Esali lay in bed that night alone, an eerie sinking tugging at his abdomen. It was accompanied by a warm ache in his chest. He strangely felt as if he lost something important. Something long forgotten, vaguely remembered in the present, its name on the tip of his tongue, never to be found again.
With an irritated huff he snatched up a pillow, an item to take the blame of his discomfort, and flung it from his bed. It landed in the dark with a soft thud.
"This is all Yuens fault." He muttered while rubbing at his achy chest.
Eslai never really pried into his brother's affairs and secrets. He'd always been happy to play along, most comfortable in the bliss of ignorance. There he could laze and drink and brush off the looming responsibility of an entire empire. One he didn't necessarily want and was happy to let Yuen take command of.
He didn't usually ask questions. But on the rare occasion where an event piqued his interest his pondering was usually met with answers. Even if there were not complete truths, he was given some sort of explanation.
He had used Wyn like a honeypot. Snuck Esali in. Deployed some of his most valuable assets in a charade of a welcome home party. Handed over a goldmine's worth of accreditation. Then slipped out the back without another word. This time Yuen had craftily made sure he was nowhere near his little brother and any questions he might have. And most suspiciously, Delta was absent from it all. The noxious night prince was usually somewhere within his older brother's vicinity. Whispering in his ear just like Skom whispered to their father.
Yuen was orchestrating something big. And for the first time in his entire life he wondered if he should be worried about what he was up to.
In fitful discomfort Esali finally fell asleep, the astral plane greeting him with rolling fields of grass. Their soft blades thrummed in his presence and he sank. Bedded upon their pillowy tufts as it curled him into their depths. Down further and further he went, until even the visuals of the dream world fell away.