Return of the General's Daughter

Back at the Justice Hall, the crowd had started to disperse. Prince Reuben looked around. He had been searching for Lara but was disappointed when he saw that she was gone. When did she leave? Why did she not wait for him? The question gnawed at him.

"Looking for someone, Brother?"

Reuben turned to find Prince Alderan at his side, a warm smile curling on his lips. His younger brother’s eyes were sharp and observant, and he always knew more than he let on.

"I saw her leave with Peredur," Alderan added, watching the flicker of disappointment cross Reuben’s face.

Before Reuben could respond, Alderan leaned in conspiratorially. "You can invite his family over," he suggested smoothly. "Then you can say whatever you want. You are now the crown prince, the heir to the throne."

Reuben regarded his brother with a measuring gaze. Alderan had always followed him since they were children. Back then, when Reuben would bully Alaric, Alderan would stand off to the side—never participating, never intervening. He just watched. Reuben had once thought it was loyalty or perhaps fear. But he had later learned that Alderan would sneak into Alaric’s quarters afterwards with ointment for the bruises.

As children, Reuben assumed it was Alderan knowing his place—keeping to the shadows where it was safe. But now, as grown men, he found it impossible to read him. Was his kindness genuine, or was he scheming for something?

Alderan’s mother had been the king’s favored concubine, a status largely owed to her uncanny resemblance to the late queen. They don’t look alike. His mother looked a lot like the former queen, but Concubine Saturna’s build was like that of the former queen. If you look at them from the back, you would mistake the two as twins. Perhaps that familiarity, that echo of memory, was why the king held her so dearly.

"Thank you, Brother, for giving me that idea," Reuben finally said, the edge of his mouth curling into a grin.