Meeka opened the door without knocking on it beforehand.
He didn't waste any time and stepped inside. As he had expected, he now stood in Einar's very own reception hall. It was only a fraction of the size of the main reception hall on the palace's ground floor. Nor did it look as expensive, since the columns were plainer and the chandeliers smaller. But still, Einar had his own reception hall. Meeka couldn't say the same about his chambers.
Of course, since he was a divine prince, he could technically have his own reception hall if he wanted to. But Meeka had made the decision a long time ago to only have as many rooms as absolutely necessary. In his opinion, a reception hall only existed to show off one's wealth and status rather than to serve a practical advantage.
Meeka figured that it didn't make a difference if his guests were greeted in a reception hall or in his primary chambers.
Most nobles didn't support such a minimalistic lifestyle. But why should Meeka care? It wasn't like he had many visitors anyway.
I wonder how many servants Einar needs to clean all of this, the prince thought as he inspected the reception hall's intricate stucco walls and couldn't find a single dust particle on them.
Even though he found his brother's cleanliness over the top, he also had to admire the dedication he put into making everything look perfect.
"I see you admire my reception hall. Do you perhaps consider if you should get one too?", a strong voice behind Meeka suddenly beamed.
The prince flinched and spun around in alarm.
Now he faced a tall, broad-shouldered man, whose stocky build couldn't be hidden by the loose veils covering his face and body.
Meeka exhaled relieved. "Brother! Thank the gods it's you! You quite scared me."
Einar only laughed. "Maybe you should work on paying more attention to your surroundings. What if I were an assassin and not your brother? You would have been such easy work for them."
He tisked before he gestured to his younger brother to follow him.
Meeka did as he was asked. Together, the two brothers walked across the reception hall.
Einar was seemingly uninterested in Meeka, while the younger one studied his brother carefully.
Meeka hadn't seen Einar in quite some time. The first thing he noticed was that Einar had gained weight.
Or muscles, as he would put it, Meeka thought.
Nevertheless, by being tall and fat, Einar embodied the beauty standard of the royal family. He depicted the complete opposite of Meeka, who was small and skinny.
And even their clothing style greatly differed. Of course, there were some similarities, like the heavy use of white in their garments, or the veils that hid their faces from the public's eye. But whereas Meeka almost wore nothing else than his simple loose robes, Einar preferred to pair his garments with a magnificent golden cape that was lined with green fur and was fastened around his shoulders with a heavy golden chain adorned with green sapphires.
His heavy, golden crown featured the sapphires too. They surrounded a large diamond at the center of Einar's crown.
Alone from looking at the crown, Meekas' head felt heavy. His own crown, which was basically a simple golden ring around his head, looked absolutely cheap next to such splendor.
But of course, Einar, being the maximalist that he was, had to wear even more jewelry. Over the veils that covered his face, Meeka's brother wore a thick gold face chain, from which chain rows of small sapphires framed in gold hang.
Of course, heavy golden bracelets and opulent rings couldn't be missing.
Golden shoes rounded off Einar's look, and Meeka could only wonder what someone could buy with all this expensive jewelry.
He knew wealth was as natural for his family members as breathing air, and yet he wondered if someone like Einar ever thought about spending his money on something more useful than jewelry.
They could save poor families from starving or pay for education for common children.
Meeka always felt guilty for having so much, so whenever he could, he donated money to charity.
Of course, he couldn't expect such actions from Einar, who now opened the door opposite of where Meeka had entered.
Einar guided his younger brother into his living room, where he threw himself onto a green sofa with golden feet, before telling Meeka to do the same.
Meeka didn't complain and thanked Einar for inviting him, before sitting down on the sofa opposite him.
Between the two, a large table with all sorts of treats stood. Einar wasted no time, taking a piece of cake from one of the many tablets and shoving the whole thing into his mouth.
Meeka didn't really possess a sweet tooth, but since people liked to call him biscuit, he figured he should honour his name and eat one.
Unlike Einar, who only lifted a corner of his veil in order to get the cake into his mouth and thus never revealed his face during eating, Meeka took off his veil completely.
They were among themselves, so no rule prevented him from doing so.
He had hoped Einar would follow his example, but to Meeka's disappointment, his brother didn't remove his veil. Instead, Einar only made a snarky remark about Meeka's appearance.
"I see you've grown a beard, " he said, judgingly. "And you've cut your hair, too."
Meeka knew the beauty standards very well. A clean face and long hair were customary for men and women.
A shaved face symbolized cleanliness and neatness, while a beard was something for the lower working people, who were considered dirty by the nobility.
And long hair symbolized a detachment from worldly concerns, which should underline the royal family's descent from the gods.
But then again, who cared about how Meeka looked, since no one ever saw his face anyway. He was forbidden from ever showing it in public. So Meeka didn't understand the double standards.
"Instead of insulting my appearance, you could tell me why you invited me here."
"Very well", Einar shrugged his shoulders casually. "I've just returned from war. You know, fighting off beasts. Maybe you didn't hear of it, since you hide underground like a mole, but I-"
Meeka sensed his brother was about to drift off into a long story of boasting about his achievements ( one of Einar's favorite things to do, besides eating), so he hurriedly interrupted his brother in order not to sit here until tomorrow.
"Yes, your glory in battle was so glorious that even I've heard of it."
Meeka couldn't help but sound snarky. He didn't like how his siblings always rubbed into his face how they went to war and how great their achievements were.
As if they wanted to tell him he was a coward for not going to war, without telling him he was a coward for not going to war.
Luckily, Einar finally started to talk about the real reason for wanting to meet up with Meeka.
"Well, I invited you because I've heard that Princess Emilia is pregnant with Arian's child."
Meeka didn't need to hear more. The situation was obvious to him.
So you want to kill his unborn child, he immediately concluded. It wasn't hard to understand Einar's plan, given that his hunger for power seemed even bigger than his hunger for food.
And you want me to help you for whatever reason, Meeka thought and felt sick.
The last thing he wanted was to be associated with a murder.
Besides, he liked Arian, and he liked his wife. He wasn't friends with either of them, but he still had no animosity toward them.
It didn't make sense for him to get involved in such a scandalous plan, and yet Einar wanted this.
Meeka couldn't understand why his brother wanted to pull him into this situation. Meeka was the worst partner in crime anyone could hope for.
So why me?, he wanted to whine.
Instead, he only met Einar's intense look with a questioning gaze.
"What, don't tell me you don't understand what I'm hinting at?"
Meeka faked a lack of understanding and shook his head.
"Oh, you're so slow. I want to kill the unborn child. It's Arian's heir after all, and thus a possible contender for the throne. Getting rid of him will only do us good in the long run."
"You- you want to kill Arian's unborn child?" Meeka made his voice sound more surprised than he actually was.
Maybe if he faked incompetence, Einar would rethink his plans and leave Meeka out of it.
"Yes. And not only that. Arian has finally left the protection of our father, and he doesn't have a beast by his side, either. Oh and he's a cripple now, too. He's pretty much powerless."
Silence fell over Einar's living room.
This time, Meeka's surprised face wasn't faked, as realization dawned on him.
No, he couldn't do this. He couldn't reconcile such a crime with his conscience.
This was kinslaying. The highest crime one could commit, unless you were from the royal family- then it was expected of you.
After all, if one wanted the throne, they had to earn it.
This was the very reason why Meeka never wanted the throne to begin with.
I can't kill my brother and his child. I simply can't. I'm not such a monster as the rest of them.
His voice was shaky when he finally spoke again.
" So you want to kill Arian, too."