*Isla*
“Who the fuck are you?”
Maddox’s outburst has me letting go of my brother, Ben, but standing between the king, who looks like he’s about to storm right through me and knock my little brother out the window, I put up my hand and shout, “Maddox, stop!”
I hear Ben mumble a curse word I’ve never heard come out of his mouth before as he drops to his knee. “Your Majesty!” he declares, and I can’t tell if he’s afraid Maddox is angry because he’s not being subservient enough or if my brother realizes Maddox has the wrong idea.
“Who is this asshole, and what the fuck is he doing in your room with his arms wrapped around you?”
The king steps to the side and I have to move quickly to get in front of him. “He’s my brother!” I shout.
Maddox looks like he’s about to shift, he’s so mad, but when he processes what I’ve yelled at him, he stops mid-lunge, and his eyes widen almost as much as his mouth, his razor-sharp canines picking up the light from the lamp overhead and twinkling–not in an enchanting way.
“He’s your what?” he asks me, glancing from Ben, who’s still on his knee, back to me, over and over again.
“My brother!” I say, pushing the king back a bit so that Ben can stand up. Ben isn’t moving, so I reach down and grab him underneath the arm and hall him to his feet. “It’s all right, Ben,” I say. “This is His Majesty, King Maddox.”
Ben makes the sign of respect by tapping his chest and keeps his head down. “It’s an honor, Sire,” he says in a respectful tone.
I am seething as I look at the king. I want to yell so many things at him, but right now, all I really want for him to do is apologize. Not only is Ben my brother, who looks very much like me, should the king have bothered to look before he stormed in, but he’s also practically a child. He may look like an adult from a distance because he’s so tall, but he’s anything but.
Looking at Maddox’s face, I can tell that’s registering now, and he’s embarrassed. But he’s also the king, and it’s not like he can just say, “My bad.”
He clears his throat and says, “Ben?”
“Yes, Sir,” my brother says, still speaking in a respectful tone. “It’s an honor to be in your presence.”
My brother is being so kind after Maddox nearly ripped his head off.
“I wasn’t aware that Isla was having any visitors today,” he says, folding his arms across his massive chest. I still wanna punch him for being so mean to my brother, but I’m also a little flattered that he was obviously so jealous.
“I showed up unexpectedly,” Ben admits. “I had the day off from school, so I decided to come and pay her a visit. My apologies for not… letting you know in advance, Your Majesty.”
I can just imagine Ben trying to call Maddox and ask if he could come over to play or to visit or something. I almost shake my head, but I keep my face neutral. I don’t want to yell at Maddox in front of Ben.
“I’m glad you could come,” the king finally says. And then, he offers his hand. “It’s nice to meet you in person. I’ve heard many complimentary things about you.”
Ben’s eyes widen as his brows shoot up and he stares at Maddox’s hand like he’s not sure if he can actually touch our ruler. Eventually, he gets a silly, crooked grin on his face and grasps Maddox’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too, Sir. Isla hasn’t said much of anything about you.” And then he chuckles, and Maddox is looking at me. I shrug. Of course, I haven’t. It’s not like I could tell my brother the truth.
Maddox seems to realize now that he’s in a precarious position since he has no idea that my brother has already figured out what my job is here. He releases Ben’s hand and says, “Your sister… is a fine worker here at the castle.”
Ben bursts out laughing and I elbow him, hard, in the ribs. “He knows!” I say to Maddox.
“You told him?” The king is looking at me with shock on his handsome face. It’s getting to be his normal expression after the way he burst into the room.
“No,” I say. “He just… figured it out. It’s not like this is the room of a maid, right?” I extend my arms and model the room like it’s on display.
“That’s a fair point,” Maddox replies, but you could have another important job here. You could be a consultant. Or a secretary. Or an accountant. Or–”
“Yeah, my sister’s smart but she has no training in any of those things,” Ben says. “I would believe she was a glorified maid before I believed any of those things, Sir. No disrespect intended.”
They both snicker over that, and I am left standing with my mouth hanging open, offended that they both seem to think all I can do for a living is lie on my back with my legs spread open. “Hey! I can do lots of other jobs!” I say. “It’s not like I didn’t work back in Willow pack before I came here.” I scrutinize both of them.
“No, you did,” Ben says, “ and you did a great job of helping support the family and helping pay my medical bills. I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful.”
I’m not sure what to think of this conversation because he is clearly trying to get into Maddox’s good graces, and it’s never been like Ben to try to do something like that at the expense of others. So I give him the benefit of the doubt.
Maddox is still smiling but it’s starting to fade as he says, “I should leave you guys to visit. Are you staying the night in the castle, Ben?”
He nods. “If that’s all right.”
“Of course,” Maddox says. “As long as your parents don’t mind.”
“They don’t mind,” Ben says, and I feel like telling Maddox it’s because they don’t know, but instead I just glare at my brother for not being completely honest.
“Good, good.” Maddox looks at me for a second and I realize that he came in here because he wanted to see me. He’s probably had a rough day, dealing with the prisoners and all of that.
“Are you all right?” I ask him.
“Yes, of course,” he says. “It’s just been a busy day.”
I want to be there for him right now, but I also want to see my brother, and it’s clear to me that Maddox is not overly enthusiastic about talking to my brother.
And then Maddox spots the piece of paper I’d set down on the bed right before he came in. I’d set it aside to hug Ben, so grateful to my brother for bringing it to me. “What’s that?” Maddox asks.
I had intended to tell him, to explain what this meant, to him, but I’m not sure that’s a conversation I want to have in front of my brother when I know how Maddox feels about Maatua.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” I begin, intending to just tell him the truth later.
But Ben doesn’t realize that, and I haven’t used the mind-link to my advantage to warn him. “This?” he asks, picking it up. “It’s Isla’s birth certificate,” Ben says. He hands it over to Maddox, and I feel my face beginning to set aflame. “It’s interesting because of her last name. Also, look where it says she was born.”
“Ben–” I begin, wanting to tell him that he should stop talking, but it’s too late now.
Maddox’s eyes are pouring over the document, and he’s reading every single word.
I take a deep breath and hold it, wondering what he might say. When he reaches the bottom, he hands it back to my brother and says simply, “Interesting.”
Ben takes it and I can tell by his expression that he is confused. “But don’t you see, Your Majesty? Our parents have always insisted that we’re from the south, but clearly we’re not. This proves it.”
With a shrug, Maddox takes a couple of steps toward the door. “Perhaps,” he says. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go.”
“What do you mean perhaps?” I hadn’t intended to address the situation now, but I also didn’t expect Maddox to be so dismissive. It’s not like I haven’t told him before that I think my parents were the king and queen of Maatua.
He clears his throat. “Isla, we can speak of this another time,” he says. “I have other business to attend to.”
I can feel myself getting a little upset at his attitude. After all, he should know this is important to me, and now is as good a time to talk about it as ever, even if my brother is there. He has other paperwork with him, other items he took from the stash in my parents’ bedroom floor.
“I guess your other business is more important than me?” I ask.
Maddox sighs and stops walking. ”Isla, please. Not now, okay?”
His remarks irritate me even more. “Sorry. I didn’t mean for my very existence to annoy you.”
“It’s not that!” he insists. “I didn’t say that. I just… clearly this is a complex topic, and I don’t have the patience or the energy to talk it out right now.”
“You don’t have the patience or the energy to acknowledge the fact that I was right? That I am from Maatua, that my parents were royalty?”
“No, I don’t,” Maddox says, his tone a little sterner right now. “I just don’t want to argue with you about it again. Not right now. Not in front of your brother and not after the day I’ve had.”
“Argue with me about it?” I repeat. “What’s to argue?” I am still several feet away from him, but I have the paper in my hand. “It’s right here! In black and white!”
“No, it’s not,” he says, shaking his head. “That’s just a piece of paper!”
“It’s a birth certificate!” I shout, and even though I can’t see him, I feel Ben stepping away from me.
“It’s not real!” Maddox shouts, his hands flailing out emphatically.
“What?” All I can do is stare at him. How can he say something like that?
Pointing at the paper in my hand, with a flash of lightning in his eyes, King Maddox says, “That’s not real, Isla Moon! It’s a fake!”