The captain dragged two extra chairs to the table in the center of the room.
It clearly wasn't the first time this place had been used for meetings.
A folding screen hid his bed from view, separating the private from everything else.
He gestured for them to sit.
When they did, he pulled the last chair over and lowered himself into it across from Klaus.
Something twisted tight in Klaus's chest.
Expectation.
Dread.
He didn't blink.
Didn't look away.
"Well then," the captain said, "before I reveal who I am… there's something I need to say."
A pause.
"Klaus. I couldn't come to you sooner."
His voice changed.
The rough rasp—gone.
Clean.
Familiar.
Klaus's breath caught.
In the captain's hand—
a small stone on a cord.
So that's what it was.
A voice modulator.
An invention.
Of course.
His fingers curled.
"No…" Klaus whispered.
That voice—
he knew it.
He knew it.
But that was impossible.
"You've figured it out?" the man said, a faint smile in his tone.
"Take it off," Klaus said sharply.
Now.
"Take it off."
His hands trembled.
He hid them beneath the table.
This couldn't be real.
It couldn't—
Not again.
Not like this.
Egor noticed immediately.
The tension.
The way Klaus had gone completely rigid.
He didn't look at the captain.
Didn't need to.
Whatever this was—
it mattered.
Lilith moved closer to Klaus without thinking.
Instinct.
Stay near him.
He would protect her.
He always did.
The captain obeyed.
He pushed back his hood.
Removed the helmet.
Set it on the table.
And looked up.
Dark brown eyes.
Klaus shot to his feet so fast his chair crashed behind him.
Egor flinched.
Lilith startled.
Klaus didn't notice.
Couldn't.
Because standing in front of him—
was someone who should have been dead.
Someone he had buried.
Someone whose loss had hardened him—
sharpened him—
broken something in him that had never healed.
Someone who had been—
the only one who could reach him.
The only one who could make him feel.
The only one he had ever wanted to become.
"August," he breathed.
August Defender stood slowly.
Klaus moved toward him—
stopped only a step away.
They were the same height now.
Klaus searched his face.
The same eyes.
The same warmth—
slightly crooked, like it refused to follow the rules.
As if time had simply stopped.
As if nothing had changed.
Except—
The scar.
Where the crest used to be.
Cut out.
Torn away.
Proof of death.
Proof of a lie.
"I thought you were dead."
His hand clenched—
and before he could stop himself—
he hit him.
Hard.
August's head snapped to the side.
Blood welled at his lip.
Silence.
Then—
August laughed quietly.
"Fair," he said, touching the blood. "I deserved that."
A glance back at Klaus.
"…Gods, when did you get this strong?"
Klaus didn't answer.
August stepped forward—
and pulled him into a tight, crushing embrace.
Real.
Solid.
Warm.
"I missed you."
Klaus went rigid—
then slowly—
his hands lifted.
Gripped.
Held on.
He needed to feel it.
Needed to know.
Alive.
Not a ghost.
Not a lie.
A memory flickered—
warm hands in his hair before sleepa quiet voicea rare, fragile sense of safety
Something he had never found anywhere else.
Something he had lost.
Something he had buried.
And now—
here.
He exhaled.
Slow.
Shaky.
And for a brief moment—
he let himself lean into it.
He could never stay angry with him.
Not for long.
Never for long.
"Your hair's almost dry," August said lightly as he pulled back, brushing a strand between his fingers. "Want me to fix it like before?"
Klaus stepped back.
Too fast.
Distance.
Control.
"…No. I'll manage."
Something in him didn't settle.
Couldn't settle.
Too many people had come back from the dead.
Too many had tried to kill him.
Blood meant nothing anymore.
He turned—
as if remembering they weren't alone.
"This is my cousin," Klaus said flatly. "August Defender. Apparently alive."
Egor's chest tightened.
So this was him.
The one Klaus had spoken about.
The one who mattered.
What did that make him now?
Replaceable?
August studied him.
Thoughtful.
"You've changed," he said to Klaus. "Not just grown."
A faint smirk.
"You started collecting strays."
A glance at Egor.
"I understand him. You knew what he was."
Then Lilith.
"But her?"
Klaus didn't hesitate.
"Egor is my friend."
The words hit Egor like a blow.
Sharp.
Sudden.
Warm.
He straightened without realizing it.
"…We'll come back to that," August said. "For now, I want to talk. Just us."
"No," Klaus said.
A pause.
"Egor stays."
Another.
"And Lilith…"
He hesitated—
just for a fraction of a second.
"…Lilith stays."
August smiled faintly.
"As you wish… Your Majesty."
Klaus hit him again.
Lighter this time.
"Stop that."
August winced theatrically.
"I really did miss you."
"Can I… fix your hair?" Lilith asked quietly.
Klaus waved a hand.
Do whatever.
Just don't interfere.
She moved behind him immediately.
—
"So," Klaus said, sitting again, "why do you have an army?"
August leaned back slightly.
"You remember how much I hated this country's system."
"We were children."
"You were playing," August said. "I wasn't."
Silence.
"I believed I could change it."
A pause.
"I was wrong."
"What changed?" Klaus asked. "Why fake your death?"
August's expression shifted.
"I trusted family."
A beat.
"I told my father everything."
Silence.
"Do you know who sent me to die?"
Klaus didn't answer.
"You remember the story."
"The border battle."
"Yes."
August smiled bitterly.
"There was no battle."
Silence.
"No reinforcements."
"No enemy."
"Just a trap."
Klaus's eyes sharpened.
"…Your father?"
August nodded.
"I was sent there to die."
A pause.
"I survived."
"Earth magic," Klaus said quietly.
"Yes."
Another pause.
"Out of fifty men—three lived."
"And they died later."
Klaus didn't speak.
"Why didn't you come back?" he asked.
"To who?" August said.
A faint, hollow laugh.
"The king?"
Silence.
"He knew."
That landed.
Heavy.
"I had people in the palace," August continued. "I sent word I'd return."
A pause.
"They told me not to."
Another.
"So I stayed dead."
Klaus's jaw tightened.
"It's been two years."
A beat.
"You couldn't tell me?"
August met his gaze.
"I didn't want you involved."
A pause.
"But I watched you."
Klaus stilled.
"…What?"
"Who do you think saved you," August said quietly, "when soldiers broke into your room?"
Klaus stared at him.
"That was you?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"The portal."
A faint grimace.
"…It wasn't supposed to send you there."
Klaus exhaled sharply.
"It sent me to another world."
Silence.
August blinked.
"…What?"
"No magic," Klaus said. "At all."
A pause.
"And yet they built more than we ever did."
A glance toward Egor.
"He's from there."
August studied him again.
"…And still an antimage."
"It's complicated."
"I imagine."
—
"How did you build this?" Klaus asked. "In two years?"
"I started long before," August said.
"After I 'died'—I stopped hiding."
A pause.
"Peasants. Mages. Nobles."
"Anyone who hated the system."
"And you used my name."
August didn't deny it.
"You're the heir."
A beat.
"Or you were."
Klaus's eyes narrowed.
"You assumed I'd help."
"Wouldn't you?"
Silence.
"I didn't plan for this," Klaus said finally.
"My position isn't stable."
"Good," August said.
"That helps."
A faint smile.
"People are already restless."
"And you want war."
"No," August said.
"Not yet."
A pause.
"First—we grow."
"By?"
"Ambition."
"Greed."
"Hope."
Klaus huffed quietly.
"You'll promise them everything."
"No," August said.
"Just enough."
—
Klaus leaned back.
Thinking.
"I'll consider it."
August smiled.
"I expected that."
A pause.
"Tomorrow—you speak."
Klaus looked at him.
"Show them who you are."
Klaus didn't answer.
—
"We're done," he said instead, standing. "Egor needs rest."
August glanced at him.
Noticed the flush.
Said nothing.
"Klaus," he called as they reached the door.
"Dinner?"
A pause.
"Just us."
Klaus hesitated.
"…Fine."
A glance at Egor.
"They eat in the room."
Then to Lilith:
"You stay with the person I trust most."
Egor froze.
Heat rushed to his face.
August noticed.
Said nothing.
Only smiled.
"I'll come for you," he said.
"And no surprises," Klaus added sharply.
August's smile widened.
"We won't leave the fortress."