Oredison Palace, Gazda.
The evening of the Welcome Dinner.

The crown clattered to the floor.

I stumbled backward as Kai's fist collided with Caine's jaw. Before his uncle could recover from the first strike, Kai had hit him again. Once, twice, three times. Blood flecked the cream-colored wallpaper.

For a moment, I was stunned—too shocked to move—then I sprang into action.

"Kai, stop!" I moved forward to grab his arm, but I only ended up stumbling back again as Caine threw his first punch. Kai dodged it, tripped over my dress, righted himself, and then managed to shove Caine back from me. My voice was shrill with panic as I yelled, "Stop! Please—Please stop!"

I wanted Caine dead. Goddess, I wanted him to suffer and bleed and die. He deserved every hit, every bruise, and every piece of split skin. But I also knew that for every mark Kai made on his uncle's body, a mark would be added to mine. This was a story I'd read before. I knew it would end with my hand above the fire. It would end with me crying. It would end with me begging.

And I was already begging.

"Please, Kai. Please stop!"

He didn't listen.

My back hit the wall behind Kai and I had to lift my arms to block my face from their blows. I started to move forward again, but then Kai was shoved against the wall next to me. His breathing was heavy, his jaw clenched tight, as he started to lunge forward again, back towards Caine. Just as he moved, I stepped forward, ready to block his path. But I never made it. Before I could get between the two of them, a hand clamped around my upper arm and I was tugged backward.

I barely recognized Cohen as he shoved me away from the fight, darted forward, and placed himself between Kai and Caine. Before he could throw another punch, Cohen had Kai shoved against the wall, pressed a hand to his chest. The prince turned towards Caine, ready to put a hand on him too, but Darragh was already there, standing at Cohen's back, his hands held up in the sort of gesture you'd make to calm a raging horse.

Kai's breathing was labored and blood dripped from his nose and onto his crisp white shirt, but he didn't fight against Cohen's hold. He didn't look away from Caine either.

I stepped forward, taking Cohen's place and putting myself into Kai's line of sight. His chest rose and fell with each breath, but I knew it wasn't exhaustion—this was fury, blind wrath.

Darragh still stood with his hands up as he glanced between Kai and Caine. "I do not know what has happened," he said, his shaking voice and accented words coming out unsure. "But I am sure whatever dispute has taken place can be settled with words. Not—Not fists."

Cohen was watching me, his gaze moving from me to Kai. He noted my hand on Kai's chest and I knew, just from the way he clenched his jaw, that he didn't like it.

Caine stepped backward from us, wiping blood from his face as he went. His eye was swollen and it looked like he had a split lip, maybe even a broken nose. Kai may have taken a few hits himself, but he'd done more damage to his uncle. And, judging from the surprise on Caine's face and the hatred lacing his expression, nothing quite like this had ever happened before. Mirren Caine was used to hitting people, but he had no experience being hit.

Kai seemed to sense the retaliation coming because he took hold of my wrist and pulled my hand away from him, untangling my fingers from his shirt with a gentleness that didn't match the blood coating his hands. Before I could realize what he was doing, I was being guided towards Cohen.

Kai glanced at his half-brother, "Take her to her room."

My throat burned. "Kai—"

He didn't look at me as he said, "Go to your room, Monroe."

For as long as I'd known Kai, he'd been giving me orders. And while he always joked that I was bad at following them, I knew that this wasn't the time to disobey. The look in his eyes and the tightness in his jaw, spoke volumes. There was a resignation to it that I didn't like.

He'd once told me that he would rather his father hit him than hit his mother. And I knew, as he pushed me into Cohen's arms, that he was willing to take my beating now. Certainly, Caine was going to break something. If Kai had his way, the person on the receiving end of those blows wouldn't be me.

And that was somehow worse than me taking Caine's punishment.

My eyes burned as I whispered, "Kai, please don't—"

His gaze was still locked on his uncle as he said, "Go upstairs."

"No. It's my fault." I turned to Caine. "I left dinner. I ruined everything. I—I got him worked up. I—I upset Kai. I shouldn't have said anything at all. I knew that this would happen. I knew it would cause a fight. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But, Caine, it's my fault. If you're mad, be mad at—"

"Please. Take her upstairs, Cohen."

It was the first time Kai had ever really addressed Cohen using his name. In the month since we'd been here, Kai had avoided really speaking to Cohen. He spoke of him. He spoke to the air, to the room, in Cohen's general direction—but never directly to him and never by name. Even during the Synod meetings I'd been forced to sit through, Kai had only ever referred to him as the prince. I couldn't remember a time when he'd spoken to his brother—not since Sauenmyde.

But Kai had never needed his brother's help the way he did just then. I could see Cohen realize that too, saw him register the small shift in power. Kai and Cohen may have had a lot of issues with one another, but Kai was trusting his brother to keep me safe. And if they could agree on anything, it might just be me.

"Please," Kai said, his eyes sharp as he looked at the prince. "Please, just take her to her room."

For a moment, Cohen hesitated, and then he took hold of my arm and started pulling me away from Kai's side. I fought him, but he didn't let go, he kept me moving, walking towards the far stairwell.

Darragh still stood between the king and his uncle, but even he seemed to realize that his job was finished. He glanced between the two men, a bit uncertain; before he shrugged his suit jacket into place and followed behind Cohen and me.

I tried to pull away from Cohen and go back to Kai, unsure what the hell I was going to do, but Cohen's grip on my arm wouldn't budge. "Let him deal with it," Cohen said, his voice quiet. We rounded a corner and headed up a set of servant stairs towards the upper levels.

"Cohen, Caine will hurt—"

He shook his head. "Let him deal with it."

As we reached the top of the stairs and Cohen pressed the button for one of the lifts, I yanked out of his hold. I nearly stumbled into Darragh as I said, "I understand you hate him, but he was only trying to protect me. He doesn't deserve—"

Cohen cut me off. "He threw the punch." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. For a moment, he looked at me, his eyes wide. When he finally spoke again, his voice was softer, kinder. "He hit Caine. Even if he didn't start it, he knew that hitting back would have consequences. I'm sure he thought it was worth it. He thought you were worth it."

Darragh cleared his throat. "Does the king often fight with his advisors?"

We turned to look at him at the same time. Cohen seemed to have forgotten that Darragh was even there.

The prince only of Pellarmus shrugged, his brows furrowing slightly as he amended, "Of course, I am not questioning how he handles conflict, only..." he glanced around and frowned, seeming to weigh invisible options. "It does not seem to be the best way to settled disputes. Especially if you're unable to win them. And clearly your king is easily distracted by pretty brown-eyed girls..." His mouth quirked up in a small, teasing smile as he glanced at me.

The anger on Cohen's face faded slightly and he shook his head. "You can be such an asshole, Darragh."

"Ah, yes. True." The prince smiled and gave us a small bow. "But I am an asshole that should probably return to the dining room. I don't want to leave Isla alone for too long—she will get herself into some sort of trouble if I do. She was nearly growling at Kinsley when we left. And we cannot afford to have two fistfights in one evening."

With that, he pressed a hand to his chest, bowed once more, and left us.

The lift arrived just as Darragh made it to the bottom of the stairs and rounded the corner back towards the royal dining room. For a moment, Cohen and I just stood there, looking at each other, the lift open and waiting beside us.

We could run. I could see him thinking about it.

But there was nowhere for us to go. Sure, there were no guards around right now, but I knew that there would be soon. Caine may have been pissed at Kai, but he won't have forgotten about me or Cohen. I expected our jailers would arrive at any minute.

Cohen seemed to come to that realization too because he sighed, held out a hand to keep the lift open, and nodded for me to step inside. "Let's get you upstairs."

Being alone in the palace with Cohen was strange in a million ways—but being alone in a lift with him was even weirder. I remembered our first elevator ride together. He'd been walking me back to my room then too. He'd let me stay in the training room later than I was supposed to—long after my advisers had left.

I'd asked him to be on my court.

Unofficially, of course—since he was the heir and couldn't be on any real court during the Culling. But back then I'd realized that maybe Cohen needed a friend as much as I did. And I'd offered to be on his court, and have him on mine. It was then that he'd learned my ability.

That was probably also when he connected the dots of our past together—how I'd once saved his life after he'd run away from the palace. This was a past that he'd wait a few weeks into the Culling to even tell me about. But once it was revealed, our friendship had been solidified and we'd been firmly on each other's court ever since.

I wondered, as the lift rose towards my floor of the palace, if we were still working for the same side. We'd been quiet since we'd boarded the elevator, but when it grew to be too much, we spoke at the same time.

I said, "Have you been able to speak to Darragh privately?"

Just as Cohen said, "You shouldn't have tried to get between them."

We blinked at each other. I nodded at him. "You first."

He swallowed and glanced towards the glittering city outside the glass wall of the lift. "You could have been hurt. Trying to get in the middle of a fight like that was stupid. And it wouldn't have helped anything."

"Well, you got in the middle of it."

"That—It's different."

My brows rose at this. "Why, because I'm a girl?"

"Because you're my friend." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "Plus, that was Kai's fight. He wasn't exactly thinking as he was swinging. He was angry enough that he could have easily hit you on accident. And what good would that have done? How would that have helped?"

I shook my head, annoyed. "Caine will hurt him."

"Judging by the blood on his face, Caine's already done some damage."

"And clearly you think Kai deserves it."

He huffed out a deep breath. "I honestly don't know what he deserves."

I thought about arguing with him further but decided against it. I wasn't sure how much more alone time we'd get and I wanted information. I crossed my arms over my chest and said, "I'm sorry for getting in the middle of it. I won't do it again. Now," I said, "tell me about Darragh. He's the one you told me about—the friend of yours who promised to aid Erydia. Did he come here to help Larkin or...?"

Cohen shrugged. "We haven't had a moment alone, not really. We're always surrounded by guards."

"But he suspects something is up."

"I mean, Darragh isn't stupid. He can read the room as well as anyone else. I just don't know if he came here to aid Larkin and found her dethroned, or if he's here to scope out our new king. Maybe he's here to do both." The venom in Cohen's words was enough to make me step back.

"Do you think he could help us? Would he?"

Cohen shrugged. "I don't know. Darragh is only the Crown Prince of Pellarmus. I spoke to him on the way to the dining room and he told me that he hadn't been made king yet. His mother has been dead for years and his father died when he was a kid, so Pellarmus is technically being governed by a regent until he turned twenty—it's similar to what Larkin was doing for Erydia after my mother died. But he's been of age for nearly four years and still doesn't have the throne."

The lift chimed and the door slid open. Cohen and I stepped into the hall, our eyes scanning for awaiting guards. When we saw none, Cohen continued speaking.

"He's in the process of taking over, but I think there were stipulations his mother left in her will and he's having trouble getting the regent to put him in power. As it stands, I don't exactly know what he could do for us. Technically, Kai is king now. Before all of this, I could have asked for his assistance in taking back my kingdom. It was rightfully mine since I was the heir. But I don't have that power anymore. If Pellarmus moves against Erydia now, it will result in an all-out war. And that will be a fight the Erydian people won't understand since, as far as they're concerned, the true king is on the throne. Pellarmus would ruin their long-held peace with Erydia and all trust would be lost. Even if it meant helping us, it could destroy things. There would be a lot of collateral damage. I'm not sure he'd agree to it."

"But couldn't Pellarmus move against Caine?"

"Caine isn't king. Any attack on Erydia would be seen as an attack on Kai. Our forces would rally and war would ensue."

"Sounds like semantics."

"More like politics."

"But weren't we already fighting a war before we ended up here?"

"Yes, but that was against Vayelle—who had been a long-time enemy of Erydia. Pellarmus has always been an ally. Our true cause would be lost. Pellarmus would be attacking Kai—who technically has every right to have the throne. No one knows Kai isn't calling the shots. No one in Erydia or Pellarmus has any idea what's happening within these walls. How could we possibly convince them to fight a war and ruin a decades-old peace treaty over what they would see as being a non-issue?"

I swallowed and let my gaze move down the hall, towards my awaiting bedroom. "There's got to be something we can do."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cohen nod. "I know. But I'm not sure what it is yet. I—I'll try to get a moment alone with Darragh, but you know how hard that is. There are eyes and ears everywhere."

We walked steadily towards my bedroom, our footsteps the only sound in the empty corridor. The lack of guards and maids was somehow more alarming than the active presence of them. It made me wonder what was going on.

That fear in my chest hadn't settled. I had no idea what Caine would do to Kai as a punishment. And while I was afraid for him, I worried for myself too. Just because Caine was going to hurt Kai didn't mean he wouldn't still decide to hurt me.

As we came to a stop outside of my bedroom door, I remembered the lock—remembered who held the key.

Cohen saw the look on my face. "I can stay here, out in the hall, if you want? At least until your guards get here," he offered.

I wrapped my arms around myself and shook my head. "You should get back down to the dining room. Caine will know you brought me up here, but it would be better for you if he thinks you didn't stay with me long. He's paranoid and looking for a reason to lash out. I don't want him to aim at you too."

Cohen rubbed at the back of his neck. "You know what the rebels are saying, don't you?"

I nodded. "Nadia told me that Larkin has most everyone convinced I'm a snake and I'm trying to get on the throne. But—But that isn't true. Cohen, you know it isn't. I realize we never exactly talked about us or about me and Kai, but I can promise you that I had no idea who he really was. And I certainly didn't start loving him because he was the heir or because I wanted the crown. You know that I don't—that I didn't—want it."

"But do you want it now?"

I scraped my teeth against my bottom lip, wishing I could lie to him as I said, "Yes. I think so. I think I do want it. I think—I think maybe it's my destiny. Maybe what Larkin says has a vein of truth. I mean, isn't it weird that I'd end up here again—after trying to escape the Culling not once, but twice."

As the words left my mouth, I realized that I didn't know if they were true or false.

I didn't even know what to hope for anymore.

Cohen only nodded slowly, his expression awash with conflicting emotions. "So, when you're talking about getting help from Darragh, what are you wanting?"

"If he helps us get rid of Caine..." I shrugged, "I don't know."

"You'd keep Kai on the throne," it wasn't a question, but Cohen's words held a million unspoken things.

"You said yourself that he's the rightful king."

"I said that the Erydia people believe he is."

"But you don't?"

He sighed. "I'm not sure what I believe anymore." He turned and looked down the still empty hallway. When he looked back at me, he lowered his voice even further. "So, what, you think you can live happily ever after? You think you can kill Caine, keep Kai on the throne, and make yourself queen?"

"Being queen has never been my version of happily ever after."

"But it sounds like that's what you want."

"I think it's why I'm here. I think it's why there was a videra on the platform at Demarti Station. I think it's why I saved your life all those years ago. I think it's why my brother deserted the army, why he wrote me those letters, why he gave me this necklace." I covered the rabbit head with my hand. "I think it's why you gave me that key, why you killed your own mother, why I found Kai, why I came back here to kill Larkin. I think it's why we failed. I think that—no matter how hard I try to run from it—my fate is here. In this place. Maybe on that throne."

"But I thought we could make our own fate."

"Maybe we do. All I'm saying is that I feel like mine has been being made this way for a while. And I'm in no position to fight it. Not without help. So, the best I can think to do would be to either kill Caine or escape again. But escaping will fix nothing. He'll kill everyone in Third Corps. And he knows where my mother is. He has my brothers here."

"And those things will be enough to keep you from doing anything to him, even if you are made queen. He knows that, Monroe. He's got our hands tied and he knows it."

Off in the distance, raised voices were headed our direction. I recognized one of them as belonging to Igell. Before my guards could get too close, I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around Cohen's neck. He stiffened slightly at the action, but then slowly unfurled.

His arms tighten around me as I said, "Thank you for being my friend."

"Always."

I stepped back, taking hold of the door handle to my bedroom as I said. "We'll figure it out."

He nodded and headed towards the lift, away from the approaching footsteps and angry voices. "We will...You will. You're a survivor, Monroe Benson."

And as he shot me a backward glance and hurried towards the lift, I wondered if he'd meant that as a compliment.

***

If you enjoyed this chapter: leave this emoji 😈 in the comments and tell me which TCC series villain you hate (or hated) the most--Viera, Larkin, or Caine.* Defend your answer.

*honorary series villains would also include Jude Kevlar and Malcolm Warwick.

I personally hate Malcolm with a burning passion 👀

My upload schedule for The Reckless Reign is Tuesdays and Thursdays. 🧡🔥👑

For more information on The Culled Crown series and other projects, follow me on Instagram (@briannajoyc) or check out my website (www.briannajoycrump.com).