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“What? Why should I do either of those things?”
“Because it’s polite,” Zahra provides.
“How come you can hear me while I’m glamoured, angel?” Alexios asks.
Mouthing angel, Zahra locks eyes with Kassandra, then pushes the long half of her hair over her ear. “Um. Because I’m a special snowflake, sweetheart. Is this a happy accident, or are you intentionally flirting with me?”
Alexios chuckles. “And what if I am?”
“Gratitude, but no gratitude. My heart is already taken by deep-fried foods and video games.”
“What fun competition.”
“Xios…” I look between what is not-exactly my son and Zahra. “What are you plotting?”
“Nothing.” Alexios relaxes, adjusts his gloves, and takes in Zahra’s every inch—savoring them in a way that raises many, many red flags… Coy, he says, “Or at least nothing yet.”
Betrayal
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dun, dun, dun.
Four months later
“Xios, stop moping and get me that bottle already,” I mutter, rocking the ent child in my arms. It has been a singular week since the sprout I had Alexios steal from the dryads gave way to fruit, but already I’m a month behind on sleep. Have children always been quite this difficult to maintain?
After all the work I put into stealing Kassandra’s tears off her pillow without leaving a noticeable presence and then coordinating the robbery of this child’s sapling, I’m on the verge of casting it all into the void for a chance at a full night’s rest…
Like foreground music, the infant wails and wails.
“My ears are sensitive, you royal brat,” I huff before kissing the tiny being’s stupid little forehead. “Xios.”
With a deep sigh, Alexios finishes warming the formula, twists on the bottle nib, and delivers it to me. He drawls, “Watch your tone. There are more amusing places I could be. Yet I’m here. Helping you babysit. You’re just lucky this dryad harvest brought forth twins.”
Luck had nothing to do with it, but Alexios doesn’t need to be privy to all my machinations.
He continues, dolefully, “Were it not unheard of that more than one child be born in a given birthing season, Pila would tear this place apart.”
Pila.
The dryad who met my gaze…and lived. The one unaffected by dream eaters. My greatest hope.
And greatest threat.
If, of course, she finds out.
And how would she find out if she is also this sleep deprived?
After Pollux and Pila left with Kassandra and Andromeda, I closed my borders and erected a barrier strong enough to keep even Pollux and Cael out of my business. Despite Pila’s impressive character, her magical abilities are befitting of her age.
There’s no reason to assume she can show up, shove a cactus through my front door, and ruin everything…
Essentially, I’ve imprisoned myself in my palace with a shrieking newborn. And no hope of rescue.
And my old friends thought there was something wrong with me before attaining this knowledge.
Adorable, truly.
