After the Walls

Chapter 2

RUBEN

His green eyes glint in the early evening sunlight with the same snake-like venom my father always had. Part of me feels like a little boy again. He sits in the plush chair behind a grandeur slab of marble carved into a desk with intricate curves up the legs.

The room smells of lavender. But I can still smell her in the room. Paintings of our father and grandfather cling to the walls to my left and right. How odd. My father's stern gaze watching his two sons. Of course, a new painting hangs behind Edward. An oil painting of his own portrait. He has pushed his white hair off his forehead, but a strand falls into his face. A smirk tugs at his lips. He knows I bumped into her, and he revels in my misery, clearly. I clench my fists as I stride into the room, keeping my shoulders rolled back.

I swallow the bile burning the back of my throat and follow his gesture, taking a seat in the chair before the desk.

"You look uncomfortable," he says.

I let out a braying laugh. "You don't say? Perhaps because I'm sitting in my father's old conference room in his palace. But now I'm sitting across from my long-lost brother, who clearly forced her into working with him."

He blinks at me. "I know it's a lot to take in." Edward leans against the desk, clasping his bony hands in front of him. "I hope you will forgive her. She cares for you deeply."

I scrunch my nose. "Why can't she tell me that herself?"

Edward clicks his tongue. "Things will make sense in due time. It might help if you spoke her name."

He reaches across the desk and grabs the decanter of whiskey, raising his brow. I nod once, jaw tight. He splashes the shots into the polished tumblers and slides one over to me.

"Did you drag me in here to torment me?" I snap, taking a swig. "Or have you got something useful to say?"

He touches the whiskey to his lips. "As tempting as it is, I didn't ask you here to play games. Ruben, even though we have had a lifetime apart, I hope we can come to know one another. I'd like to get to know you. Learn about your childhood. Hear stories of our father."

"I have nothing to say about that man," I say through gritted teeth. "So, if you've ordered me here for brotherly bonding, you will be disappointed."

Edward nods. "I can see you have experienced a great deal of pain, Ruben. You don't trust easily, and you definitely don't trust me."

"What do you want, Edward?"

He clears his throat. "I want us to work together."

I choke on my liquor, lurching forward in the chair and coughing. "You must be joking."

He sighs, shaking his head. "I don't want you to see me as a monster. I'm not evil, Ruben."

"Prove it.," I say. "Prove you aren't a psycho and let Elle go. Show me you have an ounce of decency and that you care for more than yourself."

Even uttering her name twists my gut. I down the rest of the liquor, enjoying the heat in the back of my throat.

"She knows what her choices are," he says, voice low. A shiver spider-walks down my spine. "But I want to build a relationship with you, brother. Even if it's just a surface-level relationship."

I place the glass on the desk. "What do you want?" I ask again.

His stare lingers a moment too long. "I want to expand and strengthen my army. With such an unsettled, polarised kingdom, I want to protect myself from any uprisings. I want to be prepared, unlike our father was." Edward pauses, as if waiting for my reaction, but words have a habit of failing me in the wrong moments. "I want you to become captain of the army. I ask for you to base yourself in the Convex village and recruit as many civilians into the army as possible. Convince them to side with me."