“You’re a whore,” Vytln grunted, making Trove throw his head back and laugh. “No single person would ever be enough for your perverted tastes.”
Trove smirked, fang glinting in the light. “Could there be a more noble venture than pleasing as many females as possible? I should be considered a charity.”
“I feel bad for any female stuck with you,” Vytln muttered, sipping at his drink. It burned just right going down his throat as Trove laughed and his female smiled and their ship hummed along, moving at a steady and smooth clip.
This was… happiness, right?
This joyful bubbling in his chest, like the bubbles in Trove’s drink, rising and popping in his blood making his body feel light and his problems distant. His crew, brothers to him, closer than even the brother he shared blood with. A purpose that was simple but meaningful. Trust. More than anything, he had trust he’d never been able to rely on.
He trusted Tanin to lead them. He trusted his brothers to fight with him. He trusted his sisters to take care of him. He trusted his mate. To work with him, to love him, to pester him.
Yes. This peace came from trust and happiness.
“Vytln.”
He straightened as Tanin approached. Haven and Alred were in deep conversation, though they were speaking in her human tongue so he didn’t know what they were saying.
“Aye, captain,” he responded as Trove stood and made to move off since it was clear that Tanin was aiming for Vytln only.
They were brothers, but they didn’t tell each other everything. And sometimes, they kept secrets for good reasons. Giving each other privacy was second nature to them.
“The twins have been keeping track of your brother’s ship,” Tanin started, taking the seat Trove had abandoned. “They’re not following us directly, but they seem to keep popping up around the jobs and stations we just left. Nothing quite so obvious as trailing us, but they’re staying close.”
Vytln grunted, acknowledging the words. He wasn’t surprised. “Kldyn is a stubborn fool. To his benefit and his detriment both. He won’t give up so easily. He won’t stop until he has what he wants.”
“Which is?”
“My death. No. That’s too simple.” Vytln shook his head. “He wants my defeat.”
“He’s got an inferiority complex.”
“A bad one,” Vytln smirked. “When we were growing up, our mother made it very obvious that our lives were a competition and we were rivals. And it was a competition I won. Constantly. Right until the end. He sent me to Rik-Vane because he needed to dosomethingwith me, and it was probably the worst place he could think to send me. And killing me outright at that point would have angered the family as I had only lost the competition for leadership, not betrayed the clan.”
“You have now.”
“By their measurement, yes. They won’t protest my death anymore. But if he actually wanted me dead, he could have had me killed.”
“Even on Rik-Vane?”
“Easily.” Vytln smirked. “There are some dangerous assassins who would be willing to go even to Rik-Vane.”
Tanin grunted but said nothing else.
“So, I figure, he must have enjoyed knowing I was out there. Exiled and trapped because of his power. And now he’s angry because I’m no longer a symbol of his victory. It’s why he’s obsessed with coming after me, though we’ve made no move towards them.”
Tanin grunted again. “When we left Rik-Vane, we agreed not to seek revenge for any parts of our old lives. We agreed to cut all of them away. To let our pasts die.”
“Right.” Vytln nodded once. It was not an easy thing to give up, admittedly. The idea of hunting his brother down and making him pay for what he did to him was… enticing. But after years on Rik-Vane, the idea of peace was more so.
And having just experienced that profound moment of peace a moment ago, he knew that he’d made the right choice, sacrificing that chance at vengeance. Tanin was, as always, right in that decision. Vytln had never been steered wrong by him.
“So, what do you want to do?” Tanin asked, expression blank.
Vytln thought about it for a moment before responding, “If he gives up and leaves, I’m content to leave it at that. I don’t care about that life. I don’t care about that past. It’s a big enough universe for us to both be in it and never cross paths again.”
“But he won’t.”
“No. He won’t.” Vytln tipped the last of the liquor in his mouth, swallowing it back and setting the cup on the ground before continuing. “If I know my brother, and he hasn’t changed drastically in the last few years, he’s going to try to force us into a corner. He’s going to build a trap around us and let us fall into it.”
