Page 26 of Wrath Of Suns And Shadows (The Osparia #2)

Chapter Sixteen

Kade

I walked out of my office and out onto the deck of the ship to see two of my sister’s warships in the distance mangled, and one was slowly sinking under the high sun.

Fuck .

“Evereht!” I shouted, and his footsteps rang quickly against the metal floor of our warship.

“What is it, brother?” he asked, and I didn’t take my eyes away from the wreckage.

“Change course. Head to the Islands of Ash. I have a feeling our dear sister didn’t get out of this battle unscathed. Besides, she would need to stop and gather more fuel to make it back home now that she has the prize.”

“But what about our orders—” he started, but I cut him off.

“Plans change, brother.” I gave him a warning glance, and he only chuckled under his breath.

“You know, she won’t give her over without a fight.”

“I’ve never turned down a friendly competition with Valla before, brother.

Why would I start now?” There would be nothing friendly about any interactions with my sister.

Even more so when it came to the Peacebringer.

Rhet left to deliver the command to the captain before he returned to my side on the deck.

I steadied myself and stood a little straighter as a group of soldiers passed that looked to be heading toward the cafeteria for lunch.

Evereht turned and started following them.

“Come on, you’ll go mad if your only nourishment is a glass of liquor and your thoughts. You need to eat,” he said, and I couldn’t deny it as I walked next to him with more soldiers gathering behind us.

“How long until we are there?” I asked him with my mind.

We only used the skill when prying ears were near, and it had come in handy during fancy dinners and royal balls growing up.

Right now, I didn’t trust a single soldier on this warship, as none had pledged their loyalty to me, only to my father.

This would be the safest way to communicate.

“It seems we are only a day or so behind Valla. We should arrive tomorrow as long as nothing else goes wrong with the ship.” His words funneled into my mind as if he were speaking aloud, and I gave him a nod as we walked into the large room filled with tables quickly filling with soldiers and their trays of food.

Rhet and I got in line. I made sure none of the soldiers thought me better than them.

We all ate the same food at mealtimes. Had access to all the same things.

The only place that was solely mine was my quarters.

Over the years, I have had soldiers appreciate the respect and take note of it, but none have ever done anything more, and a part of me didn’t want them to.

Maybe that was why they hadn’t given me their loyalty.

Maybe they viewed me as weak? The throne belonged to me.

My father had already been ruling past his time, and as his eldest son, it was mine , but I didn’t challenge him for it.

I had no desire to. That place was for someone else.

I knew his time of rule would come to an end, but it wouldn’t be by my hand.

I grabbed my tray of food and began walking out of the cafeteria.

Rhet followed closely behind me as we made our way to my quarters and plopped down at my messy office table.

I moved the maps to the side to ensure they wouldn’t get messed up while we ate.

I shoveled food into my mouth, not caring about table manners, and neither did Rhet.

This was definitely one perk of not being on display as a Prince of Ember.

In this room, Evereht and I could simply be.

There were no prying eyes, no servants ready to spread the gossip about bad table habits.

The meat and potatoes were dry, but they staved off my hunger.

“How about a game, a drinking game of daggers? We haven’t played in a while.

Maybe it’ll help get your mind off things,” Rhet said as he stood, wiping his mouth and walking over to the closet to pull out an old painting.

Nothing would take my mind off things, no matter how much liquor was involved, that I was sure of.

We had tattered the painting from all the years of using it as target practice.

It was a portrait of our father. You could barely tell it was his face anymore from all the holes in it.

Rhet placed it on the wall across from my desk before walking over and tossing down six old daggers.

The hilts jutted up toward the ceiling. He was careful to keep them from hitting any maps sprawled out over the wood.

“Anytime we miss his head, we have to drink,” he explained as he picked up two glasses and set them down, filling them with amber liquid.

“If that’s the only time we can drink, those glasses will stay full the entire time.”

“Alright, fine, every time we hit our mark, we take a drink.”

I picked up my glass and took a long swig as I threw the first dagger, and it landed directly between my father’s eyes.

Maybe this would help ease my mind after all.