She did not turn her head, but her eyes darted to him.

He also watched her body come alert.

Hmm, yes.

She was ready to play.

“I don’t wish to discuss her,” she shared.

“I don’t care.”

She looked back to the river, mumbling, “She’s perfect.”

“Is she?”

She fully turned her head then and stated, “Yes. Have you not noticed? Are you one of the very few who does not think she commands the sun and dapples the leaves with golden rays?”

“I cannot say I did not watch with some awe, her performance at the coliseum,” he shared.

Serena continued to mumble. “You and all of Fire City.”

“Though, otherwise, I do not know her.”

She again turned away.

“I pity you. She’s extraordinary,” she told the river sarcastically.

“And you envy her, rather than being proud someone of your direct blood is remarkable, negating a possibility for you to be remarkable, as there is very little that is more so than someone who could be dimmed by another’s light, having the strength of will and goodness of heart to exalt in that light and shine their own because of love.”

She looked at him again, her arresting face having grown hard.

“With respect, Master,” she bit, “but as you are not in my position, you couldn’t possibly know.”

“I disagree, mouse, for my older brother was taller, stronger, more agile, swifter, and he was the oldest of us all, thus born to be king.”

Her eyes grew round.

“And I loved him greatly,” he finished.

“By the goddess,” she whispered.

“Unfortunately, in my culture, when multiple boys are born to the royal family, it is customary, when they begin to come of age, for the younger ones to be murdered so that they do not dispute or connive to circumvent the ascendency, something that, through history, happened with great frequency.”

At that, she twisted her whole upper body to him, saying, “Bloody hell.”

“Indeed. Making this story all the more heartwarming is that it is the mother of the boy who would be king who ensures her other offspring do not stand in his way. While the father casts his gaze elsewhere and ignores what is happening, the mother hires the assassins who will slaughter her children. That is, if one has not shown in his training that he won’t be a better ruler. Unfortunately for the three of us, but I hope fortunate for the realm of my birth, my brother was extraordinary.”

“You’re a prince?”

“No, I am a Trusted.”

“But you were born a prince.”

“In a meaningless way,” he allowed.

“That’s never meaningless,” she said softly.