Iscladon Breaking (Book One in the Cerios Chronicles)

Chapter 2-Brother

Chapter 2

Brother

To say it was difficult to act as if they weren't worried about soldiers grabbing them and hauling them away to be tortured would be an understatement bordering on insanity. They were all wrecks for the next two months, Yeerlin even more so.

He had never thought it would come to this. He had managed to avoid questions about their mother when they were younger, and thought their personalities were such he would never have to explain about his past. But it seemed those creatures that lived in the ice disagreed with him.

He had expected some anger, as well as disappointment that he had never told them before. What he hadn't expected was the sheer sympathy they had given him for dredging up the past yet again.

It made him realize that, whatever else he was, he had managed to do well as a father, at the very least. He may be a former rebel assassin who failed in his duty, but he was also a farmer who had carved out a life and family from nothing.

His only regret was Uzima, she had died years ago, but he hadn't been by her side. That was their promise to one another, when they were younger, that they would live together, and die together.

Of course, that was when they expected to die while working as assassins, not when they had become farmers in a trading village.

The last of the story had come out a few weeks later, when Slikver, ever the blunt one, had asked straight out where their mother had fit into everything. Quaren, raised alongside his brother to be his personal politician when he got too forward, had asked much more kindly.

He had told them everything about her. She had been another assassin until they met, and then they became the deadliest team in Bealcrest. When they had failed in their high profile kills, they had been ruled as a dangerous asset. They had far too many kills to simply retire in the same area, but they wanted out, and one of the main codes the rebels lived by was cooperation.

Aside from that, they may well have thought he would kill them if they held him back.

So they had sent him here, to hide away and start a new life. It hadn't been hard, most of the people they had any relationship with had already gone through the same thing.

Slikver and Quaren had taken this news admirably, as they had everything. It impressed him to no end, and reminded him strongly of their mother. She had not only been a clever fighter and deadly warrior, she had also been stoic. No situation had the ability to rattle her, even that kill in the raids hadn't shaken her.

So here they were, two months down the road, with no news, no information, and no relief for their ever present worry.

From what they had heard, Syrion and Frenell had petitioned the King for assistance, which made the situation even more dangerous. The King's personal scribe had written back that he wanted no further expeditions; that the ice creatures were to be left alone.

All the villagers knew something was wrong with them, but none were willing to pry. Eilan, of course, came to their farm every day to check up on them, not to mention to ask pointed; far too knowledgeable questions.

The only thing he held back, the one thing he didn't tell Slikver and Quaren, was about their mother's death. He told them about her dying during a blizzard; while she and Yeerlin had been rushing Slikver to the healer's to overcome a sudden bout of fever. But there was still a secret, which he couldn't stand to share.

Slikver knew there was something else, but he seemed to realize Yeerlin would have told him if he felt it was necessary. Quaren seemed oblivious, or at the very least ignoring the possibility of more secrets.