Ties that Bind

Chapter 2

As a motherless child, Darion had occasionally been, as his father had so delicately put it, shared with others. Usually it had been for a few hours, a day or so, but his care had often fallen to the teenaged girls around him. He'd grown to know them all well, and had understood those he tolerated well, and those he did not. He'd been dreading his father's choice of babysitters that summer, because a month was a long time to put up with those he did not. He understood as an adult, now, the veil of age lifted, that his father had not actually intended to leave him in the care of any of the teenaged girls for a month, especially not the dreaded Sally. But, in a private moment, Darion had shyly raised his doubts about who would be given the responsibility to care for him while his father and brother traveled. He now understood that his father's next question had been measuring, a test of both Darion's relationships with those around him, and his ability to choose someone trustworthy...to see a value in people. Who would Darion choose to watch him while Alexandros was away for so long? There had been no restrictions, Darion could have answered any name at all, but his mind was still stuck on the usual array of babysitters. He'd answered honestly, and there had been something in his father's eyes at the answer. Surprise? A well disguised hope? Measurement?

Now, Darion understood that what he'd requested was out of line. Certainly, out in a village, she'd be considered more than old enough to babysit Darion, and a dozen more just like him, for a whole month. In fact, she was old enough to have been married herself, with a babe in belly, if not one already in her arms. But Darion had not been raised in a simple village, and the target of his request was no neighboring farm girl.

But she'd arrived that morning, and was either the world's greatest actress...a dubious thought even now...or none too put off by the task of watching him. She'd done an amazing job of it as well, devoting her full attention to it. Never once had she shirked it, never once had she left him to go be with her friends. She'd taught him to fish, and gathered berries with him. She had, in a mix of dread seriousness and play, sparred with him, wooden sword against wooden sword.

He sighed, sitting down at the desk in his chambers, absorbing the silence of Acherus. It was a foolish idea to try to grasp those feelings back. They were dead. Gone. He was dead, truly. And she...

"Will you take care of me?" His voice had been wistful. She'd said nothing for a long moment, watching Alexandros' back, Renault's, well after both had turned away from her, well after Alexandros had stopped waving. Her hand on his shoulder had been both caring and edged in steel.

"Absolutely, Darion. I will care for you. I will fight for you. We're as good as family, you know."

As good as family. He nodded, mind finally made up. Doing this had all of the earmarks of a disaster, but he couldn't just sit idly by. He had the resources at his disposal to do this, and he was willing to face the consequences... all of them. And unfortunately, he knew that she was going to be the most dire of those consequences.

He dropped the chain on the dull black surface, smiling at the metallic clink as the rings hit. Taelan's...dead. His father's...dead. High General Abbendis's...dead. That left only two. Tirion's... not dead. And hers. Six silver rings. Once there had been a seventh, but that one had been destroyed by Darion himself.

"Like it or not, I'm coming for you." He told the silent, empty room, his breath a chill fog. "Because...we're as good as family."