Chapter 44: Back In Favor.

“I can’t believe this,” Helios muttered, dragging a hand through his hair. “Have things truly gone this bad?”

He stepped out of the towering doors of the Solar Throne Palace, the echo of them closing behind him far too final for his liking.

His two younger brothers followed in silence, the weight of their father’s words still hanging heavy in the air.

What the king had told them was not just troubling. It was the kind of news that would spread fear faster than fire once it reached the court.

The kind that invited panic, whispers, and doubt.

“If Father says it has, then it has,” Kaelis said with a tired sigh. “At least he’s trying to cure whatever disease is plaguing the kingdom now, instead of letting it rot further.”

Helios let out a sharp breath. “Hasn’t it already been bad even before this?” he asked quietly. “We are supposed to be a blessed kingdom. A kingdom that thrives under the gifts of Aurethys. And yet something like this still happens in our generation.”

He slowed his steps.

“Doesn’t that feel like a bad sign?” Helios continued. “Perhaps… Aurethys has forsaken us.”

It was a thought he had carried for far longer than he liked to admit.

That maybe the slow decay of their kingdom was not coincidence, especially when compared to the endless prosperity of Luxaelis.

Gold and peace on one side.

Suffering and uncertainty on the other.

“Do not say that, brother,” Aurien said quickly from behind them. “Aurethys would never forsake us. Our forefathers dedicated decades of sacrifice and devotion to the Great God. That faith does not vanish so easily.”

“Then why do you think this is happening, Rien?” Kaelis asked. There was no accusation in his voice.

Only genuine curiosity.

Aurien pressed his lips into a thin line. He inhaled slowly before answering.

“Perhaps it is a test,” he said. “Is this not the first generation where a king has yet to choose an heir? The golden crown has never rested upon the warmth of a successor’s brow.”

Helios glanced at him. “So you think this is Father’s fault?”

“No. No, absolutely not,” Aurien said quickly, panic flickering across his face. “I just mean that maybe we have been blessed for too long. Our sacrifices pale in comparison to those before us. This could be Aurethys testing our faith. Our strength.”

He hesitated, then added more softly, “And maybe this is His way of guiding Father. Forcing him to finally decide which one of us is worthy.”

Kaelis nodded slowly.

“I agree,” he said. “It does make sense. This is the first time the kingdom has three sons capable of wearing the crown. Perhaps that is why Father chose such an extreme solution. He is taking a different approach.”

A different approach.

That was certainly one way to describe it.

Helios could accept his father’s decision. So could Kaelis and Aurien, it seemed. But the court was another matter entirely.

The nobles would not be kind. The people even less so.

’I wonder how Ezra would react,’ Helios thought, the idea both amusing and faintly horrifying.

He had barely returned, and already the weight of the kingdom threatened to settle back onto his shoulders.

Again.

“So,” Kaelis spoke again, glancing between his brothers as they moved down the palace steps, “what are we planning to do now?”

Helios exhaled slowly. The question had been waiting for them the moment they stepped out of their father’s presence, lingering like a weight on his chest.

Indeed, what should they do now?

’Act like nothing has changed?’ Helios thought. ’Or accept that everything already has?’

“Well,” he said at last, “Ezra is currently meeting the new Sunward Sentinels. If I had to guess, he’s getting along with them quite… nicely.”

Kaelis’s brows lifted at the name. “The cold captain, Ezra,” he repeated, a thoughtful glint in his eyes. “Now that is something I would love to see.”

Aurien looked up as well, surprise flickering openly across his face before he could hide it. He rarely showed his reactions so plainly, which did not escape Helios’s notice.

“You sound almost impressed,” Helios said, unable to mask his mild surprise.

Kaelis shrugged. “I am. I still remember how the last batch looked after their first session with him.” A faint smile tugged at his mouth. “Do you think he’s made one of them cry yet? He always had a talent for that.”

Helios huffed quietly despite himself. ’Oh, I’m sure there might already be a tear or two.’

Aurien’s expression softened instead, his gaze drifting forward as his voice lowered. “It’s good that he’s back,” he said. “And so soon after the situation worsened. Father will feel more secure knowing someone like Captain Ezra is leading the Sentinels again.”

Helios nodded. “Indeed.”

Aurien hesitated, then smiled slightly at him. “And it won’t take long before you’re back in Father’s favor either.”

Helios stilled.

Aurien’s words were gentle, meant as reassurance, but Kaelis slowed his steps all the same, turning a more careful look toward Helios.

“Back in favor?” Kaelis echoed.

Aurien nodded quickly. “We all know Helios has always been the most responsible among us. Things only grew harder when his captain was no longer by his side.”

Helios stopped walking altogether.

He turned to face them both, expression composed, but his voice carried an unmistakable firmness. “That’s not how this works. Not this time. We’re all in equal standing. We have been for years. That’s the problem.”

The words settled heavily between them.

“If Father favored only one of us,” Helios continued more quietly, “the decision would have been easy. But he doesn’t. He can’t. And that is why he’s struggling.”

Aurien lowered his gaze, fingers curling into his sleeves as if to steady himself. Kaelis’s expression sobered, the earlier ease gone.

’Three sons,’ Helios thought. ’And a crown that refuses to choose.’

After a moment, he spoke again. “We should inform our own knights. Tonight, if possible. Whatever Father intends, we will need them ready.”

He met their eyes, one after the other.

“There is no room for delay now.”

Aurien nodded immediately, resolve clear in his eyes. “I’ll speak to mine as soon as I return.”

“Same here,” Kaelis said without hesitation. “No delays.”

The courtyard opened before them, wide and familiar, yet it felt different now. Three carriages waited in neat formation, polished and ready, as if they had been prepared long before the decision was spoken aloud. The space between the brothers felt heavier, filled with understanding that did not need words.

They stopped beside their respective carriages.

Aurien hesitated, fingers tightening briefly at his side before he offered Helios a small, sincere smile. “Be careful,” he said softly.

Kaelis followed with a faint smirk, trying to lighten the moment. “Try not to let Ezra scare all the new Sentinels off before we even begin.”

Helios let out a quiet breath and shook his head. ’Ezra’s smart,’ he thought. ’He’ll scare them just enough to make them listen, not enough to make them run.’

There was no grand farewell. No lingering words.

They parted without ceremony.

Helios stepped up into his carriage, the familiar interior closing around him like a shield. The footman straightened immediately.

“Back to the training grounds, Your Highness?” he asked.

“Yes,” Helios replied without pause.

The footman nodded and closed the door. The carriage lurched forward, wheels rolling over stone as Helios settled into his seat. He leaned back and exhaled slowly, allowing the tension in his shoulders to loosen, if only slightly.

’Now before I tell Ezra about the chaos that’s coming,’

he thought.

A quiet chuckle escaped him.

’I wonder what kind of chaos awaits me first.’

· ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

“Hmm.”

Helios paused at the entrance of the training grounds, boots still on stone, eyes scanning the space before him.

His gaze widened just a fraction before he caught himself, smoothing his expression into something neutral.

Controlled.

Too controlled.

Something felt off immediately.

“Your Highness! You have returned.”

Guy was the first to greet him, striding forward with a grin that sat far too easily on his face.

Too easily.

Helios had known Guy for years.

Long enough to know that joy was not something the man wore lightly, especially not here, not in a place soaked in discipline and blood and routine.

Their work rarely allowed room for smiles like that.

’That’s strange,’ Helios thought. ’He’s never this pleased.’

His eyes drifted past Guy, instinctively searching the familiar lines of the training grounds. The scattered knights.

The worn stone. The usual order.

And then the absence hit him.

The pale-blonde hair.

The unmistakable pink eyes.

Ezra was not there.

Helios’s brow tightened almost imperceptibly.

That, more than Guy’s smile, set his nerves on edge.

Ezra was never late. Never absent without warning. Especially not when new Sentinels were involved.

’Did Ezra leave? What…in Aurethys happened here?’ Helios wondered, a quiet unease creeping in.

His gaze returned to Guy, who still stood there with that same proud, unreadable expression.

“Where,” Helios asked slowly, carefully, “is Ezra?”

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