Ezekiel Geimhreadh
My lips pulled down into the subtle and familiar frown that I had been straining my muscles to keep from displaying. It had become a constant feature on my face years ago as the bitter rage that burned inside my chest burned everything away until all that remained was my thirst for retribution.
I had to reel it back in, tempering it with the reassurance that my brother was alive and well somewhere, somewhere she could lead me, before my hand reached out to snap her neck as easily as I imagined it to be. I curled twitching fingers into fists at my side as I stepped towards her, not stopping until the ill-fitting material of the soiled clothes she wore brushed against my sweater.
I was going to have to burn it.
My lips peeled back to bare gritted teeth as I caught another whiff of coppery decay. "If you want to be able to use your legs to ever stand again, I suggest you give me a real goddamn answer!" My words that had started as a calm threat ended in a shout that had spit flying from my lips to make her flinch as it landed on her cheek.
My hand lifted to press the flat of my knuckles against the human's abdomen just above her naval. I felt it as her breath caught and then when her muscles tightened in reaction to the pain the sudden action brought on. I felt each of her short breaths that followed. When the chain above gave a protesting creak, my muscles strained to keep from pressing my fist against her any harder. Using the touch as an anchor to keep from doing anything I couldn't undo, like kill her, I unfurled the tightly coiled fingers of my other hand to reach into my pocket to retrieve the picture I had tucked inside.
My eyes narrowed on the human's face, catching each shift that took place as she watched me lift the image I retrieved between two fingers for her to see.
It was a picture that I had memorized better than the back of my hand. Not just every detail and hair of the smiling boy with rounded cheeks that it displayed, but also every wrinkle and crease that had formed over the years as I carried it to every dark corner of the realm in search of the man the boy would now be.
If he was still alive.
My fist twisted to dig my knuckles up into the soft tissue of her stomach at the intrusive thought. I watched as her features contorted in pain, triggering another cough that had a warm splatter of her blood landing against my cheek. I made sure to hold the picture well out of the way.
When she was done, unable to do more than take rasped breaths, I lifted it for her to see. "Does this boy look familiar?" I asked her, presenting the print of a thirteen-year-old Sebastion. It was the last picture that had been captured of him before the was taken... seventeen years ago, when I was seventeen.
It was a more reliable source than any magically aged version could be proven to be. And to have a seer confirm one... I would need to find one first, then worry about the cost that would be demanded.
I watched as she took in the picture, noticing her brows pulling together in confusion as her eyes darted around the small square image, taking in every detail. It didn't take long before the recognition I was looking for flashed in her eyes which widened in response. Her jaw grew slack, dropping to part her lips.
"He used to be... fat?" The unexpected words fell from her lips with a strange air of... awe?
My frown deepened at the remark, expressing offence on behalf of my brother who had already endured enough teasing from his peers in adolescence for his love of sweets.
"Is this Ash?" I questioned, forcing down any remarks that wanted to escape in retaliation. It would have been easy to target her weight in return. She had the characteristic curves of a human female that set their kind apart from ours at first glance as I'm sure she must have noticed during her time. Humans weren't much better than fae when it came to vanity.
