Nik walked through Ophelion's chambers slowly. The servants said she was here, but she was nowhere to be seen in the sitting areas. Finally, he cautiously knocked on the door to her bedchamber and, after receiving no answer, poked his head in. Ophelion was there, lying face down atop her bed, head cradled in her arms, facing into the sheets. She was only wearing a linen under robe, without the usual outer robes on top of it, and her hair was loose and splayed out around her. It had taken her several days to sail back down the river Rubo to the capital, but of course a few days weren't enough time to ease her grief. She had been weeping when the family had officially welcomed her back to the capital.

"Ophelion, my love. I'm so sorry about Meronion." He moved over to her, and sat down at the edge of the bed, next to her. He gently put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine. Thank you for coming." Her voice was muffled by the bed.

"If you need anything, I am here."

He sat for a while, unsure how to proceed. She wasn't opening up to him, or even looking up at him. Damn Cordelian for doing this to her. He couldn't forgive the man for hurting his most precious person.

"I can't imagine how you feel." He started to stroke her curly hair. "I always wanted a full sister, but the girls my mother had all died before they were named. I know Meronion wasn't always the nicest sister, but-"

What was he saying? What an insensitive oaf he was to say such a thing right now! He tried to recover, wishing he could find the right words.

He took a deep breath to calm himself. "You still have me. The others too. I understand if you don't want to talk, but if you ever do, I’m here."

"It’s my fault," she said. "I was so angry at her about the marriage. I hated her."

He squeezed her shoulder. "It’s not your fault. You had nothing to do with it. It's all that man's fault."

She made some small sounds, and he thought she was crying.

"Nobody was listening to me. Nobody wanted to help me. Not even Pel."

"What are you saying? We all want to help you." He started to reach down to put his arms around her, but she shrugged him off and pushed herself off her face. As he had thought, she was crying.

"You mustn't blame yourself. Meronion wouldn't want that." He reached out to brush away her tears, but she leaned back from him.

"Nikolonium," Ophelion sat up, eyes watery and red. "I'm sorry but I don't want to talk to you right now. I don't want to talk to anyone. Please leave."

He swallowed, his throat tight at such a flat rejection. "Of course."

He stood up and tried to maintain his dignity as he took his formal leave. Halfway through Ophelion flopped back down onto the bed and did not look or respond to him again.

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Later in the day Cordelian came to see Ophelion, surprising her. The two of them did not speak much, so she felt awkward being alone with him. She got properly dressed and met him in her sitting area. They sat opposite from each other, exchanging a few polite pleasantries over wine. She knew he didn't give a damn about Meronion or her, so she was glad he didn't waste much of her time pretending to care, instead quickly moving on to the reason he was there.

"I know it isn't the most suitable time to discuss this, but I felt it was necessary to let you know about the status of your marriage arrangements with the Wanax of Amott," he said. "I believed you wouldn't appreciate uncertainty in this matter."

"I see," she said. She didn't want to talk about it, and there was nothing to talk about anymore anyway.

"I am sorry to bring this up now, as I know it is the last thing you are thinking about, given the circumstances."

"Mostly I've been thinking about my nieces. Who's going to look after them?"

"Oh, we have many servants. Theodorian has also offered her assistance in the matter. I assume they did not take the news well?"

"No."

How did he expect two little girls to take the news of their mother's death? Ophelion hadn't the heart to tell them herself, to see their small faces crumpled in grief, so she'd begged Pelagius to do it. She hadn't visited them yet, but he’d said Dori was distraught, although Hera was too young to understand. Pelagius had been angry with her about not seeing them. She deserved it. They'd already lost their father, and now they had no mother either. Hera would have no memory of her parents.

"Have you spoken to your mother? She demands a war to avenge her daughter. She was forceful in arguing this to the Doukar," he said.

Ophelion looked away. "I can't talk to her right now. You know what she's like." Her mother and father had always gotten along well.

Cordelian nodded in agreement. "Yes, the former Empress is a focused woman. Forgive me for saying so, but she could be difficult to deal with."

Ophelion took a long drink of her wine. Her mother had sent word to her demanding she come to the widow wing, but Ophelion had ignored her. Rigiaron had a heart of stone, and Ophelion knew the only reason her mother cared about Meronion’s death was because she was a success. Had it been Ophelion who died, her mother wouldn't have cared. The last time they'd seen each other was when Euphastolon left for Hagiatrocos, and every interaction then involved Rigiaron reminding her what a disappointment she was. Ophelion was grateful for the rules preventing her mother from entering Trigon Palace proper without permission. She couldn't do anything about Ophelion ignoring her, which Ophelion intended to do for as long as possible.

"Well, about your marriage," Cordelian said. "Obviously it cannot occur until the mourning period for the Milem has ended. Fortunately, the Wanax is a reasonable man. Apparently he is a great fan of our more ceremonial way of life, and has commanded his court to go into mourning too. He is prepared to wait, so you will have these additional months to complete your preparations. I’m sure you’re glad of that."

"What? The marriage is cancelled." Ophelion's heart started to race.

"Of course it isn’t." Cordelian looked confused. "There’s no reason to cancel it. We have made promises to the Wanax, and he has already fulfilled some of our requests. It would be an insult to him, even a betrayal, to break off the arrangements now. The ten-month delay is unfortunate, but the Milem deserves at least that much."

Ophelion swallowed hard. "But...but I thought, with Meronion gone, there wouldn't be a point to it anymore."

Cordelian smiled, looking at her as if she was simple. "The Milem did not decide diplomacy by herself, little sister. These are processes larger than any one person. After all-"

"Please leave." Ophelion cut him off.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Cordelian ignored her. "I know it's not what you wanted to hear, but-"

"I said leave!" She leapt up and screamed at him, trembling with fury.

Cordelian beat a hasty retreat, clearly shocked by her reaction. He didn't know a thing. She hurled her wine cup at the door he'd closed, drenching it in wine.

Ophelion began to pick up everything she could lay her hands on and, wordlessly screaming, threw ornaments, tableware, tripods, even chairs around her chambers. The servants fled her too. Ophelion eventually collapsed onto her bed, crying again. She couldn't believe it, even after all this, nothing had changed.

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It had been a couple of days since Nik had last seen Ophelion, and for now he had given up on comforting her. She needed some time to herself. He'd heard she'd chased Cordelian out of her chambers, which made him laugh. He decided to visit his youngest siblings to talk about who would be the new Milem, to distract himself from Ophelion and his failure to help her.

Nik stopped in surprise outside the chambers Pelagius and Helastus shared, because inside he could hear the indistinct raised voices of a man and woman. He'd never known Pelagius and Helastus to fight, ever. He could remember the occasional snippy comment, but never a true fight.

Upon getting closer to the large inlaid bronze doors that marked the beginning of their small domain, he realized it wasn't Helastus, but Ophelion he was hearing fight with Pelagius. He had known them to fight from time to time, but he'd expected Pelagius to have more compassion, given her situation. He wanted to charge in there to put a stop to it, but the strigulos probably wouldn’t let him. All the attendants were outside, which was strange. Usually Pel and Ophie didn't care if their servants – or anyone – heard them fight. He couldn’t hear what it was about through the thick wooden doors.

As he entered the seating area Nik was glad he had decided to stop by, since they could clearly use a mediator. Pelagius was red faced, and Ophelion had been crying, but now mostly looked angry. The two of them were standing at opposite sides of the room from each other, Pelagius staring at her, but Ophelion refusing to meet his eyes. Helastus was there too, sitting in between them. He would have guessed she would leave once the shouting started. She seemed unconcerned, calmly stroking a cat he recognized as Meronion's. She welcomed him while the other two were still focused on each other.

As soon as they exchanged various required pleasantries Ophelion excused herself and darted out of the room before Nik could protest. Helastus quickly got up and put the cat down, which trotted off, saying she wanted to make sure Ophelion was alright, and left after her. This left the two brothers alone in the room as the servants filed back in. Nik guessed Hel had told them to do so on her way out. They busied themselves around the room, getting drinks for the princes and cleaning up. Somebody had thrown a goblet at a wall, spilling the wine.

Nik looked back from the splashed wine to Pel with an eyebrow raised.

The boy shrugged, unembarrassed. "You know how it is with family."

"Why on earth would you argue with Ophelion at a time like this? She's just lost her sister. Well, we all have, but you know what I mean."

Pel sat down, ignoring him, and Nik clenched his teeth for a moment, trying to stay calm. He needed to be the grown up here. Still, he wasn't pleased with his brother for making Ophelion cry.

"You should try to be gentler with her Pelagius. She's a sensitive girl who's suffered a great loss," he admonished. "She's still very innocent, so I'm sure she’s shocked to see how cruel this world can be."

Pel laughed. "An innocent?" He had a slave to refill his empty wine cup.

Nik didn't understand that reaction one bit.

Before Nik could retort, Pel asked, "what are you doing here, Nik?"

Nik briefly considered pursuing the issue, but Pel obviously didn't want to talk about it. At the end of the day, it wasn't his business. Probably they were all just on edge due to grief and were lashing out at each other over nothing. Pel was only barely an adult, after all.

"Well," he said, "the truth is I'm worried about the now empty position of Milem. I know it's unseemly to discuss this right away, but I thought, as Decim, you might have some influence in the Kolonai when it comes up."

"Cordelian is not going to let this opportunity pass by. You're worried he'll put some crony in the position." Pel said, and he nodded.

Pel stood up and started to pace, swirling his wine as he thought. Nik was grateful Pel didn't comment on the selfishness of his concern right after the death of his sister. Meronion's death did upset him, but she wouldn't want her death to be to Cordelian's advantage. This was the best way to honor her.

"What do you think really happened to her?" Nik asked.

Pel turned to face him, suspicion clear on his face. "What do you mean?

Nik hesitated for a moment before laying out his suspicions. "Meronion forced Euphastolon out, away from Cordelian. The next time she leaves the city, she's killed. It reminds me of how the late Empress crossed Cordelian, and then the next time she left the city she died too."

Pel stood still for a few moments, a cryptic look on his face. He glanced over at one of his strigulos, an unusually pretty woman. The woman quirked an eyebrow at her master, but he didn't say anything to her.

"Do you really think Cordelian would kill his own sister?" Pel asked.

This wasn't what Nik wanted to hear. Was Pel having second thoughts about the danger Cordelian presented? Nik thought their views were in alignment. With Meronion gone, Nik needed to ensure Pelagius was a closer ally than ever.

"He arranged for the Empress to die."

Pel shook his head. "It's not the same. Vicca wasn't one of our blood. I'm not sure even Cordelian would kill his own sister."

"Pel, don't be so naïve." Nik said. He had to push his brother here – Pel had always looked to him for direction at times like these, for Nik to lead. "Cordelian will stop at nothing to get his hands on the crowns. If you don't see this then you're going to be the one who has an unpleasant end one day. Or maybe it will be Helastus."

Pel had a grim look. "If you're right, if he has done this, he's crossed a line. I'll do anything to protect Hel."

Nik knew the appeal to Hel would work. It wasn't just a maneuver however, but a genuine warning. They were all in danger from Cordelian. If Cordelian was willing have Meronion killed, he wouldn't hesitate before getting rid somebody with no power or influence like Helastus. The time for believing some kind of familial loyalty or duty to 'the blood' could protect them was long past.

He nodded reassuringly. "Don't worry Pel, I'll protect you and her, and Ophelion too, no matter what it takes."

Pelagius smiled. "That's a relief."

Nik sat down and waited for Pel to take his seat again. Once he did, Nik again raised the issue of the position of Milem.

"I don't know," Pel said in response to his questions about who would be the new Milem. "The Kolonai hasn't gotten to it yet. Everybody is busy preparing for the funeral."

"Why hasn't Fornulus made a decision?"

Pel snorted. "Fornulus does nothing. Losing Vicca and his children, and now Meronion, has been too much for him. He drinks constantly and allows Cordelian to do whatever he wants. Even his mistress can’t get through to him."

Nik turned the situation over in his head. Cordelian was making Fornulus look weak to strengthen his own support within the patros. It was a good plan, provided you didn't give a damn about your country. Cordelian would choose the new Milem, and Fornulus would blindly accept whatever suggestion Cordelian made. Losing Meronion weakened his position and strengthened Cordelian's. The easiest way to reverse this would be for him to become the new Milem, but he knew Cordelian would never allow it. Truthfully, he wasn't a good fit for the role. The idea of ordering the deaths of thousands made him feel sick, and what did he know about the military? Unlike Cordelian he did give a damn about his country and didn't want the position to go to someone unworthy. He wasn't worthy.

Another solution, however, presented itself. It was no substitute for Meronion right now, but in the long-term it could work out even better for him than she would have.

"Pelagius, you should become the new Milem."

The boy jerked his head up to look at Nik with wide eyes. "M-me? But I'm the second youngest, and I'm no general."

"As Decim you're the natural choice. You have experience with the military as Decim, and you don’t have any enemies.” That was because he never did anything, but Nik left that part out. “You're one of the few suitable royals left, and while it doesn't have to be one of us, you know it's preferred. If you ask Cordelian at court, in front of some of your supporters and Fornulus, it will be difficult for him to dismiss you out of hand. I doubt he will anyway, since you don't have the backbone to stand up to him, which is all he wants in a Milem."

"Well, thank you very much." Pel grimaced.

Nik waved at Pel to placate him. "I'm just saying that's what he will think. Obviously I know that’s not true."

Pel smiled before lapsing back into a serious expression and studying his wine again. Nik waited for him to come around.

"If I suggest it, though, won't Cordelian suspect that I'm there as your plant?" Pel asked. "He knows we're close."

Nik shrugged. "It's possible, but asking for a promotion won't be anything suspicious to him. Self-interest is the one thing he's familiar with. If anything, he'll probably think it will help him peel you away from me. You'll owe him, in his mind."

"You know that won't happen, don't you? I'm with you, all the way."

Nik smiled. "I know. But thank you for saying it."

Pel drained his goblet. "Well, you might be right. In any case, it's worth a try. As you said, it's in my interest too. Who'd have thought the youngest son might end up being Milem?"

Nik chuckled. Usually somebody as far down as Pel would be a Primus of some nothing province. Such were the days they were living in.