Zian Austruc

Adonia was in the Entorrean Palace. To think I was doubting myself... I am Zian Austruc: a genius, strategist, and the best that Kandose has to offer other than snowy mountaintops and centuries of appalling history--I meant, stories.

The knock on my apartment door sounded a lot like an insufferable prince's knock. Maybe because it was an insufferable prince. Placing down my bowl of stew that I barely managed to make, I shrugged on my too-long coat with embroidery and opened the door.

"Good evening," Prince Thresan greeted. "May I come in?"

"How do you know where I live?"

"I'm the prince; I know things."

"I'm guessing I don't have much of a choice, then?" I muttered, not tearing away from his rather cocky eye contact.

He gave a tight-lipped smile and stepped in. "Afraid not, though I'm sure you want to hear the latest gossip."

"Should I prepare a kettle of tea, or is this an occasion for cognac?" I said rather dryly, noting how he didn't take off his jacket or shoes. This wouldn't be a long conversation.

He leaned against the kitchen counter, eyeing my apartment. "You decorate nicely," he said, ignoring my quite serious question prior.

He knows. "I should take up interior decorating more if your highness is telling me so."

Thresan grabbed a bottle off cognac off the counter. "May I?"

"I'm pleased you ask me for permission, although we both know you will do it anyway." Before he could take my statement up as a challenge, I yanked the expensive bottle out of his hand and placed it at the far back corner. "I do not drink."

"I know."

He was a sassy one, wasn't he?

"Senna has sent us news. I'm sure you know that Adonia is now at the Entorrean Palace." He crossed his arms. I watched him watch me. The silence between us spoke more. "I know you care about her. You've always cared about her, even when everything was at stake."

"I should not be praised for having an ounce of humanity."

Prince Thresan scoffed and took a firm step toward me. "We both know what happened to your humanity, Zian. We remember."

She doesn't. The only person who I need doesn't remember me. "You have given me nothing. I'm doing fine on my own."

"Until Cadice controls you again and you're left hurting her. Again."

"What do you want from me, Thresan?"

"Kace imprisoned King Lius. The lords of Entorre are voting tomorrow on what to do with him. They're angry. Easy targets."

"We are not hurting anyone."

At that Thresan cocked his head, crossed his arms, and stepped closer, his elbow nearly touching my torso. "I don't think you understand the situation. This is war now."

"We haven't gotten to that point."

"You think that?"

"I know that. Do not throw us into a mindless war—"

"Zian, you realize that everything is at stake now, right?"

"The only thing at stake is the Dark Warrior Program. I cannot control myself anymore, Thresan. You know Cadice controls me. You know I'm helpless."

"You are not useless, however," he said pointedly, straightening his stance and stepping around me. I swiveled my body to face him as he walked toward the door.

When he touched the door handle, he glanced back at me with a tight-lipped smile.

All I could say was, "You could've finished Nicholyn in the Garbade fire."

"I could've," he whispered, facing the door again, "but his promised death is better."

At that, Thresan opened the door and left my apartment.

*~⚜️~*

"Thank goodness! You're alive, Zian," Peris wailed as I walked into the room. Her arms wrapped around as she collapsed onto me, her crying getting louder and louder.

I never felt warmth before this moment. It only took me getting kidnapped and nearly dying to feel as though someone cared about me more than just my presence. I held her closer, breathing in the scent of her hair as she continued crying.

The gravity of the situation finally hit me. I nearly died. I nearly lost my memories, my life, the family I learned to love and care for. Though Peris wasn't biologically my sister, she filled a void in my heart that not many could.

So I held her a little tighter and a little closer.

"I love you, sister," I muffled into her hair.

Closing my eyes, I held onto this moment a little while longer. I knew there was an audience. I knew Rysdan, Nicholyn, and Manea were seeing this, yet I couldn't stop myself from holding Peris.

"Don't ever do something like that again. You hear me, Zian? I swear I'll have Mother lock you in a room for the rest of your life."

I chuckled and pulled away, wiping her remaining tears with my thumb. "One of us needs to make the stupid choices."

She lowered my hands away from her face. "Your stupid cancels out the need to make stupid decisions."

Giving her a tight-lipped smile, I glanced back at Nicholyn, his face revealing no emotion or thoughts. Patting Peris one last time on the back, I stepped aside and started toward Nicholyn, who began walking us into a separate room.

Nicholyn bolted the door and gestured at a seat. Using my deductive reasoning skills, I concluded that he wanted me to sit.

So I sat, quietly watching him turn toward the bookcase. Before I could read the title of the book he began pulling out, he shoved it back in and went toward a cabinet and opened the door.

I refrained myself from showing any reaction upon noticing what he held.

"Dialynne most definitely had you followed. That's why she let you out, you know," he finally said, pacing around the room.

I watched him carefully. He movements were smooth—no indication of tension. His eyes, however emerald green they were, looked bleak and shadowed by his low-set brow bone.

"You knew that, too, Zian. You're a smart man." He stopped in his tracks and pivoted toward me, book in hand. "I've had you followed, too."

"Then you know where Dialynne's base is." And he hadn't saved me.

He was willing to sacrifice me. That knowledge hung between us and our shared glance.

Finally, he took a confident step toward the table in front of me, his towering figure casting a great shadow on it. "You have made ridiculous decisions."

"So have you."

"Before you convince yourself that I was going to let you die"—he pulled the free chair back, though didn't sit—"I knew she would let you live."

"How could you be sure?"

"Recognize this?" The calm in his voice greatly juxtaposed him slamming the hefty book on the table. No title... But I knew what it was.

"You broke into my apartment?" I muttered, staring closer at his hands that rested on the book. For a prince, his choice of jewelry was rather dirty. A dirty bracelet that desperately needed to be thrown away was tied around his wrist.

He broke my stream of thoughts with a single word. "No."

"But that book—"

"—was found in one of Dialynne's bases. I had one of her men followed. She had people break into your apartment. She knows of you."

"Well, many people know of me."

I looked up at Nicholyn. His brows furrowed closer together, analyzing me. "Yes, so it seems."

"You know of me only through Peris—"

"You graduated primary school four years early top of your class. You were accepted into the best university in the world, yet chose to go to the second best. I'm assuming you made this choice to stay close to your mother, who was diagnosed with a disease that you threw yourself into studying. In fact"—he crossed his arms—"you created the medicine for it in your second year at university. Your method is now used widely, and even though you haven't attended graduate school, you're referred to as Doctor Zian Austruc: the youngest genius, scientist, and researcher in the world. School curriculums are slowly beginning to integrate your findings, and children in Torth have already learned of you."

"So I'm educated. Is that a problem?"

"I'm curious, Doctor Austruc. You've dedicated yourself to science, so why is this book—your book—so detailed about Cadice and his magic? Why are you studying history, Doctor Austruc?"

I willed myself to stay composed as I slowly stood from my chair. Though Nicholyn was built with greater muscle, I outdid him in my height. "I have my interests."

"So it seems. Your findings are interesting. I assumed you would be useful in your intelligence, but this book"—he tapped it with his forefinger—"is exactly what I needed. And it's exactly what Dialynne found in your apartment. She knows all of this information now."

"That's unfortunate—"

"Be serious. This research into the Dark Warrior Program—What is it? Tell me everything, Zian."

"I don't know."

"You're lying."

And so I was, but I would not give my country's safety over that easily. Coming around the table, I said, "Dialynne does not know anything about the Dark Warrior Program. My mother and I are in charge of scientific advancements in Kandose—"

"This will destroy Thaeleck. You realize this, right?"

"So what?"

"You're young, Zian, so I will explain this to you slower." Now Nicholyn's movements seemed harsher, sharper, angrier. "Dialynne's based in Torth and an island territory of Entorre's. We, however, are based in Entorre itself, Thaeleck, and Kandose. My people would never allow Dialynne to have made it this far, yet she somehow made it to Entorre."

"Then get better men," I retorted, taking my book off the table.

Right as I spun to the door, Nicholyn spoke again. "You are my best asset, Zian. I would like to trust you. Let me explain to you—"

"I will not get myself involved in this—"

"Peris is involved," Nicholyn interjected, his words cutthroat. "So if you want her to die because of information you have that Dialynne now knows about, you will help me in defending my people's areas."

"What's so important about those countries, Nicholyn? Why are you pretending to care now? You're know as the Dark Prince for a reason—don't pretend to care about the people after all your policies."

"I will not lie to you," he said, his hands gripping the edge of the table behind him. "I need to protect those countries from Dialynne. Those countries have catacombs that date back to the age of Cadice. Those catacombs hold information about his magic, which she needs now that she has the Amulet of Torth. No one knows who that necklace can do—except now she might."

"And how the hell am I supposed to prevent her from getting into the dozens of catacombs all over?"

"You pretend. You spy. You gain Dial's trust." He fell back onto the chair and faced me as he kept talking. "You learn all of her trusted people's moves and report to us. You remember everyone she works with and report to us, and we will slowly pluck them down. One by one, over time, they will finish, and she won't be able to get enough people through to the catacombs."

"She has the necklace—"

"A lock is useless without the keys. And in this case"—he jerked his chin at the book in my grasp—"she has a map to all the keys, yet she forgot that we can block her."

I stared down at the titleless book, its leather-bound cover irritating on my skin.

"Think about what I said, Zian."

"I will not jeopardize Peris's life for you, Nick. Do not ask me to do something like that," I whispered, unable to look at him.

"I would never make you choose between Peris and our cause."

"So you understand that I cannot do what you're asking me to do." We exchanged one final glance. As he nodded, I unbolted the door and walked out.

*~⚜️~*

"Zian, wake up! Zian!"

I flung up from my makeshift bed, my eyes refocusing in the dark to see Peris. "What's going on?"

"Your apartment. It was broken into."

Throwing the blanket off, I lit a lantern. My bare chest nearly burned from the closeness of the swinging lantern as I raced out of the room. Nicholyn, Manea, Rysdan, and two other women were standing in the center area.

"What happened to my apartment?" I shouted, unable to control myself.

The new blonde woman spoke, her Entorrean accent fluid and apparent as ever. "Nicholyn told us to check your apartment. When we arrived, we saw people gathered outside of the building complex."

"It was burned down," the other woman said, her features distinctly Kandosian. "Like, completely burned down."

Manea walked up to Peris and embraced her, whispering 'calm down' repeatedly in a poor attempt at comforting her.

I shot a look at Nicholyn, who was already looking at me.