Page 14 of Claimed By Stone
It was one thing to envy my brother’s joy. But to do it while longing for a statue? Even in a world where magic bloomed again, that would be impossible to explain.
Khuldruk wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the floor in a twirl, and she laughed, bright and wild and utterly alive.
I turned away, ready to get back into the safety of my study. The outside world was too much for me, even the great hall. I was used to craving solitude, but that wasn’t exactly what I was craving these days.
Once tucked away in the quiet of study, I stood at my table, parchment unfurled and annotated with the latest healer reports. Notes in the margins, my own symbols, arrows showing fluctuations in magical currents. It should have felt productive. It didn’t.
Footsteps approached—measured and heavy, too familiar to be anyone else.
“Brother,” Khuldruk said as he climbed the stairs. There was no grand announcement, no show of power. Just a man, temporarily not a chief, checking in.
I set the quill down. “I thought you’d be trapped under bolts of fabric by now.”
He snorted. “Callie is more than capable of commanding a room full of dressmakers without me. I figured I’d use the moment to ask how things are faring in the mountain.”
I motioned to the papers. “Progress. Some. The warriors grow stronger. The healers are recovering their power. The western borders remain quiet… too quiet, honestly.”
Khuldruk picked up the paper that annotated the healer’s magic and gave an approving nod before turning his attention to the map. “It is concerning that the Westerly Clan has been quiet. The orcs that attacked us at the inn seemed overly susceptible to Callie’s voice. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it was strange.”
“Hmmm, that is strange. I’ll make note of it,” I said as I sat down and pulled out a quill.
“Sirens aren’t as common as they once were. Especially this far up north,” I said.
Khuldruk nodded. “There were many when we were younger. What has happened to all of them?”
Now that Thavros thought about it, there were fewer. Surely all of them didn’t up and move south. “I don’t know. I will look into it,” I said
He nodded, but his eyes weren’t on the papers. They were on me.
“You’ve been different,” he said after a pause.
I tensed. “So have you. It’s what mating does.”
“Yes, but I’m not the one haunting his own war room like a ghost,” he said, quiet but firm. “You’ve always carried the weight of us all on your shoulders, Thavros. But this feels… different.”
I didn’t reply.
He stepped closer, folding his arms. “Something happened while we were gone.”
I swallowed. “Not something I can explain. Not fully.”
He waited, giving me space to continue, but I didn’t.
“Magic is returning, Thavros. We know that. But whatever it is you’re keeping to yourself…” He gazed around his study that overlooked the giant round table below. “Even here, where magic is law, there are things that defy logic. That doesn’t mean they defy the truth.”
I did not have the patience or time for whatever he was hinting at.
“Don’t speak in riddles, brother. I have enough to figure out.”
“There is something on your mind. Something you’re not sharing.”
My jaw clenched. “You speak as if you already know.”
“I don’t. But whatever it is, you aren’t yet ready to share.” He clapped a hand on my shoulder. “You’ll figure it out. You always do.”
He gave me a long, evaluating gaze before he turned to leave.
I stood in silence for a long moment before crossing over to the statue overlooking the great table. She stood there, a goddess trapped in stone. Still. Unmoving. Eternal.
