After Pel had Manifested as Unremarkable, there had been several occasions where Bavil had carefully stepped aside so that Pel wouldn’t be compared to his Illustrious brother. Oh, he’d always had an excuse, but Pel had known that no Illustrious got sick or tired as often as Bav had claimed.
He had two competing images of his brother in his head, and he wasn’t sure which one of them was true.
Now it felt the same with Torex, and a wave of exhaustion swamped Pel. He could protect himself and turn away from both of them, but that’s what he’d been doing for years with Bavil and Larexa, and where had that gotten him?
So Pel waited until the celebration finally drew to a close, standing at the door and letting people tell him how well he’d done and how impressed they’d been with everything. And he agreed, over and over, that the Extraordinary magic was pretty amazing.
It had been, though, and while Pel might be sick to death of hearing it, people were lauding his archery as well.
WasPelthe one who was letting magic drown everything else out?
Blowing out a relieved breath, he finally headed upstairs after the last of the guests left, and instead of going to his own rooms, he made his way to the royal suites.
They were the largest and most impressive rooms in the castle, remodeled after the war to ensure that each castle could accommodate the High Sovereign in appropriate style. Pel had been too young to pay attention at the time, but he’d heard his father’s resentment later. It wasn’t like the castle didn’t have lots of space, so Pel didn’t see why it mattered if a nice set of rooms were underutilized.
There were plenty of other lovely rooms. When Bavil and Larexa had Manifested, they’d been given larger and more showy chambers. Pel had not. Just once, soon after Pel had Manifested, Bavil had tried to suggest that his brother might like a new room. His father’s disdain had been evident as he commented that the rooms Pel had right now were too good for him, and Pel had run away and hidden in a storage cupboard.
Bavil and Larexa had crawled in there with him and told him they would both move in there with him if that would make him feel better. They’d spent a few silly minutes imagining making the storage cupboard a royal habitat, and by the time they’d emerged, there had been no trace of the tears that Pel would deny he’d been crying.
He’d known, then, that his father didn’t love him, but at least he knew that his siblings did.
Or so he’d thought. Had it just taken time for them to decide that he was useless?Couldthey value him but not his lack of magic? Could Torex? Could Pel bear that? He honestly didn’t know—which was why he was here, knocking on Torex’s door.
There was no response, so Pel eventually slipped inside. The sitting room was empty, and he strode across the room to knock on the bedroom door, but there was no answer there, either. He opened the door and stuck his head in, seeing that this room was also empty.
He hadn’t really thought Torex would be passed out in the bed, but it had seemed prudent to check.
He closed the door again and stood in the sitting room, feeling suddenly aimless. He’d geared himself up for a confrontation that wasn’t going to happen, because it hadn’t occurred to him that Torex wouldn’t be here. He was only realizing belatedly how foolish that was.
Why had Pel thought thatnowwas a good time to talk to the man? The only thing that would have made this worse was if Torex had beenotherwise occupied. Why had Pel assumed the man would be alone in his room after the celebration they’d just had?
What if he just hadn’t made it up here yet?
His stomach sank like a rock. Oh, goddess, that would be even worse. Pel whirled back to the door, intent on escaping, which was, naturally, when it opened and Torex walked in, checking on the threshold at sight of Pel.
It was hard to say which one of them was more surprised. Torex had clearly not been expecting anyone in his room, and after Pel’s suddenly fevered imaginings, finding Torex… holding a book was definitely unexpected.
They were just staring at one another, Pel realized.
“Hey,” Pel said, foolishly.
“Hey,” Torex responded, looking equally unprepared. He even managed, “I didn’t expect to see you.”
Because it was his room, and it was more than a little weird for Pel just to be standing here when Tor arrived.
Pel cleared his throat. “I was hoping to talk to you. I’d just realized you weren’t here and hadn’t quite figured out what to do.”
Tor almost smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“I can come back later,” Pel offered hurriedly.
Tor raised a hand but then let it fall again. “I’d be happy to talk. I, uh, didn’t think you were still speaking to me.”
Pel blew out a breath. “I’m still talking to you. I’m also still upset, but I need answers.”
Tor came all the way into the room, closing the door and then setting the book down on the nearest table. He waved his hand and flung little bits of magic at the crystal lights, so the room was soon well lit.
“Can I get you anything?” Tor asked. “Something to drink? Or, I don’t know… something else?”
