Chapter Fifteen
Tor
Tor could be more than a little impetuous. He’d really liked the way Pel—Pel!—had talked about his expertise, and it had flashed into Tor’s mind how lovely it would be to see that talent shown off.
The undercurrents at dinner had gotten so awkward that Tor had forgotten everything he’d ever learned about himself and his family and tried to step in. As if Tor wasn’t in Tond precisely because his twin had decided he knew how to fix Tor’s life.
Thankfully, Pel had forgiven his misstep, and Tor was truly going to try to stay out of it. He felt certain there was more going on than met the eye, but that didn’t mean there was suddenly a tidy solution that would make everything better for everyone.
Instead, Tor would just try to be a friend to Pel.
Tor couldn’t seem to stop smiling to himself.
The prickly, stubborn man had invited him to call him Pel.
And he’d done it first. If Tor wasn’t a fool, he would have invited the man to do so long since.
But it had been a long time since Tor had made a new friend, and it honestly hadn’t occurred to him.
Maybe it had been the environment, too, where Pel referred to his siblings by their full names.
Bavil and Larexa didn’t always, part of what made Tor think there was more going on—but then he usually referred to Varex by his full name, his own way to impose distance and remind himself that the man he was dealing with now wasn’t the Var of his childhood.
It was clearly complicated. Except that Pel had cut right through all those tangles, had been comfortable enough with Tor, even after everything—or maybe because of everything—to make the invitation.
Given how Pel had reacted to the kiss, there wasn’t going to be sex, but maybe that didn’t matter. Tor was very good at sex, and he could find it just about anywhere. An actual friend, someone Tor felt truly comfortable with, could be worth so much more.
An actual friend who also wanted to have sex with him would be even better, though. That one terribly timed kiss had definitely not been enough. Tor was actually kind of surprised by how much he wanted more, but Pel had been clear, and Tor would respect that.
It wasn’t remotely what Tor had come here to find, but maybe that didn’t matter. They were still spending a lot of time together, and while it hadn’t occurred to King Forex that Pel really should be a candidate for Tor, surely it would look to others like that was a strong possibility?
Maybe all Tor had to do was go back and gush about how he’d been spending his days. It wasn’t like Varex would want to hear details about any presumed sex Tor was having. The idea that he wasn’t having any would probably never cross his brother’s mind.
Yes, Tor was pretty sure that he could get even more out of this than he’d ever expected, and he was so looking forward to spending more time with Pel.
But apparently, it wasn’t going to be by having an archery competition in the next few days. A returning patrol sent a flurry of unease and speculation through the castle, and Bavil was sent off to investigate.
Even more rain than normal blanketed the realm. No one wanted to have a competition in this weather. Rained in, Forex expected Tor and Larexa to spend plenty of time together, but fortunately, this was the perfect excuse to start up the defense lessons that Tor had convinced Larexa she needed.
It had the added benefit of making Forex think they were doing what he wanted while limiting the number of times they had to sit or walk together and be scrutinized for their closeness.
Larexa didn’t want to train with all of the guards, and Tor didn’t think it was a simple desire for privacy.
“Is there a particular reason that you’re uninterested in offense?” he asked carefully.
She looked at him curiously.
“I don’t want to inadvertently say or do something that will trigger you.”
She blinked, and then glanced away. “Let’s call it personal preference.”
Tor noticed that she hadn’t actually answered his question and decided to keep an eye on her. He commandeered the banquet hall, since there was a lot of room to work with and no one was going to bother them there.
He and Larexa lit the chandeliers and crystal lights around the room. Tor noticed the way her eyes lit up when she did so.
She definitely liked the gentler, non-violent things her magic could do.
Pel had agreed to join them to help with the demonstrations, although he hadn’t looked entirely comfortable. Tor had pointed out how important defense was, and there was no way Pel could resist that guilt.
So, yes, Tor was maybe still interfering a bit, but he wasn’t going to make them talk or anything like that.
If they happened to decide to talk on their own, that would be different.
“We’ll focus on defense,” Tor promised. “This takes a fair bit of magic, and we might have to work up to it, but I think you’ll like it best.”
Pel’s face took on a resigned look. “I hate you,” he muttered as he moved to stand facing both of them.
“No, you don’t,” Tor said cheerfully. He turned to Larexa. “Let’s say that Pel is attacking me, and because I’m a nice person, I’m not attacking back, because I know that he’s wrong and is just too stubborn to admit it.”
“You are such an ass,” Pel swore, but Tor could see that he was trying not to laugh, and Tor grinned triumphantly.
“A nice ass who’s trying not to hurt you when you’re completely wrong.”
Pel took a swing at him, which Tor blocked easily.
“I can show you a few blocking techniques later, if you want,” Tor assured Larexa. Bavil or Pel could have done the same, though, and he wondered if there was a reason why they hadn’t. “Pel, are you even trying?”
The other man gritted his teeth and came after him much harder now, as though he’d actually been worried before that he was going to hurt Tor. It made an entirely inappropriate warmth spread through Tor.
Larexa was watching carefully, her big brown eyes wide, and she flinched every time a blow made contact. They were circling one another, Tor falling back and Pel pressing in and trying again.
“You can see that while he’s not hurting me, it isn’t actually doing me a lot of good simply to block him, right?”
“Right.” Larexa nodded, a furrow in her brow. “But you could be calling for help.”
“Absolutely,” Tor agreed. “You can’t block forever.
If you’re up against magical blows, you’re going to tire even more quickly.
But especially for the short-term, it could be just a few crucial seconds until someone comes to your aid, and this will buy you time.
But if you need more time or need to disable someone, then you’re going to want to do something like this—”
And Tor pushed Pel back with a burst of magic, encasing him in the dome-like shield the man disliked so much. Pel made no move to get out, which at least showed that he’d learned his lesson. He didn’t look at all comfortable.
Tor had never thought about it in terms of being truly trapped before.
Once he and Var had Manifested, they’d tried everything they could think of with their magic, and that included blocking one another in shields.
But the thing was, Tor had a chance of breaking his way out.
His magic could batter the shield from the inside in a way that no Illustrious or Unremarkable could manage.
Even if Pel attacked with his fists and his sword, Tor was strong enough to outlast him. That had to be a horrible feeling for Pel. And yet he’d agreed to help anyway.
Tor refocused with an effort, turning his attention back to the person he was supposed to be teaching.
“Most people think of a shield as being an object between one person and another. They envision a physical shield with those limitations. But as you know, Extraordinary magic doesn’t need to be attached to them, nor does it have to Mantle an object at all.
“I’ve never wanted to make an avatar,” Larexa said hurriedly.
“You don’t have to,” Tor agreed easily.
He’d been the opposite. When he and Var had Manifested as Extraordinary at fourteen, the first thing they’d wanted to do was summon avatars and fight one another with them.
They hadn’t been able to do it right away, but they’d still caused far too much damage the first time they managed it, not truly appreciating just how powerful they were.
Though they’d been attacking one another’s avatars, those glowing magical forms had been blasted into various parts of the castle—and Mother had made them work with the builders to fix the damage, giving them a blistering scolding that still stung faintly to this day.
The war hadn’t even been over for four years, and they’d finished most but not all of the rebuilding. Being the cause of more destruction was not acceptable, and they’d both felt properly ashamed.
It had been a good lesson on responsibility and consequences.
They’d continued to battle for years, but they’d been a lot more careful about the location and the amount of magic they put behind their efforts.
Learning to use their magic properly had helped a lot.
Two years later, they’d started training with the guards, which had helped, too, but they’d continued their personal battles for fun—right up until their mother had died and Varex had taken the throne.
Varex had looked at him like he was a child the next time Tor had suggested a fight, as though it hadn’t been less than a year since they’d last done it. Tor understood that a lot had changed, but he’d thought… he’d thought some things might stay the same.
He’d been wrong. He cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Avatars are often all people think of when they think Extraordinary. As you can see, there are other options. A shield like this could be enough to keep you safe without harming the other person.”
“What’s it like in there?” Larexa asked her brother.
“Annoying,” Pel answered promptly.