The Sea Siren

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Antony

The fountain at the entrance of the chapel drips water into the basin incessantly.

It's enough, coupled with the wealth of knowledge now at my fingertips, to drive one mad.

Bent, I stare down at the mound of papers in my hands.

"Antony."

I'd been waiting for the sound of his voice all night.

"... Rayan."

"I came as soon as I heard you arrived. I came straight from the carriage."

My voice drips with newfound venom. "How kind of you."

I stand, furious enough that my blood hasn't stopped surging since I read the pile of documents that were hidden in his room. My brother looks every much a king, standing at the threshold of the small private room. His eyes dart down to my hand, his brows suddenly furrowing.

"What is that?"

"What you never wanted me to find, I suspect."

He appears confused. He tilts his head. "Antony, I know you are upset. I know it couldn't have been easy... to do what you did."

"You cannot even imagine what it took to get me to that place... that place of violence you watched me sit in."

"That's exactly why I didn't want you to go."

"Is it?" I snap, shaking the papers. "Is it? Are you still going to fucking lie to me?"

His eyes shift, momentarily lost before he stops blinking, his eyes widening. "Listen to me, Antony."

"No, you listen to me!" I growl. "You looked me dead in the eyes and listened to me speak of my desire for peace, my desire for her! You knew the horrors she'd already faced and conspired with the very man who sold her off!"

"At the time, I didn't know the extent of his atrocities—"

"You did. You freed him from the cell the moment I stepped out of this palace. By then, you knew. Enough." My eyes sear fury into him. "You imprisoned her. You left her with no other choice—"

"She killed our father!"

"No, you did!"

His mouth falls open. "Are you out of your senses?"

I stare at him, hardly breathing. "I chased her, fought her, made her bleed. I came upon her like the devil himself and sank her ship to the bottom of the ocean."

"And her fate?"

I don't need to lie. "She's gone... and you are the reason."

"She was a pirate—"

"She was a survivor. There is a difference, Rayan."

He blinks. "How swayed you have become, brother." He steps deeper into the room, his blade swaying against his hip. "You wish to know the truth? The truth of all of this?"

He speaks before I can answer. "The truth is the moment you were captured, it didn't matter who took you. I was going to find them. I was going to make them pay. You think I care about the past? About what her father did?" He shakes his head. "No. I am not so obtuse. With private eyes, it was easy to find the Siren's ex-lover. I intended to lure her using him, knowing she raided cities for him before and would do so again. That is until I got word that she was closer than we'd anticipated. I knew nothing of what you'd experienced until I returned with her. I will admit... I lied about knowing her lover after you had spoken of his crimes. I knew you wouldn't forgive the association and I didn't want to alienate you even further than you'd already become."