The room was silent.
Twyll felt everyone's energies go... Quiet. She turned around to see the owner of the voice.
The man was surprisingly handsome and muscular. He had a square face and a goatee framing his mouth. His hair and eyes were a pale silver. Like Cadence. As she further observed him she could pick out the slight similarities in his features and Cadence as well as Trystan's. Her heart felt as if it was about to burst out of her chest. This was the man who had invited her across the continent. His attention to her got her only family in this godsdamned world to be murdered. He was the source for all the dark in his sons.
She chanced a glance at Trystan and what she saw gave her a glimpse into the immense power his body had hinted at but never shown. His expression bordered on predatory, awareness in every breath he took. His eyes were burning inferno of fire and the air around him had stilled. Behind his back, shadows crawled over his arms and curled around d his neck as huge, midnight black, feathered wings with razor-sharp tips flared out and tucked in. He was decided strength, power, menace. She then truly understood the extent of his powers.
"This is a funeral father. My Brother and his Tavaryš have lost their daughter to the vile Tem. This is not the place for your- dealings " Cadence muttered, deliberately guiding his father away. Trystan was still simmering with repressed rage as his wings vanished into thin air, removing her view of the beast underneath.
"If I recall Cadence, you have only one brother and that too one who you barely share any blood with. Pray to tell me why my guest was not brought to my residence immediately upon her arrival in my country?"
Twyll visibly flinched at the obvious condescension and disdain in his tone.
"You want to kill me. Your sons claim to you hunting me and my family for years and your plans to kill me." Twyll spoke up in a surprisingly even voice. "Pray tell me why I should be willing to come to you." She hissed.
He laughed.
"I did want to kill you." He admitted, "but, you are the most powerful wielder Stoechìa has ever seen. You are considered the rightful heir to the seat of power. I have decided that you will be more beneficial for me if I appear to have earned your support. As for your parents, You might never know."
The last part was said with a priggish smile.
Twyll lunged at him with bared teeth. The Dictator barely flicked his fingers before flinging her against the opposite wall hard enough to crack it. Puffs of powdered stone blew out.
Her back felt on fire and her bones crunched painfully. Her head was ringing with the backlash of it bounding off the wall.
Bren's eyes sparked. She hesitated and her hair swirled around her. Her eyes turned a glowing black and tendrils of white smoke crawled around the room.
The Dictator's eyes for the first time held something like fear at Bren's display of her power.
"Stand back immortal." He growled in a low tone. "This is not your fight."
"You forget Dictator, that I don't take orders from you. You may be strong by practice, but I am strong by blood, sweat and tears. I can make you choke on your blood as I carve out your insides or I could set off Trystan's beast on you. He seems very much keen to tear you apart." She rasped in that raspy, seductive voice.
Twyll marvelled at how quickly the situation had intensified. It seemed that The Dictator was not welcome in their little circle.
Trystan was still silently raging. His wings were still hovering in that half-shadow, half-feather state. He slowly reined his magic in and asked his father in a low voice, a menacing voice, to leave the crematorium. It was after all a place where the dead were put to rest.
The Dictator knew he couldn't continue this scene unless he disrespected the rites and his chances against seven fully trained and powerful wielders seemed very low.
Karsyn was again crying silent tears and Shalom was holding her while the others were grim-faced and tense. The Dictator left into his long black car muttering something about how this wasn't the end.
Twyll felt raw from the inside. Her heart felt battered as she remembered the uncaring way he had hinted on her parents' assassination. The ride home was uncomfortable and dismal.
Cadence was bone tired. His father had slipped into his brain. Again. He had pushed and pulled and raked through his brain. Trying and failing to find the true reason for his disloyalty. He would never find it. Hidden amid his mundane memories, Cadence as a mind wielder could hide his memories behind shields made of other memories. His father had once tortured him with mental blows against his shields. He could feel parts of his mind shatter under the pressure. That was the first day when he realised how sick and vicious his father was, understood the reason why Trystan stayed away. It was the day when he truly became part of his family, not of blood but heart.
They reached the house soon. On the outside, it looked like a normal two-story colonial with pale white stone and charcoal coloured roofs. The front door was an ornate, arched piece of oak. The brass handles shaped like crystal shards. The four was studded with fragments and slivers of rosy quartz.
Healing crystals.
The neighbourhood was a good one, with clean streets, manicured lawns and a small church with a clock on its tower at the end of the street. The trees lining the sidewalks swayed in the slight breeze. The leaves were in the process of turning into bright reds and burnt ochres. It was almost autumn and soon it would be winter. It was only a week since Rhodesïa, but it had felt like a lifetime. She knew that sooner or later she will have to ask questions, will have to decide what she wanted to do with her life. Where she wanted to go. That coupled with the fact that The Dictator also had his eyes on her was a very exhausting fact that she could not think about.
Trystan stared at her.
She looked conflicted. His hands itched to smooth the little lines on her forehead which was ridiculous. He knew that he should be grieving for his little girl, but for once he wanted to forget that pain and then he immediately felt ashamed for thinking that. He watched as Shalom lead Karsyn up the stairs to their rooms. Karsyn had become thin. Too thin. Kyan was also starting at her. His face was devoid of... Anything. He looked broken, even more than before.
Trystan sighed in fatigue.
He walked up the stairs and turned off the landing to come to stand before his rooms. He looked behind him to the spot where he had seen Twyll laugh. Truly laugh. He remembered seeing her and thinking how messed up it was that he had met someone who he could be interested in and she is a Crystal Heir. Laughing at the incredulity of it all he entered his room and slammed the door shut behind him.
...
Twyll sighed in relief as she lowered herself into the pool/bathtub. The lavender and rose-scented water were hot and relief against her sore muscles. She had quite a few bruises on her back and along her shoulders. The skin was mottled and sensitive. The air was steamy and gamy. Her hair curled against her temples because of the humidity, sticking to the nape of her neck and cheeks. She closes her eyes and lets her tears out. She cries and cries, it's all she's been able to do these days it seems. She looked down at her body through the water, her ribs were poking out her sides and so were her hipbones. Her stomach was sunken and starved. She needed to gain some muscle and weight. Today in the crematory, The Dictator should not have been able to fling get like that, even with magic. Feeling lonely, she decided to search for Cadence and see what he was doing.
Twyll searched the house by seeking out energies. She found him somewhere in the west wing of the house.
Cadence
The husky voice sent shivers down Cadence's spine as he heard it call out to him.
Cadence. Cadence, it's me. Twyll.
Twyll? How did you get in? I have extensive mental shields.
No, you don't. Twyll responded despondently.
What are you doing in my head, Twyll?
I am lonely. You refuse to speak to me.
I am sorry. Please forgive me.
Hmmm...
So, where are you?
In the bath.
Cadence sputtered at her answer.
Why are you calling for me in your bath?
Twyll's tingling laughter spread through his mind.
You are so dense. You are the only person I know, who else would I be calling for in my bath?
Goodnight Twyll. He thought patronizingly.
The little minx sent him a vulgar gesture through their channel.
Smiling Cadence slowly slipped into oblivion.