Chapter 111: Who is the Father?

“They’re back!”

“Call Captain Aamon!”

“Captain Ezra is okay!”

“Prince Kaelis has returned!”

As soon as Ezra managed to clean himself up, awkwardly avoiding Kaelis’s steady, strange smile, he felt a new and deeper hatred growing inside him. Kaelis’s constant attention only made it worse.

After another brief conversation about what they were going to say about everything that happened, they were ready to go.

Ezra struggled to keep himself upright, pushing through the pain in his lower back. His headache got worse the longer he stayed near Kaelis, but he forced himself to keep going.

Not only that, he smelled like him.

Too much of Kaelis. Whatever they had done earlier, Kaelis had marked him heavily, but it was… useful, in a way, since Kaelis’s scent masked Ezra’s.

“Remember what we talked about,” Kaelis whispered, a charming smile already on his face as he waved at the knights reacting to their arrival.

Suddenly, Ezra noticed movement near one of the tents. He watched as the flap of the main tent, the headquarters, flew open.

He expected Aamon.

’Here we go,’ Ezra thought, taking a steady breath.

But instead of Aamon’s brown hair streaked with silver, what appeared was white hair. A tall figure stepped forward.

’Shit.’

Ezra froze, feeling his own muscles tense just as Kaelis stiffened beside him. As Helios came into view, worry etched across his face, both Ezra and Kaelis silently braced themselves for what was coming.

Behind him was Aamon, who looked tired and stressed.

“I told them not to tell my brother,” Kaelis muttered under his breath, clearly annoyed.

Ezra didn’t spare him a glance. He stepped forward toward Helios and bowed.

“Prince Helios—”

“What the hell happened to you?” Helios demanded, lunging forward and gripping Ezra’s shoulders tightly.

“I… uh…” Ezra was taken aback, especially with the other knights watching.

“Answer me, Ezra. I heard you were poisoned. Do you need a medic? Where have you been? What is all of this about being attacked—”

“Brother, he might still be disoriented, let me—”

Kaelis stopped mid-sentence.

Ezra already knew why.

He looked up at Helios.

Helios wasn’t looking at him anymore. His gaze had shifted past him, landing on Kaelis.

A clear change came over Helios’s face. His concern was still there, but now his anger sharpened his features, making him look more intense.

It was anger.

And it was the first time Ezra had ever seen it.

“How could you be so irresponsible, Kaelis?” Helios asks, gently pushing Ezra aside to get closer to Kaelis, though his hands remain on Ezra’s shoulders. “You knew about survivors being targeted by child traffickers, and you didn’t say anything?”

“Brother, you—”

“Do not explain,” Helios says sharply, making Ezra’s eyes widen. “I let you do whatever you want. I let you play your games with your women without saying anything. I gave you the kidnapping case because you finally seemed passionate about something, but you risked my captain, this entire mission, and even caused a casualty, all while you could have asked for help.”

Ezra resisted the urge to look at Kaelis because, as much as he hated him, he knew the truth.

Sure, Kaelis was reckless. A bastard, even. Ezra still thought he didn’t deserve to be a prince.

But on the other hand…

“Prince Kaelis…” Ezra spoke, stepping slightly away from Helios. “…made an irrational decision; however, he did it to finally uncover who the kidnappers are.”

“Ezra.” Helios looked at him, clearly shocked, his brows furrowed.

“Sure, we had a casualty. That is also on me, Your Highness. I was there while Prince Kaelis was fighting those men. I was weak,”

Ezra lowers his head. “I share responsibility with Prince Kaelis. I was poisoned because of my own failure. Kaelis only chased me after I realized I’d been poisoned and didn’t want to risk the other knights.”

Helios didn’t respond.

He just stared at Ezra. Long enough that it started to feel heavy.

From the corner of Ezra’s eye, he could see Aamon watching as well.

He observed, quietly gauging the situation.

Assessing.

’Say something.’

But Helios didn’t.

Instead, Helios leaned in just a little, in a way that only Ezra seemed to notice. The gesture showed he wanted to learn more.

Helios inhaled.

As if he was smelling him.

Ezra stiffened, though he told himself Helios wouldn’t actually do something like that.

“You smell earthy,” Helios whispers. “Almost exactly like Kaelis. How did he help you exactly?”

Ezra tensed for a moment, but he already had an answer.

“He… used his blood on me.”

Besides their ability to use sunlight to burn others, the princes also possessed smaller, hidden gifts that they kept secret so they couldn’t be used against them.

Or simply to maintain an advantage.

Only a handful of trusted people knew about them.

For example, Ezra knew Helios could purify anything tainted. Objects, people, even curses. That was why he was the most effective when dealing with Dark Ones.

Not only did he possess the power of sunlight, but he could cleanse corruption itself.

And before returning, Kaelis had told Ezra that his blood could heal injuries and illnesses, as long as they weren’t beyond saving.

Helios continued to stare at him. Ezra knew some part of Helios could tell he was lying, but because he mentioned Kaelis’s ability, something Kaelis said only Helios and Aurien knew, Helios couldn’t easily question it.

Helios took a deep breath. “Alright. Now tell me everything that happened from start to finish. Give Aamon and me a full report.”

Ezra almost let out a sigh of relief. He had the urge to turn around, to check how Kaelis was doing, even though he didn’t understand why.

’Focus.’

With Helios standing right in front of him, Ezra couldn’t and shouldn’t think about anything else.

’Forget about what happened earlier.’

He nodded.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

· ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Kaelis watched, and the fine hairs along his arms rose as he saw his brother looking down at Ezra, almost as if satisfied.

’As always, their relationship is… disturbing,’ Kaelis thought, though he was grateful not to be on the receiving end of his brother’s anger.

Helios had a temper and a sharp tongue.

As kind as he could be when he was in a good mood, he was entirely different when he wasn’t.

Aurien used to be the one most afraid of Kaelis when they were children, and Kaelis had more or less tried to grow out of that.

But most of the time, it was still there.

’He’s matured a lot compared to when we were children and teens, but…’ Kaelis glanced at Ezra. ’I wonder if he knows, or if he’s pretending not to know.’

Or perhaps Helios had never shown that side of himself.

Or both.

Kaelis tilted his head slightly, glancing at Aamon, who seemed just as focused on Ezra, not sparing Kaelis a single look.

As if Kaelis didn’t exist.

He used to care.

Not anymore.

Not when, despite everything that had gone wrong today, he still felt like he had gained something.

He had gotten through to Ezra in some way.

And he had made progress in his investigation.

’I’ll go talk to Ricardo for now,’ Kaelis thought, preparing to step away quietly.

However—

“Ma—Master!”

A child’s voice broke through.

Kaelis turned his head.

He saw the boy.

Lior.

That was his name, as far as Kaelis knew.

’That’s the child Ezra is—’

Kaelis cut himself off as his attention shifted to Ezra’s expression.

He couldn’t see it clearly at first, not from behind.

But when Ezra turned slightly, he caught it.

The softness.

Kaelis looked between Ezra and the child.

’Hold on,’ Kaelis thought. ’I remember thinking they looked alike when I first saw him. I brushed it off as a coincidence because I couldn’t imagine Ezra with anyone.’

But Ezra had said he wasn’t a virgin.

Ezra had been gone for five years.

And the child looked about four.

’Could it be…?’

Kaelis’s eyes widened slightly.

Could the child actually be Ezra’s?

If so… who was the father?

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