By Chance Met (12 page)

Naeth half climbed out of the bed, anxiously calling after Reijir.

Reijir paused and looked back at him, meeting his eyes across the room. Naeth caught his breath at the pain and guilt he espied in that verdant gaze.

“Lock the door,” Reijir tersely said. He closed his eyes, and Naeth saw his fist clench until the knuckles whitened. “And stay away from me. For your sake.”

He stepped outside and quietly closed the door behind him.

Chapter Nine

Waiting

Naeth cheerily whistled as he walked down the pedestrian path flanking the avenue that ran past the State University grounds. He would be a little late for his first class, but he did not care. Not when the reason for his tardy departure from the townhouse had been Reijir’s latest letter to him.

Two years had passed since his near rape at the hands of his guardian. The encounter had shaken them both, Reijir more so than Naeth if one considered his actions the following day.

Naeth had come to breakfast to find the brothers deep in subdued conversation with Ruomi in somber attendance and Reijir dressed for travel. As soon as Naeth took his seat at the table, Reijir announced that he would return to Ilmaren and abide there for the rest of the season and the whole of winter as well. Naeth would stay in Rikara with Keiran for the remainder of his gap year and then enroll at the State University the following year.

“When will you come back?” Naeth anxiously asked.

“Next spring,” Reijir replied. He tapped a sheaf of letters by his plate and looked at Ruomi. “Arrange for all my correspondence in the city to be sent to the west district when I return,” he instructed.

“Will you want a full household staff as well?” Ruomi inquired.

“Nay, I won’t be in residence long enough. But I will expect you to report to me when I am. Until then, stay here and keep Kei out of trouble,” Reijir said, ignoring Keiran’s huff of indignation.

Keiran softened however when he noticed Naeth’s stricken expression.

“Yes, kitten, I’m afraid Reijir won’t be living here for a while,” he confirmed. “He’ll be staying at our west district house. It’s near the main offices of Arthanna Holdings in the central district.”

“But why?” Naeth asked pleadingly.

“Best I put some distance between us,” Reijir quietly explained. “What happened yestereve was inexcusable. I won’t risk imperiling you again.”

Naeth could not speak for several seconds, the growing ache in his heart clouding all thought. When he finally found his tongue, misery limned his voice.

“I’m to blame,” he said. “I should be the one to leave.”

“Don’t, Naeth,” Reijir cut in. “We’ll have no more of that nonsense.”

The Herun’s tone had been kind but tinged with a hint of steel. Naeth looked down, struggling to keep his composure and dignity. He’d lost both and more the previous day.

He could not bear for Reijir to see him as weak and given to excess sentimentality.

“By the way, the next time you decide to run away,” Keiran said a touch chidingly,

“do bring enough funds to tide you over for more than a few meals.”

Naeth flushed with embarrassment when Ruomi handed him his earring and the gold coin.

“I meant to bring them,” he mumbled to his plate, unable to look at either brother.

After an awkward few minutes, he dared a glance at Reijir. The Herun was gravely regarding him in turn.

“Will you write me?” Naeth managed to whisper.

“Yes, I’ll write you.”

“Thank you. I-I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too,” Reijir gently said. So gently Naeth nearly broke down in tears there and then.

He was aware his guardian had returned to Rikara at least thrice since that day, but as Reijir did not come by the townhouse, the only contact they’d had was through their letters. It had been a rather lonely two years for Naeth despite the company of his school friends and Keiran and Ruomi’s care. There simply was no substitute for Reijir’s physical presence.

Naeth shook away the melancholy mood his thoughts had brought on. At least, he’d finally seen Reijir again just three weeks ago, during the celebrations marking the Ardan’s second marriage. When Keiran told him he could attend the nuptial ceremony and the reception afterwards, Naeth was rendered speechless in his delight and excitement. Ruomi had then taken him to purchase an elegant court tunic, fine long breeches and new dress boots. It had been a most wonderful experience from start to finish.

But after so long a separation, nothing compared to his first sight of Reijir at the temple of Rikara. He’d trembled visibly, so overwhelmed had he been by the fief-lord’s splendid appearance. Reijir was handsome and striking in countenance without the aid of formal attire. When clad as befitted his title and social station, the Herun was simply too stunning for mere words to describe.

Later at the Citadel, Reijir did not spend as much time in their company as Naeth would have liked. And so Naeth drank in as much of the Herun’s beauty as he could and committed each and every detail to memory. Such pleasant remembrances and his intermittent correspondence with Reijir helped keep his sadness at bay and his yearning bearable.

He reached into his tunic and drew out the letter that had delayed him this morning.

It was worth any amount of scolding he might receive from his instructor. All of Reijir’s letters to him were worth any form of aggravation or embarrassment. Even being at the receiving end of Keiran’s acerbic tongue was of no consequence when he had a letter from the Herun for comfort. And that was saying a lot considering Reijir’s older brother, though a much loved instructor at the University, was heartily feared for his rapier-sharp dressing-downs of students who failed to meet his exacting standards.

Naeth looked up with a faint smile at Keiran. The latter was standing by his bedchamber door, idly leaning against the wall with his arms folded. Naeth realized Keiran must have been watching him for a long time. He folded the letter and returned it to the thin stack of missives that took up one side of the middle drawer of his writing desk.

He looked up at Keiran as the latter straightened and made to leave. He quickly said,

“Kei-
dyhar
, why is your brother so afraid of losing control?”

Keiran’s eyebrows rose in surprise. He stepped back into the room and shut the door.

“Why speak of that after all this time?” he asked.

Naeth leaned forward in his chair. “I’ve had two years to think about that day. Why

it affected him so terribly. When you found me at the sporting house, he was just angry.

And when he talked to me afterwards, well, he did get angrier and also quite sarcastic, which I admit I deserved. But it was only after he—” Naeth paused uncomfortably. “In any case, it was only afterward that he acted differently. He looked stricken. Almost as if he were disappointed in himself.”

“So, you figured that out.” Keiran sighed. Pulling up another chair, he sat down facing Naeth and said, “It wasn’t only the loss of control that troubled him but that in doing so he nearly did to you what he had just saved you from.”

He turned his face toward the window, and after a while, his eyes took on a faraway yet troubled look. Naeth wondered what disquieting thoughts could bring on that look.

“Reijir has spent almost all his adult life distancing himself from the actions of our sire,” Keiran murmured. “He loathed
Aba
’s ways and so strove to avoid behaving as he did.” He looked at Naeth once more, his gaze somber. “Can you imagine what it did to him to feel that he might not be so different from our sire after all?”

“Not so different…” Naeth sucked in his breath in dismay. “Are you saying your sire forced himself on others?”

Keiran’s lips curled into a bitter smile. “There are Deira who simply refuse to be denied. They are generally of two sorts. The first will force their wishes on others because they believe it’s for the greater good. It’s a trait that can be found in many leaders. But the second sort will force their desires on others simply because they want to satisfy their personal needs or build themselves up at the expense of their victims. I fear
Aba
fell into the latter category.”

“After he was widowed, he virtually tyrannized Ilmaren,” Keiran said, his voice tinged with disdain. “Ruomi was very nearly one of his victims and indeed
Aba
molested him for many months before that even if Ruomi was not yet of age. Only our timely arrival interrupted
Aba
’s assault on him.” He paused to allow Naeth to digest the shocking revelation. And again his eyes took on a distant look, but this time they widened with what seemed to be revulsion. “But even before he wed, he preyed on many who didn’t know of his proclivities. The tales we heard of his so-called conquests were not flattering. And then he crossed a line, and there was no defending him. He took our father by force. He drugged
Adda
one eve and raped him. I was conceived that night.”

“Holy Saints!” Naeth whispered.

Keiran nodded, his eyes still on some unseen event. “It wasn’t only a physical violation,” he quietly said. “
Adda
was as much kin to the Ardan Keldon as
Aba
. He trusted his Ylandrin relations. All his family did. Our sire betrayed that trust.
Adda
hailed from Dyare, by the way—it’s one of the most powerful fiefs of the kingdom of Qindala in Khitaira. Our grandsire was the ruling fief-lord at that time. So as you can imagine, they couldn’t allow
Aba
to get away with his transgression. Not when it had been committed against one of their own.”

“Is that why your parents wed?”

“Yes.”

Naeth frowned. “Your sire seems to have come away from his crime relatively unscathed,” he commented.

“How did you come to that conclusion?”

“Well, he would have had to marry some day. It just happened sooner than later.”

Keiran snorted. “Political marriages almost always come with strings attached. In the

case of our parents, let’s just say one of those strings was the length and girth of gibbet rope.”

“Oh.” Naeth grimaced. “Forgive me, I’m not well-versed in such matters.”

“Nor do we expect you to be.”

“But Reijir shouldn’t think himself the same as your sire,” Naeth insisted. “He acted on impulse and out of rage. Your sire planned his rape of your father.”

“That’s exactly what I told him. But as you’ve discovered, Reijir hates to lose control. It reminds him too much of our sire who was overly capricious and hot-tempered to put it mildly. He refuses to be anything at all like
Aba
.”

Naeth pursed his lips. “It seems so extreme, this abhorrence of his.” He shook his head, baffled. “But then I have little experience of hotheads such as you describe.”

Keiran looked at him speculatively. “What do you know of the manner of our sire’s death?”

Naeth shrugged. “Only that he died when his heart gave. That’s what the servants say.”

“That is correct, his heart gave,” Keiran said. “In the wake of a fight he had with Reijir. My brother defended himself that night and finally fought back. Landed a few hard blows on
Aba,
enough to disable him. But I think—and Eiren agrees with me in this—I think, it was the shock of his rebellion that caused
Aba
’s heart to fail.”

Confused, Naeth asked, “Defended himself? Against what?”

To his surprise, Keiran said nothing but stood up and unbuttoned his jerkin. When he began to undo his shirt as well, Naeth half started out of his chair. Keiran stayed him with a peremptory gesture. He shrugged his shirt and jerkin off his shoulders, turning away as he did. Naeth gasped when he saw Keiran’s back.

Faint lines of slightly raised flesh randomly crisscrossed the noble’s back from his shoulder blades down to below the folds of his clothing. Even in his ignorance, Naeth knew what those marks were and how they’d been inflicted. Pulling on his clothing once more, Keiren turned around.

“Reijir has more to show,” he said as he buttoned up and retook his seat. “He used to come between us in order to shield me. I was frail then, and
Aba
’s beatings could have killed me.”

“Sweet Veres,” Naeth whispered, appalled.

For the first time, Reijir’s avoidance of doffing his shirt outside of the privacy of his quarters made sense. For that matter, his refusal to let anyone other than Keiran or Ruomi see him half-clothed was now understandable. Naeth could not even imagine what a Deir as proud and strong-willed as Reijir must think or feel for having once been unable to stop the abuse done him. It did not matter that it happened many years ago when he had not even reached his majority. The shame and horror of it obviously still lingered.

“So the night your sire died, he’d beaten Reijir?”

“Tried to, but yes.”

“But you said Reijir finally fought back. I take it you mean he’d simply borne the abuse before.”

“As did I. Much as we despised
Aba
, it had been ingrained in us to submit to him. It isn’t a simple matter to set aside a lifetime of habits, even the worst ones.”

“Then what finally drove Reijir to fight back?”

“He was furious that night. He felt betrayed. I can’t say more without breaking his

confidence. Suffice to say our sire was involved and Reijir confronted him about it. But instead of allowing Reijir time to calm down,
Aba
reached for his cane.” Keiran shook his head. “He thought Reijir would be cowed. He mistook our previous failure to fight back for fear of him. Well, Reijir didn’t back down this time. They fought, and he eventually laid
Aba
low. And then he left Althia and came here to Rikara. As for
Aba
—I tried to help him. Ruomi summoned a physician, but he arrived just as
Aba
breathed his last.”

Keiran’s mouth curled up in scorn. “He kept telling me to bring Reijir back. He said it wasn’t proper for Reijir to lay a hand on him, that he had to be taught his manners.” His laugh was painfully sardonic. “That’s how I knew what had shocked him so that his heart failed. He couldn’t believe, nay, couldn’t accept that he’d finally lost control of Reijir.”