COLE
I gazed down at the two identical golden crests resting on the center of my desk. Their embossments gleamed in the candlelight, rich and warm against the ivory countertop. My lips tugged into a frown.
Even in death, my brother wouldn’t stop haunting me.
It had been a full year since Jack died, and still it felt like he hadn’t left at all. Across Hescor, minor rebellions continued to flare. In court, ministers cloaked their longing for his grand imperial reforms in wistful sighs, using his name like silk to veil the barbs hidden in their criticism of my rule.
Sometimes, I wanted to ask them plainly: Did they truly believe that Jack would’ve ruled Hescor better than I?
Or had they simply refused to see that Hescor’s rot ran too deep? That even their beloved golden prince couldn’
