Iver released a low whistle, leaning back in his seat. “Now that was exciting.”
“I don’t have the patience for your games, Iver.” I glanced at him while he smiled.
He shrugged a carefree shoulder. “It’s no game. I agree with you, Erik.”
Jorn chortled. “To see the two of you agreeing on a matter like this—” He shook his head.
My attention shifted to our brother. “If you dislike my decision, then the invitation to challenge is open for you too.”
“No, Erik. I will not be challenging you. We both know I stand no chance against you. I just hope you know what you are doing.” Jorn rose to his feet to leave. He likely wished to console Edmond.
“Killing the girl would deprive the world more than it would do anything to help bring our sister back,” Iver commented as he watched Jorn walk away from us.
Jorn stopped, turning to view our little brother. “Deprive the world of what?”
Iver appeared to think it over a moment. “Someone kind, intriguing, and clever.”
Eislyn looked at Iver as if he were crazy. “Kind? Since when do you place any value in kindness?” she asked, unable to keep the surprise from her voice.
A broad and cavalier smile crossed Iver’s face. “Just because I do not care for it much myself does not mean that others cannot provide it for people.”
“You couldn’t care less for the weak. Isn’t that what you always thought? That kindness only benefits the weak,” Jorn pointed out.
“Oh yeah, the weak are of absolutely no use to me. The world would probably be better off getting rid of most of them. But it’s also nice of Ariana to be willing to help those less fortunate. I certainly have no intentions of doing it myself.” He stroked his chin. “Also, I would like to amend my previous notion, for the strong can also benefit from kindness. If it were not for Ariana’s kindness, then we may have lost our King a few weeks ago.”
“You are remarkable.” Eislyn shook her head in disbelief.
“Thank you.” Iver grinned, knowing fair well that she was not complimenting him.
Jorn grunted a laugh, shaking his head as he left the room.
“Erik,” Eislyn said while glancing at the tables covered with paper. “Mind if I look through some of these things.”
“Help yourselves.”
Both Eislyn and Kole went to separate tables.
“What?” I turned to Iver, who was the last of my brothers left in the room. Yet, he was strangely staring at me.
“You surprise me,” he stated, tilting his head. “I would have never thought you would let a threat go, no matter how small. If we are wrong, then she is much more than a simple small threat. You know this. You have already considered all possibilities, yet you still let her go.”
I smiled tightly. “And look at you, cruel Iver caring about a weak Bavadrin woman.”
His eyes narrowed. “We both know she is not weak. As for me being cruel, I am certainly capable of it.” He looked at Eislyn and Kole. Though the two of them were not interacting, they were in the same room with the furniture still intact. “That’s new.” He nodded to them before turning to me once more. “I think our Bavadrin friend may have had something to do with this.”
“How would she?” Kole and Eislyn had been at war for years. We all felt the effects of their broken relationship. When their bond broke, it reached my brothers and me as well, cracking ours. We all used to be one unit, and now we were always divided. After what happened between Kole and Eislyn, there did not seem a force powerful enough to quench the raging fires within both of them. How was Ariana, someone who had not known their history, able to have a meaningful impact?
“I told her what happened between them. And now, several days later, Kole seems to have lost some of that deep-seeded rage.Do you think it is a coincidence? He even commented today that Ariana saw him for who he was, that she helped to clear a fog in his mind.” Iver smiled. “Anyway, I am famished. See you later,my King.” He dipped his head in an embellished performance before taking his leave.
When Iver left the three of us, I too took to one of the open tables, combing over the documents. Hours passed, and each of us had not even reviewed half of the papers on each of our tables.
With a grunt, Kole’s hands slammed on the wood. “How can there be so much paper with such little information about the Sidhe.”
With a sigh, I took a seat, still holding several sheets in my hands. His frustration was something I was deeply familiar with. I had examined all these same documents for months now, always hoping to find some new bit of information that had previously been overlooked. It constantly felt like I was on the edge of that discovery only to find myself unable to grasp at anything substantial.
“Go take a break. None of this is going anywhere,” I said, answering his anger with a knowing sigh.
Kole nodded with an air of defeat.
