Page 45 of Sands of Atonement

He could have been an angel in another lifetime.

“I know you’re not here to let me go, so out with it. What do you want?” My voice came out quieter and softer than I would have liked, but here I was.

Casimir uncrossed his arms from his chest. “Despite what you think, I’m not the one keeping you here.”

“I beg to differ.” So Casimir didn’t know I escaped for the moment. “Your body is currently the only thing keeping me from walking out of this chamber.”

Maybe I couldn’t take Ezra down, but I could probably with Casimir.

My eyes grazed over him. He had a slightly smaller frame than Ezra, but that could mean he was faster. And why was Ezra so big? Why did he have to be a fighter—like a low-paying warrior? It made no sense. Ezra should look like Casimir. Built, but not that built. Sophisticated and… pleasant to look at. Not like a complete savage.

Casimir wasn’t a threat, but… I shook my head slightly. He wasn’t the one who killed my family. I knew that. It was impossible for Casimir to do that. I didn’t want to waste my time and energy on him.

“You haven’t changed a bit.” He chuckled.

He was wrong. I had changed so much. I barely knew who I was at my core. But I wouldn’t waste my breath arguing with him on things he didn’t need to know.

I frowned. “What do you want?”

“I’m just checking in on my beloved.”

My heart beat a little faster. I remained calm and cool. “Stop calling me that. I am not your beloved or your betrothed, and we’re not getting married. You and your family made sure of that.”

Casimir’s head fell back, and he let out a full belly laugh. “It was always easy to ruffle your feathers.” He winked as he leaned against the doorframe. “God, I missed you.”

Heat flushed into my cheeks. I couldn’t feel the skin my nails dug into anymore.

“I’m here because I’m tired of war, Eshe. We thought we had moved past this eight years ago. What changed?”

“You mean before my family died?” My brow furrowed deeper. What drugs was he on? The rumors in Urnaz said Casimir was a party animal—a flirt, but this level of stupidity didn’t add up.

“No, after—with your brother.” Casimir’s brows crossed as well. He looked at me as if I were losing my mind. Maybe in the same way I was looking at him.

My brother? My brothers had died.

My heart now pounded against my ribcage, and I snapped, “What do you mean with my brother, Casimir? No more playing games!”

“I’m not playing games! Your brother, Kavid!” His chin jutted forward. “The current Qahl of Zyriah? We talked about this already! We decided it was best to move forward.”

The dark orange rug beneath me nearly swept me off my feet. The walls began to squeeze closer to me, threatening to pull every ounce of air from my lungs.

I felt the heat from my cheeks fall.

Casimir’s eyes grew wider. “Eshe, are you all right?” He took a step forward, almost in comfort, but I stepped back. “You knew that he’s alive, right?”

I was sucked into a different world. A world where I’d been gone for so long, focused only on revenge, that I had no idea what had happened back home. How could I not have known? How could Salazar not have known?

Maybe he did know. Maybe he was the reason why I didn’t know my brother was alive.

My God, Salazar was heading there right now. What would he make of all this?

Casimir now stood in front of me, catching me. I hadn’t realized I had been falling forward. His arms were warm and steady around me. I was so confused. What was happening?

“How did he survive?”

Casimir sat me down and filled me in on how Kavid had survived the attack after several days of people searching through ash and flesh that had finally fallen on the palace. Kavid was taken until it was deemed safe for him to show the people he was alive and that he was the new successor. When Kavid became Qahl, he went by another name for his safety. By that time, Salazar had taken me far away into safety.

“Where have you been this entire time? Under a rock?” We chose to sit on the two gold-threaded ottomans near the fireplace while he shared the news.