Orphan's Blade by Aubrie Dionne

was nowhere to be seen. After watching her countrymen leave, he couldn’t blame her.
    Brax approached him with a solemn nod. Timber bowed, leaving him to speak with his brother alone.
    A servant offered them a platter of cheese. Nathaniel declined, but Brax took a large wedge. He was never one to turn down food. “We have not spoken much as of late.”
    Nathaniel smiled to show no harm had been done. “You have been busy with your future bride.”
    “As if.” Brax bit into the cheese. “There are too many threats to think of marriage at a time like this.”
    “You could leave them to your father. He is still king.” Nathaniel gestured to where the king and queen stood surrounded by a ring of nobles and advisors.
    Brax shook his head. “He wants to see me rule. Ever since he damaged his knee, he has taken a back seat. I must not disappoint him.”
    “You will never disappoint him.” The king’s love for Brax ran so deep, it had overshadowed everything else in his life, except for the queen. After Brax was born, there was no room for an orphan son from a burnt village. They had an appropriate heir.
    Brax studied Nathaniel with his beady eyes. “You have always been my greatest supporter when you’ve had so much reason to despise me.”
    “You are my younger brother, and it is my duty to do so.” Nathaniel took a glass from a servant’s tray and raised it to Brax. “Besides, I have no desire to be king.”
    “That is fortunate.” Brax scanned the room as if sizing up every noble there and finding them wanting. “We have enough problems as it is.”
     
     

Chapter 10
     
    In the Deep
     
    Cold, putrid air wafted over the battlements. Nathaniel pulled his cloak around his shoulders, scanning the dark moors for any sign of movement in the moon’s silver light. The surface lay untouched, stagnant and dead like the land beyond.
    If only he knew what the enemy had planned. Sill had stirred, for certain. But was it shifting in its sleep or had it fully awoken?
    Shuffling came from the eastern ledge. A dark shape hunched to the side took slow steps forward. Nathaniel’s heart stopped.
    Was it an undead? How did it get up on the battlements?
    The shape approached with slow determination with a distinctive stumble favoring the right side.
    Nathaniel’s hand fell to the hilt of his sword. “Who goes there?”
    “Only an old man.” The figure stepped into the torch’s light.
    Nathaniel breathed in relief and surprise. “My king, what are you doing up this late hour?”
    Bronford Thoridian’s battle armor gleamed as if it had never been used. A slight dent in the breastplate and a scratch on the right arm told otherwise. His thick, jeweled claymore hung on his belt. “Sleep has eluded me. I wanted to take the morning watch.”
    “That is not necessary. We have enough men.”
    Bron leaned on the stone wall. “I have done nothing for too long. The queen keeps me locked away as if I were a cripple, unable to defend myself.”
    Nathaniel breathed to speak, but the king raised a hand to silence him. “It is only out of love. She fears I will meet a horrible end.”
    Nathaniel smiled. “So will we all someday.”
    “But not today.” The king smiled fondly and touched Nathaniel’s shoulder. “It seems like forever since we’ve talked.”
    Nathaniel shrugged, although he had to admit he was pleased to spend this time together. “I try to stay out of the drama.”
    Bron laughed. “I remember a little boy named Nip with a wooden sword who very much enjoyed drama.”
    Nathaniel placed his hand on his brow. “I have since grown out of that horrid phase.”
    The king smiled. “You have come so far and done well for yourself.”
    “That is because someone gave that little boy a chance.”
    Bron waved his compliment away. “I gave you what I could. I wish I could have given you more.”
    Nathaniel paused. The king had never spoken of such things. “I do not know what you mean.”
    “All these years tradition