Sea of Glass ✔️

Chapter 33 - Where it Hurts

Elio's gold eyes stared at me coldly from within the jar, scrutinizing me as I examined a map of Cinervel. The island was slightly smaller in area than Myrania, but longer in width. If I were to lead a campaign to conquer the territory, my men would need to be prepared for a long journey.

The keyword being "if." I still hadn't agreed to my father's plans, but he also hadn't asked for my consent to rush into battle again.

It didn't feel right. While Elio hadn't exactly been my friend, he was far from being my enemy. In my eyes, Cinervel still belonged to him and his family. It was his inheritance and responsibility. I did nothing to deserve it, especially since I was partly responsible for his demise. But no one in Myrania knew that. As far as they were concerned, I was still a hero.

I didn't know if I still wanted to be one since remaining Myrania's savior meant doing something wrong. I contrived to think of a way around my predicament, to be the closest thing to pure as fate would allow. I accompanied the King and Queen to trade negotiations and chatted endlessly with advisors about constructing grander cities. I spoke with engineers about building more roads and setting up more schools so that even our lowest peasants would be mistaken for patricians in other lands. Anything to avoid going to war.

I even involved myself in Dahlia's dalliances, giving more importance to the tangle of soulmates than either of my cousins expected.

Our elders decreed that she only deserved one of her soulmates. Having two was "greedy" even if Anhel had created the three of them to be bonded for the rest of their lives. So what was their brilliant solution to the dilemma?

To have them duel to the death. What better way to correct the imbalance than to have the imbalance correct itself?

I sat in the front row of the spectacle, legs crossed while waiting for the fight to start. My cousins sat next to me, Dahlia beside herself with anxiety and Vera already covering her eyes from the violence that had yet to happen. The elders of the royal court were acting absurdly, but they certainly knew how to put on a show. It was my uncle, Dahlia's father, who gave the soulmates their armor and weapons after all.

"I didn't want to choose between them," she confided. "And now there's a chance I may not have either of them!"

"You were never supposed to choose. Don't worry. It's not your fault," I said.

"If I hadn't gone to the effort to track them down, we would all be living our lives separately and peacefully. I do bear some responsibility for this mess."

"Not that she isn't grateful for Anhel's gifts," Vera hastily added. "She loves them so much that she's lost sleep over harm coming to their heads."

It was then that I noticed the dark circles beneath her eyes which she had artfully colored with flesh-colored paint. There were slight tremors in her hands, no doubt stress-induced.

"Do you love them?" I turned toward her.

"I do."

"Then you have nothing to worry about."

My cousins were in for a treat, although I wanted to keep my scheme a surprise. Rest assured, neither of Dahlia's soulmates was going to meet their ends today.

"You have that look in your eyes," Dahlia said, catching on.

"She's got that smile too, the one she gets when she's hiding something," Vera noticed.

"I think you should wait for the fight to start." I left it at that, careful not to give any more details away. But my plotting put them at ease and they relaxed against the backs of their chairs.