Brothers: Legacy of the Twice-Dead God

by Scott Duff

  “Self-inflicted wounding?” Kieran asked incredulously.

  “He tossed the two seconds of Faery over the Arena walls,” he said to Kieran, waving a hand at me with nonchalance.

  “I thought that rather amusing, really,” Kieran said, the smirk returning to his face as he started to gather wet towels to the table we’d first laid Peter on.

  Now that MacNamara’s attention was on Kieran, his anger was fading, slowly, so slowly. I turned to Peter to get him to eat. He was staring at his hand, upset by something. “Come on, buddy, you need to eat something.”

  “I lost it,” he whispered, looking at me with panic on his face.

  “Lost what?” I whispered back, confusion on mine.

  “What you gave me. I was holding it,” he said, showing me his hand. There was the indentation in the palm of his hand where the battery once sat, where he’d squeezed so tightly and the Loa’s body weight as a goat-thing had rolled over him.

  “Oh, that,” I said as the realization of what he was worried about came to me. I smiled. “You haven’t lost it, Peter. I’ll show you where it is later. Now, eat.”

  “The fires are still burning?” asked Kieran, chortling.

  “Not your fault, not your fault,” said the elf, pushing up from the bench. “The Little Miss caused the problem when she reached in with a vain and misguided attempt to stop herself from being flung from the Arena. She realized too late that was not the heat of Summer she’d grabbed onto. Burned herself quite nicely and stoked the fire. I shall have it cleared away by this evening.”

  He glanced around the room. We were all finally showered and dressed. Peter was distractedly munching from the plate on the bench between us.

  “Are you all ready, now?” he asked. “I have had Cahill and his entourage moved to quarters next to your own so that you may see to Olivia McClure’s medical needs at your discretion. Your obligations here end after the final battle tomorrow and you can return to your charming point of origin. Now…”

  “Shall we go?” asked one of the proxies as the other opened the door.

  Chapter 23

  MacNamara took us through the hallways of the Arena at a fairly brisk pace, keeping the proxies between us and the conversation nonexistent. Peter was keeping up but it was wearing him down. It looked like all he needed was a good meal and sleep or vice versa, but I seemed to be the only one concerned at the moment. I was about to ask for a pause in the trek when we turned a corner and burst out into the sunlit aisles of the Arena. Another two quick turns and one of the proxies was opening the gate to our balcony for us.

  “Until tomorrow,” said the second proxy to Kieran as he stepped past the gate.

  “Your grace,” said Kieran, nodding and smiling to the smiling elf. MacNamara turned and walked gracefully down the aisle, disappearing almost instantly into the crowd. Kieran turned quickly and snaked an arm around Peter’s shoulders just as he began to collapse in the aisle. I was alarmed and aggravated with myself for not seeing it first. I was watching him, after all.

  “Let’s get Peter inside, shall we?” he said quietly as he bent down and picked his legs up, too. He looked like a rag doll in Kieran’s arms.

  Shrank was on him as soon as he cleared the doorway.

  “Is he going to be all right, Lord?” he squealed, following them as Kieran made his way to the sofa with Peter. A pillow and blanket were waiting there already. Kieran sat him upright on the sofa.

  “He’ll be fine shortly, Shrank. He’s just exhausted right now,” he said, lodging the pillow on one side to keep Peter upright. “Esteleum?”

  “Juice?” asked the pixie.

  “Yes, please,” he said. The pixie flew off to the kitchen with Ethan in tow. Peter picked his head up and looked around the room, bleary-eyed. “Welcome back,” Kieran said. “You should have listened to Seth and eaten more. Drink this.” He took a small glass of something brown and thick from Ethan and handed it to Peter. He took one sip then tried to push it away. Kieran laughed heartily at the face he made. “All of it or I hold you down and Seth pours a pitcher of it down your throat,” Kieran threatened. Peter’s eyes went wide at the thought of that. He downed the entire contents of the glass quickly, sputtering and making gagging noises.

  “That is nasty,” he croaked, handing the glass back. Kieran chuckled, taking the glass and patting his thigh affectionately.

  “Yes, but very good for you,” Kieran said, standing. “Shrank, would you see to dinner, please? I dare say we all need something more filling than sandwiches.”

  “Dinner should be arriving in a few moments, Lord,” said the pixie, flying up to face Kieran. “I had to talk the brownies out of pizza, though. I hope that is acceptable to you.”

  “Quite,” said Kieran, sitting on the couch opposite Peter. “Seth, where is Peter’s battery?”

  “I pulled it into his cavern while I was talking with his subconscious,” I answered, sitting down on the couch beside Peter.

  “He says that so casually,” remarked Ethan, plopping down beside Kieran.

  “Show me,” said Peter to me, eagerly.

  “No,” said Kieran, sharply. “Not yet. That kind of energy manipulation should be done with a clear head and a sound body. You have neither right now. Wait till morning. Trust me on this, Peter. You will appreciate the experience more fully then.”

  Shrank flew up from the back of the couch, alarmed. “There is a runner at the gate on the balcony,” he squeaked, then twisting in the air, followed with, “and dinner has arrived at the front.”

  “I’ll take the runner,” I said, getting up.

  “I’ll take dinner, then,” said Ethan, heading for the front.

  I stepped out onto the balcony to find a young man, maybe twelve to fourteen, tapping idly on the gate. He instantly stood straight when he saw me, his eyes growing large. He looked like he could scamper away like a frightened mouse at any moment, and the loose brown robes he wore didn’t help dispel the image at all.

  “May I help you?” I asked him.

  “I have a message for Master McClure, sir,” he said, his voice squeaky with puberty and nerves. He held out a folded piece of paper in his shaky hand.

  “He’s inside. Come on in,” I said. I started to turn back to the apartment, but his reaction stopped me. He froze, pale, eyes wide. No, his eyes rolled back in his head. He was going down. Luckily, he slumped over the gate instead of falling backward and I was able to get to him before he hit the ground. “Could somebody give me a hand, please?” I called loudly, trying to open the gate and not drop the kid at the same time. Ethan came out fast and picked the boy up under his arms, bypassing the gate completely.

  “What happened?” he asked, brusquely, holding the kid up and examining him closely.

  “I think he was expecting someone just like him and got me instead,” I said. I couldn’t keep the amusement out of my voice. I was almost giggling at one point. “He got really scared when I walked out. When I suggested that he should deliver the message to Kieran himself, well… he didn’t take it so well.” Okay, I admit it. I giggled.

  Ethan turned to stare at me, mouth agape. “Seth,” he said, putting two syllables in my name in admonishment. “Look at that closely anyway, before you pick it up, and I’ll take him inside.”

  I found the paper again and checked it out, just in case. Ethan was really a lot older than I knew and you didn’t get to be old and paranoid just by being paranoid. There still wasn’t an energy signature of any kind on the paper so I followed Ethan and the boy in with it.

  The room had change significantly from when I’d left it. Not changed so much as been added to: long tables piled high with food, hot and cold. There had to be enough food there for twenty people. I stopped at the couch and stared at the tables, holding the paper out to Kieran. The kid was sitting on the end of the couch from Kieran. He was starting to come around and Ethan was sticking his fingers in a glass and splashing water in his face. Yeah, I giggled again.

&
nbsp; Reading the missive, Kieran said, “Mr. Cahill is letting us know that he has been moved to the Arena into an apartment next to our own. He has invited us to visit at any time. He also introduces us to his younger son, Martin.” He flipped the paper down against his chest and looked at the boy at the end of the couch. “Are you Martin?” he asked. The boy nodded, still shell-shocked.

  “Why is he introducing us to you?” I asked picking up a plate and helping myself to the food. “Ehran, you want anything?”

  “Yes, actually,” Kieran said, getting up. Stopping at Peter to help him up, “C’mon, skinny, you can’t stop moving. Just go slow.”

  I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until I sat down with the plate I’d fixed and saw how I’d piled it. “Would you like something to eat, Martin? There’s plenty!” I said as I sat down opposite him, next to Peter’s seat. I looked up at him when he didn’t answer. He was staring at me fearfully, eyes darting occasionally to the others fixing their plates.

  “Dude, what are you so afraid of?” I asked him, leaning back on the couch.

  “You,” he said, meekly, pushing back into the couch a little further. “All of you, I mean.”

  “Really?” I said, not surprised. I bit into a piece of meat rolled in pepper that looked really good and I was not disappointed. “Why? Your father is Felix Cahill. He’s, what, a top guy for the European Council? Surely you’ve seen powerful magicians and mages before. I definitely don’t fit that bill, but Ehran and Ethan do. Peter’s well past the apprentice stage, but Ehran’s going to show him some new stuff, too.”

  Ethan set his plate on the table between us and sat on the floor to eat. He glanced up at Martin and said, “There’s plenty over there if you want any.”

  Kieran said, “He doesn’t understand how we could have done what we did today and sit here so calmly and eat now. Don’t judge him too harshly—you would have the same problem.”

  “Yeah, I guess I can see that,” I said, stabbing another piece of pepper-covered meat. “If it’s any consolation to you, Martin, it’s a whole lot easier to accept when what you’re killing is trying to eat you alive.” I popped the steak into my mouth and chewed slowly to savor the flavors. “Hmm, that’s good.”

  “What?” he croaked out.

  “That’s what the Loa do,” said Ethan. “And the big one was after Seth. It wanted a long, slow banquet. We just couldn’t let that happen.”

  “Have you seen my mother?” I asked. “The woman your father is helping?” Martin nodded. “He did that to her, St. Croix did. She’s his daughter. And if I’m going to help her, I’ve got to stay alive and healthy. I’ve got to eat and sleep and learn. Find people that can help me, like my brother, Peter, Ethan, your father. The same is true if I’m going to find my father.”

  “You looked plenty powerful enough when you threw the fairies out of the Arena,” Martin said, gaining a bit of confidence in himself.

  “They started it,” I said, grimacing. Kieran and Ethan started snickering again.

  “You did what?” Peter asked, almost shouting at us.

  “They attacked us en masse right after the fight with the Loa,” I told Peter. “It was more expedient to throw them out than let Ehran and Ethan kill them. At that moment, you were more important.”

  “I would have loved to have seen their faces when they landed,” said Kieran, still snickering. “He snatched the arrogant little snots up by the napes of their necks, told them off, then tossed them aside like used handkerchiefs. It was hilarious!” Then he broke out laughing.

  “And I can barely light a candle and move a book,” muttered Martin, looking forlorn. “It’s no wonder father is ashamed of me.”

  “I doubt he would have sent you here if he was ashamed of you,” said Peter, eating slowly but finally eating. I was afraid we were going to have to threaten him again.

  “And I can’t light a candle without matches,” I admitted.

  “I wonder if this is how normal people would feel around us if they knew,” Martin said, in an off-hand way.

  “Or born a null,” I said. Martin looked stricken. He’d heard the rumors about me well before he saw me in action. He may even still think I’m a null. Now that was an interesting idea. “Aren’t those robes hot?”

  “Very,” he said with breathy voice. “But father is insistent…” switching to a husky and deep voice then said, “on an established school with a proper curriculum vitae. All the ceremony and history, just like your brother and me and my father before us.” His eyes glazed over a bit as he switched back to his normal voice. “I could tell he wanted to just smack me one when I asked him what a curriculum vitae was. Made me go look it up. Got even madder when I asked him to explain the definition.”

  All of us broke down laughing at Martin’s story, including Martin. Once we’d settled down some, Martin said, “Even father had to admit it was a confusing entry once he’d read it.” He glanced over and realized that Master McClure was smiling and looking down with emerald green eyes. “I meant no disrespect for my Da, sir,” he said, stiffening a little.

  “I have a father, too, Martin,” Kieran said, softly. “Shrank, you have a job to do tonight. Quite below your abilities but important nonetheless.”

  The pixie was a streak of red from the back of the couch to Kieran. “Yes, Lord?” he squealed in a flutter of gold over Kieran’s discarded plate on the coffee table.

  “I need you to watch him,” Kieran said, pointing to Peter. “He’s allowed to eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom, but nothing else until we get back. Understand?”

  Peter looked crushed. “I don’t get to see Mrs. McClure?” he complained.

  “Tomorrow. I’m afraid this will be more of a hospital visitation than a joyous reunion,” said Kieran, sadly. “And you need to rest more than you need to worry. For Seth’s sake, you stay here tonight, okay?”

  “Okay,” he grumbled.

  “A job where I get to sleep,” squealed Shrank, drifting like a leaf, back and forth through the air, to Peter’s shoulder. “What are the odds?”

  “I should brush my teeth and use the bathroom before we leave,” I said, leaving my plate on the coffee table, too.

  When I came out of the bathroom and was moving through the bedroom, I heard Peter and Martin talking quietly in the main room. Kieran and Ethan were out on the balcony waiting and watching the repairs on the field, the walls barely dimming the sights of their auras to me.

  “They’re not what you expected, are they?” Peter asked Martin. I slowed as I neared the door. I knew Peter could see me coming, so I wasn’t sure why he chose that moment ask the question unless he wanted me to hear the answer.

  “I don’t know what I was expecting, Pete,” Martin said, “but no, I don’t guess they are. Da said they’d surprise me. They seem so… nice, so regular. But to know what they’re capable of, but not see them… it’s scary.”

  Peter chuckled. “You’re seeing more of Seth than you realize. He’s not that complicated.”

  “Thanks a lot, Peter,” I said as I walked into the room. “As weak as you are, you want to take pot shots at me?”

  “Psht. You could take me apart at full strength, so what difference does it make?” Peter asked, half turning to me and grinning crookedly.

  “Eat. Sleep. Bathroom,” I said to Peter. “Manage just that and I’ll show you where your new toy is tomorrow, okay?”

  “Yes, mother,” he said sarcastically.

  “Another comment like that and it’s Esteleum for a week,” I threatened him.

  “Oooh, yuck, de Sade. I’d shut up now, Pete,” Martin said, jokingly. He stood and smoothed his brown robes. “Shall we go, marquis?” The kid was definitely lightening up.

  Martin led me back through the balcony where we met up with Kieran and Ethan, then out the gate to the left. MacNamara was true to his word—they were right next door to us. He took the first gate on the left and entered that balcony, stopping at the apartment entrance and knocking on the wall be
fore walking in. This apartment was different from ours, both in décor and size. The main room was divided in two by a large aquarium with exotic fish. It had to be forty feet long, three feet wide, and six feet deep, almost reaching to the ceiling on its pedestal, making one side a vestibule of sorts. Martin led us to the other side where his father sat with several other diplomats from his and other councils sat talking. Everyone stood when we came in.

  “Master McClure, welcome,” called Cahill, smiling warmly at us, reaching out his right hand to Kieran. Martin stepped to the side to allow us to pass him. I was pretty sure he was going to try to slip away unnoticed. Wasn’t going to let that happen, of course. What to do, what to do…

  “Thank you, Ambassador Cahill,” said Kieran, stepping forward and in a clearly precognitive moment, answered my upcoming dilemma by swinging his arm around Martin’s shoulder, spinning him back around and dragging him with us. And he made it look elegant and choreographed. I had to remember to be on my guard on social occasions around Kieran. Good to know. Funny to watch and I was glad it wasn’t me.

  “Martin was just telling us about his home. It sounds like a wonderful place to grow up,” said Kieran almost beaming at the man as he disentangled his arm to shake hands.

  “You actually got him to talk to you?” Cahill asked, feigning astonishment. “You are a miracle worker, McClure!” Several people around the room laughed in agreement, obviously the proud parents of teenagers. Yet as I looked into each of them, there were few that had appeared to have actual issues with their children. Certainly not Cahill, so I suppose Martin was just putting the normal teenage slant on his situation.

  Cahill turned back to the group and said, “As much as I would love to indulge you all, I believe that Seth McClure has most admirably and definitively answered his challenge and has the right to see his mother. I, for one, will not stand in his way, so if you will excuse me for a few moments, ladies, gentlemen…”

  Cahill lead us through the party and down a hallway, where it instantly got quieter. There was low, tranquil music playing in the background. Cahill stopped at one door, tapped on the frame, then moved on to the last door on the left and went in.