Redemption

Sorreingail's siblings

Xaden's Pov
I walked out of the Assembly with a headache throbbing between my temples, alongside a lasting annoyance at the council's inability to adapt.
After Violet had dashed out towards a freshly awakened Andarna, I grew more restless and impatient, until Brennan released us with a sigh.
"Hey, at least you guys made up your mind on something," called out Garrick from behind me.
"Yeah, if they aren't fucking shot in the sky before they can reach the would-be-rebels Riders. If there are some."
"There will be, Imogen. They must be fed up with the lies of the Empyrean. Besides, can't you be hopeful once in your life?"
"Hope brought me nowhere."
"It did bring you here, though."
"I'd call it necessity, not hope. If Sorreingal had remained in that cell for a few hours longer than-"
"Enough!" I snapped, "I don't want to hear of it."
Thank Zinhal, the two of them fell quiet.
Cadets shuffled away from us as we walked through the large, stony hallway and reached my room.
"Aifos, are you with us?"
"Yes."
"Good. I thought you'd died on your way here."
They only chuckled, and slipped past me.
When I brought forth a box full of churam, Garrick's eyes twinkled, "Yeah man! About time!"
He immediately whisked one and lighted it up with lesser magic. As he sucked in a breath, I put one between my teeth and did the same. With my head against the board of my bed, I blew out smoke and briefly remembered the night spent with Violet. I hoped her intoxicating scent would linger on the sheet for tonight to tightly wrap them between my legs and properly long for her. Or even better, have her pinned right under me.
Garrick's barking laugh had me snapping back to my senses, "Always with a delicate nose, huh?"
Imogen didn't move from her spot in the window, "I am fond of my lungs, thank you very much."
"Just like somebody else, right?"
For some reason, we turned expecting to see a slightly annoyed Liam to huff and roll his eyes at us. Instead, Aifos gave us a tight lipped smile and said nothing.
Our friend's ghost went on hovering in the room with us, and for a moment we bowed our heads and said nothing.
We all had managed to push past our families' death, the loss of our home, and the years at Basgiath with nothing more than a couple of scars here and there; yet, for some reason full of naif, we'd imagined the four of us would all stick together through thick and thin for the rest of our lives.
We'd forgotten to account for the true war raging outside our wards, which would rage in our homeland soon enough.
I dug my teeth in the cigarette and sucked in a harsh breath.
Suddenly, a low voice raised itself in the strained silence of the room, and we all swung our eyes to its owner. At first, I was going to bark at Aifos to drop it at once, but for some reason I found myself unable to.
The song was in their language similar to Old Lucerris, and its round wovels and melodic harmony caressed the shells of our ears with the same soft touch of spring breeze.
It resembled the rustle of gentle waves, the slow spirals of falling leaves, the rhythmic splatter of rain, the first sunrays of dawn.
Even after Aifos slowly ceased singing, its echoes kept reverberating in our minds.
"I didn't know you could fucking sing," I muttered.
"What was the song about?" Asked Garrick, while Imogen silently stared at the far off horizon.
They shrugged, "The cycle of seasons. It's an old Elvish song."
"Cool... Hey, hold up a sec. You know Elves?!"
Later that day, I flew off with some lieutenants to collect any Rider who wanted to join our rebellion. We found them already flying more or less in the right direction, a riot larger than our most hopeful thoughts.
-Us dragons have yearned to fight against wyverns for way longer than you can imagine, Shadow-wielder,- said Sgaeyl, -The time is finally ripe.-
-Did you know that Aifos can sing?-
She twisted her head snake like to blink a single, golden eye at me.
-Singing skills have never killed an enemy before.-
-Yeah... I guess they haven't. I just... I mean, I didn't think they could do it.-
-There are many things you don't know about each other, Shadow-wielder.-
The one hundred and seven scars tickled faintly on my back.
-Yeah, I suppose you're right.-
-As always.-
We were in the rear of the riot as we approached my palace, when Sgaeyl had to confirm Tairn that these dragons had come peacefully and thus he had better leave Teine's throat at once.
-Males!- She snorted aggravated a plume of smoke, -Always prone to fight but never to think.-
We landed away from the cluster of this riot, and I found myself following the three Sorreingal's voices (not that it was a hard task: they were yelling at the top of their lungs so much I was sure even Melgren, wherever he was, could hear them bickering).
"I can't believe you hit me," Brennan was grumbling, a blood stained cloth against his nose, "Do you know how hard it is to mend myself? You? No problem. Doing it for myself? A giant pain in the ass."
"Oh, do cry for me, big brother," mocked Mira, "You know, the way we cried for you."
"I knew you wouldn't understand! Shit, I'm going to have to set the cartilage."
"Understand? Understand that you let us burn your things?"
As the two of them went quarreling on and Violet tried effortlessly to have her brother switch cloths, Aifos slid in next to me, "Why the fuck are they yelling like this?"
They had their face drawn tight, clearly with annoyance.
"Brennan here had them thinking he'd died in battle years ago. Mira is a little pissed. She-broke-his-nose kind of pissed."
"Oh! Well, that's not the end of the world, is it?"
My eyes snapped to Violet when she grew fed up with her siblings and cried out to stop, "Oh, for fuck's sake! Stop it! Mira, he was a brand-new lieutenant, and what's done is done. Brennan, put the fucking face on your face before you stain the floors, you stubborn ass!"
It was amusing watching the other two Sorreingail gawking at her, only to do as they were told when she went on glaring at them.
Gods, she was so fucking beautiful when she was all annoyed and loud.
"And to think, I used to wish I had siblings," I drawled then, casually leaning against the wall.
Upon my sight, Violet's shoulders dipped in relief as she walked towards me. Her cheeks were slightly red because of the quarrel, and her eyes sparkled with a thousand stars.
"Hi."
"Hi," and I wrapped my arms around her waist and tugged her to me.
"You all right?"
"I am now."
Our kiss was gentle, nothing short of the most intimate greeting humanity had ever invented. Her lips slotted against mine utterly perfectly, and my body thrummed when she raised on her tiptoes and cupped my stubbled cheeks between her slender palms.
She was my woman, and my love. My house was hers, and so was my heart. I would bring to her every star, even the kingdom of the Gods, if she asked me to.
And when her brow would be crowned with starlight, my world would be aligned, at last.
"Seriously?" Sighed Brennan, "Right in front of me?"
"Oh, this is tame for them. Wait until they decide to basically climb each other in a public space. You can't burn that shit out of your head, trust me."
Aifos grumbled something in their native language I didn't understand. Not that I cared about, especially when I felt her smile against my lips. I could only add on to the pressure, but kept my tongue firmly behind my teeth.
Her tension in her body at this decision of mine told me she only wanted to taste my tongue just as she'd done last night.
A slight smirk curled my lips: everything in due time, Violence.
When we reluctantly parted, my eyes assured her to give her promises of tonight that had her cheeks prettily flushed.
"So," I said, sweeping my gaze on the other two "What are the Sorreingal siblings going to do now that they're reunited?"
"Mend his nose," said Aifos, and Brennan frowned at them, "Why, you're a mender too?"
"Yeah, some sort of. May I? You've been bleeding all over."
"Please do," said Mira, "So I can break it all over again."
"No!"
"Mira!"
I simply laughed, and watched Aifos shuffling over to Brennan.
However, as they started healing his nose, there was something in their focused expression which wasn't completely unknown to me.
I had a feeling I'd already seen somewhere that slight purse of their lips, and the way their eyes hardened in concentration, but I couldn't exactly pinpoint when, nor where.
Violet's firm voice brought me back to myself, "I need the blood of the six most powerful Riders."
"Ever?" I asked, "Or living now?"
"Why?" Asked Brennan instead as Aifos took a step away and looked at her, confused as well.
"In residence, I think," she said to me, "I think I know how to raise the wards."