Heir of Dust and Wind

Chapter 50 - Reunions II

"Say something. Please."

Trygve was pacing back and forth in the bedroom he shared with Gainor. He had just given him a more detailed account of what had happened at Dathal's residence and how they had ended up bringing Ferris with them.

So far, Gainor had been sitting on the bed, listening patiently to what he had to say. His face wasn't exactly relaxed, but it didn't show any of the devastation, anger or hurt he'd expected given that Ferris had been Frode's right hand when it came to dealing with his prisoners. He had been the one who had caused Gainor to lose his eye long ago, the one that only Ava's power had been able to heal.

"What do you want me to say?" he asked now, his golden gaze following Trygve's restless movements.

"Doesn't it bother you that he's here?" Trygve asked, still puzzled by his reaction.

Gainor shook his head, "No, it doesn't. I get why Ava decided to take him with her and ..."

That made Trygve halt in his tracks. "Aren't you angry at him for what he did to you?" He suppressed a shudder when the images of how Gainor had lost his eye remerged in his mind. He didn't dare think of what the Dracaeni had done in the months following Ava's arrival. How could Gainor forgive all this so easily?

Gainor sighed and patted his hand on the duvet next to him, beckoning Trygve to join him. "Sit," he ordered, "your pacing is going to drive me crazy if you don't stop." 

Begrudgingly, Trygve did as he was told. Not because he minded being so close to the other male but because his worries made him restless, unable to settle down.  

 "You know, I think it's time I told you something about Ferris and myself," Gainor went on as soon as Trygve had sat down.

Trygve's eyes went wide and his mouth fell open as a terrible, terrible idea filled his mind. 

Had Frode punished Gainor, and possibly Ferris too, for being lovers the way that Duane and he had been?

Too stunned to say a single word, he simply stared back at the other Dracaeni.

"You know, when you first brought me to the Between, it was terrible for me. I know that most of the others grew up as orphans or had been cast out by their families long before their first change."

Trygve nodded. He still remembered Gainor's pleadings from then. His life had been simple but good. During his life in the Nether Realm, a farmer that didn't have any sons, only daughters, had taken him in to help with the work. The family had accepted Gainor as one of their own. Like he had mentioned, this was something extraordinary. Most humans seemed to sense that there was an oddity to those who later turned sorcerer or Dracaeni and subconsciously kept their distance.

Gainor however, had pleaded to be left in the Nether Realm after his awakening, begging him to stay with those who had become his family, when Trygve had come to claim him on Frode's behalf. Knowing that no magical creature could live for long in a dimension that did not empower those with magical gifts or talents, he hadn't listened and taken him with him anyway. He had been numb back then, his heart buried deep inside his chest, trying not to feel the pain that Duane's death had caused him. Now he regretted his brusqueness back then. He should have allowed Gainor to say goodbye at least.

"I realise that you didn't have a choice and that I couldn't have stayed with them," Gainor went on, having guessed some of his thoughts. "I'd either have withered away from the lack of magic in the Nether Realm or even worse, one of Dunstan's minions would have come after me, just like they did when Ava first awakened. I still miss them sometimes, but it was better this way, for everyone."