Chapter 10 Waiting Game #2
In an act to prove his lack of ‘caring,’ the young man’s gaze shifted to the right, his expression turning blank.
The corners of Sin’s lips started to twitch, but he held back his amusement. For some reason, Cecil tended to frown or glare when he smiled at him. Sin also didn’t think the man would appreciate him finding humor in his attempt at appearing bored.
“If you must know, it was Clarissa.”
At the name, Cecil’s gaze snapped back. He grimaced, as if having done anything similar to her disgusted him. “Clarissa, the bitc—girl you went on a date with?”
Sin burst out laughing at the man’s first attempt at curbing his language.
Cecil started to glare. “What’s so funny?”
“Yes, the woman I went on a date with,” he confirmed when his laughter subsided.
The glare lessened, and the young man went back to slouching on the counter. “So, are you going out with her again?” Cecil asked, looking up at him from under his lashes. The bored expression reappeared, but it was even less believable than the first time.
“No.”
“Why?” he inquired without hesitation, and most likely without thought.
It was a personal question, and from what he had seen so far, Cecil tried to avoid those.
“That is a rather personal question, Cecil,” Sin pointed out.
“Considering everything I’ve heard, everything you people have shared with me since coming to this crazy-ass maze of a house, it really isn’t.”
Right, Cecil had a point there. Sin still couldn’t fathom what had gotten into his people for them to share such private information. Worst of all, to an eighteen-year-old.
They knew better, and Sin had told them such in the three-hour long lecture he had given them. But judging by Cecil’s avoidance of the rec room, he wasn’t positive it had worked. The thought had his anger flaring, and he decided another lecture was in order.
“I feel I must apologize again for that,” he said on a sigh. “As for Clarissa…our beliefs were too different. She held certain opinions that I would not be able to abide by.”
“She was a total bitch.”
“Cecil,” Sin groaned.
Cecil just grinned at him mischievously.
“This conversation has gone awry. How did we go from cooking to my love life?”
“Do I really look like the cooking type?” Cecil asked dryly.
“Do I?”
The man’s gaze swept over him. “Not really,” he admitted.
“Which means it’s quite possible you’ll like it. You never know.”
“Yeah, right. Why are you cooking anyway? You’re like the big boss man, shouldn’t you have people to do that for you?”
“I happen to enjoy cooking.” Sin laughed. “And when it is for my people, it gives me this feeling of being home. They are my family.”
“Your ‘family’ is insane, you do know that, right?”
“At times, I suppose they are. Though it really depends on the branch. For instance, at the Dusburn main branch, the immortals are older. While they do get into the thick of things at times, they do not come close to the energy of this branch. It is the same with the branch in Sodan.”
“Why do you have three main branches?”
“To create bonds.”
“Bonds?”
“Yes, to create a closeness that sometimes is lacking due to distance and lack of interaction. I did it to create a close-knit family, instead of just a group of acquaintances.” Sin quickly amended, “Not that other groups are not close. It is possible my actions have changed nothing.”
“There you go again, using the word ‘family’. Is having a family really that important? Families usually only get in the way, why would you want one?”
“I have to say my feelings on that differentiate drastically from yours. To me, family is everything. I do know blood relatives are not always what they should be, but you don’t have to be blood-related to be a family.
It is a feeling of safety, the feeling of being home.
It is the very reason I joined the Zaytari.
I wanted a big family. I wanted the bonds, the feeling of belonging, as I had very little of either growing up. ”
“I don’t know that feeling,” Cecil said softly.
His words held a touch of bitterness, but Cecil didn’t look away like many would have. He continued to stare defiantly, his words telling of his emotions, but his face remained empty.
Sin wanted to say that he could experience that here. That the man was safe here, with them, with him…but he didn’t. Cecil would not have believed it, and Sin was starting to doubt if Cecil was safe with him. So he held the words back and ignored the pain he heard.
“The territories that were created at the beginning of the kingdom, while small considering the whole, are still expansive. I’m not sure if you know this, but my territory covers more area than any other.
The Dusburn Branch, the original main branch, is five hours from here by vehicle.
Ten for the Sodan one. A great distance in the old days.
That distance I felt created a chasm, a weakening of bonds.
“When I was awarded my position, corruption was running rampant. For many, it was too sweet to ignore. It was dangerous to risk allowing such poison to affect those who were meant to bring justice. It was during the early years of King Adrian’s reign that I set things in motion.
What I did was unheard of. And in part, it may have been fueled by my own selfish desires.
Some in the group were furious that I, a stranger, an outsider who had led for only four years, dared to change tradition. ”
“An outsider?”
“When the previous leader died, I was working for a different group. I was young and ambitious. So when I heard of the death, I put my name in the basket.”
“How young?” Cecil asked with interest.
“Nine hundred and two.”
“But that’s…I mean…I thought all of you were super old or something. Like with age comes wisdom, and some ageist shit like that. Isn’t there a rule that you have to be old as dirt or something?”
“Cecil…” He huffed. “No, there is no rule, but to be given such a role at my age, it was unheard of. I was just as surprised as everyone else. Despite the plans in my head, my dreams, I expected nothing to come from it.”
“Bet people were pissed.”
Sin laughed—that was an understatement. “Yes, many were. But King Kade still ruled at the time, so there were too many other things to worry about.”
“Wait, so you took over right before the old bastard kicked the bucket? Man, that must have been a mess. I mean, the year following his death was the period of mass executions, and famine was still widespread, and like only two years after King Adrian ascended, there was the attempted revolt and riots...”
The riots were not something he liked to think about, but as Cecil continued to tell him all about that period of time, Sin couldn’t help but smile.
He was thrilled that he had finally found what Cecil was interested in.
The young man spoke with such excitement and knowledge.
Well, his words were accurate, if you believed all that was written down in the history books.
There was much that the people did not know. The historians could not be faulted. They hadn’t been told the truth, nor would they ever be. Some secrets were better left buried.
“Anyway, it must have been insane,” Cecil said, finishing his history lesson.
“Yes,” Sin chuckled. “It was, as you say, insane.”
“But wait, so if you took over and weren’t related to the other guy…” Cecil paused and frowned. “You know they don’t really give us much on the history of the Vadin Zaytari groups, it’s just about, like, function and roles and whatnot.”
“The ‘other guy’ is Zel Katro.”
“Yeah, him. Why is it called the Draven Zaytari Group when you just took over?”
“For many years after, it was still the Katro Zaytari Group. However, about two thousand years ago, the members gave me a great honor. They changed the name.”
“I see.”
Sin smiled softly at the fond memories of that day. He finally felt like he had truly come home.
The room filled with silence once again, and Cecil returned to just staring at him.
After a minute of it, Sin announced, “Well, I probably should get back to making dinner. As it is, I believe I will be finishing late.” Standing, he returned to preparing the beef stew, turning away from the young man.
“Do…”
At that soft, hesitant word, he peered back. Cecil was fidgeting, tugging on the sleeve of his shirt, and a faint flush was spreading across his cheeks.
“Yes?” he asked with a raised brow.
“Do you want some help?”