Chapter 135 - One-Hundred-Twenty-Four

After that… strange encounter we finally manage to eat our breakfast in peace and walk out of Leonel's room, already hearing the elves and magical creatures come and go, awake and going about their days.

Before we go, however, we have cleaned the room up a little, and with that the subject of our next conversation came to be.

"I told you not to look, you are too naïve for that." Leonel says, mocking me.

"Ah, really, talking like that you really thought you were convincing me not to look? It was almost a challenge!"

"Just don't blame me."

"Humf, I blame you as much as I want." He chuckles.

"Sure. Then?"

"Then what?"

"Want to try the others?"

I give him a low kick on the leg.

"Ouch, a no would be enough!"

"No way! You pervert!"

Only then we leave as I try to control my flushed cheeks, because indeed I had …regretted a little looking at the rest of the contents inside the bag the devil gave me, and, uhm, well… some I manage to recognize, some others I could only try and guess what they were for, and let's just say my mind is very creative and all…

Seems like the s.e.x industry is very profitable around these parts too…

Never mind, never mind that at all, I don't want to know!

For a while after that we just walk, enjoying the easy-going environment and each other's company, but even the amount of happiness last night gave me and with his calming company around, nothing in this world would be able to distract me from what we were about to do.

And even I, always so confident and strong, am anxious right now, nervous about the outcome of this mission.

Will I be together with my brother the next morning? Or will I be mourning them both?

These thoughts did not help my cause, and without permission they keep replaying in my mind over and over, all the worst possible outcomes coming to mind, both dying, both being captured, of me never seeing them ever again, of this being the last time I see Leonel in front of me, or hear his voice and taste his smell. 

I clench my jaw hard, and I do not even realize when I reach out for Leonel, simply squishing his hand with mine as I keep worrying sick about them both.

He looks at me but this time he doesn't try to say anything, aware that no words would be able to comfort me now, aware that his pity and concern would only make things worse.

But of course when your mood is already bad you can be certain that things will try to make it worsen even more…

So as we go meet the elves that were going to stay on guard and the elder elves responsible for the party; seemly an annual important one at that to celebrate, commune and discuss matters of state; we are stopped by someone in between out way there.

And for a few seconds I think my mind is playing tricks on me as I recognize the voice and turn around with a frown.

But there he was.

Aeglos.

My frowns deepens.

���Thilgon, wait up!" I'm tempted to ignore him, but seeing the situation Leonel takes the lead and intervenes, saying:

"Aeglos, good to see you in good health, what happened to you?"

"The Devil, she broke the enchantment in my mind." He says, out of breath and supporting himself with his hand on the wall.

"…Should you be walking around like that? You don't look so good, let's go back to the infirmary and-"

"Hell no." Seeing such unusual words leave Aeglos lips makes me look at him in surprise and see that he really did seem… odd, angry, furious even.

Aeglos fuming, that's new.

"I am not going back there, chilling out on the bed and waiting while you two do all the work, no way." He says pausing at every word to give more strength to what he is saying.

"…What do you mean?" I finally open my mouth to say, and as his gaze turns towards me I can tell how affected he is by the situation, the pain, the anger; with himself?; the loss, the shame but, most of all, the determination. 

"I know what you guys are planning, and I won't let you keep me out of this, no way, I'm going to help too. I'm going to make up for this, I swear, I-I need to save Hunthor." He almost runs out of voice at the end, and something tells me is not because he hasn't been using his throat for a long time.

I look at him, really look at him, staring intensely at his resolve, right at his green eyes as his long elf ears sat straight, obstinate and not falling back at my intense stare.

I had no reason to trust this mission to him, but still I do, and I even may try to convince myself later that it is for the fact that my brother trusts him and, therefore, so do I, but in the end I know that I let him in the plan because like this I could have Leonel close by and not have them both at the same place, taking risks beyond my reach and protection.

In the end it was just a selfish reason like that, not only because I could avoid losing Leonel in the worst-case scenario, but because I did not mind losing Aeglos as much.

He is a… disposable pawn.

Some situations bring the worse of us to light.

So I say, slowly and keeping a steady gaze, a fake calmness emanating from my voice:

"Fail me again, Aeglos, and I'll make you wish you were dead." I say, staring at his eyes closely and I can see the tension on his body as he answers, gulping down and avoiding my eyes, giving a weak smile as he answers, looking back:

"If I fail again you won't need to go far for me to feel that way."

We stay in silence after that, our words sinking in in each other minds, tension rising at the promise and compromise, until, that is, someone interrupts us.

It was an elf in the end, as expected from an elven city, and like any proper elf he tries to look aloof and composed, but my nose caught some anxiety and nervousness that he attempts to hide, making me even more suspicious of him.

"Mister Palarran?"

"Yes?"

"A delivery just arrived in your name, Mister Palarran, since it did not have identification we opened it up to check for dangerous artifacts." I have a feeling I won't like where this is going.

"Well, and what is it?"

"Well, I think you should check for yourself Mister Palarran." Yup, definitely not going to enjoy it.