Chapter Nineteen #3
Lady Nawila handed him a sword without protest, and Sir Rinil helped him strap it on. He was soaking wet, he realized somewhat belatedly, but the longer he walked, the more he felt as though his body was coming back together, even if everything ached.
Prince Pelun led them as swiftly as Var could walk through the corridors of the castle. There was no way he wasn’t conspicuous, but the others formed a tight group around him, and when they finally passed a window, Var saw that it was dark outside.
They went into the family wing, which he supposed made sense. That was where Fernila had been with the baby when Var had gone on his ill-fated walk with Nostex.
(Nostex would no doubt have tricked him some other way if it wasn’t for that, but Var still felt like a fool.)
They reached the corridor with Fernila’s favorite sitting room in it, and Var could hear the sounds of fighting. There were bodies on the floor, and it looked like the door was just gone.
Var readied his sword, mantling it with magic until it glowed fiercely.
Sir Rinil squeezed his arm. “There’s something in there that’s probably going to shock you.
I thought it was better not to say anything since you weren’t looking so good, but I’m not actually sure this is better.
Just… your eyes aren’t deceiving you, and there will be time to explain everything afterwards, all right? ”
Confused, Var nevertheless nodded. Every single thing that had happened since they’d been attacked in Nexa had been shocking, so he couldn’t imagine what Sir Rinil was talking about now.
But it didn’t matter, because he could hear the sound of his baby girl screaming at the top of her lungs. There was only one way to react to that, and that was to fix the problem. So he drew a deep breath and slipped into the room.
Everyone was either fighting or unconscious or dead on the ground. Var’s eyes were drawn past the two shields that were still up—thank you, goddess!—to where Nostex was fighting fiercely.
Var frowned. He wasn’t just fighting Stronex. He was fighting someone else who was Extraordinary. Someone who looked exactly like—
A full-body shudder swept through Var, and for a moment, he stood frozen, unable to move, unable to think.
Then Nostex darted for one of the other people in the room, and Var watched as Tor immediately moved to intercept him—and failed to notice Nostex’s avatar before it hit him at full force and sent him flying into the wall.
Tor’s sword clattered out of his hand. Nostex’s avatar twisted around and went back for the guard, causing Stronex to leap to their defense.
All Nostex’s attention was on Tor, and Var sucked in a breath and slipped up behind him.
“There’s one thing that you forgot,” Tor told Nostex, with the precise right amount of cheek.
Var had to blink back tears. Now was not the time.
“What’s that?” Nostex asked with the supreme indifference of someone who was sure they were about to win.
Var pushed more magic into his sword, filled it until it was nearly bursting with magic.
“We’re twins,” Var gritted out as he thrust with all his might.
Nostex didn’t even have the chance to turn around. There was a moment of stillness, and then he toppled to his knees before collapsing to the ground.
Var just stood there for a moment, not quite able to comprehend what had happened. Nostex was dead. He’d just killed his wife’s father.
And then Tor sucked in a noisy breath, and Var was on his knees, flinging himself at his brother.
“Thank the goddess! You’re alive!”
Var didn’t understand at all. Had Pamuna and Nawila lied about what had happened? Had they misunderstood? They’d sounded so genuinely horrified. It hadn’t occurred to Var to question anything. And he’d felt that hole in his chest, hadn’t he, where his connection to his twin should have been?
But somehow, here Tor was. Despite everything Var had done, Tor had come to save Var and his family. Tor was in his arms now, hugging him back with just as bruising a grip as the one Var was using.
Sir Rinil’s weird warning meant it wasn’t all in Var’s head, right? He surely couldn’t imagine all of this. None of it made sense, but he was totally prepared to listen to an explanation of what had brought everyone here at just the right time.
And finally, his focus widened again, and he realized that there was still the sound of crying in the room. This wasn’t just about Var and Tor; there was the rest of Var’s family to worry about.
He stumbled upright, and everyone was calling everyone’s names. The shields came down, and Var was stumbling into Ferna’s arms. She and the baby were both crying, and Var hugged them both like he was never going to let them go.
Somehow, this had all turned out all right. Somehow, Var had kept his family and got his brother back.
He and Tor would talk, and they’d figure out how to live together, and they were going to be one big happy—
His gaze snapped up, alarmed, and he saw that Stronex and Tor were propping up Ada. Someone was holding a glass of water for her, and Var was able to breathe again. You didn’t give water to dead people, right?
That meant Ada was going to be all right, too.
Var’s whole family was safe, and they would figure everything else out from here.