Slippers and Tar (COMPLETED)

Chapter 18

WARNING: Injury detail, blood

Virgil poured the water from the well into the sink. "If you haven't fixed the sink," he said to Edin and Thalia, who he could see hovering just in his peripheral, "I swear to God-"

"It's fixed, Virgil." Thalia said quietly. She sounded hurt. Virgil sighed.

"Edin, if you got your sister to fix the mistake that you created, I am going to throw you out a window." Virgil said. He turned the tap, just to check it was fixed. It was.

"Edin, why don't you go make yourself useful somewhere?" Virgil asked, turning around to face his step-siblings. "Go learn poetry or something."

"You can't tell me what to do!" Edin protested. "You don't own me!"

"No, but I own where you live." Virgil said, cracking his knuckles absently. "And if you don't want me to turn you out on your ear, you'll stop being so vile to me." He raised an eyebrow at Edin. "Scat."

Edin sighed and grabbed Thalia's sleeve, pulling her along with him.

"Leave Thalia here." Virgil said, not looking up from running the water in the tap. "Edin."

Edin rolled his eyes and dropped his sister's sleeve. Thalia stood in the doorway awkwardly, holding her hands behind her back.

"Did he hurt you?" Virgil asked. Thalia shook her head.

"N-No." She said quietly. Virgil looked up at her.

"Come on, let's see the damage." Thalia hesitated before walking over to the sink and opening her hands.

All along the top of her palms, blisters had been raised. Some were red and angry but still whole but most had burst, covering most of her hand in dark, sticky blood. Virgil looked up at her briefly before taking a clean rag and soaking it in the water in the sink.

"This will sting a little." He said before carefully starting to clean the burst blisters. Thalia hissed in a breath of pain and scrunched her face up but didn't say anything. Virgil looked up at her again before looking back down at her hands.

"You gonna tell me why you did what Edin asked?" He asked.

"He's my brother." Thalia said.

"That's not a reason." Virgil replied. Thalia looked down at her shoes.

"He's just scary sometimes." She whispered. "And I'm worried he's going to hurt me like-" She cut herself off.

"Like he's hurt me?" Virgil asked. Thalia nodded. "That wasn't all him, remember." Thalia looked down at the floor again, guilt filling up her insides like a well.

"Why are you so nice to me?" She asked. Virgil didn't say anything as he grabbed some bandages from one of the cupboards.

"This might hurt a little too." He said. Carefully, he wrapped the gauze around the cleaned blisters on Thalia's hands and knotted it tightly. "Change that every two days and you should be fine within a fortnight. Of course, you'll never have rich hands again but then again," Virgil rubbed the palm of his hand and didn't finish his sentence.

"Why are you so nice to me?" Thalia repeated. Virgil shrugged.

"You were nice to me. Even if it was just bait for another trick." He said. "Besides, isn't that my job as the oldest and only bread-winner? To protect those around me?"

"You shouldn't have to, though." Thalia said quietly. "Me and Edin should protect you too."

Virgil looked at Thalia. "There's a royal ball at the end of June." He said, looking back at the sink as he let the water out. "Goes on for three nights. Think you might find it fun."

This is the only story Thalia gets any sembilance of a redemption arc in so... beware.
Bye,
Blaize