Free Web NovelChapter 93: Chapter 93
The air in the royal dining hall was filled only with the faint clink of cutlery against porcelain. The queen, currently in one of her famously foul moods, applied more force than was strictly necessary as she carved her food into bite-sized portions. She wore a cream colored gown that gleamed under the warm light of the chandelier, the fabric pooling elegantly around her chair. Her long blonde hair had been braided into a single, immaculate plait that trailed down her back, but even the perfect neatness of her appearance couldn’t hide her brimming irritation.
The silent aggression rolling off her was almost tangible, thick enough to poison the very air around them. It was so potent that the serving girl, who was in the middle of refilling the queen’s goblet, could barely keep her hands from trembling. Nheera was unpredictable in times like these when one moment she might be laughing at a joke, the next she could be ordering someone to be dragged away in chains.
Miraculously, the serving girl managed to top up the goblet without spilling a drop, though her shoulders stiffened with the effort. Relief flashed across her face as she bowed deeply, then turned and all but scurried away, eager to be anywhere but in the line of the queen’s simmering temper.
Azul and Jayran sat opposite each other along the length of the dining table, their mother positioned at its head. Neither of them bothered to acknowledge her foul mood, let alone inquire about the reason behind it. There was only one person alive that could enrage their mother like that and they had learned long ago that probing into the queen’s private matters was a dangerous sport, one with no winners.
With the servant gone, the hall felt even larger, the emptiness echoing faintly against its vaulted ceilings. Despite there being only three of them, the table was set for four.
When the queen finally spoke, her voice was low, clipped, and laced with irritation.
"Where is Hairan?" she asked. frёewebnoѵēl.com
She had ordered all her sons to join her for lunch. Nheera made certain they shared a meal as a family at least once a week, whether they liked it or not. The empty chair’s significance seemed to double now that she had named its missing occupant.
Jayran’s jaw tightened in annoyance at the question, his eyes fixed on his plate. He couldn’t help it. It was like Hairan always had to make himself the very center of focus. Whether it was intentional or not hardly mattered much because it had been happening for years now and Jayran was utterly sick of it.
Jayran’s action was subtle enough to go unnoticed as Jayran himself, the last of four princes, usually went unnoticed by most people. But when he lifted his gaze from his plate, he caught his twin brother’s eyes watching him from across the table, a faint amused smile playing on Azul’s lips.
While people in general tended not to pay much attention to Jayran, Azul, on the other hand, only ever paid attention to him. Azul noticed everything, the good, the bad and all the ugly, hidden truth and emotions that Jayran was desperate to bury. This time was no different and Azul seemed amused by that fact.
"That question," Azul said smoothly, "is better suited for his personal guard, the one actually being paid to keep track of him at all times." He feigned seriousness, but the underlying sarcasm in his words was impossible to miss.
Jayran let his gaze fall as he spoke. " He’s probably still in one of his favorite brothels right now, sleeping off his latest hangover." He couldn’t help the almost bitter tone that clung to his voice.
Azul’s smile widened at that, like a predator scenting easy prey, ready to sink his teeth into his next kill.
"Words spoken out of the mouth of the most pious man on the table with us." Azul said, all the while keeping his smile firmly in place. " If I remember correctly, you are always the one who is usually either late or absent."
Jayran raised his wine glass to his lips. "Then you really must have nothing better to do if you are this focused on everyone else in the room but yourself."
The queen’s knife clicked sharply against her plate. "Am I surrounded by children or adult men?" Nheera asked coldly. "Well? Which is it?"
Neither of them responded.
Jayran and Azul’s relationship with one another had been unsteady to say the least since they struck their latest wager and it would most likely continue that way until the terms of the wager was fulfilled. It was what happened when siblings who knew every vile and sinful aspect of one another’s lives, get trapped in an unending cycle of always trying to best each other.
It was what happened when they found that they could no longer trust each other because both of them were crooked enough to use unscrupulous methods to get what they wanted.
The double doors to the hall swung open, breaking the taut silence. Hairan strode in, his hair tousled as though he had run his fingers through it one too many times on his way here.
Azul craned his neck for a better look, his voice lilting with mockery. "Well, would you look at that, the man of the hour graces us at last."
"It’s far too early in the day for me to endure your abhorrent chatter," Hairan groused, lowering himself into his vacant chair.
"You are late, Hairan," the queen said sharply.
"I’m quite aware of that, Mother," Hairan replied, his words clipped. Then softening his tone slightly, he added, "It won’t happen again."
"See that it doesn’t." Nheera set down her cutlery, folding her hands on the table as her gaze swept over each of her sons. "I learned something very interesting a few days ago. Ragnar’s wife nearly drowned in the pond at Soren Hawthorne’s estate."
Azul let out a short, amused snort.
"And what does that have to do with us?" Hairan asked blandly.
"Which of you had a hand in it? Speak now, I know the sons I gave birth to."
Jayran shook his head. "Clearly not well enough."
Nheera’s gaze narrowed on Hairan. "Hairan?"
He gave a faint scoff. "Why would I waste my time on an inconsequential human?"
"Because that human’s father is the one who—"
"Mother, please," Hairan interrupted gently, his tone laced with weary dismissal. "As I said before, it’s far too early in the day for this."
