Corrupt judge. His parents acting strange—actingguilty—as they helped him pack. A whole bunch of little things that had picked at him his whole life, but which he'd brushed aside.
He couldn'tbreathe. How could his parentsnot tell him.
"Bring us some wine, please," the other man said.
"Yes, Lord Nadir."
"Your name is Nadir?" Ender asked, then flinched, because he might be a country bumpkin to most, but he knewthatmuch protocol. "My apologies, I should not have—"
"You can speak freely to me," Nadir said fiercely. "The guards are here to bear witness, and no one, absolutelyno one, is going to forbid me speaking with mytwin brother."
Everyone in the room flinched, but the guards did not contest the words.
"What's your name?" Nadir asked more quietly.
He had the most beautiful voice. The most beautiful everything, really. Ender was finding it increasingly difficult to believe they were twins, because the few times he'd glimpsed his own reflection he had not been even half so pretty as the man before him. Their faces were alike, minus the differences accrued by very different lifestyles, but that was all.
Licking his lips, looking away, he finally replied, "My name is Ender."
"Ender," Nadir repeated softly.
An angry voice came from the hallway, followed by voices filled with apology and remorse. The angry voice did not seem remotely appeased.
A moment later the source of the angry voice blew into the room, and Ender froze, eyes widening, before he recalledhimself and dropped to his knees and bowed low, remaining that way, heart thudding, eyes staring holes into the rug.
"Nadir," the angry man said. "Are you all right? I am so very—"
"How could you not tell me! How, Shafiq?"
Shafiq sighed. "You have every right to be angry with me, and we will discuss this properly, but can we do it later? Not here, not now, when you are not the only one who needs my attention and deserves answers."
There was silence, and then Nadir sighed softly. "As you wish, my king."
"Truly I am sorry, my jewel. This was not how I wanted you to find out. My guards were instructed—" He fell silent, and Ender didn't need to see him to know Shafiq was fighting his anger again.
Ender flinched. "It wasn't their fault! They told me to speak to no one, to keep my face covered, and they tried to stop me—" He stopped. Another breach of etiquette. "My apologies, Your Majesty, for speaking out of turn."
Shafiq's voice was softer, calmer, as he replied, "Rise, please. You cannot speak out of turn when it is your life that I and my guards have so cruelly upended."
Trembling, Ender obeyed, slowly rising to his feet, daring a quick glance up before staring at the floor again. "Are we really…"
"You may look up, you may look as you please," Shafiq said with a sigh. "Yes, you really are twins. It is a long story, though, and you look like you have been traveling all day. Let me call for some refreshment."
Even as he moved to do so, however, a knock came at the door. Shafiq frowned as Nadir went to open it, and servants stepped in bearing trays of food. "We were told you would want this, Your Majesty?"
Shafiq smiled ever so faintly. "Yes, thank you. Which soldier thought to request it?"
"Sergeant Akta, Your Majesty."
"So noted."
Once the food was set out and the servants gone, Shafiq motioned for Ender to sit.
He was having a meal with the king. He had a twin brother he'd never known about, who was beautiful and poised and everything Ender would never be. Who was a royal concubine, the first one His Majesty had ever taken.
Ender didn't belong here, but he couldn't tear his eyes from them, not as Shafiq brushed his knuckles down Nadir's cheek before kissing him softly, not as Nadir poured wine that he offered to Shafiq first before drinking the remaining sip himself.
He dropped his gaze, fiddling with his own small cup of wine, feeling alone and miserably out of place.
