Changeling

Chapter 8

L'thean had been reading in the garden that morning, lounging in a tree and hoping it would be the last place his brother would step foot in. Fire elemental spawn, after all, weren't very compatible with a hoard of flammable material. And it was a hoard to be sure, in every which direction there were vines and bushes and rows and rows of foxglove. The garden was alive, L'thean could feel it, pulsing and singing to itself, untouched by the cold of winter. At the edge of the arrangement a distance away was a maze. His father had installed it sometime before L'thean was born. He and his mother would play in it when he was a child. It was her favorite place. The only place that brought a light to her eyes, it seemed.

When he asked what was at its center, his mother would say, "The heart of the kingdom, child." What the heart of the kingdom entailed; he did not know. Only his father had access to this great source. It had bewildered and bedazzled him since youth and remained the only place of peace in the kingdom as it housed his fondest memories.

"There you are little brother." His brother's voice trilled.

L'thean groaned, closing his eyes as he shut his book, readying for an onslaught. "Weren't you banished from father's garden for life, Dain?" This referred to the time Dain had accidentally set fire to a tree by... well- they didn't speak of it. 

Dain waltzed into his vision, alight, even beyond the dark of L'thean's lids.

"Do you really think I would obey such a stupid law when I could know what exactly possessed you to use my magic last night for the first time in centuries?" There was a laugh in his voice when he said this, and L'thean opened his eyes to regard him with a look of boredom, hoping this was convincing. Dain's hair was unbound as it always was, even during ceremonies and other sacred events, and it hung around him in a cloud of auburn. His skin glowed bronze in the sun and his eyes twinkled with joy in what he was about to say next.

"The fire in my room went out and I was out of tinder." L'thean explain, tired. Dain crossed his arms and shot L'thean a smile that revealed he saw through this lie.

"You were so desperate to relight it without calling on a servant that you used my magic with the knowledge that I would notice? That doesn't sound very true now, little brother. Don't you think I can tell when you're lying after this long?"

L'thean sighed, rubbing his temples. He needed to stick to the story very loosely and to avoid the volatile points if he was going to convince his brother.

"A maid was afraid of the dark, I solved the problem." He rumbled brows cast low over an exasperated expression, "Now leave me be. Isn't there a dryad you should be rutting with?"

Dain frowned as that hit a nerve, but quickly regained his footing, and began to plod around the tree L'thean sat upon. "I see... a maid of no importance, worthy of having this conversation to save her feelings." He demurred, "I wonder if I should pay her a visit to check on her welfare... Doubtless your brutish ways gave her a fright..."

L'thean knew when he was being manipulated, "Sure." He said, hopping down the from the tree and walking away, "She's an ugly little thing. Her father sold her to the crown for 1 bronze piece. Pity can work magic, brother. I'm sure you're unfamiliar with the feeling."

Dain guffawed at this, unsure whether to call him on his bluff, threaten him some more, or, God forbid, concede. It wasn't every day that his little brother was in town and with such a juicy morsel of gossip in tow. Afterall, nothing would bring Dain more pleasure than to hang this over L'thean's head and watch him nip at it. Dain had always enjoyed toying with L'thean, even as a wean. Dain was the youngest and star of the show for 10 long years before L'thean had come along. It was L'thean who had been the product of uniting the two kingdoms of land and sea, and ever since, Dain had wanted nothing more than to put his little brother in his place. He remembered the day he met L'thean. His mother had cried tears as black as the dark of the sea when she'd walked in on him attempting to smother the child. Dain was young but knew even at his age what this spelled. They'd been at each other's throats ever since.