The Brother in Hiding

"Alive?" I repeated. My voice barely sounded like mine. "You mean—I had a brother this whole time?"

Riven nodded once, solemn. "You were children when it happened. He was barely seven, you five. The night of the fire, your nursemaid hid you both, but only managed to smuggle one child out."

"Me."

"Yes," he said. "She stayed behind with your brother… thinking she'd buy you enough time."

I pressed my hand to the wall to steady myself. "And he survived?"

"Somehow. A servant loyal to your mother found him, wounded, half-burned, but breathing. They fled the kingdom. Raised him in the east under a false name."

I blinked through the sting in my eyes. All this time, I thought I was alone.

"Why are you telling me this now?" I asked. "Why not sooner?"

"Because it's no longer safe to keep it hidden. The court has caught whispers. There are rumors spreading. Someone saw him. Someone recognized the eyes of Thalor."

My breath caught.

"And if they find him before I do?" I asked, dread pooling in my stomach.

"They won't," Riven said, his voice sharp now, protective. "Not if we get to him first. But we have to move fast. I've already sent word to our old allies."

"Allies?" I echoed. "I thought my family was erased. Burned out of the world."

Riven gave a grim smile. "Not everyone forgets, Milena. Some just wait."

A thousand thoughts raced through me. But one thing rose above the rest.

I was no longer the last.

I wasn't fighting this war alone.

And if my brother was alive… then I would find him.

No matter what it cost me.