“Save him!”
Tharion’s scaly hand caught Asher an instant before his body could slam against the protruding blades of rock and gently sitting him to the ground.
I guess he wasn’t sleeping after all.
The next instant, I reached him.
Wanting to make sure my brother was okay, I took a step forwards, but Asher scrambled back… away from me. Shock, confusion, and fear captured him as his eyes fell to my lower body.
Following his gaze, the air was sucked out of my lungs. Golden smoke swirled around me, slowly drifting away to reveal my legs and feet. Horrified, my head whipped back to find that in my desperation to get to Asher, I had disappeared into magical fog, erasing the entire length of the sanctuary, just to reappear a split second later all the way on the other side... in front of him.
Just like the Warlock King could do.
“I’m sorry,” I croaked, swallowing hard and tentatively lowering myself to the floor because I didn’t trust my legs to keep me upright.
“No, I—”
Asher’s words cut off while my attention shifted to Tharion. He stood next to us, looking down at me in the strangest way, as though he couldn’t understand what had us so damn rattled.
“I’m sorry too, Brother,” Asher finally admitted. “I was taken by surprise. I-I didn’t expect you to do that.”
“To attack you or to disappear into a cloud of mystical smoke?” I asked, trying to make light of the situation for both of our sakes.
His lips twitched. “Surprisingly, the attack I expected. I was going to be disappointed if we left this cave and you hadn’t tried to kill me at least once.”
We chuckled at that, but the heaviness crushing my chest soon erased all trace of humor. “I’m not like him,” I vowed, not certain if I was saying that for his peace of mind or mine. “I am not him.”
“I know,” Asher assured, moving closer to grip my shoulder. “I know you are nothing like Raithian, Braxton. I just didn’t expect you to be able to transport yourself like he does. I was taken aback, that is all. We are brothers. I trust you with my life.”
His words brought some relief, but part of me wanted to point out that there was fear in his eyes when I tried to touch him, when he moved away from me. Without a shadow of a doubt, I knew that in that moment, it wasn’t me who Asher saw materializing before him… but Raithian.
“Maybe we should take a break,” he added. “Until next year's cycle.”
Chuckling, I nodded and let out a heaved breath. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m well.” His gaze lifted to Tharion, who was still staring at me as though trying to decipher something important. “Thank you for protecting me.”
Tharion nodded once and lowered his wing, signaling for us to climb to his neck. The magic training session had officially ended.
Too shaken to protest, I stepped onto the talon and walked up the bone slowly towards his neck. Asher followed silently. I didn’t even care that my arm shield was left behind, I just wanted to get out of there.
“What is next, Brother?” Asher asked when we dismounted by the rear entrance of the castle, and Tharion returned to the honeycombs for the night.
Remaining silent for a moment, I considered my options. There had to be someone left who could help me hone or guide me in learning about my Devenish magic. “I think I need to talk to my mother.”
His expression distorted as he glanced at me like I had grown a second head. “I thought she was dead.”
“She didn’t really die; she ascended.” I sighed. “It’s complicated.”
“I see. But first, reading class?”
That brought a smile to my face. “Yeah, first reading class.”
3
“Who taught you how to read and write?” I asked Imogen as we walked to the area that we had used the last few times for our classes. Harrison, Islay, Harper, and Asher followed behind us.
Willow, my usual teacher’s assistant, was still busy with Evie, so Imogen offered to take her place for the evening.
Nostalgia caressed her face as she smiled. “Your father, of course.”
“Who taught him?” I asked, honestly intrigued. “When I first arrived here, Kingston told me that our parents had all been born into slavery, and not even the sentinels were taught to read. Only those of higher ranks, who directly dealt with the royal family, had that privilege.”
“True…” Her smile went from sweet to mischievous, and she tilted her head at me. “Do you not know how your parents met?”
Stopping my advance, I narrowed my eyes on her. “Not particularly, no. At least not yet.”
“Well, darling. All I can say is you are in for a wild ride. Your parents had the most scandalous love affair.” She placed a hand on her chest, eyes widening and mouth dropping as though it was the gossip of the century, and my lips twitched. “Your mother taught him how to read.”
“She did?” Now, that was sweet. “But that is not exactly scandalous.” I frowned.
“Normally, it wouldn’t have been, but she was still the Devenish Princess, and Khayden was nothing more than a slave building the evil king’s palace.”
“Wait. They fell in love while they were still in the Hollow?!” Perplexed, I just looked at her. “I thought it happened after Dad rescued her in the Uprising.”
“Now, now, darling. Don’t go trying to get juicy details out of me, okay? That story is not mine to tell. And yes, I may have said you were in for a wild ride, but not that I’d be the one to tell you.”
Her cheeky smirk returned, and I chuckled, shaking my head.
“All I will say is that, unlike her father, Keira saw him as more than a ‘thing’ to own. Khayden was a person worthy of her respect. The same way she saw all of us, and that is why most of us loved her as our princess even when she was the daughter of that monster.”
“Thank you,” I offered, a sincere smile working its way through my soul. I always knew my mother was an angel, but seeing others recognize that in her even when they knew who her father was felt special. I was proud to be her son.
“I guess the word did ‘spread’.” Imogen’s gaze settled over my shoulder, and I turned to find the small space filled with people.
There were at least fifty men and women there, and around nine kids, which was a harsh contrast to the ten people we had in the past. When we approached, they all hurried to sit down on the grass, some placing their kids on their laps as they urged them to pay attention.
Nerves rushed through me after seeing so many people there. Yes, I didn’t actually have experience doing this, but Mom had been a first-grade teacher before Dad died and I remembered my classes with her. Also, I had to be an idiot not to be able to teach the alphabet and numbers to someone and show them how to put words together, right? Right.
“Hi, everyone!” I greeted, seeing those in the back wave to Imogen and me when we stood at the front. “To those of you who were already with me in the past lessons, thank you for not running away.” I made a face while they chuckled. “And to those of you who decided to give me a chance to teach you something new, thank you. This will not be pretty, but I’ll try my best to make it useful.”