Of Heroes and Happenings

The Perfect One, Chapter 5

Gwn'itt joined Horeb and his sons around Vindesa's bed. It had been but a few months since Gwn'itt's escape from the Plane of Fire, and while the return of Vindesa's youngest child had healed her broken heart, nothing, it seemed, could be done for a body so badly broken, long before. Horeb and Vindesa's beloved children well understood that this would be the last time they'd be able to converse with her.

Gwn'itt, the youngest of Vindesa's children, was viewed as an enemy by all four of her sons despite the affection held for each of them. Though Gwn'itt loved each member of the family and could count on Horeb and Vindesa's love, it was clear that their sons felt just the opposite. Scornful expressions, cutting words murmured out of earshot of either parent, vague threats, and the odd, occasional indirect attack proved their enmity despite Gwn'itt's regard for them.

Obviously failing, Vindesa spoke to each of her children in turn, speaking love to each, urging her adult sons to 'take care of your sister,' urging Gwn'itt to 'be careful of your older brothers, for they do not understand the arcane, as we do. You are far stronger than they are.' Vindesa begged Horeb to take care of Gwn'itt and to raise her child as his own.

Gwn'itt promised readily, as did Horeb, who put one arm around Gwn'itt's shoulders protectively. The four grown sons spoke no such promise, merely offering words of love and sorrow over their mother's imminent passing. None of them even looked at Gwn'itt, but ignored their sibling entirely, as if their snub could cause Gwn'itt's existence to cease.

Gwn'itt took comfort in Horeb's protective affection, in his reply to his wife. "I always have, and that shall never change, I swear that I shall love your child as faithfully as I have always loved you; please, be at peace, My Love. I have never held Gwn'itt at fault for what happened, nor shall I ever." Though Horeb wasn't Gwn'itt's sire, he was counted and addressed as 'Father', and had insisted on it from the beginning. He'd treated, loved and taught Gwn'itt the way any father should, as he had any of his older sons.

For long hours that stretched into nearly an entire day, the family sat with Vindesa, until she had expended her last breath, releasing her spirit with it. As Vindesa's chest settled for the last time, her sons turned hostile gazes toward Gwn'itt. "You did this," accused Merrit. Gwn'itt could only offer a mute head-shake in reply, shaken by the overt animosity displayed.

"This is your fault!" accused the youngest of the brothers, Hanam.

"If not for you," Hanam's next older brother, Nabal began, but their father cut them off.

"Enough! How dare you defy your mother's final wish before her body even grows cold? You cannot blame Gwn'itt for the actions of another. If you want to blame anyone, then blame the Efreet who did this to them both." His tone softened then. "Come, let the servants do their work." Horeb left, expecting to be followed. From the edges of the room, Vindesa's maids waited to prepare the body for burial.

"We all know this is your fault," Merrit said quietly, as soon as their father was out of earshot. "Father may be willing to protect you, but we are not."

"You killed our mother," agreed Nabal, who tended to follow his eldest brother in everything. "We will not forget that."

"From us, you shall have only what quarter Father demands, and only when he is here to demand it of us," Hanam agreed. Gwn'itt realized that the brothers had decided this long before that moment. The second of the sons, Shakan, said nothing, but the same hostility radiated from him as from the others.

Gwn'itt followed after Horeb without a word, hurt by the overt rejection, even in the face of their mother's dying wish. In the entire time Gwn'itt had been held captive on the Plane of Fire, searching for a way home, to both parents and beloved siblings had been foremost in the young Genasi's mind.