“Alright, but this better not be a trick,” said Lucina.
Falcon explained everything about the runes on their walk to the dormitories. Lucina’s sister had arrived earlier in the day and was now resting in Lucina’s room so Lucina opened the door slowly, trying to be quiet.
When the door was halfway open Falcon pushed it the rest of the way, “Are you sure this is your room?”
At the sound of his voice Lucina’s sister jerked away and rolled off the bed getting tangled in blankets. She spit a string of curses as she struggled with the bedclothes.
“It’s alright Aemilia, it’s only me,” said Lucina trying to calm her.
Aemilia finally untangled herself, “Who’s this oaf?”
The first thing Falcon noticed was how attractive the sister was, even with the messed up hair. She had reddish brown hair, and a slim, fit body that was impossible to ignore. But what had him transfixed the most were her bright green eyes that almost seemed to glow. The only problem was that those glowing green eyes were full of rage and directed at him.
Lucina stepped between them, “This is Falcon, Falcon, my sister Aemilia.”
Falcon could not stop looking in her eyes, “Sorry about scaring you.”
Aemilia turned her chin up and looked at Lucina, “Please tell me this isn’t your boyfriend,” said Aemilia.
“No, I met him today,” said Lucina.
“Then why is he here?” asked Aemilia, making a point to not speak to Falcon.
Lucina scratched the back of her neck, “I kind of said I would help him,” answered Lucina.
“Actually I will need both of you—”
Falcon was stopped mid sentence by a murderous glare from Aemilia.
She walked up to him with her hands on her hips, “Why should I help you?”
Falcon stood his ground and looked down at her, “I’m not about to beg if that’s what you expect.”
“Then get out,” said Aemilia pointing to the door.
Falcon stepped into the hall and Aemilia slammed the door almost hitting him. Before walking away Falcon took a few calming breaths and tried to not kick the door down. Falcon tried to focus on the reason he came here in the first place, but the girls arguing on the other side of the door distracted him.
“You always have to do this!” yelled Lucina.
“Do what?! Get rid of that self-important jerk,” said Aemilia.
“He was actually kind of nice, but you slammed the door in his face, like always,” said Lucina.
“Don’t tell me you liked him? You can do better, trust me,” said Aemilia.
“Easy for you to say, not everyone has options like you,” said Lucina.
“Consider yourself lucky,” said Aemilia.
Falcon started to feel like he was intruding and decided to leave. On his walk out he figured he’d go back to the castle and send Connelly a letter.
Since arriving at the academy Falcon had kept his hood up and attempted to avoid attention. Aside from the outbursts from Aemilia and Lucina he thought he’d kept a pretty low profile, but the moment he stepped out of the dormitory he knew something was off.
His senses screamed at him to run, but then Aemilia burst through the door behind him. Falcon started to turn toward her, but she crashed into him. He fell backwards with her on top of him and slid down the steps to the dormitory. Again his senses screamed at him to run. He twisted to look around and saw two hooded figures coming toward them.
Chapter 14
Complications
Falcon rolled onto his stomach and tried to push himself up, but Aemilia was still on top of him. She shoved him away and stood up. The moment he was free Falcon bolted to his feet and spun to face the advancing threat. His fears were realized when he saw Fenir and Ruark flip their hoods back. Falcon shoved Aemilia into the bushes next to the steps and spread his feet slightly, ready to run or fight.
His eyes snapped back and forth looking for an escape route. Aemilia started to say something, but Falcon darted at Fenir and Ruark ignoring her completely.
Fenir and Ruark stopped approaching and prepared to fight, “Coming into our turf and looking for a fight?” asked Fenir.
Ruark put his hands up, “Fool.”
At the last second Falcon veered to the right and sped up. He was not looking for a fight at all. He only wanted to lead them away from Aemilia and he knew Hal could not be far away. Falcon ran around the side of the dormitory. When he reached the back of the building Hal was standing by the back entrance. Hal was surprised but he quickly recovered and blocked his way. Falcon sped up again as Hal threw a punch meant to stop him cold. Falcon threw his hands up and shifted slightly to the left. Hal’s punch barely glanced Falcon’s face and went over his shoulder. Falcon grabbed Hal around the shoulder, kneed him in the stomach, and then shoved him to the side. By chance or great timing, Fenir crashed into Hal and they went down.
Falcon shifted focus to Ruark, quickly stepping in close. Just like Hal, Ruark threw the first punch. Falcon dodged to the right and punched Ruark in the head. Then again. And again. And again. “FFAhhhh!” The first series of punches were justice, the rest were vengeance. He grabbed Ruark’s shirt as he started to fall and continued punching. His rage grew as he smashed Ruark’s face.
Fenir recovered and tackled Falcon while he bashed in Ruark’s head. Falcon and Fenir hit the ground. Falcon twisted and wrapped his legs around Fenir, keeping him in close. They grappled briefly until Falcon got his hands on Fenir’s neck. His blood boiling with rage, he screamed in Fenir’s red face.
Hal caught his breath while Falcon choked the life out of Fenir. Hal saved Fenir with a running kick. Fenir rolled onto his side coughing. Falcon rolled with the kick and sprung onto his feet. When he connected eyes with Hal, he felt his rage boiling out of control and took a breath to bring it under control. Hal and Falcon looked at each other as if staring at a mirror, hatred reflected back.
Falcon stepped closer with his bloody hands up. Hal threw a couple jabs, Falcon swatted away. Hal’s next punch Falcon swatted aside and at the same time he popped Hal in the throat with his palm and hopped back. Hal’s eyes widened with fear as he fell to his knees gasping for air.
A broken windpipe would normally kill someone but Hal was attuned and would heal fast before it killed him. Falcon stood over Hal watching him claw at his throat. He took a handful of Hal’s hair and pushed his face to the street.
“Don’t worry, I’m not a good teacher like you,” said Falcon. He knocked Hal’s face into the ground and whispered in his ear, “Next time, I kill all three of you.”
Before walking away Falcon kicked him right between the legs.
Rocious thought he had seen the entire castle in the ten years it had been forcibly his home, but time and again Dominick showed him somewhere new. Normally Rocious zoned out while he described some irrelevant piece of history tied to their surroundings. Today, however, he was supposed to meet Dominick in his great grandfather’s study. Which meant he should locate a room he did not give a shit about by remembering a conversation he did not give a shit about.
Or he could do what he was doing, because he simply did not give a shit. He was searching for Dominick room by room while slowly getting drunk.
“You in here?!” asked Rocious as he kicked in another door and looked around. “Nope.”
He took a swig as he walked down the hall to the next door and kicked it in, “You in here?!” he looked around, “Nope.”
“What the fuck are you doing?” asked Dominick.
“Oh, you are in here,” said Rocious.
“Are you drunk?” asked Dominick.
“I’m working on it,” said Rocious.
“Give me that and close the door,” said Dominick snatching the bottle of brandy from Rocious.
“Hey,” said Rocious.
Rocious turned back to close the door, and pulled another bottle of brandy he had stashed in his cloak.
“Take a seat before you fall over and tel
l me how it went,” said Dominick.
“I’m not sitting in that old ass chair, smells like… What the fuck is that smell?” asked Rocious.
“Smells better than this… is it blackberry brandy?” asked Dominick.
“Yup, it was the only thing worthwhile in that tomb,” answered Rocious.
“Tell me everything,” said Dominick taking a pull from his bottle.
“Good, right?” asked Rocious leaning in to clink the bottles.
“Surprisingly, yes,” answered Dominick clinking bottles.
Rocious took a nice swig before he recalled the last month he’d spent searching tombs instead of relaxing at Spring Forge. Dominick had been true to his word and over the years did not stop him from spending the winter months at Spring Forge. This year though, he had asked him to cut the time short to search the tombs. If Octavia was not exaggerating, Dominick worried the entire time, but he never said a word.
“I checked all six of the tombs—”
“Seven,” corrected Dominick.
Rocious narrowed his eyes at Dominick, “Were you hiding in the corner while I searched them for weeks? Because I’m pretty sure I didn’t see the pale-faced king that I used to call my friend anywhere,” asked Rocious.
“I’m not pale,” answered Dominick.
“Yes, you are. You haven’t left the castle in almost a decade. It was six,” said Rocious.
Dominick scratched his chin, “I’m certain there were seven of them. Did you find a clue at least?”
“There were some books in one of the tombs, but they were rotted through. The weapons and armor were similar,” said Rocious.
“You checked them—” Dominick began. Rocious stared at him again until he let him finish his report.
“I checked them but was only able to activate a few of the runes. Nothing special,” finished Rocious.
“You’re certain?” asked Dominick.
“Magic is my life, I’m certain,” said Rocious.
“There should have been seven tombs so if what you say is true I missed something in the records. I’ll need to keep researching,” said Dominick.
“Dom, it’s time you gave up this madness,” suggested Rocious.
“NO!” shouted Dominick smashing the brandy, “I made the mistake of not killing him during the war. I won’t let this feud fall to my sons.”
“Dom, I’m your friend and I’m asking you for your own good. Find another way,” said Rocious.
“I’ve almost found it, and you expect me to give up?” said Dominick.
“I want you to take a break. Get out of this place once in a while,” said Rocious.
They had been friends a long time and Dominick knew how much Rocious struggled with letting people get close to him. It was why he never argued about him spending winters at Spring Forge. So Dominick truly heard him when he warned him about isolating himself.
“Okay, what is this other way you suggest?” asked Dominick.
“Well, it starts by me joining your family for dinner,” answered Rocious.
When Falcon entered his room he found Floriana straightening his bed. Not wanting to concern her, he quickly wrapped his bloody hand in his cloak and tried to slip inside his bath. The bath was separated from his main room by a vestibule with a double set of curtains.
The moment Floriana heard him she perked up and went to greet him, “Welcome home.”
Falcon gave Floriana a quick hug and went through the curtains, “Thanks.”
“You’re early for once, any trouble on your trip?” asked Floriana as she followed Falcon through the curtains.
“No, and I can be early,” said Falcon defensive.
“I will prepare a bath,” said Floriana.
“I can do it, can you get me some fresh clothes?” asked Falcon attempting to get some privacy to clean up the blood on his hands.
“First, let me have those,” said Floriana. Floriana moved closer to help him get undressed, as she had done since they were children.
Falcon turned away and took a few nervous steps back, “That’s alright, I can do it myself.”
“What’s wrong?” asked Floriana concerned.
“Nothing, I just want to do it myself,” said Falcon.
Floriana looked down, “As you wish.”
Before leaving Floriana pulled a chain above the bath to signal the castle’s engineers. The castle was connected with a complex network of stone ducts, and could send warm or cold air and water to almost anywhere it was needed. About thirty seconds after pulling the chain, water started flowing through a channel in the floor and filling the bath with steaming water.
Falcon waited until Floriana left the room before he dunked his hand in the bath and started scrubbing. The blood had dried and was a pain, but he got it off quickly enough.
Satisfied with the result, he took off his cloak and hung it next to the towels. As he was pulling his shirt over his head Floriana came back.
Floriana let out a gasp and dropped his clothes as she ran over to him, “Is that why you refused my help?”
Falcon pulled his head free and looked down at his arm, his shoulder; half his chest and his bicep were covered in blood.
He looked up at Floriana, “I know you hate blood.”
“So you hide it from me,” snapped Floriana.
Falcon turned away, “Because you worry over nothing,”
Floriana touched his shoulder, “I care about you and I don’t want you hiding from me.”
Falcon took a few steps away and started struggling with his pants, “Well, now there’s nothing to hide.”
Floriana went over to help, “Then tell me what happened.”
“It’s over. I’m fine. Can you drop it?” asked Falcon.
Floriana touched Falcon’s chest, “Why don’t you talk to me about these things anymore?”
Falcon grabbed her hand and moved away, “There’s no point in reliving it.”
Floriana frowned and moved away silently. Falcon hopped into the bath and started scrubbing off the blood. Floriana refolded his new clothes and picked up the dirty ones on her way out. Once the blood was gone Falcon dunked his head and closed his eyes to soak in the warm water.
When he opened his eyes and stood up Floriana was standing next to the bath. Her eyes looked sunken and slightly purple as if she had not slept in weeks. Her hands shook a little as she started to untie the front of her dress but in a few moments the dress dropped to the floor. Falcon watched her walk around the bath and slip into the water. His eyes moved up her leg and around her hip. She flicked his chin, drawing his attention up to her face.
Despite the exhaustion, she was young and beautiful, “I missed you.”
Falcon moved the hair out of her face, and leaned down to kiss her. Floriana kissed him and melted into his arms. Falcon held her, enjoying the smell of her hair, the softness of her skin.
“I missed you too, but I’m tired of talking about every little thing that happens. Can you accept that?” asked Falcon.
“I’ll stop asking, but it will help if you talk about these things,” said Floriana.
“Thank you,” Falcon picked her up and kissed her neck, then her lips. Floriana wrapped her legs around his waist and held onto his shoulders enjoying his reassuring strength. Falcon took a deep breath, savoring the smell of freshly cleaned clothes and flour that clung to her even in the bath’s fragrant water. She always smelled like flour from helping her gran in the kitchens. He kissed her neck. She ran her hands through his hair and let out a sigh.
He moved up to kiss her lips but she touched his mouth, “And no more hiding things from me,” said Floriana.
“No more hiding,” agreed Falcon as he took her hand linking fingers.
Happy with his answer she pressed her lips to his, and let him satisfy the urge built up from their months apart.
After they finished in the bath they laid in bed for a few moments to let their bodies recover. Floriana lay on his chest listening to his breathing slow
down while she savored the result of their lovemaking. Like most young lovers, she had become addicted to the way her body felt afterwards and the content she saw in Falcon’s eyes. It was one of the only times she saw the sadness and anger from his past be replaced with pure contentment.
Falcon looked down at her, the exhaustion was gone. Her eyes bright and her cheeks slightly flushed, even her hands seemed to move more fluidly.
“We’ve got more catching up to do,” said Floriana as she pushed herself up to sit on top of him.
Falcon picked her up and laid her on the bed, “Later, I have to go to dinner.”
“There’s time, I’ll be really quick. Promise,” pleaded Floriana.
“I have to get ready, I don’t want to be late,” said Falcon slipping away to find his clothes.
Falcon did not see his clothes so he went to check near the bath. When he came back Floriana was wearing his shirt with the rest sitting neatly on the bed. Falcon walked over to get them, but Floriana stopped him with her foot.
“There’s a price,” said Floriana.
“And if I don’t want to pay?” asked Falcon.
“You can wear my dress, or go to dinner naked,” teased Floriana.
Falcon did not wait any longer or say anything more. He simply grabbed her leg and dragged her across the bed to take his clothes back… after paying.
Floriana was not quick like she promised so Falcon was late for dinner, as usual. But it seemed that he was not the only person that had not arrived yet, there were two more empty seats. One was for Dominick and would likely remain empty. The other was for Rocious, who should have returned from another errand for Dominick.
“Right on time,” said Fafnir sarcastically as Falcon entered the room.
“He’s only late because he has actual responsibilities. Unlike someone else I know,” said Drake.
“I have responsibilities, like joining our lovely mother for dinner,” said Fafnir.
“Don’t forget sleeping until noon,” said Falcon.
Falcon tapped fists with Drake before taking his seat. The two had become close over the years, finding a kinship in the weight of responsibility. There was no mistaking them for brothers—Falcon’s blonde hair and blue eyes contrasted with Drake’s black hair and eyes—but that did not stop most of Dominick’s advisors from making that assumption. Likely due to shared mannerisms and inside jokes. They even teased Fafnir in the same way.
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