The Heirs of Kalistar: Chapter Two
The second chapter of my novel, The Heirs of Kalistar
Hey guys! Welcome back, or welcome if you’re new here. Today, the newsletter is all about chapter two. Its not as long as the first chapter, and its from Cordelia’s POV. If any of you saw my note with the snippet about “truths”, this is that narrator's daughter. It picks up where the first one left off— right down to the very line. So complete your reading ritual, and I hope you enjoy!
Quick recap for Chapter One: The heirs of Kalistar attend the annual House Ball at Third Castle. Tobias Dougherty, son of the Prime Minister and Lord of the House of Lords, is the main point of view. Tension brews as he navigates complicated dynamics with the other heirs and members—particularly Camran and Nora Marino, along with Cordelia Arien. Tobias tries to keep up appearances while dealing with the aftermath of a very public breakup.
Chapter Two— Constraint
CORDELIA
I slap Beaux on the shoulder with the back of my hand.
“Ow,” he says, rubbing his shoulder and glaring at me.
I glance around, composing myself. “You can’t just scream that kind of stuff, Beaux.”
“Oh my God, relax for once in your life. You’re always harping about something.”
I roll my eyes. He’s so quick and loud-mouthed that sometimes I worry about him. Here, he can crack a joke and we’ll recognize it as that— a joke. But all it will take is one snide remark at the wrong time someday, and he’ll get beat up.
I glance over again, unable to stop myself.
There’s a small smudge on the side of Cadmus’s crown and it’s driving me insane. I noticed it the second he sat down, and it’s like an itch that I just can’t seem to scratch. I don’t want to overstep, but if I could just grab it and—
“You have a spot,” I say, pointing to the crown, “on this side.”
He takes it off his head, loose strands of pitch-black hair falling into his face. He grabs his napkin and polishes the spot. Puts it back on his head.
“Better?” He asks. He smiles a bit, just barely pulling on the corners of his mouth.
“Mhm.” Sometimes it feels like he could do anything—say the worst thing, even—and I’d still be left breathless. There’s something about him that gets under my skin in a way I can’t explain. Like I’m constantly on the edge of losing control.
And poise is the armor I wear best.
I compose myself. Flick my hair behind my shoulders. Straighten my spine.
I glance over and sigh.
“Beaux, sit up,” I mutter.
I can’t believe I’m related to him.
He’s slumped in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, navy blue suit and tie rumpled around him. His brown hair is already messed up and he’s chewing on gum, lazily working his jaw as he side-eyes me.
“No.”
“You look like a damn fool.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“It’s fine. Nobody is looking at me anyway. You’re always so concerned with what people think.” He says, slumping a bit more.
“Beaux, tonight is a big deal. Sit up. It’s not just you that you’re making an image for—it’s all of us.”
“Whatever. It doesn’t matter for me.”
“What do you mean it doesn’t matter for you?”
“I mean I’m never going to be the one running things. Mom and Dad think I’m some stupid kid. Let them. Less responsibilities on my plate. In my eyes, the more I do this,” He says, motioning to his poor body language, “the less likely they are to expect anything out of me.”
That pisses me off. The older he gets, the more he becomes like Damon. In his work ethic, at least.
I catch Tobias’s eye.
He doesn’t do anything to help me out with Beaux, but what’s new? In fact, he loves to egg him on. It’s unusual that he isn’t.
I had a feeling tonight would be hard for him. In First, there are places to go. Here, he’s trapped.
And he’s bothered. Uncomfortable, even.
It’s the way his back and shoulders are immaculately straight- almost too straight. How he can’t stop picking at his fingernails. His hands can’t stay away from his blond hair, and his eyes won’t look anywhere other than straight or down.
I hate how Nora can get under his skin so easily. She pisses me off in ways that nobody else can. Not just for what she did to Tobias, but for all the stunts she pulled growing up too. All that shit she did to me— the only reason I never bit back is because my Dad raised me to be a decent human being.
“Miss Arien?” The waitress says, pulling me out of my mind.“Your beverage?”
“Just water will be fine. With lemon, please.”
She pours the water into my champagne glass and I catch Beaux staring, blue eyes dull and unimpressed.
I shake my head.
He rolls his eyes, placing an arm on the table to prop up his face.
Under my watch, he won’t be consuming alcohol. Once Mom and Dad get here, whatever. They can be the ones awake at two in the morning wondering what field he’s passed out in.
It just won’t be me.
He glares at me, then smiles at the waitress as she pours water into his glass. He lays his hand on top of hers for a moment, muttering something close to her face. I can’t catch what he says to her, but I don’t miss the slight blush on her face as she moves on to Cadmus.
I roll my eyes.
“You’re a real partygoer, you know that?” Beaux mumbles in my direction.
“Suck it up, princess.”
He pauses for a moment, looking around, “When does this thing start?” He asks.
“I have no idea. Call Mom and ask her.”
“She’d kill me if I was the cause of her phone going off right now.”
“How ‘bout that.”
He doesn’t reply, only fidgets with his sleeve. He sits up and a few seconds later he asks, casually as ever, “Are you staying for the after-party?”
I glance at him, “The what?”
“The after-party. We’re all moving this thing outside by the pools once the formalities are over.” He knocks on the table, eyebrows up.
Once the adults leave.
I shake my head, “That’s not a good idea.”
I can already see the catastrophe waiting to happen. Dragging Cadmus and Tobias out there with Nora and whoever she has as a date tonight? The fight that will break out is bound to be on the news by morning and end with at least one kid in the hospital.
“Well, I’m staying. You can catch a ride with Mom or something.” He says.
Being in a car, alone with her— on a party night— fuck that.
“I’d rather walk back.”
I’ll find my own way home. No point in fighting him. Even if I drag him back to First, he’ll sneak out the second he gets a chance.
“I’m not staying for it either,” Tobias says, swirling his drink.
I’d imagine not.
Everybody else in the room seems to tense up. They quiet their conversations, drop the drinks in their hands, and turn their attention to the back of the room.
Our parents have arrived.
Tobias and Cadmus continue to talk, quiet and unimpressed.
A slight applause sounds around the room and I feel a pat on my back as Mom and Dad get to the table.
Dad removes his hand from my back, looking down at me. “Doing alright?”
I nod. He rubs my back again, “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks,” I smile.
He walks over to his chair and sits down, then gives Beaux a look that immediately has him straightening up in his seat. I’ve always liked Dad more than Mom. I think they both know that. It’s never really been a secret. Growing up, I always wanted to be with Dad and Damon, doing whatever they were doing.
Damon won’t be coming tonight. He never comes to anything. Just sits on his ass all day in Caspian and occasionally gets up to get another beer out of the fridge in his garage. Sometimes I want to slap him. He’s in this just like we are and he has no right to opt out of it. Older or not.
You don’t just up and leave.
Beaux’s eyebrows go up as Dad leans in to say something to him. I know he won’t ask if he can have alcohol. Mom would absolutely lose her shit. Beaux puts up a tough front, but really, he’s just a kid. Seventeen.
Mom looks at me from across the table and fixes her auburn hair, raising her eyebrows, signaling for me to do the same.
I don’t move my arms. I don’t even look her in the eyes.
Another applause sounds from the back of the room and I turn, landing my eyes on Martis and Evander.
If anyone wants to know what Cadmus will look like in thirty years, all they have to do is look at his father. Evander’s crown is larger than Cadmus’s, the cool silver complimenting his blue eyes. His black hair is gelled back, maroon suit pressed perfectly. It’s almost like Cadmus’s mother wasn’t even part of the equation—like Cadmus just appeared as the spitting image of his father. I’m sure Evander likes it that way.
He smiles, waves, and sits down across from Cadmus. Tobias and Martis couldn’t look less related if they tried. Martis appears as if he was born to sit in a parliament building all day— pale skin, murky green eyes, pin-straight brown hair. Nothing special. Tobias looks like he was born to have a surfboard under his arm. Wavy blonde hair, lively brown eyes, and a slight tan all year round. Where Martis is serious and poised, Tobias is grins and horseplay. I notice that three K.S.A, Kalistar Security Agency, guards linger in the back of the room, scanning the people and tables. Sadly, they aren’t just for the King and Prime Minister. They are here to protect us, too.
We are the future, and hurting us would most certainly change it.
Everyone in the room has tensed up. An unspoken sense of judgment is hovering over all the tables, making people behave in ways they often wouldn’t. It’s our parents. I know it is. They cause unease, planting a stoic expression on everyone’s face.
The girls who have been talking about me three tables over? Their mouths have finally stopped moving. I noticed them glaring from the second Tobias and I stepped inside Third. I don’t particularly care— but I still want to do something about it sometimes.
Martis says something to my Mom, and her face goes sour. She’s pissed, whatever it is. Tobias leans across the table, and I get a whiff of his cologne, “He’s not giving his speech anymore. He has to leave early.”
“Why?”
He shrugs, then looks at Martis. I follow his gaze, listening in.
“I have a delivery to First,” I hear him say, “I have to be there for it, Nai. They specifically need my signature.”
Men.
He has no idea how much work my Mom put into this event, and you can’t just go screwing around with the schedule. Part of me wants to tell him he has no choice but to stay.
This is an important night being broadcast all over the country. It’s not just a ball—it’s a celebration. We are acknowledging our accomplishments, discussing future plans, and letting the people know that they live in the best nation this world has ever seen. But also, the people want to see us. They want a glimpse of their future leaders. This is why tonight, we don’t slump in our seats.
Tobias and Beaux have very different mentalities when it comes to events like this.
After our parent’s drinks are served, the lights dim, and we all sit up a little straighter in our chairs. Even Beaux. The man from the front desk steps through the back door and everyone starts clapping. He takes his place on the elevated area in front of our table and grabs the microphone.
He must not have a wife because that golden suit is hideous. This is a high society event, not a clown show. I almost pity him. He probably wants to look younger-more hip.
He failed miserably.
“Good evening, Royals and guests. Welcome to the seventy-eighth annual Kalistar House Ball. I would like to start us off with a toast.” He raises the glass he has in his hand, and everyone follows suit. I feel a sarcastic nudge in my ribs from Beaux.
“To another year of prosperity and success for all of Kalistar.” Glasses clink around the room. Cadmus reaches out to nudge mine. The music proceeds as the man steps off the stage and the waiters return, tending to the tables.
“Are you prepared to speak tonight?” I ask Cadmus. His speeches are to die for. He just has the voice for it. The gusto. He could talk about the newest microwave oven and the whole room would listen on the edge of their seats.
He didn’t get it from Evander. I think he taught himself. He shakes his head. “No, I was going to save it for the coronation, why?”
“I was just wondering.”
I think about him constantly—quietly, instinctively. I wonder, I worry, I imagine. It’s a habit by now, almost a talent. My thoughts stretch out like soft pages, each one bending gently toward his name. When I think of him, I choose my loveliest words—redamancy, hypophrenia, elysian—as if beauty itself could bridge the horrible space between us.
Maybe I write Cadmus Evander into poetry because it’s easier than facing the fact that I can’t have him at all.
Tobias stands, “I’m gonna head to the restroom real quick. I’ll be right back.”
Cadmus stands too, “I’ll come with you.”
Tobias rolls his eyes, “I don’t need a babysitter to walk to the Goddamn bathroom.”
Beaux laughs, “Turnin’ thoughts into tempo.” He lifts his glass of water.
Cadmus’ eyebrows knit together. “What the hell does that mean?”
“I don’t—it sounded better in my head.”
“Speed bump.” Tobias claps him on the back, “install one before you say some shit like that to a girl.”
“Someone could jump you,” I say, grinning, still trying to get him an escort to the bathroom. He says nothing in return, only frowns and walks off.
Cadmus gives me a glance and sits back down.
“Oh, come on.” I nudge his shoulder, “Nobody in their right mind will do anything to him. Not tonight.” I say, trying to make myself believe it too.
“You think Nora and her devotees are sane?” He asks.
“Never said that.”
“It was implied. None of us need him coming back with a busted lip and broken nose. Not tonight.”
And with that, Cadmus smiles at the camera positioned in the back of the room.
Bonus Content
Well, that’s a wrap for chapter two. Here, I’m just going to ramble a bit. I hope it’s still entertaining for you guys. I know a few of you said that you got bogged down a bit in the last chapter— hope this is better.
As for the plot, around midnight last night, I highly considered cutting this chapter altogether because of the plot. Even though the entire book has been written, I was really hesitant, surprisingly. It really is just a continuation of Reverberation, BUT…
Still, I decided to keep it for multiple reasons.
It introduces some very important characters in the story: Denarius (Cordelia, Beaux, and Damon’s father) Naomi (Denarius’s wife), Martis (Tobias’s father), and Evander (Cadmus’s father). Not only that, but I feel like Cordelia is a very introspective character, which allowed me to really explain the “vibes” of each of these people through her.
It sets up one of the subplots for the novel. Clearly, after reading this, I’m sure you can gather that Cordelia has a thing for Cadmus. Now, whether the feeling is mutual, who knows? But it’s something that she holds close to her, and it will expand over the course of the book.
Damon is somewhat introduced. Damon is the eldest child of the Arien House, at least twelve years older than all of the other heirs. He, despite being absent right now, is a crucial part of this story. The heirs have power because of their involvement in the parliament and in First. Damon’s age is his power.
For all of these reasons, combined with the simple fact that this chapter expands Cordelia’s character, I decided to keep it. I’m still kind of saying that through a grimace, though. I know that this book has a bit of a slower start (compared to a lot of other brilliant pieces I’ve read on here) but I can promise you— that short bathroom trip for Tobias?
It’s going to be the catalyst for the rest of the story.
And honestly, both chapter three and four are probably the size of this one combined, so I will probably post them in the same newsletter on Friday.
Commentary on Beaux:
Beaux is definitely my little sweetheart of the group. He’s spunky, loud, and chaotic in the best way possible. Yet, as you’ll come to find out, he has a lot more going on under the surface then he lets people know. I’ve already had one person say they might be in love with Beaux, and let’s just say— you have a lot of competition.
As he likes to say: “You can’t spell the word ‘beautiful’ without almost all of Beaux.”
But I would never consider dropping the X from his name. It gives it an extra bit of pizzazz, and who am I to deny this kid pizzazz?
He practically invented pizzazz.
Or he could just be full of himself.
Until Friday…
That’s all for now. I would love to hear what you all think in the comments. I enjoyed hearing from you all last time, and I’ll be responding to each and every one of you again. Favorite lines, questions, theories, unfiltered feelings… drop them all in the comments.
Also, if you enjoy the bonus content, let me know what you would like to see. I’m open to write about pretty much anything!
With all the words
—Chloe
Picture of Tobias, lol.
Wonderful second chapter! I can see how some people felt the first chapter being a little slow comparatively, but I really liked this perspective from Cordelia. We can also definitely see the thing for Cadmus, I wonder why she thinks she can't have him shes the "it" girl she was described to be by Tobias? Or is he just Too-biased haha..... I'll walk myself out.
Lovely work <3
I just finished reading the second chapter, and I had to tell you—I loved it. It literally took me back to when I was younger, sitting in a quiet corner with a novel, completely lost in the story. I found myself placing me right next to the characters, like I was part of the scene. So beautifully written.