Page 21 of Custodian

Beyden didn’t react to being called dense – nor a hippy. Trent had always been the type to name-call. Back when they were kids, Beyden had always put it down to Trent’s personality; snarky, irreverent, and mildly rude. The jabs were always small and therefore easy enough to ignore or shrug off. But now, having lived with his Order, he knew the difference between affectionate teasing and something more deliberate – something more malicious. He wanted to be annoyed at himself for not realising it before – when it had probably mattered the most. But he had been young, so he decided to cut himself some slack.

“I’m not dense, Trent. And I assure you, there’s nothing wrong with my fists.” He stood to his full height now, satisfied when he towered over Trent and his friends by a good three inches. “As for the rumours about my liege; you know better than anyone that things are not always what they appear. Or have you forgotten what happened the last time we saw each other?”

“I haven’t forgotten anything,” Trent’s voice was low and the look on his face was a harmless mix of contrition and good humour.

Beyden wasn’t buying it. He saw Trent’s true colours now, and wondered why he had even bothered harbouring hope for a reconciliation from a person who had betrayed him so fully. “Tell me something; why didn’t you come forward and tell the truth? When you learned what the outcome was, why didn’t you step up? Put a stop to it? Admit what really happened?”

Trent shifted, his eyes turning hard and wary. He glanced at the men behind him before he replied softly, “I wanted to. The whole situation got blown way out of proportion. It all happened so fast. And then there was my parents ...” Trent’s eyes locked on his, “You know what they were like, man – what would have happened to me if I had come forward.”

Beyden snorted rudely, “You mean you would have been ostracised from society, stricken from the paladin ranks and deemed unfit to be anything other than a glorified weapons keeper? Yeah, I know what would have happened. It happened to me.”

Trent cringed and although he did look a little sorry, there was also a hard edge to his hazel eyes that had Beyden keeping a close watch on him and his silent companions.

“Is that why you’re with this Max chick? Because you have no other options? Because, man, I gotta tell you, that’s dangerous,” Trent informed him.

So, I’m not even going to get an apology,Beyden thought. The knowledge saddened him a little, but at least he finally had the closure he needed. Trent firmly belonged in his past. His new friends and his new family were his future now. Trent must have assumed Beyden was thinking about his words because he kept talking, fake empathy dripping from every word, now that Beyden knew what to look for.

“I know you must have been feeling pretty desperate, Bey. All these years, stuck in this hell-hole training centre with all those other rejects? Man, I can’t even imagine what that must have been like for you. But this isn’t the solution.She’snot the solution,” Trent’s voice was earnest.

Beyden cocked his eyebrow, “She’s not?”

Trent shook his head, “No. She’s bad news, man. Trouble.”

Beyden felt his lips twitch for the first time since laying eyes on his former buddy ten minutes prior. “Trouble?” he echoed. “Oh, you have no idea.”

“See! That’s what I’m saying!” Trent smiled. “But I think I can help you.”

Beyden tried his best to look curious – he really wasn’t the best at subterfuge, “Help me, how?”

Trent placed a deceitfully gentle hand on his arm, “I’m in the Tor Order now. Terran is my liege. He’s really close to Ares on the International Domain Council. I can put in a good word for you. You know, explain how you’ve been manipulated by this woman. How you felt joining her messed-up Order was your only option, given your history.”

Beyden felt the bottom of his stomach drop out and he felt Lark stir in his mind upon hearing his birth Order named. “You’re in the Tor Order? With Terran and Isaac?”

“That’s right. I understand one of Isaac’s rejects is in that fucked-up Order of yours too. His son, Lark? Not that Isaac acknowledges him as his son anymore,” Trent informed him with relish.

Beyden felt Lark flinch as the entire Order rallied around the earth paladin. Whatever dramas had been happening at the house must have settled down with no-one worse the wear because they all felt healthy and strong.

“Get out of there. Get out of there now, Beyden,”Lark’s voice sounded a little frantic in his head.

“I’m okay. He hasn’t made a move in my direction,”Bey soothed his best friend.

“I don’t care! If he’s in my father’s Order, you have no idea what he’s capable of!”

Beyden swallowed thickly, an image of Lark’s ruined back flashing into his mind. Oh yes, he knew what the Order was capable of. But although the meeting was not taking the direction Beyden would have wished, it was proving to be a useful one. He already had a name of one of the council members who was clearly against Max; Ares. Who knew how much more information Trent might reveal? He said as much to his Order only to have Lark disagree with him again;

“No! Max, make him leave,”Lark pleaded.

But it was Ryker who responded,“See what else you can find out.”

Beyden released a breath, ignoring the resulting mental scuffle, and refocusing on Trent. “This help you mentioned? I guess all I would have to do to receive that help would be share everything I know about my new, dangerous liege, huh?”

Trent shrugged, looking innocent, “It certainly wouldn’t hurt. Quid pro quo, you know? You live with her, you must know some of her weaknesses. That kind of thing would go a long way in proving your loyalty to the council.”

“The council?Allof the council?” Beyden pressed, hunting for more names.

Trent shifted from foot to foot, “Well, not the entire council. Some of them are soft on the woman – believing her nonsense. Something about witnessing a display of power at some water warden’s house? Has them convinced she can control all seven elements like a real custodian. But Ravyn is on Ares’s side too. That’s a good thing, huh? What with her being a Beast Warden? Imagine; you could be a beast paladin for the Beast representative on the International Domain Council if you play your cards right.”

The fake friendliness in Trent’s voice was beginning to get to him and Beyden was worried his even temperament was about to be crushed. He took a couple of deep breaths, willing his breathing to even out and his coat of arms to settle back into his skin where it had begun to writhe. The Order bond began to rise up once more and a low-level buzz sounded in his head, warning him the others were trying to break through again instead of just observing. He sent a brief thumbs-up, hoping it would be enough to assure them all he was still fine.

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