Re:Creation Book 1: Allegiance

Twenty: Eight

"Thank you for letting me stay with you for the night." Telk nodded gratefully as he followed Rallin to the old courier's quarters. Without Lev, Reif, or Therias around, he defaulted to speaking his native tongue of Taëlan Familiar.

"Think nothing of it," Rallin replied in the same language. "You're always welcome here as far as I'm concerned, Telk."

Telk sighed. "If only King Ura felt the same way."

"Yes, well Ura's ego has become rather inflated as of late, hasn't it?"

"Rallin, there's no way you actually believe that. You've always admired him."

"I once did, yes." Rallin shrugged. "Telk, do you know why I offered to be your caregiver here in the castle?"

Telk returned the shrug. "Because no one else would?"

"Not quite," Rallin replied with a shake of his head. "It was because you had such a refreshing and genuinely kind air about you. You'd always gone out of your way to make everyone else comfortable in spite of yourself, and yet there was also something else about you--a deeper pain that you rarely let show. No one else seemed to take note of it and frankly I did not trust anyone else to refrain from fostering that pain. Simply put: you are a kind soul and deserve kindness in return."

Telk didn't respond; he didn't know how. Rallin's words were kind and Telk could tell that they were genuine, yet somehow they felt... hollow. He felt nothing upon hearing them, nice as they were. Kind words meant nothing, nice as they were. They meant nothing to him. Almost nothing. They meant everything to him.

If you have nothing nice to say...

So Telk said nothing.

...

Aelrick's words were kind.

...

Hollow.

Hollow. Hollow. Hollow. Hollow. Hollow.

Hollow as the wind.

Telk's chest felt hot.

Fucking Avion.

Fucking gods.

Was it real? Was any of it real? Was any of the world real?

Where was he?

Whose body was this?

"...lk? ...Telk?"

Telk started at the sound of his own name.

"Are you alright?" Rallin asked, concern clouding his voice.

Concern. How kind.

But it was genuine.

Genuine concern. Telk should tell him. Tell Rallin. Rallin would understand. He would want to help. Tell him about Aelrick, about Rein, about the village, about the orphanage, about Telk's mother and father, about Bo, about-

"I'm fine," Telk plainly said. "Just daydreaming. Sorry, I didn't catch the last thing you said."

"Ah, yes," Rallin nodded. "Merely that I cannot stand to admire a man who'd go so far as to treat someone such as yourself the way Ura did."

Don't say that.

"Oh..." Telk said. "Thank you, Rallin."

"No need for that. I enjoy helping you."

Don't say that.

"Ah," Rallin continued. "And here we are."

There they were. There Telk was, staring at the familiar door leading into Rallin's chamber.