Had Cameron not already known that his mother had killed him on their previous encounter, their mutual actions here and now would have clued her in that their relationship had a bit of a strain to it.
And while this wasn’t quite as bloody and cruel as Kalder’s thorough gutting during their last meeting, Cameron was, however, quite certain that in his mind this session ranked right up there behind it.
How could it not?
You bloody bitching-troll…
Cameron wanted to slap the woman for her unnecessary cruelty as she showed such blatant favoritism between her children. Especially when she saw the way Kalder’s pewter gaze remained guarded and emotionless, as if he were afraid to let any part of his façade slip for fear of what they’d do to him should he display any sort of weakness.
It infuriated her on his behalf. Family shouldn’t be like this. They were supposed to support each other. Bolster you when you stumbled. Hold your hand when you were afraid.
Embrace you whenever you came home, and hold you as if they were afraid of letting you go again.
Instead, Kalder stayed in the doorway while his brothers went to their mother and Muerig. Like an outsider who didn’t belong with his family.
And that made her ache for him. He should be welcomed with the same happy fervor.
Yet they turned their backs and treated him with less regard than they gave her and the rest of the crew.
He meant nothing to his family, and it showed. The fact that they displayed this so openly was all the meaner.
But the real rub to her was the fact that Kalder didn’t expect better. He didn’t bother to reach out.
Because this, to him, was normal.
Andthisshould never be normal to anyone.
“Why didn’t you tell me Muery was back!” their mother chided as she reached for Varice’s hand to rub it tenderly.
“He just arrived.”
“How is this possible?” She glanced around and then her happiness faded as she finally spotted Kalder in their group.
In one instant her expression became the epitome of cold and ruthless.
Kalder inclined his head to her respectfully. “Greetings, Mother.”
That made her eyes go as dead as the grave. “What areyoudoing here?” Her tone dripped with a coldness that even the Arctic would envy.
“Returning your son to your loving arms. I knew how much you missed him.” And with those emotionless words spoken, he headed off in the opposite direction, away from them.
No one stopped him.
No one.
Cameron couldn’t breathe as she realized that not a singlemember of his family cared for him. They went right back to his brother without a single second glance at his retreating form.
He didn’t matter to them at all. He was forgotten the moment he vanished from their sight.
Unable to bear the callous way they treated him, and aching in sympathetic pain, she rushed after him. No one deserved to be treated this way. To be so disregarded.
She couldn’t imagine a worse cut.
By the time she caught up to his long strides, he was outside the building, in a peculiar marketplace. She paused at the strangeness of it all. There were many more creatures here similar to Chthamalus who walked about on tentacled legs, alongside “humans” and other entities she couldn’t even begin to identify. Some as beautiful as angels and others…
Hideous would be a kind description.
But the buildings were the oddest things of all. Iridescent and shiny, they were made of a material the likes of which she’d never beheld before. It reminded her of the skin of a pearl, yet the texture was closer to that of steel. And just as inside the palace, there was a light here akin to sunlight, yet no obvious source for it.
