Page 50 of Apples Dipped in Gold

“Fuck you, dick,” said Lore as he came to sit beside me.

I hated the awareness I had for him as he neared. Everything in my body went rigid—my back straightened, my thighs pressed together, and a dizzying heat swept through my body. I took a breath and worked to reel these feelings in, like yarn on a spindle, trying not to look at Lore, though it was impossible not to notice things about him when he sat right beside me.

The laces at the collar of his tunic were undone, exposing his chest, and his hair was mussed. It reminded me of how Michal looked in the morning after a night spent with one of the many women who warmed his bed.

A shock of jealousy tore through my chest, which only made me angrier.

There was an awful silence that settled between the four of us now that Lore had joined. He reached for a piece of bread. Instead of using a knife, he dragged it through the butter and then brought it to his mouth.

“Please continue,” he said before he took a bite. “Do not let me interrupt your conversation.”

I wondered how much he had heard but also decided I did not care.

“How did you sleep?”

It took me a moment to realize Lore was talking to me. I met his gaze reluctantly, growing frustrated by the look in his eyes. His expression was so tender. I had to wonder if it was all an act.

“Fine,” I said, my answer short. I was too afraid to say more. I did not want my voice to quake or my eyes to water.

“Only fine?”

“What more do you want me to say?” I asked.

He studied me and frowned but did not answer.

Another bout of silence followed.

Cardic took a deep breath as if he were inhaling the most savory of scents. “Well, this is justlovely.”

“Shut up,” said Lore, his frustration obvious and a complete change from only a few seconds ago when he had inquired after my sleep.

“You shut up,” said Cardic. “No one invited you to eat with us.”

The two brothers glared at each other, and a different sort of tension built between them. It made my heart race. I recognized it as the calm before the storm—thequiet that settled thickly between me and my brothers before one of them snapped.

“Why do you hate each other?” I asked, relieved when my question ironically seemed to ease the tension between them.

Both brothers looked at me, but I kept my eyes on Cardic. It was easier to look at him, despite the fact that Lore’s gaze was burning me up inside, as always.

“What is there to like?” asked Cardic.

“Surely, you can find something you like about each other,” I said, though I could not deny that I was finding it hard to decide what I liked about either of them at this point.

“Can you find something you like about your brothers?” asked Lore.

I glared at him. His questionhurt.

“At this moment, I like them more than you,” I said.

Lore’s eyes widened, and I thought that he looked a lot like I felt.

Good.

Cardic chuckled. “Oh, you are a beast indeed.”

Lore’s mouth tightened. “We were not raised to be siblings like mortals,” he said. “We were raised to see each other as competition, to fight for the top despite the order in which we were born.Thatis why we hate each other.”

I stared down at my uneaten food.