The Hidden Crystal

Chapter 12

"I can't believe you pulled that one over on me!" Rath complained later that night.

Char didn't want to talk about Iris. He didn't want to think about her. He just wanted to go to sleep, but Rath wouldn't leave him alone. Right now, he was blocking the doorway to Char's room, his arms crossed over his chest and his blue eyes flashing.

"Get out of my way," Char growled.

"We've never kept secrets from each other, Char. What else are you hiding from me?"

"Nothing. Move."

"I don't even understand how I missed it," Rath continued.

Char turned away and collapsed on the sofa, reaching for the bottle on the coffee table and taking a swig straight from it. Rath wasn't going to drop this until he was satisfied. Maybe getting drunk would help.

"I mean, you were so convincing. I really thought you hated her as much as I did," Rath said, dropping on the sofa beside him and snatching the bottle away to top off his glass.

"Maybe if you stopped talking about killing her for two seconds, I would have told you," Char replied glumly.

"This is really bothering you."

"I made a mistake. It's over and done with. Can we just drop it?" Char asked irritably, grabbing the bottle back and taking another swig.

"Use a glass like a civilized person," Rath reprimanded.

"You're one to talk."

"At least I say what I mean. What did you even see in her, anyway? She's pretty and everything, but she was just a frightened little mouse."

"She wasn't like that before," Char replied, sloshing the liquid from the bottle into a glass and slamming the bottle on the table.

"What was she like?"

Char knocked the glass back in a single swallow and slammed it back on the table, shattering it and cutting his hand. "That's why I'm drinking from the bottle," he muttered, wincing as he licked the cut on his finger.

"You really don't want to talk about this."

"Finally figured that out?" Char asked, shooting Rath a venomous glare. "It doesn't matter what she was like, and it doesn't matter what I saw in her, because she doesn't matter. Got it?"

Rath scowled at him. "If she doesn't matter, why are you getting so worked up about this?"

"Because my brother is an idiot who won't let me get some sleep."

"Well, my brother is an idiot who goes off falling in love with random women and then doesn't even have the courtesy to tell me," Rath retorted.

"I'm not in love with her," Char ground out.

"You always risk your life for a crush?"

"Kelnor wasn't going to kill me."

"Kelnor was ready to fry you to a crisp and trample you underfoot until you were just a pile of ashes."

"I'm done with this." Char stood up and stormed into his room, hoping for once in his life, his brother would leave him alone.

"So, it doesn't bother you that she's been taken to the magic school?" Rath asked, following him relentlessly. "You know what they're going to do to her there, right?"

"Of course, it bothers me," Char said, rounding on his brother. "She's a sweet girl who never said a harsh word to anybody, and she should be back with that priest and the other orphans, smiling at everyone she sees and working random odd jobs around town to make ends meet. I didn't want that mage getting his hands on her, and I don't want our mage working her over, either, but we're at war, and what I want doesn't matter, and she doesn't matter, either. So drop it and leave me alone."