the stem between two fingers. “Kuya has no right to be sad about it.”
“Of course you have a right to be upset.” That ache in my chest spread. “You love him.”
“Love isn’t enough.” Kuya knelt down and placed the flower on the grass. Then, he stayed there like that, just staring at it. “He’s a prince. We can never be together.”
He didn’t sound like himself. The bubbly, playful cat boy was gone. Heartbreak would do that. Seeing someone so sweet broken down like this felt so wrong.
“What do you say about getting out of here?” I asked.
He peered up at me, head tilting to the side. “Where would we go?”
“Anywhere you want.” Maybe getting away for a while would help cheer him up or at least get his mind off the things upsetting him.
“Your men will worry if you’re away from home for too long.”
I shook my head. “Maddox is away on another mission and won’t be back until tonight, and Briar traveled to the academy early yesterday morning to speak to the students studying the healing arts. He probably won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon. Truth be told, I could use the distraction too.”
“Evan misses them?” Kuya stood back up.
“Yeah.” Embarrassingly so. I hadn’t seen Briar in a full day, and it had only been a few hours since I kissed Maddox goodbye, but I missed them both so much it hurt. I was a hopeless romantic who definitely got attached too fast.
Deeper than me missing them, I worried about them too. Maddox’s profession put him in harm’s way every single time he left, and with reports coming in of the group of bandits still attacking the neighboring lands, I got nervous at the thought of Briar traveling too.
