THE FINAL
'brother' has no meaning

―――

mirella had been fuming in the days since keir had left the infirmary without word. the princess and reese had been switching hourly to stay with their ill brother in the infirmary, neither of them catching a glimpse of keir inside the room. when his brother was dying on a hospital bed, how could ky not stand to be at his side?

it was nearing time for mirella to take reese's place at rowan's side, so she was silently making her way back through the halls from her office. that was when she heard the murmur of voices, halting her in her tracks. every room in the palace was as sound proof as they came, yet ―

"i need the power," a muffled voice was saying from inside a nearby room.

mirella glanced around the hall, searching for the room it was coming from. she told herself she didn't have a right to whatever conversation it was, but the second she saw that willa's office had been left open a crack, she found herself standing at the doorway and peaking in. she could partially see her older brother, sitting on a couch with his hands folded in front of him, though willa was out of her sight.

"and you know that what you're doing is hurting him ― your brother? you're not going to stop?" willa asked, her voice as soft and calm as ever.

mirella had hardly talked to willa since she'd arrived at the palace. it felt too intrusive when her purpose was to be there for ky, who had been slowly slipping into the deep end since their father had passed. but, now, she couldn't stop herself from prying. mirella willed herself to move her legs away from the door, but she couldn't help herself. she was stuck there, wishing to grasp onto whatever keir's response may be.

"i do know that i'm hurting him. i always know," keir said, "and, no, i'm not going to stop. i can't. i'm doing what needs to be done."

"you feel your power is worth more than your brother?"

keir was silent, glancing towards the door. for a moment, mirella's heart clenched inside of her chest. had he seen her? but, by the way he continued speaking, the pain in mirella's chest was automatically relieved.

"i didn't come here to be judged," keir said, swiftly rising to his feet. "but, yes. if it protects the country and the rest of my family, it's worth more."

and with those words, mirella's heart was sinking with the realisation that, with keir, 'brother' had no meaning.

―――

it's keir.

those were the two words echoing through reese's mind. ever since mirella had come to the infirmary, her face almost as pale as rowan's as she explained what she'd overheard between willa and keir, the words hadn't left her mind.

rowan was suffering, reese thought to herself. he was suffering because his brother valued power and protection more.

"how?" reese had asked, the one question that mirella didn't seem to have an answer for. how was keir doing this to rowan? what power could he possibly need? he was practically king already.

neither sister had dared to confront keir, though. neither one had gone near him. until they figured out what this was and how to stop it, how were they supposed to look him in the eyes?

that was what led reese to stand where she was now, in the middle of the city. rain was pouring hard, drenching the princess's hair and flowing gown. it felt as though she'd been walking for miles when, in reality, the car that had broght her into the city was no more than a block away. still, making out the numbers on the apartment doors in the pouring rain was no easy task. soon enough, though, she found herself stopped in front of a door, knocking gently on it.

"julian?" reese called, hoping that her words could still be heard over the storm. why hadn't he picked an apartment building where the entrance was indoors? "julian," she said again, "it's reese. i need your help."

―――

( author's note! )

sorry for yet another terrible
chapter! hopefully nothing
was too confusing. if you don't
already know the importance of
julian in relation to keir, i suggest
checking out the backstory on his
form! not entirely necessary, though!

replies will be coming soon! i'm
recovering at the moment, but i
promise i'm slowly working on
them!

thank you for
your understanding,

lana 💛