SGE His Broken Heart (Sequel to His Darkened Heart)

Chapter 11 Sinful Thoughts

Japeth guessed all the rulers had finally arrived to Camelot, and now Rhian was greeting them, most likely smiling from ear to ear as he clasped Sophie's hand in his own. Japeth struggled to block out the sound of his brother's voice as it floated from the throne room. There was a pounding in Japeth's head and his temples throbbed as if he was coming down with a headache.

Perhaps it was the sound of Rhian's voice that made Japeth's head pound, or perhaps it was the fact he'd barely slept a wink last night or the night before that after he'd caught Sophie attempting to assassinate Rhian.

Besides, Japeth could barely sleep for long without being plagued by constant nightmares involving Aric and sometimes Rhian too. Plus, barely eating these past few days didn't aid Japeth in preventing a headache such as the one he endured now.

Needless to say, Japeth was a big, fat mess. It's like he'd stopped taking care of himself altogether, and his constant worrying over seeing Aric again and seeing to it that Rhian got all the rulers' rings burned didn't help Japeth's state of mind.

Good god. When had Japeth become so disheveled...so, so weak?

Japeth couldn't afford to be weak. Weakness meant he was not strong enough to keep his secrets. Weakness meant he was betraying Aric, the one boy he cherished dear most of all.

Back in Arbed, after Aric left, Japeth had sworn to himself that he would do his best to remain strong and to not let himself succumb to his emotions.

Boys don't cry, was Aric's go to motto. Indeed, never once since he'd known Aric had Japeth seen Aric shed a single tear. Sure, Japeth had definitely seen Aric get emotional sometimes, like concerned or blinded by rage, but never had Japeth seen Aric cry.

That's why Japeth always saw Aric as strong. Perhaps Japeth even viewed Aric as the strongest person he'd known. And in a way, being with Aric had made Japeth himself strong. Stronger than he'd ever felt before in his life.

Would being without Aric only serve to make Japeth weaker and weaker as the days passed?

Japeth was determined to not let Aric's absence weaken him any further. He had to prove to himself that he could be strong, even if he was without Aric.

Yes. Japeth had indeed shown that he'd been weak through his lack of appetite and his lack of sleep. But from this point forward, he swore he would be a little bit better than he was before. He'd try his hardest to go on like life was normal until the fateful day came that Aric would return to his side.

But if Japeth wished to pretend that things were normal, he'd have to push away his worries about his brother unraveling his secrets. He'd have to attend Rhian's stupid ball and pose as Rhian's loyal liege in front of all the rulers of the other kingdoms.

Japeth braced himself, listening to Rhian's voice booming from the throne room for a moment, before he started forward. He straightened his back and strode towards the entrance of the throne room. Just before he walked through the double doors, he wiped the scowl off his cold face and forced a smile.

At the sight of Japeth, the guards standing post outside the doors bowed respectfully before they opened the doors to let him through. Japeth struggled to push away his raging headache as he stepped into the throne room.

The moment he walked into the throne room, Japeth's gaze roamed past the gathered rulers and rested solely on the King of Camelot. Rhian was seated in his golden encrusted throne, Sophie at his side, donning Evelyn Sader's ruffly white dress that hugged her every curve.

At the sight of Japeth, Rhian stood from his throne rather quickly as if he was surprised to see that his brother was attending the ball after all. Sophie saw Japeth too, and she seemed to shrink into her throne at the sight of him as if she recalled their not so nice chat they'd had two nights ago when Japeth had discovered her outside Rhian's room.