Page 53 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
We let go of our hands and look at each other. “We need to go home and talk to Dad,” Endellion says calmly. As usual, he is the one staying the calmest in an unknown situation. “I doubt he has anything to do with this situation, but I think he knows more.”
There is no reason to oppose his words, so I nod.
Caelan agrees too, though he frowns at the forest. “There goes my wish to slay something,” he grumbles. He is moody, as is often the case when we can’t solve an issue with his fists. He truly is one for the direct approach, making him a tough and strong warrior.
When we mount our horses, and we have a moment for us, I turn to him. “You aren’t stupid, Caelan. If I say something that makes you feel that way, it’s on me. It makes me the dumb one.”
“I know,” he grumbles, the tips of his ears turning red though. “You don’t need to apologize.”
“Of course I need to,” I say. “You are my brother and the last person I want to hurt.”
“My feelings aren’t that delicate,” he retorts.
I don’t tell him that Ende and I both are well aware of how there is a little delicate flower hidden beneath the scruffy, wild Neanderthal image he portrays to the outside. Recently, an ink and tattoo artist opened in town, and he made sure to get his arms tattooed. Together with his wild hair and his edgy face, he looks dangerous, but inside, he is as soft as a sponge cake.
*AZADEH*
The trio joins us while Gillean and I are still having tea. “Oh, you linked them already?” I ask him.
“No,” he says, surprised. “In fact, I planned to do so later, but it seems they have urgent business with us.”
Indeed, the triplets look tense and worried, but the moment they see me, a smile lights up their faces.
“I didn’t expect you so early,” their father says.
“There was nothing to find about the bears in the forests,” Endellion explains shortly. “But, we found something else.”
“And, what’s that?” he asks curiously.
“We think we are developing a fate,” Flinn comes straight to the point.
I’m not sure if I truly understand the meaning of this, but with the way Gillean jumps up all of a sudden, I’m beginning to understand the severity of what he and I talked about, and also what was said about his boys. His dark eyes are piercing his sons. “If this is a joke,” he says darkly, looking nothing like the fun and kind fatherly person now. “Not even you will escape my anger.”
Flinn looks uncomfortable, while Caelan looks slightly at a loss. I noticed he doesn’t talk much in general. Endellion, however, doesn’t falter at all. He takes a step forward, his eyes narrowed. “Do you think we would be joking about something so serious, Father? About something that has been eating and gnawing at us ever since we were little children?”
For a moment, he and Gillean keep staring at each other, the tension growing.
I don’t know what possesses me to get up and step in between. I just… it’s like a force keeps pushing me up, like an instinct. “But that’s good, isn’t it?” I ask Endellion. Endellion tears his gaze from his father and looks at me now, his gaze softening instantly. “Yes, it is, but we don’t understand it.”
Gillean sighs. “No,” he says. “I did not believe you would be joking about such a serious matter,” he concedes. “But I needed to make sure. Especially, since Flinn is involved.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Flinn exclaims, looking scandalized.
“You are a prankster,” Caelan points out. “Everyone knows it.”
“But there are boundaries,” he says. “Not many, but they exist.”
“We have been feeling a change since yesterday,” Endellion explains. “We don’t understand it, though.”
“We also seem to be forming a bond to Azadeh,” Flinn says. His words should surprise me, but I’ve felt a strong connection building with them myself. “A different one for each of us.”
“We have checked our bond, our stream of fate,” Caelan adds. “It’s still there and connects us to each other, but there are new bonds forming from it.”
“It’s leading us into the unknown,” Endellion says. He looks at his father and Beta Quinn. “Don’t you think it’s about time to share what you know?”
King Gillean remains quiet. Then, however, he nods. “Yes,” he says. “It’s time. Grab your jackets; we are heading out.”
“Where to?” Flinn asks curiously.
