Kingsbane

Chapter 12

      "Sarah, you really don't have to stay with me." Gray sighed as he lay on the hospital bed, old blood being flushed from his body while the new pumped in. His sister sat in the window sill, humming softly. She was no fan of blood, and she wouldn't look at him while he was hooked up. "Dad's going to lose it if he finds out you ditched school."
    "It's fine." She shrugged. "I already talked to my principal."
    "About what?"
    "You."
    "Sarah-"
    "She won't say anything to mom. They don't have any reason to talk to one another anyway. We should go to the park or something after this. It's nice out. Want to go to that outdoor bar on Main Street?"
    "Siva told me to stay at the house."
    "So, what's with you and Siva anyway? You said you didn't have a boyfriend."
    "Well, I didn't think I did. It just sort of happened. I fell asleep in his gazebo and he took me in the house and it just escalated from there."
    She turned and looked at him then. "What the hell were you doing falling asleep in a stranger's yard?"
    He laughed and closed his eyes. What the hell had he been doing? "I was tired and it was raining."
    "You're dumb." She snorted. "But it is kind of cute."
    "Mr. Kohl?" There was a light tap on the door just before a tall, dark haired doctor came in. "Your tests came back. The cancer is still present but it seems to have slowed it's progress. I want you back in two days to test again. We will go from there."
    Grayson didn't seem interested and the doctor turned to go, but Sarah jumped up and snatched the chart from her hands.
    "Excuse me-"
    "Explain this to me." She demanded, giving the physician an almost desperate look, pressing a finger to the results. "Does this change give him longer to live?"
    "Like I said, we will wait and see what Thursday's tests have to say." Plucking his chart away from her, he exited and she was about to chase after him when Gray called to her.
    "Let him go. We'll ask the nurse later. Those guys are too busy to bother with a drawn out explanation."
    "Well what the hell do they get paid for?!" She growled, resuming her place in the window.
    "Relax." He sighed, "Did you know Siva is a Faery?"
    "Well, I guessed as much." She muttered.
    Grayson chuckled softly and let the topic go. She wouldn't believe the truth, though he desperately wanted to tell her. She'd be devastated when he simply disappeared without a trace. That was, if Siva succeeded.

* * * *

    "I will take Grayson through the mine, and bring him out where you will exit. Have Rafferty waiting for him. I know you will be busy at the ceremony. Do not try to get out of it. Trust us to do this for you. Okay?" Sverre instructed sternly, looking down at his precious sibling with intensity in his eyes as they stood at the mouth of the old mine.
    "I do trust you." Siva assured him, his heart so heavy it seemed to slow his physical movements. This was it. The last time he would see his brother's face, or hear his voice. After this, he would have to stay in Faery, be a father, a husband. He would no longer be allowed to sneak about, or scheme. They'd be separated, forever, by an imaginary line between the dark and light. This was the farewell he'd never gotten all those years ago, but now, he didn't want it. "I-"
    "Save it." Sverre slapped him on the shoulder. "I know. It's alright."
    "But-"
    "You've still got Avalbane, Sio, and Raff, and soon you'll have Grayson too. You won't be alone. Don't worry. Here-" As if to hide his own pain, Sverre looked down at his right hand and slipped a ring from his little finger. "Give this to your Queen. If she asks where you got it, tell her it fell from the sky. She'll understand."
    "Isn't this-"
    "Yeah. It is. Now go on, before someone sees you."
    Siva looked down at the ring. The golden band was thick, obviously made for a man, and the large blue stone set in it's center shimmered in the sunlight, the clouds above dancing in it's crystalline face. "You can't give this back."
    But Sverre had gone, and Siva turned to the mine's entrance, the darkness of it just waiting to swallow him up. Even when he wanted to rail against his fate, he ran into it, because that was the only choice he had. Though the sorrow of losing his brother now ate away at him anew, he kept thinking of Grayson's smile, and somehow, it lifted the shadows in his soul just enough for him to keep moving. He had to keep that smile shining or all would be lost.