Solstice Souls: Solstice Sons (Book 3)

The Secrets We Keep

Nie Mingjue and Hie Huaisang's POV

"Da-ge! I can't carry that! It clashes with my new robes!"

Nie Huaisang's head tilts to the side as he gives his older and much larger brother a scalding gaze. He clutches the large fan in his right hand tighter, refusing to let go of his precious accessory.

Nie Mingjue huffs and crosses his muscular arms in front of his chest. "Then change your robes. But make sure they go with the color red because if you don't carry a weapon they'll be soaked in your blood before the first Wen soldier is done swinging his sword."

"Wow! That's a bit morbid, don't you think?"

"Truth hurts, doesn't it, little brother?"

"Da-ge, I need my fan."

"What you need is a sword!" Mingjue roars.

His frustration is building. He understands why Huaisang is reluctant to carry a saber, sword, or any sort of weapon considering their clan's past. But in two days, they won't be able to ignore the fact that a war with the QishanWens is inescapable. There won't be any other option than to fight with everything and everyone they have at their disposal.

And that includes his baby brother.

Looking down at Huaisang, Mingjue can feel his heart clench in fear. His entire life has been spent protecting his didi, making sure that Huaisang can follow his dreams of painting art and writing poetry. Sure, he's never stopped pestering his brother about carrying a saber. But it was always done with love and a sense of responsibility.

By his father's deathbed, Nie Mingjue swore to his father and ancestors that he would train Huaisang in the mastery of the saber and that their clan's cultivation would not disappear when he himself died. Huaisang was only eight years old at the time, six years younger than himself. He thought it was a simple promise, one he could easily fulfill.

So, for three years he hounded Huaisang to learn the ways of their ancestors. Every day he forced his little brother to train with a wooden saber in hopes that one day, Huaisang would understand the importance of their family's duty to protect their people and accept his destiny.

Unfortunately, the fate of any Nie Clan leader who wielded a saber was something his little brother feared even more than Mingjue's wrath. And why wouldn't it? Dying from a qi deviation wasn't something that was quick and painless. One did not die with dignity. The cultivator endured endless suffering, their blade buried in a tomb made up of corpses for their resentment to feed upon lest they escape and kill innocent souls.

It wasn't until his eighteenth birthday that Nie Mingjue realized just how different he and Huaisang were.

Instead of giving his older brother a typical clan leader gift like jewels or weapons, Huaisang prepared a special meal for Mingjue with his own two hands. He played a musical piece and presented his older brother with a portrait of Mingjue in full armor riding a horse with his saber, Baxia raised over his head. Even at the tender age of twelve, Huaisang was more accomplished in these things than the most gifted artists living in the realm.

It was that evening that Nie Mingjue made another oath to his father and offered an apology to his ancestors. He swore to protect Huaisang, to never let a drop of his blood spill to any enemy. He asked for forgiveness from those who came before him and those that would rule after him for not ensuring their way of life once he was gone.

Now, eight years later, he fears he will no longer be able to keep those promises to his father and will have to ask forgiveness for something else he dare not even think about from his ancestors.