When the Sun Fell |✔|

33

King Josiah and his guard emerged from the corner of the hall to find a pacing man in front of the door.

Galexious guards who were stationed on either side watched him, their eyes traveling back and forth in the same direction that he went.

Josiah stopped to take in the scene of the summer prince.

At that moment, he turned, his head coming up to make eye contact.

There was a moment of silence between the two males. The silence stretched out as Josiah walked forward.

"I wanted to make sure she was okay."

Josiah stopped in front of the prince, his gaze flickering to the still closed doors and the guards that stood in front of it.

"She did not want to see you?"

The summer prince smiled. In his smile, Josiah saw the truth.

"I should not see her."

A sound of frustration left Josiah as he crossed his arms. "Your customs are cruel. She is your sister. You treat her as if she is nothing. She deserves your respect and love. Not this."

"Our customs may be cruel, King Josiah, but they are still our way of life. Lumi knows this and I know this. She would think less of me if I did not abide by them. I have already broken it once by speaking to her."

At his words, the summer prince raised his hand, showing Josiah a fresh and ugly burn mark.

"You-," Josiah could not seem to find the right words in him. He stared at the symbol, a shadow of recognition passing through him when he realized that Lumi had the same marks on her own skin. Three such scars running down her back.

"The summer customs say to mutilate your body?" Josiah could barley contain the disgust he felt as he spoke the words.

The summer prince only raised a single eyebrow at him, amusement clear on his features. The look only made Josiah feel more anger.

"I would never tell her to do such a thing," Josiah said.

"I don't think you will ever understand," the summer prince said, his gaze going back to the door. "Our customs. Our laws. Our traditions. They are not beautiful to you because you refuse to see it in something so foreign. It is a shame that you look at the unpleasant and equate it to be the whole."

"Leave," Josiah pointed down the hall, "you won't even see her. You refuse to. You have no right to know if she is well or not."

A torn expression suddenly came over the summer prince's face.

"Is the child well?"

"You have no right to know."

Josiah held his hand out, still pointing and waiting for his departure. He watched the sorrow come over the male's face. The look of accepted defeat. Josiah knew it was not in his nature to simply leave silently. Not if he was anything like his sister.

And true to his thoughts, the summer prince did not disappoint him as he took several steps down the hall, before suddenly turning back.

Josiah hated that they shared the same eyes. They were similar and he hated that he could so easily see her face in his.

"She was going to be the leader."

"What?"

The summer prince stood to his full height, pride making him rise and a challenge coming to his gaze. "I am Dakarai Aumatage Oxalis, fourth prince of the Summer Kingdom, Grandson to the high chief Ikigai of the Utara and Crest bearer of the Court rite. Though I was born before her, I was groomed to be Princess Lumikki Idalia Oxalis' protector and second hand. My purpose in life was to be the hands that held the knife for her. To be the body that stood in front before anything else could dare touch her skin."