Daybreak

XIII

"Are you sure?" He asked, cheeks lighting red and I quickly shook my head at the realization he took it the wrong way.

"No, I meant just stay and help."

The confusion in his eyes deepened further, "Help?"

"You said you have to marry to- I assume take the throne?" I asked, looking at him and he nodded. "What if I went with you and we changed that rule? Convinced somebody, that you don't have to marry?"

Sylvian was already shaking his head at my attempt at a suggestion, "It doesn't work that way, you have to be king to make the rules."

"And you have to be wed to be king."

"Exactly."

I sighed, looking at my own hands, my fingers were still trembling and I curled them up in an attempt to lessen the tremors. Even after his assurance, I wouldn't be stuck with him if I didn't wish to be, I couldn't help the panic that dug in my chest-

It was scary not being in control of your own future, and to think for that single moment I believed I'd already lost it all-

But wait.

That still didn't answer everything.

"What about your brother?"

Sylvian's ears twitched, "What about him?"

"How does he fit into all of this?"

The elf grunted, getting to his feet at the mention of Thalias, "I think we should check on him before we get into that," he leaned down next to me, picking up the discarded shirt on the floor. "I'm going to find another shirt, you grab a fresh roll of bandages from the bathroom," he said, "And please," he stressed, looking back at me pointedly, "don't go in there without me."

I sighed, nodding and hoisting myself to my feet, following him down and stopping short of the small bathroom, watching over my shoulder as Sylvian disappeared into the room at the end of the hall.

It took a couple of tries opening cabinets and checking shelves to locate what I was looking for, but I eventually found one lone wrap of bandages hiding under the sink.

I returned to my feet before catching sight of the figure standing in the mirror. She looked a little ragged, and tired. Her red hair sat damp and tangled over her thin shoulders and her face looked tired and dull-

I blinked and the woman blinked back, squinting as she leaned forward to study her reflection. The small nose, and blue eyes looked just as ordinary as ever, even with the thick bandage covering her throat in some sort of form of a thick choker.

What bit of kindness could he have possibly seen in me?

I could name off dozens of times I'd done some- questionable things, whether it was tormenting my brothers or sneaking a cheat off another's test, or even plagiarizing images off the internet for my art classes-

Did those things sound like being kind?

I didn't think so.

"Bree, where- oh," I looked to the reflection of Sylvian leaning over the door frame, the elf blinking in surprise at me before speaking, "I'd thought you walked off on me," he said, pointing a thumb behind him towards the door.

I shook my head, sheepishly holding up the only roll I could find, "No, I just had trouble finding this."

I watched him blink as if my explanation made sense as to why I was leaning over the sink, looking myself in the mirror, "oh, well, come on," he gestured for me to follow.

The door to Thalias's room wasn't much further down the narrow hallway and we stopped on the red streaks leading inside.

"Let's make this quick," he sighed, unlocking the door to the sight of the dark elf still sitting exactly where we'd left him.

We entered tentatively, a couple taps to his cheek from Sylvian confirming he was indeed still out cold, and only then did we attempt to relax a bit.

I stood to the side of the scene and I looked between the two of them in confusion, "Why doesn't he have feathers like yours?"

Sylvian kneeled down to Thalias's side, checking him up and down for any visible injuries and wiping a spot of blood away from his forehead, pushing back midnight strands out of the dark elf's face, "Remember when I said dark magic has consequences?"

I nodded, "Did they fall out because he did dark magic?"

Sylvian shook his head, still sitting crouched on the floor, but his neck craning to look at me, "I don't think you have the right idea of what dark magic is for my people. Elves are banned from casting anything to alter their physical appearance or cause bodily harm to another person, doing so will cast an equal but opposite effect to the caster. Anything that tricks the eye does not count because it is only a mirage and not a physical alter, like glamours."

"But you can change into a bird."

"That's more like," he paused, looking off at the far wall for the right word, "a gift. Some elves are born with the ability to transform into animals, so it's not an active change we are attempting to make on ourselves."

I nodded, as if the sudden info dump made any sense, "So what did he do then?"

"If I had to guess, I think he tried getting rid of his feathers, and his eyes changed as a result of it," he said, eyes locked on his unconscious brother's face, some faraway look in his eyes.

"He tried so hard blending into the human world; he made himself a monster in the process."