Chapter 7: Darius This, Darius That

Hours later, a gentle hand touched Darius’s shoulder. "Your Highness."

He frowned and shifted deeper into the sofa.

"Your Highness."

His eyes snapped open immediately.

"What happened?"

The maid standing beside the sofa smiled. "Prince Basil is back."

Darius was already on his feet before she finished speaking. "What? Where is he?"

His gaze immediately swept across the entrance hall. Then the staircase. For one terrifying second, he thought Basil might have already slipped past while he was asleep.

The maid quickly pointed toward the front of the entrance. "He’s still outside, Your Highness. He just arrived. He’s still in the car."

Darius exhaled in relief. "Oh, thank God."

The maid blinked.

Darius rubbed the sleep from his eyes and glanced toward the doors. Part of him considered going outside to greet Basil. It would probably be the polite thing to do. Then again, maybe it would be weird. Maybe Basil would feel cornered. Darius had already spent weeks imagining their reunion. It probably wouldn’t hurt to wait another minute.

Yes, waiting seemed safer.

"Alright." He nodded. "Thanks for waking me up, you’re a darling."

The maid stared at him.

Darius frowned. "What?"

"N-Nothing, Your Highness."

She looked oddly startled. Only then did he remember that people around here seemed genuinely surprised whenever he thanked them for anything.

Weird.

"Anyway, you can move along now."

She bowed hurriedly and excused herself. Once she was gone, Darius returned his attention to the entrance.

And waited. At first he wasn’t worried. The palace was enormous. Maybe Basil was gathering his things. Maybe he was talking to a driver or security officer.

Five minutes passed. Then another five. Darius found himself checking the entrance every few seconds. His excitement gradually transformed into confusion.

Where was he? The maid had said he was back. So why wasn’t he coming inside?

Darius shifted his weight and glanced around the hall. Maybe there was another entrance somewhere. The palace was large enough to have ten of them.

Had Basil already entered through another door? Did he know Darius was waiting here? Was someone deliberately keeping them apart?

The questions continued multiplying until the sound of footsteps descending the staircase pulled him from his thoughts. William and Jane had left him alone at some point when he fell asleep. The moment Jane spotted him still standing in the entrance hall, she sighed.

"Has Basil come back yet? I think I heard his car."

Darius looked at her. "Are there other entrances into the palace that someone could use without coming through here?"

Jane blinked. "Yes, but—"

The front doors swung open before she could finish. Every thought vanished from Darius’s mind, he turned sharply.

A young man stepped through the doorway.

For a moment Darius simply stared. Years had passed since he had last seen him. Basil was taller now. Older. More mature. Yet there were still traces of the boy Darius remembered. The same blonde hair. The same face, the same captivating green eyes.

His face immediately lit up. His prince is finally here. His Basil. Without thinking, he hurried across the room. "Basil!"

The other boy barely had time to react before Darius wrapped both arms around him.

"Welcome home, big brother!" he said brightly. "I’ve been waiting for you."

The entire entrance hall seemed to freeze. Basil stood completely rigid, he didn’t return the hug. Didn’t even attempt to.

His arms remained at his sides while confusion flashed openly across his face.

Up close, Darius realized he was actually taller now and noticeably broader through the shoulders, making the embrace feel almost backwards, as though he was somehow swallowing up his older brother.

Basil looked utterly bewildered, like a man who had walked into the wrong building.

Behind them, William and Jane unconsciously held their breath.

"What took you so long?" Darius continued cheerfully, oblivious to the tension. "You didn’t even come visit me in the hospital."

Basil finally found his voice. "Who the fuck are you?" The words came out low and sharp.

His voice was rough. Hoarse. His eyes looked slightly swollen, as though he had spent hours crying before coming home.

Yet beneath the exhaustion sat something colder. Something defensive.

"Get your freaking hands off me."

Darius immediately released him. "Oh. Sorry." He took a step back. Embarrassment flashed across his face. That definitely wasn’t how he had imagined this going.

Basil looked at him with open annoyance.

Darius scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Great.

He had somehow managed to make things worse within the first thirty seconds.

Jane hurried forward before the silence became even more uncomfortable.

"Basil," she said gently, "this is your brother, Darius. He was discharged this morning and he’s been excited to finally meet you."

Basil’s expression remained unchanged. His gaze flicked briefly between Darius and Jane. "Can I go to my room now?"

The words hit the room like a bucket of ice water. Jane visibly flinched.

William’s jaw tightened.

Darius already knew Basil wasn’t happy about this situation. He had suspected as much for weeks. Still, he hadn’t expected this level of hostility. More importantly, he had just confirmed something else.

His prince did not recognize him. Not even a little.

William finally stepped forward. "Basil."

His tone immediately drew attention. The younger man stiffened. "I understand you’re upset," William continued. "I understand this situation has been difficult for you. But Darius has done absolutely nothing wrong. He came here excited to meet you and you’ve treated him like an inconvenience."

Basil’s hands slowly clenched into fault but William wasn’t finished. "You don’t have to pretend everything is fine. No one expects that. But there is a difference between struggling and being rude. Darius is now your brother. None of what happened is his fault."

The muscles in Basil’s jaw tightened. Are they saying everything was his fault then?

Before the situation could escalate further, Darius quickly stepped between them.

"It’s okay." Darius smiled awkwardly. "I’m fine, really." He glanced toward Basil.

The hostility stung more than he wanted to admit, but he couldn’t exactly blame him for it either. "I guess I’ll just have to work harder to get along with my big brother."

For the first time since entering the hall, Basil looked directly at Darius and immediately became suspicious of him.

What exactly was this supposed to be?

Some kind of good prince versus bad prince performance? Because if it was, this Darius guy was winning effortlessly.

The real prince arrives and suddenly William is reprimanding him in front of everyone.

Jane looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment because Darius seemed disappointed. Meanwhile, Basil had spent weeks feeling like a ghost wandering through what used to be his home.

Exhausted to deal with any of it.

Without another word, he brushed past everyone and headed toward the staircase.

"Basil." Jane immediately followed after him.

"Basil, wait." He ignored her and continued climbing, Darius watched them disappear upstairs. The excitement that had filled him only minutes ago had been replaced by concern. The image of Basil’s face refused to leave his mind. The redness around his eyes.

The slight swelling. The hoarseness in his voice. Basil had been crying.

The realization sat heavily in his chest.

William stepped beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don’t worry about your brother." Darius glanced at him.

"He’ll come around eventually. This has all happened very quickly for him."

Darius nodded automatically, but he barely heard a word. His attention remained fixed on the staircase. Something had made Basil cry.

Someone had hurt him. And Darius couldn’t shake the growing suspicion that the reason might somehow be him.

xxx

Upstairs, Jane hurried after Basil as he reached his room. "Basil!"

He immediately pushed the door open and stepped inside, he turned to shut it behind him, only for Jane’s foot to wedge itself into the gap at the last second.

The edge of the door slammed directly into her leg. Jane winced sharply. "Arh!"

Basil’s eyes widened. "For God’s sake." He immediately grabbed the door before it could close completely. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I can’t let you go back to locking yourselves in. "

"For fuck’s sake, can y’all let me be? Why is it so hard to understand I don’t want to fucking talk to anybody." Despite his irritation, he stepped back to let her inside.

Jane entered the room.

Basil walked straight to the bed and dropped onto it heavily. He looked exhausted. Both physically and emotionally exhausted.

Jane quietly closed the door before crossing the room and sitting beside him. For several moments, neither spoke. Then she reached for his hand. "Basil." He didn’t pull away.

"You will always be our son."

His jaw tightened. "I was never your son."

Jane blinked. "Don’t say that, dear. You are hurting me."

"You don’t get to start with that."

"Basil—"

"No, let’s skip that part." His voice remained calm, but there was a brittle edge beneath it. "We’ll always love you. You’ll always be our son. Nothing will change. I’ve heard all of it already, and I’m sick and tired of hearing it."

Jane’s eyes filled with pain. "But it’s true."

"Then why don’t I feel it?" His gaze dropped to their joined hands. "Is it possible to love someone and have them never feel it? You found your real son. Congratulations. I’m so happy for you." The lie was so obvious it hurt.

For a moment, neither of them spoke again. Finally, Basil pulled his hand from hers.

"I can take a lot of things," he said quietly. "I can take not belonging here. I can take knowing I was never really part of this family. I can even take being replaced." His voice tightened. "But what I can’t take is you pretending nothing has changed. I can’t sit here and listen to you tell me you love me the same way you did before your son came back."

Jane’s eyes widened. "Basil, we really do love you. We’re not pretending. We always will. Darius doesn’t and will never change that. He’s excited to meet you. He clearly wants a relationship with you. Maybe if you gave him a chance and tried being a better older brother—"

Basil let out a sharp laugh. "There it is."

Jane frowned. "There what is?"

"So now I’m the bad brother?" His voice rose slightly. "The moment you find your real son, suddenly I’m the problem."

"No." Jane shook her head immediately. "That isn’t what I meant."

"Really?" His eyes locked onto hers. "Because that’s exactly what it sounded like to me. You want me to be a better older brother. You want me to smile and pretend everything is fine."

"Basil, please—"

"You think I don’t notice how everybody looks at me now like they can’t wait for me to leave? The staffs barely respect me now!" His eyes burned. "Since your beloved son was found, every conversation in this palace has been Prince Darius this, Prince Darius that."