Ryan stared at his brother, the man he had grown up with, played with, and, in his own way, always loved. The boy whose quiet moods he had never truly understood was now revealed as a monster, a creature forged in a crucible of trauma so profound it had twisted his very soul. Every murder, every conspiracy, every crime that had fallen over the duchy for the past year now had a face, and it was the face of his own brother.
Ryan finally found his voice, a raw, broken whisper. There was one more piece, one more recent death that needed its place in this horrific confession. "Evan…" he began, the name tasting like ash. "Did you kill Evan, too?"
