KAEL'S POV
"You're lying," I snarled, pressing my blade harder against his throat.
Aldric didn't flinch. Didn't call for guards. Didn't even look scared. He just kept staring at me with those impossible eyes—my eyes—filled with tears.
"I'm not lying," he whispered. "I've seen your face in my dreams since I was six years old. A boy in shadows, calling for help. I thought you were dead."
My hand shook so badly I nearly dropped my weapon. "I don't have a brother. I don't have anyone. Master Corvus found me abandoned—"
"Master Corvus is the one who stole you!" Aldric sat up slowly, carefully, never breaking eye contact. "The night we were born, assassins attacked our family. The Veil murdered our parents, our guards, everyone. Loyal servants saved me, but you... you vanished. They searched everywhere. Found nothing."
"Stop it." My voice cracked. "You're trying to confuse me. It's a trick."
"Look at my face, Kael." He said my name like he'd always known it. Like he'd been saving it in his heart for years. "Look at your own face and tell me this is a trick."
I couldn't. Because everything about him matched me perfectly. Not just features, but the small things. The way his left eyebrow raised slightly higher than his right. The tiny gap between his front teeth. The scar above his eyebrow from—
"How did you get that scar?" I demanded suddenly.
Aldric touched it automatically. "I don't know. I've always had it. My guardian said I was born with it, but that doesn't make sense."
Ice flooded my veins. I'd gotten my scar at age eight during training. Cut myself on a practice blade. But if Aldric had the same scar in the same place...
"Twins," I breathed. "We're twins."
"Yes." Aldric's tears spilled over. "I felt it the moment you entered my room. Like part of my soul woke up after sleeping forever."
I stumbled backward, my blade finally lowering. My brain couldn't process this. Couldn't fit it into everything I knew about myself. About my life.
"Master Corvus said I was worthless," I heard myself say. "That he was the only one who wanted me. That without the Veil, I'd be dead in a gutter somewhere."
"He lied." Aldric's voice turned hard with anger. "He stole you to make you into a weapon. To turn you against your own family. Against me."
The room spun. Eighteen years. Eighteen years of training, bleeding, killing. Eighteen years of believing I was nothing. That pain was love. That obedience was survival.
All lies?
"Why?" The word tore from my throat. "Why would he do that?"
"Because you're a Thornhaven prince." Aldric stood slowly, hands open and empty. "Our family ruled justly. Helped common people. That threatened the Empire's power. So they hired the Veil to destroy us. But just killing us wasn't enough for Master Corvus. He wanted to twist the knife. Take our own son and raise him to destroy everything we built."
Each word hit me like a physical blow. My knees felt weak. My chest hurt like someone was crushing it.
"I was supposed to kill you tonight," I whispered.
"I know." Aldric took a step closer. "But you didn't. Because somewhere deep inside, you recognized me. You felt what I felt—that we belong together."
"Stop." I pressed my hands against my head, trying to block out his words. "I can't—this isn't—I need to think."
"Kael—"
"Don't!" I backed toward the window. "Don't come closer. I could still kill you. I should kill you. That's what I'm for. That's what I am."
"No." Aldric's voice was soft but firm. "You're my brother. You're a prince. You're someone who was hurt and lied to, but that doesn't define you. You get to choose who you are now."
Choose? I'd never chosen anything in my life. Every decision was made for me. Every path laid out by Master Corvus's orders.
The freedom in Aldric's words terrified me more than any battlefield.
Footsteps pounded in the hallway outside. Someone had heard us talking. Guards were coming.
"Please," Aldric said urgently. "Don't run. Stay and let me explain everything. Let me show you the truth about our family. About who you really are."
My shadow magic surged, ready to dissolve me into darkness and carry me far away from this nightmare.
But I looked at Aldric's face one more time. Saw my own features filled with hope instead of hate. Saw what I could have been if Master Corvus hadn't stolen me.
Saw a brother who'd never stopped loving me, even when he thought I was dead.
The door burst open.
A woman exploded into the room like a winter storm, ice daggers already flying from her hands. She was beautiful and deadly, with hair like moonlight and eyes like green fire.
"Get away from him!" she screamed at me.
I dodged, shadows swallowing me, reappearing by the window. The woman—Seraphina Vale, had to be—put herself between me and Aldric, more ice weapons forming in her palms.
"Sera, no!" Aldric grabbed her arm. "Don't hurt him!"
"He's an assassin!" She didn't take her eyes off me. "I knew something felt wrong tonight. My instincts never lie."
More guards crashed through the door, weapons drawn. I was surrounded. Trapped. Every trained instinct screamed at me to fight or flee.
But Aldric stepped in front of Seraphina, hands raised toward me in peace.
"Everyone stand down," he commanded. His voice carried absolute authority. "This is my twin brother, Kael. He's not our enemy."
"He has a blade!" Seraphina argued. "He was standing over you while you slept!"
"I know." Aldric never looked away from me. "But he didn't kill me. Did you, brother?"
That word again. Brother. It felt like a key unlocking chains I didn't know I wore.
"No," I admitted quietly. "I didn't."
"Because you couldn't." Aldric smiled through his tears. "Because blood calls to blood. Because somewhere in your heart, you knew the truth."
Seraphina made a frustrated noise. "Aldric, this is insane. He could be lying. Could be a trick—"
"It's not a trick." Aldric touched his own face, then gestured to mine. "Look at him, Sera. Really look."
She did. Her eyes widened with shock. "Gods above," she breathed. "He's... you're..."
"Identical," I finished. "Down to scars we shouldn't share."
The room fell silent except for everyone's heavy breathing. Ten weapons pointed at me. One brother who believed in me. One woman who looked like she might kill me anyway just to be safe.
And me, standing at a crossroads I never knew existed.
"I came here to murder you," I told Aldric honestly. "That was my mission. My purpose."
"I know," he said gently.
"Master Corvus will kill me for failing. He doesn't forgive failure."
"Then don't go back to him." Aldric took another step forward, ignoring Seraphina's warning hiss. "Stay here. Stay with me. Let me show you what family really means."
My throat closed up. I wanted to say yes. Wanted it so badly it physically hurt.
But Master Corvus's voice echoed in my skull: "You are mine. You will always be mine."
"I—" I started.
Then I felt it. A cold, familiar presence brushing against my mind. Master Corvus's magic, checking on me from miles away. He did this sometimes, making sure his weapons hadn't broken.
He'd know I'd failed. He'd know I'd hesitated.
And he'd come for me.
"He knows," I gasped. "Master Corvus knows I didn't kill you. He's watching me right now."
Aldric's face went pale. "Then we don't have much time."
"Time for what?"
"To decide." He held out his hand to me. "Stay and fight beside me as my brother, or run and spend your life as his slave. Choose, Kael. Right now. Because in five minutes, the Veil will be coming for both of us."
His hand hung in the air between us.
My freedom. My chains. My future.
All depending on what I did next.