Chapter 8 Haera #2
But, at that moment anyways, she didn’t seem to want to kill Rhalyf at all. In fact, her face was lit with smiles as she attempted to ruffle Rhalyf’s hair almost playfully. He looked at her as if she had lost her mind, avoiding the ruffling. Rhalyf was nothing if not careful of his appearance.
“Ah, you have a guest!” she said delightedly.
“You’re well aware I have a guest,” Rhalyf stated as he moved so that he was between her and Finley. “Oh, and in case you were not aware, our uncle is very fond of Finley.”
Haera lifted a sculpted eyebrow. “Now that is quite the claim! I would accuse my brother of exaggerating such a thing, but…” She studied Finley in silence for some time.
Finley forced himself not to shift under the weight of her incisive gaze.
“But I do think that is true. Maybe more than Rhalyf knows. Your name is Finley? I am Haera.”
“May darkness obscure you from your enemies,” Finley said, remembering the line from a book. He truly hoped that was a real greeting among the Kindreth.
She let out another delighted laugh. “And may you taste your enemies’ blood on your tongue!
How charming! Not that I’m surprised. Well, I’ll take that back.
Normally, my brother is only interested in the outside of his bedmates–which you fully satisfy–but it appears you have depth. Are you growing up, Rhalyf?”
Finley’s cheeks heated at her frank appraisal of his looks. Compared to Declan he was not all that interesting. And he had never striven to be thought attractive. But here she was making him feel quite handsome. It was a strange experience. He adjusted his robes slightly.
“Ah, big sister, next you’ll be showing him my baby pictures and talking about me toddling up to you and you… pushing me down,” Rhalyf gave her a sharp-toothed smile.
She reached up and squeezed Rhalyf’s cheeks, which had him staring at her even harder. “You are so cute when you cry. And oh did you cry then. Calling our parents and all the house down when I was merely trying to see if you could keep your balance. That is a necessary thing.”
“Ah, yes, your version of helping me.” Rhalyf’s smile grew more strained. “So why are you here? Come to push me down again to see if I can keep my balance?”
“First things first! I am starving. Ooooh! That looks quite good! Sandwiches?” Her eyes alighted on the roast beef, crusty bread, sharp cheddar cheese, tangy mustard and fresh tomatoes that Cellica had brought to Rhalyf’s room in the Eyras Palace and they had smuggled here.
She immediately got down beside the ottoman where the food was set out on a tray and began to build a sandwich, oohing and ahhing over the quality of the food. “In truth, if you only had trogfob I would be devouring it. I did mention those draigs who destroyed my rations and–”
“Yes, yes, you went through great trials to get here, which, again, makes me wonder why you did it,” Rhalyf asked, hands on his hips as he stared down at his kneeling sister.
Her mouth full of sandwich, she responded in a mash of syllables and roast beef. Finally, she swallowed and said clearly, “When you disappeared after Ashryn’s insane coup against Vex, I wondered what exactly had happened to you.”
“I had nothing to do with that!” Rhalyf exclaimed sharply.
“Of course, you didn’t!” Haera scoffed even as she took another massive bite of sandwich, which she chewed with the enthusiasm of the starving and made moaning noises.
“Of course… of course?” He lifted an eyebrow.
Finley came near him. “She means she knows that you are too intelligent to do such a thing.”
Haera’s red eyes sparked. “That’s part of the reason, to be sure.”
“And the other?” Rhalyf’s voice went low.
“My dear brother, you have no desire to rule! And you have absolutely no desire to make social change! You? Involved in a coup that involved both? Please! Never going to happen.” She waved away the idea and started making love to her sandwich again.
Rhalyf was very still. Finley glanced up at his face. Why was Rhalyf upset at her description of him? It was truthful. He didn’t want power and he’d told Finley himself that though he judged plenty, he didn’t act on those feelings. Yet Rhalyf looked like she’d stabbed him in the heart.
Seeing his distress herself, Haera frowned around her sandwich, which she quickly swallowed rather anaconda-like. “What, Rhalyf? Is anything I said inaccurate? And I agree with Finley that you wouldn’t be so foolish as to join such an ill-thought-out coup… or any coup.”
“You think I’m incapable of fighting–”
“No! You’re one of the most powerful mages in our family, but you…
you don’t care about those things.” She studied him as she licked the cheddar cheese crumbles from her fingers.
“Unless I’m misunderstood and you’ve been some great political leader all this time?
Perhaps that is why you’ve been in the Aravae Empire cozying up to the Sun King. Did Uncle send you to do that?”
Rhalyf’s expression had become smooth and unreadable. “I’m surprised you don’t know.”
“I don’t! I thought something terrible had happened to you!” Haera’s face showed and voice held a trace of real concern. Finley saw it. But did Rhalyf?
“So you thought I was in trouble, but then realized I was in the Aravae Empire–”
“Pretending to be a Sun Elf, no less!” She chortled. “And, unsurprisingly, having weasled your way into the highest levels in record time! I suppose Uncle knew what he was doing when he sent you to…” She made a rolling gesture with her hands as if to encourage Rhalyf to fill in the blanks.
But Rhalyf simply said, “You really have no idea what I’m doing.”
“Perhaps I don’t! But that’s all the more reason you need me,” she told him as she began to create another sandwich.
“Need you?” Rhalyf sounded a little strangled.
“You’re getting involved in Vex’s business and the Aravae when they are in quite the mess,” she said, without looking up from piling on meat, cheese and tomatoes to the crusty bread.
“What mess? The Leviathan?” Finley asked, interested despite himself.
“No, not that.” She paused for a moment in spreading a thick layer of mustard on the bread and tilted her head to the side as she reconsidered what she’d just said. “Well, that, too. But no, I’m talking about what happened to the current Sun King’s parents. How they were murdered.”
Finley drew in a sharp breath. He hadn’t known that. “Who–”
But Rhalyf made a slight gesture with his nearest hand that silenced Finley. “They were allegedly killed in the Under Dark on a quest to meet with Uncle.”
She snorted. “I doubt they made it out of the Lieran Plane.”
Finley blinked rapidly and looked at Rhalyf for what he thought of her words. It was clear that Rhalyf had not heard this before either, but it was also clear that he trusted his sister’s words here.
“If that was the case then an Aravae would have had to have killed them,” Rhalyf said.
She lifted her eyebrows and gave him a, “No kidding” look.
“I assure you that Aquilan would never harm his parents–”
“Aquilan? No, but he is the far younger brother, is he not? Clearly, if anyone would have been chosen to succeed his parents, it wouldn’t have been him,” she pointed out.
Rhalyf’s red eyes swirled with fire. “You think that Vesslan–”
“I think that you may have walked your way into the middle of another coup.” She blinked and pursed her lips.
“Even as you studiously strive to avoid them. But that’s just your luck, Rhalyf: at the heart of power without wanting to be there.
” She hefted herself to her feet, second or third sandwich in hand.
“I’m going to take a well-needed hot shower and then avail myself of that big, beautiful bed you have there. ”
“That’s my bed and I didn’t say you could stay–”
“Sleep well, both of you! I look forward to talking more to you tomorrow, Finley! And seeing your beautiful homeworld.” She waved a hand over her shoulder and disappeared into the bathroom. Soon the sound of water falling and her delighted laughter reached them.
“She’s… she’s not what I expected,” Finley admitted. “She hardly seemed murderous to you at all.”
Rhalyf stared at the closed bathroom door for long moments. Finally, he looked back down at Finley. “In truth, she’s never acted like this before.”
Finley lifted an eyebrow. “Warm and affectionate?”
He nodded sharply. “I don’t understand… unless she thinks of raising her own profile by attaching herself to me.”
“She clearly thinks that you and Vex are working closely together. Maybe more than that. That the two of you are… Well, it’s clear that she thinks you are in the middle of things,” Finley said.
Rhalyf’s forehead was deeply furrowed. “Yes, and my sister is rarely wrong about these things.”
“So you think that Vesslan–”
“I think that I need to worry about more than his attempts to saddle Aquilan with boring scut work,” Rhalyf muttered.
“Will you tell him what Haera said? I mean, she seems to have some kind of information–”
“No. She likely has no true proof and I would need overwhelming proof of such perfidy on Vesslan’s part to convince Aquilan of such a thing.
And it would also require me to reveal who the two of us are to Aquilan.
” Rhalyf raked a hand through his hair. “Will he listen to someone who has lied to him for decades?”
“I think if it is put to him in the right way–”
“Is there a right way, Finley?” Rhalyf sounded despairing. “And if I do reveal myself, I risk truly becoming my uncle’s enemy. And now I see when I thought I was safely out of his reach that I never actually was.”
Finley took Rhalyf’s hands in his. “We will find a way forward. I promise.”
Rhalyf smiled down at him. “Thank you, Finley. You know… just what to say.”
“And what I say is that we make a little nest for ourselves by the fire so that your sister can have the bed,” Finley sighed.
“She really is the worst,” he growled.
“And keep our eyes open about Vesslan, your sister and Vex. I feel that we don’t see the whole picture yet. But we can only protect those we love by keeping alert and aware,” Finley suggested.
Rhalyf framed his face with his hands. “How did one so young get so wise?”
“I’m hardly wise. It’s only logical.”
Rhalyf leaned down. “Ah, but you prove your wisdom once again by saying that.”
The kiss was far too brief for Finley’s liking, but he knew that, though Haera might not mind it, he wanted more privacy before more of that could happen.
Surprisingly, their nest by the fire had been quite comfortable and he had no trouble falling asleep in Rhalyf’s arms after secreting the book and dagger beneath their bedclothes.
The next day–or night as the Under Dark was always in nighttime–they woke and finished up the cold beef before heading back to Tyrael.
Finley knew that Rhalyf wanted nothing more than for his sister to return to Nhamashel, but she had no intention of doing so.
And basically said that if he wouldn’t allow her to come with them, that she would show up in Tyrael on her own.
So for that reason–and likely to discover more about what she knew about Vesslan–Rhalyf acquiesced.
He’d even fixed her glamour for her so that her coloring was perfect for the Aravae.
When she gazed at herself in the mirror with her golden skin and sun-burnished hair, she’d let out another of her tinkling laughs.
“Dear gods, I cannot wait to see how people react to me!” she giggled.
Finley found himself wondering about Haera. He wasn’t altogether sure of her motives for joining them, but he didn’t think them completely self-serving. He hoped that there was no dark reason for her presence in Rhalyf’s current life.
I will keep an eye on her.
Though they hadn’t had a chance to discuss it, Finley knew that neither he nor Rhalyf was going to tell her about Declan. But then his best friend appeared on the balcony with his white hair and red eyes.
Kneeling down before Declan, rubbing his hands as though he was chilled, Finley asked almost plaintively, “Declan, why did you leave Aquilan’s quarters?”
“Someone was trying to get in. They would have found me,” Declan answered.
“Who?” Rhalyf’s voice was sharp as he spelled the room to reduce the light even more.
“I don’t know. I didn’t stay around to find out. Aquilan went to a meeting and then was going to bring back breakfast, but it wasn’t him and it wasn’t a servant. I’m sure of that much,” Declan answered.
Rhalyf’s eyes went to the ceiling of his rooms. Just above their heads was Aquilan’s quarters. Whoever had stolen inside was likely gone after they had found the room empty.
“Could it have been Vesslan?” Finley asked.
“He’s downstairs.” Rhalyf pointed vaguely below them. “But, knowing him, he likely sent a trusted servant to go inside.”
“I told you, brother, machinations are afoot,” Haera said, but her voice was distant as she was staring intently at Declan.
His best friend still had his hood up, but he tugged it down. When he did, Haera drew in a sharp breath and made some statement in a language he didn’t know. Declan evidently understood her though and his red eyes glowed sulfurously behind his sunglasses.
“Who is this person, Rhalyf?” Declan demanded.
“His sister,” Haera answered instead as she pointed at Rhalyf, “and your… cousin, I think? Yes, your cousin. Goodness, you look just like the two of them. Is that why she did it? The coup?”
“You knew Lady Ashryn?” Declan asked.
She nodded. “Of course. Not terribly well, but yes, I knew her. Then she is–”
“Dead,” Declan’s voice was dead too.
“I see. Should I offer condolences or…” She made a gesture with one hand.
Declan looked down and his jaw worked. “She was my mother. I… I loved her. I still love her.”
Finley thought of the cairn Declan had made for her and the ragged engraving of the title, “Mother”. His heart hurt for his best friend.
Haera and Rhalyf exchanged looks before she said, “Then you are both lucky and unlucky, dear cousin, in so many ways.”
“Are you here with Vex then?” Declan asked her.
“Here? Vex is here?” Rhalyf asked.
Finley felt a jolt of excitement go through him at the thought of the Night King being nearby.
Declan let out a mirthless laugh. “Yes, he’s staying at the Dawn.”