Aurekdel

I took a long swig of the tea as I heard Himika sound like she was about to cry. Hearing that—the fear she was trying to hold back—propelled me forward, blade meeting blade as my senses exploded.

I felt Seron’s pulse charging through him, the tension in his entire body. “Seron, you’re stronger than this.”

“You…,” he said. “You…Aurek… You…took my life from me.”

He swung again, and I barely managed to keep up. I could feel the strength in him as our blades met again. “I never wanted to. You know that.”

“When we were boys…she used to…tell me to do the chores. We got back to the palace and I was your servant. You told me to—to find lizards for you. To figure out where you left your toys. I had to stand behind you. For twenty years, I stood behind you, doing whatever you asked of me, and when we went to the treasure room, they didn’t let me touch the swords!”

“So you do remember!” I cried.

“I remember…yeah. Yeah, that I remember.”

I heard a smidgen of the man I knew in that slightly sarcastic tone—but what I felt was not a sparring partner. It was an enemy. He was on the attack and I really had to defend, or that sword of his would slice right through me. I didn’t even have armor.

“Ugh—” I barely parried his attack. He had me completely on the defense, and I wasn’t sure how I could get the upper hand. “Seron—you’re my brother.”

He slashed toward my legs. I felt his muscles move, dodging. I was getting the hang of this. Maybe—shit, he snapped out his free arm and grabbed my clothes. “Brother? I’m your servant. Everyone follows your whims. What about the priestess? You forced them to do what you wanted. Everyone does what you want. And even now, you wear the crown on your head.”

“You are the king, Seron.”

“And you hate it. Admit how much you hate letting me wear the crown! Admit that you think you’re the superior ruler! You like me fighting for you.”

“I was the one who went before the court and told them to accept you as the king,” I growled. “If you remember this much, surely you remember that.”

I heard him panting hard. Seron didn’t get tired this fast. No, this was a different kind of strain. “But…Izeria…saved me,” he said.

“You know that isn’t true. How did she save you? What has she done for you?”

He yelled with rage and came at me again. I parried once, twice, his strength rattling through me. The tea was already wearing off, damnit, I need another swig. I dove out of the way.

“Seron!” It seemed like Himika threw a rock at him.

That bought me a second to take another drink. I wasn’t sure if I could down the whole thing at once and get the same effect—I’d never tested it and I was afraid to try. I stuck to smaller doses. I almost dropped the flask trying to cap it before Seron ran toward me again.

He grabbed my clothes; I kicked him and spun back around to slash my sword at his legs.

From the way he roared at me, I realized I must have actually drawn blood. It happened so fast, and I had no time to savor that success.

“Shit,” Seron said.

“Don’t hurt him, Aurek—” Himika cut herself off. Even she probably realized it was a lucky hit and I was unlikely to be dealing a death blow any time soon.

“You’re jealous of me. You always wanted to win against me. It was the one thing you could never have,” Seron said. “You wanted to be stronger than me—but you never will be.” Another barely managed block, and then he grabbed my clothes and slammed my body against a tree. I managed to tilt my head just enough that my horns scraped bark instead of my head getting clocked.

But he was still holding me there. I could feel the burn of his gaze. “That’s…true,” I said. “What do you want me to say?”

“Say you’re sorry!”

“About what? Haven’t I always been good to you?”

“You’ve been ‘benevolent’, Aurek. Not my brother. Just my king.”

He threw me to the ground; I rolled, and then I was on my feet again and the fight was back on. I heard Himika making a sound that was scared but also just frustrated.

If he remembers all of this, maybe it’s true. Maybe this is how he really feels.

No. I couldn’t let Izeria’s mist play games with me like that.

But…there is something there.

I remembered when I used to play with the swords and he wasn’t allowed to touch them. I remembered his sullen silence. He knew they were mine, not his. They were the king’s treasures. They weren’t supposed to be for children, but it was my sacred right to touch them, and when I asked to see them, the guards had to say yes.

And in that moment, I remembered a spark of glee inside me, that Seron wasn’t allowed to have them, because in all other ways, he was always stronger.

“Seron…I do remember that day!” I said, forcing out the words as we circled each other. “The day you’re talking about. You’re—you’re right, I was playing with the swords. And I didn’t let you touch them. And—you asked. I remember that, you asked, and I said no. Because you were already so strong, so good at everything. You could fish and hunt and brawl and explore so easily, and I would never be your equal but I would have been so much closer if…” I broke off.

I had always been jealous of Seron.

And he had always been jealous of me.

But when he had the blood of Orvenu instead of me, he took from me the one thing I had. I let him have it because I loved him, but I didn’t really want to.

Of course I didn’t.

“I was strong,” Seron said. “But you were the king.” Seron rushed toward me.

The tea was fading again. I had managed to stay alive. Managed to hurt him enough that he cursed. And he hadn’t drawn any blood from me.

Was I just blessed by luck today, or was he holding back?

Either way, this fight couldn’t go on much longer.

I had clung to this sacred sword for all these years. I considered it mine. Saramu. The king’s sword.

Now I dropped it onto the snow and spread my arms.

“Seron—you are the king,” I said.

I still sensed him coming.

“No!” Himika shrieked. “Seron, no!”

In that moment, I thought, my best friend might kill me. Maybe Izeria had destroyed him. Maybe she was capable of that after all, and I had badly misjudged the situation, and Himika was about to see my head separate from my body.

A rough hand connected with my cheek and knocked me into the snow.

“Ungh!” That wasn’t what I expected. My head was spinning.

But at least I was alive.

Seron kept moving past me. He grabbed Himika and threw her onto his back, and then he turned into a dragon and spread his wings.

“She’s mine,” he said. “I am the king, yes. Yes, and I will serve my queen.”