-Felicity-

“This is my final report on the matter, Sir.” It took everything in me not to just drop the packet of papers on the man’s desk. Instead, I set them down respectfully and stepped back, linking my hands behind in parade rest.

Duke Lyon, the leader of the northern duchy and commanding officer of the White Lions, the war hero against Prannis, reached over to pull the packet closer. He was in his mid-forties but handsome, nonetheless. I stood silently as he flipped through each meticulously written page of deceit, embezzlement, and fraud I’d uncovered. His frown grew deeper, the lines around his mouth more pronounced.

It was a bitter pill for him to swallow, I was sure. I delighted in watching him choke it down and had to struggle to keep the smirk off my face. Thankfully, he was too wrapped in his own agony to notice my delight.

“Where is my daughter?”

Ah. There it was—the question he’d not dared to ask. I knew what the assignment was. I'd chosen not to do it. Instead, I’d spent the last six months finding every wrongdoing my aunt and uncle had committed in the last fifteen years. There was a lot.

“Vice-captain Mortuary. Where is my daughter?” He dropped the pile of papers on the desk and lifted his gaze to look at my face. 

Right in front of you, jerk. “Probably dead, Sir,” I said instead.

Duke Lyon shoved to his feet. “Probably?” he demanded in a roar. “You will look for her.”

“Sir,” I interrupted. “Frankly, given the circumstances, if she’s alive, I suspect she wouldn’t want to be found.”

“Circumstances?” Lyon sputtered.

“It’s been twelve years since she ran away from the abuse. Fifteen since she was abandoned. Do you honestly think she would want anything to do with you?”

“I didn’t abandon her!”

“What evidence do you have to back that, Sir?” I challenged, boldly facing the Lyon’s rage. “You don’t even know what her handwriting looks like.” I gestured at the pile of letters he had on his desk from his “daughter.”

Wounded and bleeding out, Duke Lyon sank into his chair. 

Reaching into my breast pocket, I pulled my last arrow to kill the beast.

“What is this?” he asked dully.

“My resignation, Sir.”

He still had a little fight left. I’d expected no less. Snatching the paper, he ripped it to pieces. “I do not accept it!”

“Then will you lock me up?” I asked.

“No. Your current assignment is no reason to resign!” Lyon stared at me as it dawned on him. “If you leave, I will report you for desertion.”

My blank expression cracked slightly. I couldn’t help it. His struggles were so pitiful that it was too funny. “And waste even more resources chasing me down so I can be put to the sword. I shouldn’t be surprised, I suppose. You used military resources for a personal matter.”

For two years, I'd worked as his secretary. I slaved away as his dog, getting him whatever he wanted or needed at any time of day or night. I'd saved his life five times from Prannis assassins. All this time, I'd stood in front of him, and he'd not realized who I was. Now that the war was over, he wanted to find his daughter, who had been abandoned to the tender care of her aunt in the capital. All because he had a husband lined up.

I wasn't going to put up with it anymore. I was done trying to be noticed. My frustration and hurt had hit the breaking point. I was leaving, and I hope he suffered for it. Pulling the second copy of my resignation from my breast pocket, I dropped it on his desk. 

My father stared at the paper on his desk, eyes blank, expression uncomprehending. The Lyon was defeated. Saluting him for a final time, I strode toward the door.

“I wish my son had been like you,” Duke Lyon said.

My heel hit the floor hard as I stopped, wounded to the core by a remark he probably thought was a compliment. My twin brother had gotten to stay by Father’s side. My twin brother had been knighted at seventeen just because he was the son of a duke. I had lived in the street for two years before I could join the garrison and work my way up before getting drafted. I'd had to work my butt off to get noticed for my abilities and knighted. Felix Lyon had not even left the capital. Instead, he'd lived in this house unsupervised for the last ten years. He spent his days in bars, flaunting his good looks and pedigree, getting free drinks and free rides from ladies who hoped to get pregnant and force him to pay child support.

“At least let me place you in a different regiment. You would do well leading your own troop. I do not wish for your career to end here because of a disagreement with me.”

Furious and only just realizing that my fists were clenched, I looked over my shoulder at him. “You’re too kind,” I said between my teeth. To my surprise, Lyon was on his feet again, giving me the hardest stare, as if he could peel my layers of armor back and lay my secret on the hardwood floor like the skinned carcass of a slaughtered animal. Disliking the scrutiny, I continued out, putting as many walls between myself and Lyon as possible. 

I had not killed him.

I’d been wrong. He wasn’t a lion at all. He was a snake whose head could still deliver venom even after it was severed.

At least I knew he would make good on his promise. He would find me a position elsewhere. But it would cost me something. It was better just to leave right away before he figured it out. My reaction to that quip about his son had piqued his curiosity. He would do anything in his power to keep me nearby while he investigated. He wasn’t stupid, after all, just blind and incapable of human emotions.

I scowled as I strode through the mansion.

That son of a dog would probably use some other underling schmuck to investigate me, too. More military resources squandered on private matters. I was sure he’d somehow justify it on the expense reports. I’d been privy to some of the justifications he’d written over the last six months. He would get his sister and her husband in a lot of trouble with what I gave him. They’d stolen from him. They’d stolen from the crown. They’d broken multiple laws concerning gambling, drugs, and human trafficking. They sent funds to Prannis to prolong the war, hoping the duke would die and they could steal his title. There were letters from the third Prannis prince assuring them that the assassination was sure to succeed.

If I had not personally wanted revenge on them, I wouldn’t have done such a thorough job. However, getting assigned the task of investigating what had happened to myself had been the final straw.

I’d thought…

I gave in to the pain in my chest as I strode out the front door and gripped my heart.

“Carriage, sir?” the footman asked, interrupting my thoughts.

“I’ll walk,” I managed to choke out.

I’d thought that being his Vice-captain would… get his attention… that he’d notice me and notice how hard I worked and realize it was me… But two years had passed, and he was always too busy, just like when I’d lived in the castle in the north with him and Mother. Nothing I did was noteworthy enough to have his attention for over two seconds. I'd taken Felix's place in his sword lessons, and Father hadn't noticed. Felix had spent his days playing indoors to escape the constant cold, and Father hadn't noticed. Nothing had changed as his subordinate. He wanted his reports, and then he wanted me out of his office. No wonder Mother had killed herself. No wonder Felix behaved like a tramp.

I was the last to give up on him.

My pain refused to subside even as I got to the gate. I was nearly run over by an incoming carriage and hurried to move aside. I looked up, meeting the eyes of my ignorant brother as he leaned boredly against the carriage window. He was drunk but not comatose. I wonder what brought him back so soon?

It didn’t matter. I didn’t want to have more contact with him than I had to. He was lower rank than me in the military but higher ranked as a noble. I should’ve bowed. He had already passed before I could, and I didn’t feel like bothering. Instead, I turned and headed across the street to the park. I would find a taxi carriage on the other side and take it to the barracks.