Bound by Glass

40| Expect The Unexpected

 I decided not to fake cry as Haco had advised me to do in a situation like this, because my acting was the worst.

The door was pushed open, just far enough so a person could step through. Light still flooded into the study, diminishing the dimness and blinding me in the process. I quickly threw a hand in front of my eyes, in an attempt to save my night vision. It didn't help. I blinked several times, to force my eyes to adjust. A silhouette stood in front of me, closing the door behind them.

We were enveloped in darkness again.

I held the dagger in my tight fist, hidden behind my back.

"Oh, I'm so sorry my lord," I pleaded when I could make out a lean frame in the dimness of the room. My eyes were still fighting to adjust—my night vision had been completely ruined. "I wasn't feeling well, and they sent me here—"

"Cut the crap. Why the hell are you in here, Tenna?" the silhouette said, slowly turning into a person. I let my eyes slide over the stranger standing in front of me.

I swore. You have got to be kidding me. One violent curse after another whirled around in my head, as time progressed one even worse than the other. That familiar ash blonde hair, sophistically styled in a way that made him look utterly ridiculous. That lean frame, fitted into a tailored grey suit, which brought out those dark brown eyes—eyes which looked at me like I was a ghost, or crazy—probably both. There was no question if Kael had been real that other night: he was standing right before me.

"Are you being serious?" I said, still not believing my own eyes. "You. Explain. Right now," I hissed, pulling the dagger from behind my back. I stepped forward, but bumped against the chair in front me, unable to get any closer. "You—you betrayed us," I whispered, unable to think of anything else. "How could you?" The attack, the fire, the deaths. It was all his fault—he had sold us out to the Authorities, I was sure of it. The dagger I held tight in my hand seemed my only hold of this world: the rest seemed to crumble away as I stood there. The only things left were me and my dagger. And Kael.

"I never meant for this to happen," Kael started. "Please put the dagger down, I know you won't hurt me," he said calmly, making a vague gesture with his hand.

Before, I could never have hurt him. Not ever, not him. But now, I wasn't so sure anymore. I lifted the dagger higher, aligning it with his eyes. "I wouldn't be so sure."

"Why are you acting like this?" Kael asked, his brows furrowing. "So cold, distant... It's me, Tenners," he said, using my old nickname. "I'm still me, despite what it looks like. I swear." He reached for my arm, over the chair.

I jerked back, "Don't you touch me." The dagger in my hand was remarkably still, pointed straight at his face. "You say you're you, but I can't see anything of the Outsider boy who used to play hide and seek with me at the rock formation anymore. All I see is an upper—a liar. You've lied to us."

Kael averted his gaze, the ground suddenly very interesting. At least he had the decency to blush. "I didn't have a choice," he whispered. "But I never wanted an attack, ever. I was always clear in that."

"You always have a choice, Kael," I said, shaking my head. Suddenly he was that little boy again, upset because people said he had to wield a gun, not an aid kit. But he had fought for that aid kit, for the better part of his childhood years. Only after Granny Froster had given him his blessing, he had been accepted by the infirmary. I don't have a choice, Tenners, he had said, I have to inflict pain, I'm not allowed to lessen it.

Oh, and how I had fought for that boy, how many fights I'd had with my father... Kael had never found out about it, but I had been the one to persuade my father to let Granny Froster teach him, even if it was just for a few days. If it hadn't been for that, Granny had never been so enthusiastic about that boy, and Kael would never have become the one who would step into her footsteps one day. I had been so proud of him. He had been beaming for weeks after the acceptance.