No, just the type to wipe out his enemies with a wave of his hand…
“Speak to Darcassan, of course. I won’t stop you. I would simply craft anything we say about this to the Council very carefully,” Vesslan advised. “And to make sure we don’t let an emergency go to waste. For not only will Rohannan lose whatever pitiful support he has for retaining those ruins, he will look like a fool for protecting a Leviathan breeding ground. We have warned the Separatists about it time and time again, but they wouldn’t listen. And now, here is the result. Yes, yes, I really think we could make this work.”
Vesslan tented his fingers under his chin. Distasteful as it was, Aquilan agreed with Vesslan in part. The ruins could not be allowed to remain. They were too hard to patrol by half.
“The Separatists want to have something of their history preserved, Vesslan. They are not acting wholly irrationally,” Aquilan pointed out.
“You haven’t been exposed to them as much as I have. Irrationality is Rohannan’s middle name,” Vesslan said and settled back to eat a curried chicken sandwich with slivered almonds. “Fancy that the rifts there really did lead to Illithor. We could use that as another point of pressure. The very fear that name evokes–”
“We can’t tell anyone about Illithor!” Aquilan retorted sharply which caused Vesslan to lift an eyebrow. “Your own son wanted to go there to get weapons from the city. To steal from Vex. Others will have the same foolish idea.”
“Weapons? He thought that red-eyed dark dweller left anything of value there?” Vesslan scoffed.
Aquilan’s jaw tightened. “Do not call Vex or any Kindreth that, Vesslan!”
“Why? You suddenly care about Kindreth?” Vesslan shook his head.
He thought of Declan upstairs. He thought of Declan wanting to be himself in Tyrael. He thought of his brother flinging such insults at him. He thought of his own hypocrisy on this. He had allowed this attitude to fester. He had made this world less safe for his Shadow.
“The Kindreth may have become our enemy for a time, but they were our allies for far longer. They deserve respect,” Aquilan reminded him even as his own mind went to his experiences with Vex. He had been as fair as any Aravae. Perhaps more. And his power was undeniable. The beauty of Illithor had also been without peer even in the Aravae Empire. “To–to show such ignorant prejudice lowers you, not them.”
Vesslan stared at him as he slowly lowered his chicken sandwich. “Where is this coming from, Aquilan?”
“I just came from Illithor, brother. Seeing that city… seeing what once was… what Vex and Ailduin accomplished together… We are fools to speak ill of them like that,” Aquilan shook his head.
“You were always fascinated with them. With Vex and Ailduin. But I never thought that seeing a dead city would wash away the memory of our dead parents,” Vesslan said softly. Dangerously.
Aquilan tensed. Only the ticking of the bugs in the flowers and the tweets of birds broke the awkward silence.
Would it make you feel better to believe that I killed them? Vex’s voice echoed in his mind.
His own retort had been so certain, Would it… no! I want the truth!
Do not be so hasty. You do not know the alternative to it being me.
What… What alternative? They were coming to find you. To negotiate a peace or… something. Probably to save me and you… you would not negotiate so they must have… must have…
Your memory, my old friend, is not something to be trusted.
Not to be trusted…
“Having been in the Under Dark, I can assure you that there are plenty of things that could have killed our parents, Vesslan. It would not take the Night King to do it,” Aquilan finally answered stiffly.
As silence fell between them again, Aquilan realized that he had not truly thought about the revelations he had learned of in the Under Dark. He was Ailduin reborn! Vex had saved his life, but in exchange for it to become the Night King’s property. Vex had mentioned nothing about claiming that right. But he could…
And then there are my parents… His eyes flickered to Vesslan. Our parents…
“Vesslan.” He shifted in his seat. “Was Mother… Mother sick when she was pregnant with me?”
Vesslan blinked. “Her? No, not at all. But you made up for that.”
“Me?” He blinked. Bewildered. “I haven’t been sick–”
“Not since our parents died, no. But you were quite the invalid before they left for the Under Dark.” Vesslan leaned back in his chair and sipped the sparkling wine.
“I don’t recall that at all,” Aquilan said weakly.
Your memory, my old friend, is not something to be trusted.
