Inheritance

Chapter 40: Joy

As the hours ticked by, Eory felt his confidence growing and felt happiness he didn't even know it was possible to feel while dancing, conversing, and eating at the ball.

His feelings inside the tower where he had been locked up in for so long were always so gray, muted, and empty—even when he felt joy, it was nothing compared to this kind of joy.

While conversing at the ball, Eory was upset to find that most of the nobles wanted nothing to do with him and would only speak to him briefly, but was shocked that many were so kind to him—kinder than he had a right to expect them to be considering the family he belonged to.

Gershom was his greatest ally during the ball.

Because Pollyanna hated the nobles, and because Kori was sitting by the king, Gershom was the only one there to comfort him and bolster his confidence.

When he felt himself getting so nervous that it felt like his heart would beat out of his chest, he would step away from the nobles and pet his dog for a few moments, and all the stress would leave him.

He would press his cheek into the dog's fur and the dog would lovingly lick his cheek in return. When Eory looked into Gershom's buggy, black eyes, he knew he always had a friend, and that relaxed him to no end.

If a dog loves me, maybe people can, too... Eory thought to himself.

Gershom also helped Eory break the ice with many of the nobles. They would have no interest in talking to him, but then Gershom would bark, and they would have dozens of questions about the dog. Eory would explain that he was a terrier with a very loving personality who was well-trained by Kori, and the nobles would coo over him.

Late into the ball, and even later into the night when nobles started leaving, Eory took a break and sat with Gershom in his lap on the ballroom floor. His face was scrunched up in a smile as he watched the dog pant with its silly and adorable loose jowls hanging from his chin and a brainless, but happy, look on his face.

Pollyanna--who had been standing away from him and who had melted into a shadow—reemerged now and stood over him.

She knelt beside him and whispered, "he reminds me of the dog you had when you were a child..."

Eory nodded as he gently ran his ivory hands through the dog's fur.

He was happy; his heart was soaring with the comfort of having something inherently good-hearted love him.

All else faded to black, and soon, it was just him and Gershom.

Not the dog, Gershom, but the fairy, Gershom.

Eory felt very small, and he saw he was sitting on his brother's lap like he used to when he was little.

He was weeping heavily, and the soaring feeling in his heart was gone. It was replaced by a sick and nauseated feeling that latched to his head and stomach.

His brother's hands were gripping his forearm's as he wept. "Don't cry Eory. Please don't cry. It was only a dog; there are so many other dogs. We can get you a new one tomorrow! I promise!"

His own weeping became louder in his ears and seemed to echo in the dark space. "There was no dog like him! He was my best friend! Why won't you tell me who killed him?"

"I..." Gershom began but could say no more.

I...

I...

I...

And suddenly, Eory felt warm liquid cascading off his arms.

He stared forward with his eyes wide in terror.

He didn't dare look back at his brother, because he knew his hands were covered in blood.

Eory knew the truth which he had kept from himself for so long.

His brother had killed that innocent dog who had done nothing but love him.

It tore Eory's heart apart because that dog felt like his only friend much of the time.

Although Gershom tried to make time to play with him at least once a day, he was always so busy with his lessons. His parents were busy all the time, too.

But his dog was different. It was always there for him, and he could spend hours playing with it.

He once took the dog out to the inner bailey of the castle and spent a whole hour racing his dog from one end of the inner wall to the other side.

They were having a grand time up until he spun around when his fingers touched the wall and saw that his dog had disappeared.

He thought it had run away from him.

He sniffled and then hugged his knees and drowned in a pit of lonely misery until the dog showed up and whimpered.

Eory immediately ceased his sobbing when the dog returned and he hugged it tightly.

When the dog died later, Eory felt sick for weeks and said very little if anything at all. Deep down, he knew Gershom had killed the dog, but he didn't want to let himself believe it because he thought Gershom was different from the rest of his family, and it hurt him too much to accept that his older brother was no different.

"You're never too busy for me!" Eory would often say to his boyhood dog.

Eory came back to reality and sniffled a little at the memory. He embraced his dog with an absurdly happy expression and felt relaxed and at peace with himself.

Pollyanna couldn't help but think her charge had a lot in common with that dog.