“Do what?” Rell asked.
“Get… get on a ship.”
“We need to get you away from the central lands,” Nen said, crossing over to them from where he had obviously been listening to everything they were saying. “Csereth is a safe harbor where we have contacts, and it is much faster and safer than going by land.”
His brother had broken out in a cold sweat and had gone about as white as a goblin could. A’bbni reached up to press a hand to Shi’chen’s forehead. “What is it, i-sha?” Shi’chen just shook his head mutely, both of his hands now tangled in A’bbni’s free one.
A mostly-forgotten memory surfaced in A’bbni’s mind. One of the few times they had been apart in their childhood. Their Father and Mother had taken them to the sea when they were young, no more than five or six, and they were going to go out on a boat with some of the other nobles for an afternoon of sailing. Shi’chen had screamed and cried and refused to move until their Mother had stayed with him on shore, and Father and A’bbni had gone on the boat alone that afternoon. That had been the only time they had ever gone to the sea, and one of the only times in their whole life A’bbni had seen Shi’chen in a visible panic. A’bbni felt a hard pit starting to form in his stomach. “Shi’chen. Are... are you afraid of water?”
The desperate look his twin gave him was all the answer A’bbni needed, but Shi’chen choked out, “Not… not water. Just… large amounts of it.”
A’bbni wondered to himself how Shi’chen had managed to avoid anyone knowing about this when he was a guard. The only way to get to elven lands with any sort of expediency was by boat. If they had been alone, he might have scolded his twin, but this was not the time or place.
“Come with me,” Shi’chen pleaded, grasping A’bbni’s hand tighter with both of his. “I will be all right if you are there.”
“I am sorry, Captain, but this is the only way that—”
“No.” Shi’chen’s voice was stronger now as he cut Rell off. “We go together, or not at all.”
“I do not believe we have any choice in this matter,” A’bbni said softly.
“Why… why can’t we go together?” Shi’chen asked, his voice barely escaping his throat.
A’bbni could feel his brother’s hands shaking in his, and he gave them a gentle squeeze. “Because the guards will be looking for twins, i-sha,” he chided gently. Twins were rare enough in their country that together they would stand out like a white horse in a field of black. As two young men with palace accents, the same age as the princes who vanished from the Emperor’s prison, it would be extremely obvious who they were if they were together.
Shi’chen shook his head vehemently. “No. I can’t.”
A’bbni grasped Shi’chen’s shoulders and turned him to face him, gazing back into the eyes so identical to his own, it was like looking in a mirror. “Shi’chen,” he said, using his brother’s name instead of their usual term of endearment, which seemed to bring Shi’chen’s focus back to him. “This is the way it has to be. If we do not go, En’shea will kill us, and everyone who helped us. Commander Ahea’a is likely already dead. You cannot let her sacrifice be in vain.”
Shi’chen still looked like he might vomit at any moment. A’bbni leaned in, pressing his forehead to Shi’chen’s in the familiar gesture from their childhood. “Please.”
Shi’chen’s eyes closed, and A’bbni could feel him trembling in his arms, which was more than a little disturbing. It was so rare that his brother was scared of anything; even when Shi’chen was afraid, he had too much bravado to let it show. “We might not ever see each other again, i-sha.”
While he knew the words were true, they still hit A’bbni in the face like a slap. Ships were lost all the time at sea, to storms, pirates, or sometimes, they just simply vanished. “We will be together again,” he said firmly.
“Your Reverence, we do need to go,” Nen said, sounding more than a little apologetic.
A’bbni nodded to him, then held up his right arm, hand fisted closed, bent at the elbow. “I swear to you we will be together again.” Shi’chen swallowed and slowly held up his arm in return, touching the inside of his wrist to A’bbni’s. A’bbni gazed back at him. “Swear to me you will get on your ship, no matter how afraid you are.”
“I swear it,” Shi’chen said, his words firm, though his voice was barely above a whisper. A’bbni nodded and uncurled his fingers from their fist with his wrist still pressed to Shi’chen’s. Shi’chen uncurled his fingers, too, and they both drew their open palms back to touch their own hearts, binding the promise.
Shi’chen suddenly wrapped his arms tightly around A’bbni’s shoulders, still conscious of his brother’s wounds, clinging to him like he would never let go. A’bbni slid his arms around his twin’s waist, holding him tightly, burying his face in his shoulder. There were so many things to say, but he could get none of them out. He and Shi’chen had been together from the day they were conceived, and even if they were not side by side every moment of every day, they still saw each other and knew where the other was. The idea that he might never see the other half of his heart again terrified him more than A’bbni ever wanted to admit.
They stood like that, silent, for a long moment before Rell spoke gently. “I am sorry, Your Reverence, but you really must go.”
A’bbni forced himself to pull back and placed his forehead against Shi’chen’s again for a moment. “We will see each other again soon, i-sha.”
Shi’chen gave him another squeeze, and then A’bbni pulled away and moved to the stable door where Nen had the horses saddled. He swung up onto the horse with the star forehead and forced himself to not look back, or he knew he would not go. Tears burned in his eyes, and he squeezed them shut to keep them in, but they fell down his cheeks, hot and stinging, anyway. His horse began to trot after Nen’s into the dawning light. He straightened his shoulders, swiping quickly at the tears on his face, forcing his eyes toward the path in front of him so he didn’t focus on every beat of hooves taking him further away from his family, his life, and his heart.
Chapter five
Shi'chen
Shi’chenwatchedthehorsesdisappear down the street until they were lost to view. He wanted to cry; the lump in his throat was there, but the tears seemed stuck behind them. He was not a strong believer that the gods did anything to help, but he cast a silent prayer up to anyone who might be listening that this was not the last time he would see his brother. His Mother and Father were dead, his cousin had betrayed him, his Commander had committed treason for him, and now his brother was gone, in a flash of green silk and chestnut horse.
He slid his hand into his pocket, clenching his fingers around his signet ring until it hurt too much. Rell looked like she wanted to say something, but he knew if he opened his mouth he would start screaming, so he just turned and stumbled back to the pile of hay they had slept on, and Rell moved away to fiddle with something in the cart.
Shi’chen scooped up the cape that had belonged to his Commander, now stained with his brother’s dried blood. His fingers found the gold Commander pin that Ahea’a had pulled off her chest to keep the cape around A’bbni. He pulled it free from the fabric, running his fingers over the signet there, a trio of crossed spears, tied together by a flowing vine that encircled the circular edge of the pin. Three spears, for the three branches of the palace guards, and for the three virtues they encompassed: Courage, Honor, and Allegiance.
