Nerin stood outside his brother's office, hand in the air and ready to knock. It was surprisingly warm in the hall, reminding him of Isiah's flame stone, but he couldn't pinpoint the source of the heat. Before him, Harudan's door stood taller than he ever thought possible, as if it were taunting him, daring him to do what he had come to do.

With a nervous sigh, he knocked on the door, unsure if it was loud enough to be heard. It wasn't the first time he had left his room since arriving in Ishmar, but it was the first time he had willingly sought out company with his brother. It wasn't for leisure but for information he should be privy to as the only Prince of Brenmar.

Nerin shuffled backwards with a gasp when the door opened and smiled weakly at the man on the other side. "Nerin," Harudan said and moved to let him pass. "What are you doing here?"

"You said to come to you if I wanted to talk," he replied, shuffling his feet. His arms were wrapped around his stomach, bunched in the sides of his tunic. "You weren't in your quarters so I thought I would try here."

"Of course, of course. There's tea on the desk, just don't spill any on the papers, they're important," Harudan said and gestured for him to come in. The office looked the same as ever, the desk filled to the brim with papers and the walls covered in portraits of kings and queens long dead.

The one of his father sat behind the desk, watching over them with his constant scowl. King Iunis had always focused more on Harudan than his second son, but Nerin didn't mind. He may not have had a mother, but he had Harudan and the servants and his books. It didn't matter to him that his father barely spoke to him. Even so, when he died, it had hurt. He was an orphan who barely got a chance with either parent.

But that wasn't what he had come for. Ignis stirred from his place on the desk when Harudan sat down again and squawked when he saw Nerin. "Hello, Ignis," he said and scratched the drake under the chin.

"It's been a long time since he's seen you. I think he missed you," Harudan said, sifting through the papers in front of him.

"I missed him too," he replied and smiled down at the happy drake. Ignis had always loved him, chirping excitedly whenever he showed up and occasionally blowing small plumes of flame into the air if they were outside. He missed playing with the little guy, dangling pieces of string and laughing as he chased them.

Harudan smiled at him, looking far older than twenty-three. "I'm guessing Ignis isn't why you came in here," he said as he poured himself a cup of tea.

"No," Nerin said with a shake of his head. The papers on the desk between them were written in an unfamiliar neat scrawl, detailing things he knew nothing about. "I wanted to know how the war was going."

His brother's eyes widened in surprise, his cup of tea in the air before his face, a single drop running down the side of it. "I didn't realise you were interested," he said curiously.

"Of course, I am, it's my country too. I need to know what's going on," Nerin said and planted his hands on the edge of the desk. He briefly shot a look at the portrait of his father above Harudan's head, marvelling at how alike the two looked. "I know you think I'm too young to understand, but I'm not. Just explain it to me and if I get confused, I'll tell you. But I deserve to know too."

There was a long moment of silence as the brothers stared at each other. Then Harudan chuckled and sat back in his seat. "Alright, not what I was expecting, but alright," he said and if he was being honest, Nerin was surprised. There had once been a time where he hadn't been allowed to know a thing. So much had changed while he'd been gone, but maybe some of it was good.

He grabbed one of the chairs in front of the desk and sat, pulling the tea tray towards him. There was a second cup there, probably for Jonin, whenever he showed up, but he wasn't there. It was bitter and there was no sugar, but Nerin sipped it anyway, waiting for Harudan to tell him what he had come to hear.

"At the moment, we're winning the war, quite easily," Harudan said and Nerin's stomach tightened painfully. "We have two entrances into Minisia, one in the centre, as I'm sure you've seen, and one to the south. Both parts of the army are outnumbered, but better trained. They're heading to Ziya as we speak."

With a lump in his throat, Nerin forced out the only words he could think of. "How close are they?"

"Not very," Harudan said with a shrug. "We've still got a while to go, but they've taken most of the border towns and are marching further inwards. Last I heard, General Juna had taken a major trading port.

"As for the north, I have it protected, but there's been no sign of an invading army. We've attacked so many places in order to get the Askari army to scramble so that they can't muster an invading force. So far, it's working."

It was a sound plan, a smart one. A plan that had been worked on for a long time before Harudan declared war. He would have wanted it to be perfect before he did anything so that nothing fell through the gaps. But things had slipped through the instant it started. Harudan had told him that it was originally meant to be King Ouron who died in the treaty, not Rina, but he hadn't even been able to do that.

"For you, is this good news or bad news?" Harudan asked, pulling Nerin from his thoughts. There was no judgement in his eyes, no disappointment, just curiosity and that curiosity made him want to answer as honestly as he could.

"I don't know."

There were a lot of things he didn't know when it came to his brother. He'd lied to him about the deaths of his friends, but told him the truth about his plans for war and the reasons behind it. And Nerin knew deep down, that he was at least a little bit right. He'd seen the border towns in Brenmar and he knew that that was the state of the normal towns in Minisia.

During his lone year in power, Harudan may not have done much except declare war, but he'd always been ambitious. If he could care about his younger brother the way he did, surely that meant he could also look after a country. He wasn't sure if the two could be tied together, but he wanted to believe that his brother had good intentions. And from what he'd been told, he did.

All he wanted was for the Askari people to be looked after the way they deserved to be, but to do that, he had to take over. There were no two ways about it. King Ouron wouldn't change how he cared for his people, all he cared about was building up a massive army. And for what? What reason could he possibly have to do that? Unless he wanted to invade as well, but Harudan bet him to it.

Then there was Rina and all the things Harudan had said about her. It had never been a kidnapping, he had come willingly, and Rina had spent the first few days trying to get away from them. The night they had been attacked, something had changed. It wasn't the Beast because they hadn't known about it yet, but something Rina hadn't told them. After that, she'd gotten closer to him, but why? He couldn't figure it out and a voice in the back of his head whispered that Harudan was-

"Nerin?" Harudan said. He was standing, eyes wide and filled with worry, a cloth in his hands. "Nerin, put the tea down." With his free hand, he snatched the mug away and it was then that Nerin realised he had spilt it all over his hands.

With a gasp, he grabbed the cloth from his brother and mopped the spilt tea on his clothes and hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't get it on the desk, did I?" he asked and ran his now dry hand through his hair.

"No, you didn't," he answered as he placed the cup back on the tray. "Are you alright?"

Nerin shook his head. "There's just a lot to take in. I- I don't- I don't know what I'm supposed to think," he whispered.

Harudan moved around the desk and crouched down in front of him, a hand moving to cup the back of his head. "That's alright. Take your time," he said and glanced over at the desk. "It's almost time for lunch. Will you join me?"

Once again, he shook his head. "No, I think... I need some time by myself to... To think," he muttered and stood from the chair.

"Alright," Harudan said from his place on the floor. "I was going to show you something else, but you look overwhelmed. Another day, alright?" Nerin nodded and stepped away. Whatever Harudan had to show him, it wouldn't be good and he wasn't ready to face it. He needed to be back in his room, where it was quiet and safe.

Before he could register what he was doing, he was out the door and down the hall, moving as fast as his small legs could take him. It was all too much and he couldn't figure out what he was supposed to believe. Too many things pointed towards Harudan being right and he didn't want it. He didn't want to believe that his friendship with Rina had been fake.

His room was silent when he entered, the bed made and the curtains drawn. The servants had been in while he was gone to clean everything, only for him to mess it up again. He sat on the edge of his bed and buried his face in his hands. His face was wet with tears but he didn't bother to wipe them away. They needed to fall, he needed to cry.

The sobs made his body lurch and shake and his throat ached as if he had eaten something far too big, but the tears never stopped. It was all too much for him to take. If only he were still with Rina and the others, oblivious to everything. It was better that way, wasn't it? But even as he thought the words, he knew they were wrong. It was better to know.

His crying was cut short but a knock at the door, soft and so quiet that he almost didn't hear it. He wiped at his tears with his sleeve and took a deep breath. "Come in," he said and mentally cursed when his voice shook.

The girl from the other day walked into the room, dressed in the same grey robes as before and carrying another tray of food. Harudan had said that lunch was soon, he hadn't registered it completely, not until she was in the room with him, looking down at the floor with a sad frown.

Before he could stop himself, his mouth opened. "What's your name?" he asked, even though he knew the girl wouldn't reply.

"Ashera," came a faint whisper. Her voice was high-pitched but almost silent; it suited her small face.

He gave her a small smile as she placed the tray at his desk. "How old are you, Ashera?"

She watched him for a moment, her fingers playing with the edge of her robes. "Eleven," she answered. He hissed in a breath. Only two years younger than him, but she looked so much younger, so much sadder. What Harudan had done had ruined her.

"How did you come to be here?"

"His Majesty took all the children."

He spared the children and killed all the adults in the Sanctum. Why? What was the point of letting people live if they were treasonous? But the children would have been innocent, until they grew up and wanted revenge against Harudan. Then again, they were followers of the Old Gods, they had to be peaceful.

"I'm sorry," he said. "If I had been there-"

"You said that before," Ashera snapped and then covered her hand with her mouth, her eyes wide. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, I didn't-"

"No, no, it's alright!" he said and hopped down from his bed. His tears were forgotten in the face of the girl in front of him. She was more important. She looked so downtrodden, she was grieving her family, her home and her religion, but he could fix that. It was something she deserved to know. "Just tell me, do you know an apprentice monk named Isiah? He came here on his pilgrimage around two months ago."

Ashera took a moment, swallowing. "I do. He was my teacher before he left," she said and glanced out of the window. "Is he... Did they kill him too?"

"No! He's alive! He's... He's the Beast that was Promised," he told her, beaming at her excitedly.

"What?" Ashera said, louder than anything else she'd said before. "That's not... He could barely use his powers. The other kids always said that he was useless, that I was like him. He can't be the Beast."

Nerin put his hands on her shoulders. She deserved to know, Isiah was her people and she looked so sad. "But he is! I've seen it. I was helping him get his powers. He can wield flame," he said and bit his lip. He wasn't sure how much to tell her, she was only young after all. "He's going to stop my brother, stop this war. He'll save everyone, even you. You just have to believe me."

For a long moment, Ashera was silent, watching with wide eyes as red as an apple. There was a tremble to her lip, as if she were unsure to trust him. He would be wary too if he were speaking to the brother of the man who murdered his family. But he was telling the truth, even if he had no proof.

"I believe you," she whispered and he almost let out a cheer.

"Oh, good, I'm glad. But you can't say a word to anyone, you hear me? My brother doesn't know about Isiah and if he does, he will kill him," he explained, hating the fear in the girl's eyes. "Promise me that you won't say anything."

"I promise," Ashera said and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his middle. With a short gasp, he hugged her back, pride swelling within him. He'd been able to make her feel better. At least there was one of them with a smile on their face.