Kalon

“Kalon,” he said, his voice familiar but different all at the same time. It was the same voice I knew as a child, but deeper, richer, aged with time. His eyes were searching mine as he slowly stepped closer and I felt myself backing away, my gaze darting behind him, wondering if I should make a break for it.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about, sir, I’m not Kalon and I have no clue who you are,” I lied, forcing what I hoped looked like a polite smile on my face.

He stared at me for a moment, expressionless, before slowly laughing, disbelief coming over him. “I’m not an idiot, Kalon. Even if I wasn’t sure before it was you, I know now that you’re doing such a shoddy job at hiding your panic. Where the hell have you been?”

My heart was racing, my legs begging me to take off. I inched towards the end of the hallway, just about to do just that when he grabbed my arm.

“Kalon, please. We were all each other had. Did that mean nothing to you? I just want to know how you’ve been, if you’re okay.”

I yanked my arm away, my fear turning to icy rage as I glared at him. “Why?! So, you can report back to our father?!”

His jaw clenched, his arms crossing over his chest as he rested on the wall across from me. “I know I was a brat when we were kids, Kale. I’m not ten anymore. I’m just a man who hasn’t seen his sister in a decade. I thought you were dead.”

I couldn’t help laughing at that. “Why would I be dead? Think I couldn’t find a way to survive without our father’s precious money?”

He was the one who was angry now, stepping off the wall, his pale skin going red as he yelled back at me: “Would you stop treating me like the enemy for one second?! Whether you like it or not, we share the same blood. We are both descendants of that man.”

I nodded. “Yes. But as opposed to me, that fact always made you proud."

His eyes darkened and I stumbled back a little more, but I was determined to hold my ground at this point. “What is it you are doing, Kalon? Who have you been working with?”

“That’s none of your business,” I fired back.

He tilted his head, silent as he appraised me, considering something. “You’re not trying to tear him down, are you?”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re not a very good listener, are you? I said it’s none of your business. I have no reason to tell you what I have been up to.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. He looked away for a moment and I glanced away as well, wondering if maybe the line of questioning was finally over.

I jumped when he suddenly stalked closer to me, backing me against the wall. I reached my arm between us out of instinct but winced when I realized I was unarmed. His blue eyes were freezing me with their frigid coldness, his sickly-sweet breath filling the air around me.

“A word of advice, whatever it is you’re doing, you’d be wise to stay away from anything having to do with father and his business. Or for that matter, me. Am I understood?”

His caring brother façade was completely gone now, and I shoved him away just as my best friend’s panicked voice came my way:

“Kalon!”

I turned on my heel, watching as Elyas and Maeve were running towards me at breakneck speed, their faces the image of sheer panic.

“I’m here, what’s going on?” I asked, grabbing Maeve’s arm.

She yanked on me, shaking her head. “We have to go now." She paused, seemingly just now registering I wasn’t alone. She glanced at my twin, and back at me. “Who the hell is this?”

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“No one, let’s get out of here, like you said.”

“Is that the freaking prince?! My sister is in cohorts with the royal prince? The girl who hates the monarchy is with the royal prince?! Oh, you have lived a very interesting life since leaving, huh, Kale?”

I slapped my palm over my face as Maeve exclaimed next to me:

“Brother?! I suppose that explains the freaky resemblance!”

Elyas cleared his throat, stepping forward to grab both mine and Maeve’s arms. “I’m sure everything can be explained later, but for now, we really must leave. It was nice meeting you, Kalon’s brother.”

Kristopher was grinning, a slyness I had always hated tinging his smile. “Oh, but Your Highness. We have met. Don’t you remember?”

Elyas paused, silent as he wracked his brain. I was getting increasingly antsy, wishing they would both just leave if they were apparently in such a rush.

However, it seemed to suddenly come to him because his expression fell, his jaw clenching as a very stilted smile came to his face.

“But of course, my apologies, Kristopher. Good to see you again.”

I frowned, but was still relieved when Elyas took the both of us far from him immediately afterwards. Elyas stopped shortly at our table, slapping a huge wad of cash on the table.

“Care to tell me what’s going on?” I asked.

Maeve nodded towards something, getting both mine and Elyas’ attention. Three people were briskly walking toward us, a woman and two men, all of them dressed and primped like everyone else in the restaurant. The only sign something more was amiss was the unmistakable wrist guns peaking from between their sleeve and their gloves.

"That’s what’s going on,” Maeve said simply.

“Heard.”

The three of us took off running out of the restaurant, using the stairs instead of the elevator. Maeve and I took off our heels to start the descent.

“Why don’t we just fly out of here from the rooftop?” I asked as we ran down the stairs, the three disguised Mariposa hot on our heels, their steps echoing behind us. They would kill us in this stairway if they reached us. We had to stay out of reach.

“No go. They’re in the skies, surrounding us too. We’ll have to escape through the streets. They will be more careful trying to kill us that way, not wanting to cause a panic. But we’ll still have to be careful,” Maeve replied.

The run down the stairs felt never ending, and it wasn’t long before The Mariposa gained on us, daggers flying at us.

“Screw this!” I shouted, leaping into the air, allowing my wings to carry me the rest of the way down the stairway. Maeve and Elyas followed my example.

The Mariposa were only emboldened by this act, taking into flight behind us, gaining even more on us. The three of us narrowly dodged the daggers but were relieved when we shortly arrived at the main lobby floor.

The Mariposa halted their attacks, simply following behind us.

We were heading towards the door when a staff member walked in front of us, pushing a huge luggage cart. Elyas swiftly grabbed it from the man, sending it flying at The Mariposa. The Mariposa were caught off guard, dodging the cart as the three of us took the opportunity to dash out the front doors.

“Use the eaves as coverage! They’ll snatch you from the skies if they have the opportunity! And avoid alleyways. They could be in there too!” Maeve shouted to Elyas as we took off running down the pavement.

We weaved through the crowds of people, making many of them swear at us as we knocked into their shoulders with our hastiness. At one point, Maeve was grabbed by a Mariposa hiding in the crowd, the assailants’ arms hoisting her waist. Elyas shouted, running after her, but Maeve was already handling the situation. She threw herself backwards with her full weight, her head knocking into the Mariposa. The force of the impact was enough to make the man drop her, and Elyas immediately tackled him to the ground.

Before Elyas could cause a further scene in the middle of the city where everyone had already paused their hustling to stop and watch, Maeve and I grabbed him, pulling him off the Mariposa.

“We don’t have time for petty revenge, Elyas. Let’s get out of here before more find us,” Maeve reasoned with him, still pulling him away. Guards started forward to arrest the Mariposa, but the Mariposa took to the skies faster than the guard would ever be able to follow.

We returned to our frenzied pace through the city, fortunately without many other stalls, though a couple times a stray dagger would fly at us from an especially desperate Mariposa. We were running out of energy, and I knew we couldn’t keep this pace much longer.

“We’re going to have to take to the skies eventually,” I said to the two of them.

Maeve and Elyas shared a look, but they took off, ascending into the clouds. I followed right behind them, rising towards the castle. There were still Mariposa in the sky, but a lot less now that we had gained some distance, and it was fairly light work getting back to the castle safely.

When we arrived back on the castle steps, we leaned over, huffing and heaving as our bodies recovered from the intense moment. The guards shared looks, staring at the three of us with concern. Once we had finally regained our composure, Elyas shot them one of his sickening charming grins.

Relaxing at his smile, the guards smiled back. “Did you enjoy your time, Your Highness?”

“Quite! It was very...”

“Eventful,” I cut in.

“Exciting,” Maeve added.