Chapter 14
Destiny
As they traveled down the white stone road to Hope, Rhalyf kept looking back to where Finley and Vex were walking about a dozen paces behind him and Haera.
He told himself he was doing this in order to save Finley if the young man needed someone to intercede with the Night King.
He wasn’t altogether sure what he could do if Vex did something untoward.
Call Aquilan? Yell for Declan? Prepare to die?
None of these were very appealing and they likely wouldn’t save Finley.
But Finley and Vex were walking arm-in-arm and chatting softly with their foreheads almost pressed together at times much like they had been in the Dawn.
Not only did Finley not look distressed and in need of saving, he appeared the exact opposite: deliriously happy and content to stay talking to Vex for as long as the Night King would allow it.
What amazed Rhalyf even more than someone not being terrified of his uncle was that his uncle seemed just as content as Finley to continue their conversation.
And what were they talking about so closely? So intensely? So intimately?
Though Rhalyf tried to listen into the conversation, all he heard was a buzz of voices, but no distinct words.
It wasn’t his keen hearing failing him. Even with the whisper of the wind through the nearby trees and the shush and rush of the water of the Calicea, he should have been able to pick out their words quite clearly, because he’d spelled his senses to the nth degree.
But no.
He heard nothing but bursts of laughter, titters of amusement, and gasps of awe. But none of the content. None of the context.
He wasn’t surprised by this, because just as he was spelled to listen to all around him, Vex was undoubtedly spelled to make sure that no one could hear what he said or what was said to him unless he willed it. A privacy spell.
Vex likely hadn’t even cast it specifically for this conversation with Finley.
No, like Rhalyf, he likely had several of them cast on himself at all times.
These were common among the Kindreth. Rhalyf had gotten used to the Aravae foolishly assuming no one was listening to them so long as they lowered their voices.
But again, though he could not hear what was being said, Finley’s excitement and joy was evident.
“Fearing you have competition, brother?” Haera bumped her shoulder teasingly against his own.
“What?” He retorted too sharply. “What are you talking about?”
She glanced casually over her shoulder to where Vex was winking at Finley and Finley was blushing. Rhalyf gritted his teeth. He was not jealous! He and Vex were not in competition for the young man! They were not.
“When the two of you claimed that Finley and he were friends, I truly thought that you both were overstating their… relationship?” She made that into a question, but he didn’t blame her.
Vex did not have friends. Vex did not have intimates.
Vex did not have relationships. No. Vex remained apart.
A solitary figure. A dark god. Except he was not acting that way with Finley.
Not at all. “But now, I think you were both understating it.”
“Today is the first time I’ve seen them together,” Rhalyf admitted. And it was not exactly how he had envisioned it to be. Or rather, it was exactly how he had imagined Finley seeing his interactions with Vex. But the thing was that it was true. Finley and Vex were… close.
“How long have they known one another? Actually, scrap that.” Haera grinned. “I forget Finley is mortal. So it wouldn’t matter if he’d known Finley since the young man was born. There wouldn’t be enough time for such intimacy–”
“Finley has a way with people,” Rhalyf interrupted her with an airy wave of one hand.
Another raised eyebrow. “He must.” A pause as she looked casually back again. “They’re holding hands.”
Rhalyf made a strangled sound in the back of his throat.
Not jealousy. Not exactly. Just the thought that he was involved with someone who would hold hands with Vex and, of course, who Vex would hold hands with was slightly…
well, it was interesting. His uncle wasn’t touched.
No one would dare. But yes, Haera was right.
They were holding hands. Arms looped through one another’s arms too.
Nothing he knew was right.
At least not here.
Not with Finley.
But then again Finley had won him over in a few conversations, too.
His intelligence and his openness were refreshing.
Just the other day, Finley’s questions about the Kindreth and Vex had been incredibly liberating.
His awe and appreciation of Rhalyf’s Kindreth looks had been surprising and flattering.
Why should he be shocked that his uncle felt a smattering of the same things around Finley?
Everyone was afraid of Vex normally. This reaction was far different and maybe it was disarming.
“You must be honored,” Haera continued. “I suppose you never considered that a mortal lover would catch his eye, but–”
“Finley has not caught his eye!” Rhalyf snapped.
Aquilan–who was walking ahead of them with Declan by his side–turned around for a moment to see if he was all right.
Rhalyf gave a too bright smile and gestured for Aquilan to resume his conversation with Declan.
While Declan didn’t turn around fully, Rhalyf had a feeling that their cousin knew exactly what Vex and everyone else was up to.
Aquilan regarded him for a moment, but then went back to Declan, all smiles and brightness.
The only way I’ve gotten around him asking me what is the matter is because he is completely in love with Declan. But that won’t last. I must get a hold of myself, Rhalyf lectured himself.
But he was completely off-kilter and had been since he’d realized who Declan was and Vex’s nearness.
Now he had to add that to the secret of his identity that he was carrying like a hot burning coal in his hands and his sister’s presence.
Not to mention that Vex was holding hands with his…
his… Finley. It was no wonder he was a mess.
But he had to get it together. If there was some way to make his life not blow up he would have to be incredibly clever and that would require having all his wits about him.
“If we were in court, you could crow it to the stars,” Haera continued. “But I don’t suppose you could do that here as the Aravae don’t even know he’s present–”
“They don’t find it an honor to have their lovers being courted by someone of higher rank,” Rhalyf explained stiffly.
Haera was right though. In the Kindreth court, to have Vex interested in one’s lover wasn’t something to get jealous about, but quite the opposite.
It was a coup. It meant that they had good taste and sometimes, Vex might even give favors to both parties.
Gold. Rare jewels. Magical items. Precious books.
Even estates. But Rhalyf wanted nothing other than for Vex to continue to make Finley smile and see the brilliant side of the Kindreth instead of the blackened edges.
Haera blinked a few times and then said, “Ah, well, I suppose he does it to honor you so–”
“No, Haera, I have absolutely nothing to do with Finley and his relationship,” Rhalyf responded tightly.
Her eyes flickered to him then back to the scenery. “What a beautiful lake! The blue color is quite stunning–”
“Why are you here?” He asked abruptly.
She turned back to him and blinked. “Ah, because we are going to Hope and I believe this is the best and shortest way so–”
“Haera,” his voice dripped with warning.
“There are so many ways I could answer that question, Rhalyf. Can you blame me for taking the easiest one?” She lifted an eyebrow.
“Why are you here?” he repeated, lowering his voice.
He had stopped believing she was here because of Vex. While it was true that both his uncle and sister could be acting as if they had nothing to do with one another, he was certain that was not the case. She was here for some other reason and he would know it.
The impish smile that had seemed plastered to her face other than when Declan had spoken of his adopted mother vanished. She was serious. Sober. Maybe a little nervous as she chewed her lower lip for a second before answering, “I am here… because you are alive.”
“You thought to take me out then?” His voice was soft. Dangerous.
Had she thought he was part of the coup against Vex, too? Had she come to kill him and only held back because Vex clearly hadn’t put him in the enemy camp? Not even he had thought Haera would stoop so low as to assassinate him to gain favor.
“Oh, Rhalyf! I suppose I shouldn’t blame you for thinking that after… after everything,” she laughed sadly. “We’ve played this game so long that perhaps you’ve come to see it as real.”
His forehead bunched. No, clearly she wasn’t here to kill him for betraying Vex. But what was she on about? A game?
“I assure you, sister, that I have been playing no games with you,” Rhalyf stated coldly.
Her eyes flickered to him again. “Ah, well, perhaps it was only my game then though I thought… thought you didn’t…”
“Thought I didn’t what?”
“Thought you didn’t hate me through and through. That you understood how we were both in the same… well… maybe not,” she answered with an almost fey smile. “Maybe I imagined that, too.”
He stared at her. “What do you expect me to feel for you after millennia of…” He gritted his teeth and cut off the words.
To confess that her words and actions over the years had hurt him was the same as proclaiming he was weak and she should kill him now.
So he dug deep into his Kindreth side and said with lilting laughter in his voice, “Hate you? Haera, I would have to give a damn about you to hate you. Hate is exhausting. It is meant for people who matter.”