Page 43 of The Night Prince 6

“Yes, yes, well, she saw it as a moment of Father’s triumph and yet more evidence of my… weakness,” Vex shrugged.

“That’s insane,” Rhalyf cut in. “You dwarf her–all of us–in power. Why and how can she still see anything in you as weakness? Let alone that? It forged you! What Grandfather did… he deserved to die. I hope you made him suffer.”

Rhalyf suddenly blinked and looked nervously at Vex. He had not meant to say so much. Despite Vex’s earlier words about his forthrightness, he’d known them to be from nervousness. But it looked like they were from shock and horror, too. Something in his song had stripped away Rhalyf’s jadedness for a moment.

He lightly squeezed Rhalyf’s shoulder again. “I assure you that I did.”

“Good,” Rhalyf stated.

“Now, as you guessed, there is something I want from the two of you. A combination of things perhaps,” he began. “Ah, Cynda, what have you brought me here?”

“A lager,” she said after handing him a glass of foaming beer. Then she tipped her head towards a table where the rest of his bandmates were already seated. “And a selection of BBQ. I made sure that they saved us plenty of brisket.”

“I’m intrigued!” He grinned at her. “I’ll be there shortly, Cynda. Thank you for the drink.”

She kissed his cheek. “It’s the least I could do. I’m so glad we met you today.”

He winked at her. “I feel the same way.”

Then with another smile, she turned on her heel and sashayed away.

“I see you will have plans later,” Haera remarked.

When Hank also glanced back towards him, Vex beamed again. “Yes, yes, I think I will. But really I keep getting sidetracked and I have important–”

“Family?” Rhalyf offered with a lifted eyebrow.

“Family business to discuss,” Vex nodded. “As I said, I have made a decision.” Again, he looked towards Rahven who was scanning the room for any dangers before meeting his gaze. Rahven nodded to him in acknowledgement. Their mental bond felt warm, but no words came. He nodded back. “About Rahven.”

“What decision did you make?” Rhalyf asked softly.

“I would have him by my side,” Vex said softly.

There was a sharp intake of breath from Haera. “You mean to–”

“To not kill him, but acknowledge him as my son. The Night Prince,” he said. Both brother and sister glanced at one another. “Grim, I know, that I was even considering it.”

“It is the Kindreth way,” Haera responded weakly.

“Yes,” he answered softly. “It is. We can pretend it is not. Or we can even pretend that it is not horrible, but it is. Yet many horrible things have been necessary in our history.” The other two were silent. Whether they agreed with him or not was unclear. “But, thankfully, not this one.”

“So Rahven is to be the Phendar Cithrel,” Haera whispered the Kindreth name for the child of the god-king.

“Yes,” Vex said simply. “And, because of that, he needs to be prepared for what he will face. Rahven is naturally powerful. But he needs training.”

“That will be easy,” Haera let out a laugh. “He is like a little mocking jay in this world. Show him something he learns. Just like he did with the glamour spell earlier.”

“Not everything will work like that,” Rhalyf shook his head, guessing what Vex already knew. “Besides, Rahven needs to know the basics as to how magical power is woven so that he can create not just spells he’s mimicking, but his own. Knowledge is true power.”

Vex took a sip of beer. It was pleasant and he licked foam off his upper lip. “I couldn’t agree with you more, Rhalyf!”

“Yes, see? I know what I’m talking about when it comes to magic, sister. Now, if you wanted to teach Rahven some martial moves maybe pure mimicry would be enough, but not so with magic!” Rhalyf pontificated.

Haera pinched the top of her nose and grinned.

“What?” Rhalyf frowned.

“You just walked right into it, didn’t you, brother? And you walked me into it as well!” She shook her head.