Divided (55 page)

Kilik laughed quietly.  “Somehow, that doesn’t seem to suit
your advisor very well.”

As they walked, Kilik seemed more animated.  Perhaps the
walk had done him as much good as it had done Calis.  “What is it, Kilik?” 
There was a very specific look in Kilik’s eyes when he wanted to speak, and
Calis saw it there.

“Take care of your bruise,” he whispered.  “I don’t… I don’t
like seeing you hurt.  I know you think it isn’t anything, but you should take
care of it.  I can’t explain why.  Just—do not let him hit you again, okay? 
Especially for my sake.  No, for anyone’s sake.  Ah, bloody… I can protect
everyone in Dark District, and yet…” 

“No,” Calis snapped.  “I will tend to the bruise, though
after what I have seen you go through—I can’t believe you are so worried over
it.  You have cared for everyone in Dark District.  You are the one who seems
to constantly take the fall for this nonsense, constantly getting hurt for others’
sake.  If I want to take a blow for your sake, then I will do so.  I will do so
because I love you.”

Kilik flushed.  They were nearing the healer’s house again,
though Calis could just make it out in the distance.  They had a little ways to
walk before they would be back.  The sun had shifted several times, which meant
that if Calis was to uphold Kilik’s wishes—he ought to hurry. 

“You are impossible,” Kilik said.

“Then, I must suit you well, as you share that attribute.” 
A quirk of a smile eased onto Kilik’s face.  Once again, as they were nearing
the end of the time they had, Calis pulled Kilik to him—kissing him another
time, softly.

“Oh, you loathsome, sniveling, pathetic excuse for a man! 
You… dishonorable, worthless, guileless rat!”  The words came from a little
down the road.

Calis pulled away from Kilik, trying to comprehend the
amount of insults that he was hearing.  For a moment, he and Kilik blinked at
one another before they glanced towards the sound of the insults.

A boy, not just any boy, the one that Kilik had been kind
enough to show around Dark District was walking towards them.  His eyes weren’t
for Kilik, though, they were quite obviously directed at Calis.  “Why am I not
surprised?” Kilik said, a bit more dryly than he addressed most things.

“You fly-bitten, knave!  You churlish, errant, foul, vain,
rank…”

Kilik, having grasped that the insults were not directed
towards him, reacted accordingly.  He stepped forward, with an unprecedented
amount of authority.  To a person of Dark District, he would have looked
frightening.  Calis had never seen him behave so powerfully, except perhaps as
the Phantom Blade.  “Watch your mouth,” he snapped.  “You ought to name the
reason for your insults before spewing them.  Surely
someone
has told
you that in your life, child.”  His voice was low, threatening.  How odd.

The boy’s eyes widened, for some reason, and Calis
speculated that it was from more than Kilik’s strong presence.  Calis worked desperately
to suppress his smile.  That was quite the arsenal of insults, he thought. 
Almost impressive.  He wished he’d written them down.  “I am not a child
anymore!”  They were addressing one another with a degree of familiarity that
Calis didn’t quite understand.  “And perhaps you ought to determine the
identity of the lips you kiss before you kiss them!” the small, apparently not-child,
growled in response. 

From the side, Calis could make out the mean smile on
Kilik’s face.  He was so in control, at this moment.  It was alluring, though
Calis made sure that his look remained bemused as he watched the scene unfold. 
“Oh, you are very clearly a child.  State your reason, then,
sir
.”

“This person—this man is a liar!” 

Kilik growled, and the sound was deep—or as deep a sound as
Kilik could make.  This really was quite comical.  Calis felt a little guilty,
after all, the not-child had apparently worked hard on those insults, and he
didn’t feel the least bit insulted.  Perhaps he was too busy being flattered by
Kilik’s defense of him.  “You continue to insult without reason!”

The boy choked on his words, glaring at Kilik and taking a
step forward.  He looked a little as though he had just been dared to do
something absurd.  “This miscreant you are kissing is not who he says he is.”

Calis was sure he knew where this was going, and he worked
to keep the smile off his face.  He really ought to try and save this boy the
embarrassment, but after being called so many rude things—he was disinclined to
help.  “Oh?  Are you sure?” Kilik asked.

“Yes.  He is a Tsrali!  He is the crown prince of Telandus!”
the boy was nearly shouting, and Calis winced.  Though, he was proud that he
had predicted that up to the last syllable.  Kilik didn’t seem amused, though.

In fact, he drew back and glanced to Calis.  This was not a
very romantic end to their walk, Calis thought irately.  This was the second time
this little child had left Calis with a bad taste in his mouth.  Though, the
jealousy of the first time was not the kid’s fault.  “Oh, well, I’m confused,”
Kilik threw his hands in the air.

“You ought to be!  You can’t just…”  The boy paused, and the
brown eyes did not look like they were getting the expected reaction.  Kilik
did not appear shocked at all, though he had said he was confused.

Kilik offered another of his irritated smiles, and then he
spoke.  “I am confused because you say that this individual is not who he says
he is, and then you say he is the very individual that he says he is,” he said
crossly.

The boy’s eyes widened noticeably.  Kilik kept an entirely
impassive look on his face, which despite its nonchalance, was a bit odd on
Kilik’s face.  He was ordinarily so expressing, and yet in this moment he
seemed entirely uninvolved.  “You
know
?  You know that you are kissing a
Tsrali
?”

Kilik sighed, as if he’d expected this reaction.  Honestly,
Calis hadn’t.  Most of the people in Dark District didn’t hate him.  Though
they may have hated the name Tsrali, they did not hate Calis.  Yet this young
man seemed to loathe him immensely.  “Yes, I do.”  Kilik glanced across to
Calis, who offered him a smile.

“And he knew before we kissed,” Calis interjected.  The
glare he got from the boy was not very intimidating.  It reminded Calis a
little of the glares Kilik gave when he wasn’t overly angry at anything.  So,
rather than glaring back, he simply smiled at the boy.  “I thought it was worth
noting,” he said as he looked to Kilik.

The boy’s teeth clenched together as if he was fighting off
some urge.  Then, he took a breath and narrowed his eyes.  “Then, did you know
that he was engaged to a lady back at the castle?”  His eyebrows rose, though
he did not smirk the way someone who was trying to make a point ought to
smirk.  In fact, he didn’t smirk at all.  He looked unhappy. 

Kilik sighed.  “This is very personal information, you nosy
little brat.  But yes, I did.  I am wondering how you acquired all of this
enlightening information.”  When Kilik took a step forward, the boy took a step
back and a gasp escaped his lips.  He was clearly misinformed about the nature
of Calis and Kilik’s relationship.  Though, it was impressive that he seemed to
know so much about Calis.

“Y-you are kissing a Tsrali prince with full knowledge that
he is engaged to another woman?”  The boy choked and his voice rose an octave. 
“
Why
?”

Kilik and Calis stared at each other for a moment.  Calis
decided that the look was enough to permit his own interference.  “That isn’t
your business, boy.  Why are you so worried with this matter, anyway?”

The boy snarled upon being addressed by Calis.  “Don’t talk
to me, you vermin!” he shouted.  His voice was getting progressively higher. 
He really must be upset.  Calis’s eye twitched.  “You may have disarmed
T-T-Kilik with your obnoxious charm, but I won’t be so foolish.”  Had the boy
forgotten Kilik’s name?  Odd, considering how much he was pretending to care
about Kilik’s love life.  “You twisted, deceitful imp!”  More with the insults…
“You think it’s alright to play with people like this?  What is it you intend
to do?  Are you going to try and lead him off somewhere and kill him—or are you
just doing this for the merriment of hurting him emotionally?”

Kilik began responding when the words finally reached
Calis.  They cut deeper than any singular insult could have.  For this random,
foolish child to imply that Calis would lay a hand on Kilik—or hurt him without
doing so—tinged his vision red.  He stepped forward and seized the boy’s color,
speaking in a low, primeval growl.  “You insolent child.  Do not presume to
know me or my relationship with Kilik.  You speak things that you know nothing
of—if you knew the impossibilities you spoke—you would hang
yourself
for
your lies.  Kilik is in more danger by your flagrant speech than of me—the idea
that I would hurt him is so abhorrent that I should strike you for speaking
it—for thinking it!”

The brown eyes widened, filled with terror as they witnessed
the truth behind Calis’s fury.  He was shrinking away, and his anger seemed to
vanish behind a wall of uncertainty.  “Enough,” Kilik said gently, and he
grabbed Calis’s arm.  With a quick gesture, he eased the boy and Calis apart. 
He did it so gracefully that Calis wondered if he hadn’t done it himself for a
moment.  “Enough now.”

The boy stood away, and his eyes were still wide with
alarm.  Calis let out a breath, and he glared away from the ignorant child
before him.  This
was
a child—more of a child than he knew.  How could
anyone say those things?  Then again, an objective person would naturally see
Calis as a threat to Kilik.  This boy had only been wanting to protect the very
thing that Calis wanted so badly to.

 “My apologies…”  Calis managed.

“I don’t… understand.”  The boy was dismayed.

“Go,” Kilik said harshly. 

The boy squirmed under Kilik’s anger.  He seemed so out of
place, as though all of the momentum with which he’d been driving himself had
been taken out of him.  Then, Calis realized that they had been.  The boy had
expected to enlighten Kilik, not be chastised by him.  For some reason, that
made Calis smile. 

“I just…” the boy tried again.

“Now,” Kilik repeated, and this time his voice was firmer. 
He seemed so much more authoritative than usual.  Calis had every desire to
push Kilik back against the nearest stall and kiss him until those beautiful
blue eyes couldn’t see straight.  “Aelic.”

That was the boy’s name.  Calis hadn’t remembered it until
Kilik spoke it.  Aelic said nothing else, walking, or really staggering, off. 
“Well, that was fun.”

“Apologies, Calis.  I… that was…”

Calis laughed, and then he pulled Kilik to him and kissed
him again.  “I thought it was rather charming the way you defended me,
actually.  It wasn’t the kid’s fault, either.  It can’t possibly look good that
I’m—well—who I am.  Just, please don’t believe that I’d hurt you.”

Kilik nodded his head slowly, and then he glanced towards
Juliet’s house.  “I know you wouldn’t, Calis.  I trust you.”

The words sounded sincere enough, though Kilik’s eyes were
flickering with unspoken emotion.  Unfortunately, as Calis was now even more
behind than he had been when they had originally returned—he knew he had to
hurry.  “Thank you, Kilik.  I just wish rumors of my engagement weren’t
spreading so quickly.  How did that boy know?”

“I’m going to find out,” Kilik said flatly.  “I need to
speak with him after that.  Promise me you’ll be careful if you leave the
city?”

“Always, love.”  He kissed Kilik’s lips one more
time—lingering for a few seconds longer than necessary—and then pulled back,
touching Kilik’s cheek gently.  “I’ll see you soon.” 

“See you,” Kilik answered, sounding a little mesmerized by
the kiss.  Then, Calis headed to retrieve Lee as Kilik headed off towards what
Calis supposed was the inn.

“What the hero had done was defy the Magisters, and to
make them look upon themselves with scrutiny was the hardest task of all.”

-A Hero’s Peace v.i

Panic.  Panic was coursing through every part of her—every
vein inside of her as she opened the door to their room.  Her legs were
trembling, and she hoped very much that Leif had made it back to the room
before her.  He’d had to take a different route, as his clothes were not worth
finding again.  He would have had to sneak back.

Fortunately, though, as she opened the door, he was standing
there.  He was pulling on a white shirt, obviously having just arrived.  His
eyes softened when he saw her.  Surely, he could see the panic on her face. 
Not only was her brother the one spoken of in the book—but he was seeing the
engaged, crown prince of Telandus.  What was worse, Taeru knew all of it. 
Well, she doubted Calis knew who Taeru was.  Perhaps her brother had a
reason—though she had always been able to see into Taeru’s eyes.  And from what
she saw, he was infatuated—if not in love—with the prince. 

But she hadn’t had the full information, and she knew that
charging up to both of them while they appeared to be in the middle of an
intimate moment was a bad idea.  Her lips quivered, and she took a few unsteady
breaths.  Taeru had been furious with her, and the way the Telandan prince had
reacted to her saying he wanted to hurt Taeru had been—well—terrifying.  But
somehow, there had been a comfort in it.  He had reacted so violently only to
the idea of causing harm to Taeru.  Surely, there was something to be said for
that.  

No, she wouldn’t let herself succumb to the same charm that
her brother likely had.  There she went again, making assumptions.  She knew
nothing.  Taeru had always told her to check her facts before she went about
spewing insults, and even then, to state the reason for them before.  Well,
that was far too logical.  She was not the overly nice person that her brother
was. 

Why was he with the prince of Telandus?  Why was he with
someone who was engaged?  What did they intend to do?  But Calis had clearly been
up front, where Taeru had probably not been.  She let out a breath. 

Leif finally spoke, breaking her train of thought.  “I was
wondering where you were.  You went and found him, didn’t you?  I told you not
to.”  His voice was soft, but firm.  Just like Taeru had been.  He wasn’t
angry, but he was forceful.

Oh, why was Leif so similar to her stupid brother?  Why was
her brother doing all these things that didn’t make sense?  Why did it have to
be her brother about which the book was written?  “I had to.  I wanted him to
know.  I didn’t want him to get hurt.  I, ah… I’m glad you made it back.”

Leif crossed his arms, and his eyebrows furrowed as he took
a step towards her.  He had managed to get fully clothed before she’d walked
in, at least.  “What happened?” Leif asked with a very patient tone.

“He knew,” she choked.  “He knew everything.  Then, I tried
to accuse the bloody prince of… yes,” she responded to the reprimanding look,
“I know it was a bad idea!  But I wanted to make an impression.  And he lost
it—I’d called him all these names, but only when I said that he wanted to hurt
my brother did he get angry with me.  Until then, he just looked… amused.”  She
shook her head at the memory.  He had been so calm.  Nothing like the Tsrali
family she’d heard about at all.

“Well, if you hadn’t reacted so quickly—you may have heard
him.  He was vying for our side.  He was trying to talk his father out of the
war.  We have the information we need now.  We could report to Veyron and tell
him that everything is fine, now, you know?  Of course, I suppose—we can’t, not
really.  Since your brother is here.”  Leif shook his head, as if he’d gotten
thoroughly distracted.  “The prince was struck for arguing against Lavus.  Why
were you so determined that he was bad?  He very clearly had little interest in
the woman.  You just—you reacted like a complete lunatic!”

“I was worried,” she whimpered.  “Leif, you don’t
understand.  That book that I mentioned?  The one that I said had disappeared. 
It hasn’t disappeared, oh—oh, you won’t believe me if I just tell you.  I need
to show you the book—I… something awful is happening, Leif.  And I know Taeru
is in the middle of it.”

Leif stepped forward and grabbed her wrists.  His eyes
blazed with concern as he looked her over.  He could be so protective when he
wanted to be—in fact, he had been rather protective for the duration of their
journey.  “Aela,” he said, and she nearly—well—swooned upon hearing her name. 
Swooning?  This wasn’t good.  “I trust you.  I know that you see something
happening here, and honestly, I can feel it too.  But, you have to calm down. 
Stop stressing so much.  Taeru is not a fool.  Whatever he has with the prince
is his own, for whatever reason.  Calis Tsrali is clearly no Lavus Tsrali. 
Stop this.  You’ll push yourself to the breaking point.  I’ve done an awful job
at protecting you, Magisters forsake me, I shouldn’t have let you come.”

“No,” she whined.  She tried very hard not to whine, but her
voice could be described as no other way in that moment but petulant.  “No, I
want to be here.  If I wasn’t here, then I would be back home—worrying nonstop
about you, Leif.”

Leif let out a low laugh, and the sound had strange
sensations running all through Aela’s body.  She closed her eyes, and she let
out a breath.  “Still, it was my responsibility to keep you safe.  I let you
come because the idea of being…”  He gritted his teeth, throwing his head to
the side as though she’d hit him.

“Leif… I…”  She thought of saying it.  She had been fighting
her feelings for him this entire time, and now they felt like the most obvious
things in the world.  Leif was all she had, and she’d developed feelings much
stronger than she’d meant for him.  She ought to tell him.  For fear of
anything happening to either of them.  “You know… I should probably…”

Her breathing grew unsteady, just as his did, as they stared
at one another.  Somehow, they had ended up back in the position in which they
had been at the castle.  Only, this time they were there of their own design,
and Leif’s fingers were caressing her back, rather than holding it.  She moved
her hand upwards to touch his cheek, biting down on her lip as her heart
pounded a little faster.  She wanted this—oh, she wanted this. 

Would it really hurt anything?  They were in their room, and
what they did here was not going to affect anyone.  People might find it odd
that two male travelers were—well, it didn’t matter.  She wanted Leif, and she
wanted him badly.  Finally, he bent his head, and she could nearly feel his
lips.

Then, the door swung open, and the sound of a thousand
explosive barrels rang in her ears.  Leif and she leapt away from one another
as if they were on fire.  Then, her eyes moved to the door to find her
brother.  “Lovely,” he snarled.  “Perhaps I should hurl a thousand nasty
insults at
him
, and then we will be even.”  Taeru’s eyes were on Leif
for only a moment, before they retreated to Aela—with much fire in them.  “What
in the Magisters' grace are you two doing here?” Taeru snarled, slamming the
door behind him.

“We could ask you the same question!” Leif snapped.  “Of all
places,
really
?”

“Oh shut it, Leif,” Taeru snarled.  He kept his voice down. 
Aela felt giddy.  Not only because she’d been about to kiss Leif, but because
Taeru was—well, being Taeru.  He was angry with her, but that didn’t change the
fact that he was here, in this moment.  “You’re the fool that’s brought my
sister to likely the most dangerous place in Elyst.  At least what I do with my
life is my own.”  His voice, though he was angry, was very low.

Aela interjected, making sure to keep her voice at the same
volume level as her brother’s.  “I am a person, you rudesby!  I wanted to come,
and so I did.  For your information, though it isn’t any of your business, I
snuck out.  Leif hadn’t the slightest clue of it.”  That wasn’t entirely the
truth, but it was close enough.

“You make a very unconvincing boy,” he said curtly.

“You make a very unconvincing…”  She searched for a word,
though she was sure that she’d used all her insults on Calis.  “Well, you’d
make a very unconvincing girl should you ever try to be one!”

This made Leif laugh outright, and they both glared at him. 
“Oh, that really hurts, love.  All that reading you do has paid off,” Taeru
retorted.

Reading.  Taeru was here.  She could warn him, or at least
show him what she was talking about.  But first, she needed to win this
argument.  “Why—why are you with him?  He is a Tsrali.  I assume he does not
know who you are, brother.”

This hurt him.  He looked away, and there was a flicker of
sadness in his eyes.  Oh, she wished very much that she hadn’t said that.  This
also meant that Taeru was seeing Calis strictly because—well, he liked Calis. 
“No,” he said weakly, “no, he doesn’t.”

Leif was the one to speak next.  “We overheard him, in the castle.” 
Taeru’s eyes widened at this assertion.  Aela wished Leif had sense enough not
to say we!  “He was arguing with his father about the war.  He seems to care
for you very much.”

“I did not come here to talk about him.”

“Then, might I suggest a new topic,” Aela asserted.  “Now
that you are here,
Kilik
,” she mocked the name, “I have to show you
something.”  She made sure that her seriousness was properly conveyed.  After
all, now she needed a way to ease the pain she’d caused her brother.  “But
first…”

Taeru and Leif stared at her, as if awaiting some
revolutionary statement.  Then, though, her lips trembled, and her entire body
quivered with disbelief.  Taeru Lassau—the brother that she had loved more than
anything—the brother she thought she’d never see again—was before her now.  She
sprung forward, and nearly tackled him, throwing her arms around his neck with
desperate fervor.  “Oh… I thought you were dead.  Oh, I thought you were dead.”

Taeru returned the embrace, and she was happy to see that
his ability to convey warmth through his touch had not deteriorated.  “I missed
you,” she whispered.  “I missed you more than you could ever understand.”

“I understand, Aela.  I missed you too… by the Magisters, I
missed you too.”  His voice was so filled with emotion that he’d kept pent up. 
She knew he must be speaking the truth, and she was sure that he knew she was. 
Her brother was back—and she would make sure that he stayed that way.

They held one another for several seconds, until Aela
remembered that Leif was there—and that there was more work to be done.  Taeru,
though, was the one to pull away.  His eyes sparked with affection as he looked
at her.  “I can’t believe you cut off all your hair.”

“I was glad to be free of it, as the rains on the journey from
home to here were not kind.”  Leif and she exchanged a glance at the memory of
the men.  She could still see the blood soaked field, and she chewed her lip. 

Taeru’s eyes flickered with understanding, but he said
nothing about it.  He glanced to Leif, and though he didn’t look entirely
approving, he spoke.  “I won’t ask the nature of your presence here, but I
think I can assume.  This can only mean that the war is closer than I thought.”

As always, Taeru’s eyes clouded at the mention of war.  Aela
nodded her head, knowing that explaining it in this inn room would probably get
them all killed.  Now, she could show him why—and they could stop this.  “You
are having nightmares, aren’t you, brother?” she asked quietly. 

His eyes flickered with suspicion as he regarded her.  To
think, her own brother was regarding her suspiciously, while trusting the likes
of a Tsrali prince.  Telandus had not left Taeru entirely unchanged, to be
sure.  “Why do you ask?” he questioned.

“There is danger here.  There is danger in this war.  The
king of this land is poisoned, and there is a force moving everything towards
the war.  A force that I know you are trying to combat.  But you cannot fight
it alone.”  Taeru jerked backwards, as though he was flinching away from her
words.  Well, she had to sound a little mad, spouting nonsense like some sort
of sorceress.  When she glanced at Leif, he wasn’t giving her much more
confidence.  “I need you both to see something.”

They said nothing, probably because they were worried she
might collapse into a fit of pure insanity.  Instead, though, she turned away
from both of them and moved to the shelf.  “Before I left,” she explained, “I
went into Lower Town to purchase new books.  I received one from Graan, one
that he promised me was from Telandus.  I read it, and it was a very
interesting book.  The book told of a hero, who had been in the midst of
warring lands, and his attempt to stop the Magisters from destroying both of
the warring kingdoms.”

She was still being stared at as if she were out of her
mind.  With a quick smile, she put the book in front of them and opened to
where the blank pages began.  The most troubling part of it all was that the
book had started writing itself, adding tiny bits—which included Taeru’s
discovery of his sister.  “Clearly a story from Telandus, since they are the
ones that believe some of the Magisters fell to darkness,” Leif managed to
agree with her on one point.  “They would surely think that some of the Magisters
wanted to destroy the land.”

The belief systems were varied, but only slightly.  Both
Telandus and Cathalar believed that Magisters were the deities of Elyst.  Aela
couldn’t have hoped, though she’d been educated on all of them, to name all of
the Magisters.  There were countless, reaching into the hundreds.  They had
created all things and they worked to keep them in motion.  Telandus, though,
believed that some of the Magisters became tainted with their powers, and so
they felt to darkness.  Because of this, Telandus no longer worshipped the Magisters,
and worshipped only the Light that they used to create.  Cathalar, though,
believed that the Magisters remained in their position of power, and that the
Light was only a means of creation for them.