Chapter Five: Old Wounds
"Not now, Orrisian," Nyxmaris gave him a glare.
"Why not?"
"Look at her…Nadeira needs to rest first and process it all."
"What did he mean by it?" She finally chipped in.
"Nothing that you would need to worry about now. You're hungry, let's get you some food first." Caspian placed his hands on her shoulders and led her to the dining room.
"Wow!" Her eyes glowed like stars. "This is all for us?" Nadeira couldn't believe it.
"Yes. Enjoy."
The table was long, and plates of fruits and roasted fish spread out like an offering.
"Isn't fish supposed to be your cousin?"
An awkward silence stretched between them.
"I'm sorry, but what is that supposed to mean?" Orrisian loooked at his mate.
"I mean…you're half fish, and you're going to eat your cousins?"
"This girl…" Nyxmaris covered his mouth from disbelief.
"Can you just eat first?" Caspian looked at his brothers, knowing exactly what they all thought.
"Fine…but it's still strange." Nadeira sat near the middle, picking at a pear slice, pretending not to notice how three pairs of eyes never strayed far from her…
She could feel the tide pulling her in.
Nyxmaris leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers lazily against the wood. "So, storm," he started casually, "do you always frown at food, or only ours?"
She glared at him. "I don't frown."
"You do," Orrisian interrupted calmly. "As if every bite might poison you."
Her grip tightened on the fork. "Old habits."
Caspian's voice came suddenly. "Habits born from where?"
The question slid too smoothly, like silk over a blade. She looked up, finding his deep blue eyes on her.
Nadeira moved her shoulders uncomfortably. "It doesn't matter."
Nyxmaris smirked, though his tone softened. "It matters to us. You sit at our table now. If someone ever dared poison you, we'd gut them."
"Lovely," she muttered, stabbing her pear slice.
The silence returned, but it wasn't empty. It was pressing on her chest.
Nadeira caught Orrisian's gaze then, silver bright, almost apologetic.
He opened his mouth, but Caspian gave him a sharp look, that was more like a warning.
Nyxmaris tilted his head in the same direction, his grin faded. Orrisian cleared his throat, looking away as if he'd said something wrong.
Nadeira narrowed her eyes. "What was that?"
"Nothing," Orrisian said quickly.
Her suspicion grew, but so did her irritation. "You three are terrible liars."
Nyxmaris leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand. "Then let us be honest. We want to know you. All of you. Not just the sharp tongue you throw at us."
Her lips pressed together. "Why?"
Caspian softened his voice. "Because you carry shadows, and shadows have weight. Alone, they drown you. But shared…" He paused, eyes holding hers. "Shared, they weaken."
Something inside her chest twisted. She wanted to laugh, to call it dramatic. Instead, the words lodged in her throat.
Nyxmaris lifted his head. "Or perhaps you're afraid. Afraid we'll see how badly you were betrayed."
Her hand froze halfway to her mouth.
His smirk was gentle this time, almost coaxing…"Who was he, storm? Who broke that heart you guard like a fortress?"
She hated how her chest ached, how her eyes burned. "It doesn't matter."
"It matters. To us, it matters." Caspian came closer.
And just like that, her defenses cracked. The words slipped out before she could stop them.
"Levius."
The name felt like poison on her tongue.
Nyxmaris' smile disappeared immediately. "Crown Prince Levius?"
She nodded, fingers tightened around her fork until her knuckles turned white. "I was engaged to him. He… he said he loved me. He promised he'd help me escape my father, that he'd take me far away. I believed him. I believed every word."
Nadeira's voice broke like a glass into a million pieces. She shoved the fork down and pressed her hands against her eyes.
"And then I found out. It was all a lie. He was never going to save me. He just wanted to know what I thought about my family. He wanted to use me. And I—" Her breath hitched. "I was a fool."
Another moment of painful silence followed.
Then Nyxmaris' started speaking up. "He was never going to save you. He was probing. Testing. Hoping you'd spill your family's secrets."
Her head snapped up, eyes widened. "No… he-"
"He was," Caspian nodded firmly, no hesitation in his voice. "Men like him do not love. They strategize. They manipulate. You were his sheep."
Orrisian's tone was quieter, but no less certain. "He wanted information. That was his goal."
Nadeira's chest was constricted. For years, she had tried to believe Levius had simply been weak, too afraid to go through with their plan.
But hearing it spoken aloud…he had never planned to help at all… it felt like a knife twisting inside her.
Her breath came shaky. "So he never cared. Not once."
"Not once," Nyxmaris echoed, his violet eyes burned like lava. "And for that, he deserves drowning."
Her laugh was broken, bitter. "You speak like killing him would fix anything."
"It would," Nyxmaris replies darkly.
Caspian's voice steadied the room again. "His betrayal does not define you. It defines him."
But Nadeira couldn't stop the tears now. They slid hot down her cheeks, dripping onto her hands. She buried her face in them, shoulders started shaking.
For years Nadeira had swallowed it down, forced herself not to break. But tonight, under their gazes, the walls cracked.
She gasped, words started tumbling. "And then there's my mother."
Nadeira's chest heaved…She dragged her hands down her face, her eyes turned red.
"She was… beautiful. Very beautiful. He saw her when she was young. A lady with dreams. He seduced her, tricked her into his bed. And then he took me. He took me away from her. I never saw her smile again."
Her body shook as the memories clawed back. "She tried to fight. She wanted me. She wanted her child. But he forced me to live in his house. With his wife, and their children. Like I was a stain to be hidden."
She bit down on her lip until it bled. "And then… and then he poisoned her. It was probably…Every day, until she wasted away. No one would believe me if I'd complain."
Her words ended in a sob. Nadeira folded forward, arms wrapped around herself, as if she could hold herself together.
The princes didn't move at first. They just watched, furiously.
Orrisian's eyes looked like steel. "He murdered your mother."
Nadeira nodded, choking on the word. "Yes."
Nyxmaris' fists clenched on the table. "If he were here, I would rip him apart."
Caspian's tone shook with quiet rage. "A man who poisons his own love… does not deserve the title of man."
Nadeira laughed through her tears. "And yet he thrives. He thrives while she lies in the ground. While I…" She pressed her hand to her chest, shaking. "While I rot in memories."
Nyxmaris pushed back his chair, rising slowly. He walked around the table until he stood beside her.
Without asking, he crouched down, catching her trembling hands in his. His touch felt so warm, grounding.
"You will not rot," he stated fiercely. "You will burn. You will rise. And he will choke on the ashes."
Caspian leaned forward as well. "We will not let his sins crush you. Not anymore."
Orrisian finally joined, but quieter than the rest. "He stole your mother. He stole your freedom. He will not steal your future."
The words wrapped around her yet strangely comforting. She wiped her face with shaking hands, swallowing down sobs.
"You talk like I can be saved," Nadeira whispered.
"You can," Caspian said.
"You will," Orrisian added.
Nyxmaris' grip tightened around her hands. "And we'll make sure of it."
For the first time in years, Nadeira believed it. Just a little.
"The prince, your step family…and your father, Nadeira…we will kill them all for you."