Page 42

Uncle Tiberias.

He’s alive?

I look back and forth between him and my dad. My dad’s older brother—the twin born just minutes before him—is alive.

Questions flood my mind. Don’t make it to my mouth. I wish someone would say something. My dad and Middlebrooks both look like they’ve seen a ghost. I’m just confused.

Tiberias crosses his arms and leans against the wall. “Surprised to see me, aren’t you, brother?”

“How are you here?” my father demands. “Is this some kind of trick?”

“No trick, though we do need to discuss these policies you’ve been implementing.”

“You’re supposed to be dead!” My dad scrambles over to him, clinging to his trident, and not getting too close. “You are dead! I saw your body with my own two eyes.”

I hesitate. Dad saw Tiberias’s body? That’s not possible. My uncle’s funeral had already taken place before we arrived. The only way he could’ve seen the body was if he’d come to Valora. And that would mean he’s been lying to me.

Middlebrooks joins my dad, clinging to him.

“Are you a ghost?” Dad inches closer.

Tiberias holds out an arm. “I’m alive and well. Have a feel.”

Dad just stares.

My uncle shakes his head. “You aren’t much better at this job than the one you failed to finish.”

I study him, trying to make sense of what he just said. I’m unable to wrap my mind around it, so I swim over to my dad and study Tiberias close up. He sure looks real.

My uncle’s expression softens as he looks me over. “Marra, you’re all grown up. For a moment, I thought you were Emery. She even colored her hair as an academy student, but she chose aquamarine.”

I swallow, not sure how to respond. “How are you here? Where have you been?”

He glares at my dad. “Care to answer those questions, Drake?”

“How would I know where you’ve been or how it is you’re here in front of us?” My father’s face reddens.

Tiberias rakes his fingers through his hair. “Like I said, you failed to finish the job.”

I turn to Dad. “What does he mean?”

“Do you want to tell her, or should I?” Tiberias asks, his tone sharp, pained.

“You were dead!” Dad hits his trident on the ground. “Who rose you?”

My uncle looks at me. “I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this.” Then he glances at my dad, whose face is growing redder by the moment. “But since your father won’t, I must. He broke his banishment, came down here to Valora, and tried to kill me. Tried being the operative word.”

The room spins around me. I turn slowly to my dad. “Is this true?”

His brows furrow as he stares at his twin.

“Is it?” I grab his royal robe.

Several guards move toward me. One says, “Hands off the king!”

I glare at him. “Doesn’t look like he’s king anymore, now does it?”

The royal servants all glance at each other in confusion.