His family home. To be back here, with Laurent, weirded him out, but also settled something deep in his gut. Two different sides of his world he never thought would cross paths. He pushed down the feeling of embarrassment at Laurent seeing how he grew up. There had been many late nights at the Opal Palace talking with Laurent and Keerian about their completely different upbringings, but seeing Laurent, dressed in his least expensive robe, trying to assimilate into the poverty Merrick was so accustomed to was an odd sight.
“Lenna seems to be absorbing all of this well enough,” Laurent said, gently taking the wine from Merrick and using his magic to heat the top of the glass bottle until the cork shot out.
“Thanks.” Merrick pulled two glasses from the shelf over the sink, wiping the dust off with a threadbare dish rag before handing one to Laurent. “Is it crazy to believe we could get Keerian’s name cleared quickly?”
The tight grimace Laurent returned had Merrick’s stomach dropping. Laurent knew the probability was slim. Gods, Merrick did, too. But for Keerian, they had to try.
Not ready to delve into a heavy conversation until the alcohol chased away some of his anxiety, Merrick swiftly changed the subject. “I know we’ve been off on our own journeys this past month but…I’m glad you’re here,” he admitted.
Laurent chuckled, taking the offered wine glass from Merrick and breaking the gloomy tension. “It’s definitely a change from our usual haunts, but I’m glad your search went well.”
“Thanks for putting the portal so far away, by the way. Spending half a day trudging through fields with a very slow human was fun.” Rolling his eyes at the fae, Merrick swirled the wine around in the glass with a smirk. This was the most normal exchange they’d had in months, and it was all thanks to their success in finding Lenna.
Sarcastically, Laurent bowed deep–keeping his now-filled wine glass above his head. “I couldn’t very well put it slap ass in the middle of the street. Anyone could have walked through it.”
Laurent’s portal conjuring was a rare fae ability. It came in handy for Merrick since gargoyles couldn’t wane, and using a portal was much faster than flying.Laurent couldn’t wane either–but the portals were efficient. Albeit slow to create due to the magic exerted. Laurent built the portal from the Opal Kingdom to the Slate Kingdom and back to land Lenna here.
Thinking of the walk to Spinella, Merrick’s mind snagged on a particular part of Lenna’s rambled story–the black gargoyle Lenna admitted to seeing in her dream. “What do you know about seers?”
Laurent cocked his head, dark brows furrowed. “Not much. They’re blessed by Moirai, like the Oracle. But where the Oracleseesthe past, seers get visions of the future. And seers rarely follow a bloodline. It’s more of a one-off blessing from Moirai. Why?”
Shaking his head, Merrick sighed, “Lenna mentioned some dreams she had in Doortan, and they sounded more like prophecy. I didn’t want to alarm her, but I think there may be more to her than just being the Oracle.”
Laurent snorted, and the sound was so out of character that Merrick choked on his wine, coughing out a laugh before adding, “Moirai is the only god that blesses humans. What if he made her both?”
“Human seers are rare. I’ll bet you ten silver coins that she is not.”
Merrick raised his chin. “Tengoldcoins and you have a deal.”
Laurent hummed, amusement crossing his features, illuminating those brilliantly bright emerald eyes. “Deal.”
They headed back into the living room, Laurent taking up post at the window to peer through the tattered yellow curtains. Merrick could make out a sliver of the street from the position he took up on the couch. The bar across the street was slowly emptying–the fae patrons waning while gargoyles flapped up into the night sky. Some of the drunker ones walked arm in arm, wings drooped, singing bawdy tunes asthey wove through the rows of connected homes, the songs fading as they disappeared. After a minute of silence, Merrick knew Laurent was collecting his thoughts and keeping a tight leash on his magic.
Glancing at the tamed fire, Merrick frowned. The heavy conversations needed to happen, and the wine gave him a slight edge to be bold, the apprehension from bringing his fears up earlier gone. They needed to talk, and those nagging questions did no good hiding and festering in the back of his mind. Merrick gritted his jaw, rubbing his beard with a hand. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
The clock on the mantle of the fireplace read three in the morning. Merrick swallowed a grumbled curse. Tomorrow had already arrived.
With a rough breath, Merrick averted his eyes from the fae and asked the question he’d been afraid to bring up earlier. “What if Keerian did do it?”
“Stop,” Laurent sighed, the word curt but tired.
“No, seriously, Laurent. I mean…neither of us have a soul tie. How do we know it doesn’t fuck with your head? What if Esmeray asked him to, and he couldn’t say no?”
The tension in the room grew suffocating as the question settled into the dust of Merrick’s childhood home.
Laurent finally turned from the window, a coolness in his green eyes. He leveled a stare at Merrick that had been used to break traitors and gain information from Laurent’s days as Spy Master. “I refuse to believe the male who almost sacrificed his life multiple times in service of King Scottrell and Queen Elera would stoop to commit such an atrocious act. I want to believe if Esmeray asked Keerian to kill herparents, that Keerian would have chosen to drive a sword through his own heart instead.”
“Keerian was always the best of us,” Merrick conceded, those quiet fears dissipating with Laurent’s declaration, “to the point of annoyance.”
With the slip of a smile on his face, Laurent raised his glass. “To the point of annoyance.”
Merrick chuckled hollowly, raising his own and taking a sip.
Laurent downed his wine before turning back to the window. “Get some rest. I’ll keep watch.”
Not needing to be told twice, Merrick put his empty glass on the side table next to the couch. His wings felt heavy, the horns on his head felt heavy. He just felt overall…heavy. A breeze filled the room, stifling the dying fire. Merrick glanced at Laurent but the fae didn’t move from the window.
The room without the fire was cool, dark. Merrick closed his eyes and drifted off to grab a few hours of rest before the sun rose on another day in an uncertain world.
