Present…
The scariest part of that moment wasn't even at that moment when Helios and Aurien never spoke or acknowledged that fight.
It was everything that came after it.
The silence.
The way nothing was ever brought up again.
They never spoke about it.
Not once.
They didn't acknowledge it, didn't even hint that it happened.
They acted as if everything was normal.
Acted like brothers again, as if they'd just forgotten about it.
They still sat together during meals, still stood beside each other during public appearances, still spoke in that familiar tone that made it seem like nothing had ever been broken between them.
And that was what made it worse.
Because Kaelis knew what he saw.
He heard every word.
He saw the way they looked at each other.
That kind of hatred didn't just disappear.
'They didn't forget…they're just pretending,' Kaelis thought, his grip tightening slightly as the memory sat heavier the more he thought about it.
