Blade Archer ~ Forty-Five

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‘Ynuk!’ Kael clapped his hands outside the door to his brother’s house. After Ynuk’s non-appearance at his hrai-dani, he still wasn’t sure if his brother even still lived there. He pushed aside the canvas curtain covering his front door and stepped cautiously into the house. ‘Ynuk, ye there?’ The floor was littered with familiar possessions, clothing and plates Kael recognised as belonging to his brother, but Ynuk wasn’t home.

This time, though, Kael was determined not to let him get away. He climbed up the ladder onto Ynuk’s roof where he could see both directions down the road, and waited.

‘Come on, ‘Nuk,’ he muttered.

Banok’s reminder at his hrai-dani that he had people there to help him had stirred something in his mind. Years ago, it had always been Ynuk who had been there for him. Ynuk had taught him to survive. He missed his brother, and had been for longer than he cared to admit. He had been telling himself Ynuk was no longer the brother he knew, that he had turned into something more concerned with his own vendetta than with his family, but the more he thought about it, the more he missed the brother he had grown up with. Years later, he realised, he still wasn’t ready to give that brother up.

He recognised Ynuk the moment he saw him, and it appeared Ynuk recognised the same. The moment he came into view, he froze, staring at the young man on his roof. Kael gave him a casual wave, though his heart thudded in his ears and his jaw was tight with nerves. ‘Last chance,’ he murmured to himself.

Ynuk walked up the road a little stiffly, his eyes darting nervously down alleys and over rooftops as he approached his home. Below where Kael sat, he halted, folding his arms as he looked up at his brother.

‘Come on up,’ Kael said, beckoning him with a nod of his head.

Ynuk checked back over his shoulder and dropped his arms to his sides. ‘What’s this about?’ he asked. His voice was tired. ‘I left ye alone, like ye asked.’

Kael hesitated a moment. That wasn’t the conversation he had come here to have. ‘Come on,’ he said again.

With another paranoid glance behind him, Ynuk nodded and walked to his ladder. When he emerged onto the rooftop, Kael caught him wincing just slightly and curling one arm loosely around his middle. Training had taught him to recognise little weakness like that, weaknesses to exploit in a fight. He had also been shown how to hide them, and knew that the twitch in Ynuk’s mouth, the slight bow to his back, all hid something bigger.

All Kael’s earlier intentions blew from his mind as his brother sat down with a muffled grunt beside him.

‘That’s the reason ye wasn’t there last night,’ he said, glancing pointedly at Ynuk’s stomach. ‘Ye’re number three.’

Ynuk froze for a moment, then shook his head with a rueful smile and rubbed at his stomach, not bothering to hide the injury any longer. ‘Aen was right. Ye knew soon as ye saw me.’

Kael shrugged. ‘I had a feeling. A stranger ain’t risking his life fer me.’ He smiled abruptly. ‘Thanks, brother.’

‘Didn’t think I were risking me life when I went in there,’ Ynuk answered, then shook his head. ‘So much fer keeping out of it, eh?’

‘Yeah, well. I reckon it was always going to happen. The bastards ain’t going away on their own.’ He looked sidelong at his brother. His face was tired and hollow, shadowed by stubble that looked more like he hadn’t bothered shaving than like any conscious decision. The injury had clearly taken a lot out of him. ‘Ye right?’

Ynuk lifted one shoulder in a shrug in as much of an answer as Kael was likely to get. ‘Happy birthday,’ he said instead. ‘Ye knows I wanted to be there.’

Kael nodded. ‘Bit of why I’m here,’ he said. ‘I want ye to at least be at me wedding.’

‘If ye’ll have me.’

Of course he did. Banok was a strong mentor, but he would never be family. He wanted to welcome his brother back into his life permanently. He wanted to put into words all he had been thinking, how he had missed what he and Ynuk had once had. He wanted that back again. He wanted the protective older brother.

‘That’s why I’m asking,’ he confirmed with a shrug.

‘Then I’ll be there.’



The full moon followed five days after Kael’s hrai-dani. Tradition dictated that the celebration be held at Kael’s home, but Ronanen’s parents had all but insisted on holding it themselves. Kael suspected it was more of a selfish gesture than they made it out to be, but he didn’t take much convincing.

He stood now, outside their home in the clothes he had bought for his proposal five months ago, his brother at his side.

‘Thanks,’ Ynuk said simply, resting a hand on Kael’s shoulder.

‘Likewise,’ Kael agreed, then gave an awkward shrug. ‘I missed ye,’ he admitted.

‘Yeah. Me, too.’

Kael led the way into the house, knocking on the heavy wood and awaiting Ronanen’s response.

The healer answered the door in an elegant red gown, and the same delicate honey-and-flowers perfume Kael had come to love. She kissed him chastely on the lips, then turned to give Ynuk a hug.

‘Thank you for coming,’ she said with feeling as she patted him on the back. ‘It means so much to Kael having you here, and to me, too. I know he’s missed you, and I’m so glad to see the two of you together again. You need each other’s support now, until it’s all over. Thank you.’

Kael smiled as Ronanen put into words everything he was too afraid to say himself.

She gave Ynuk a kiss on the cheek, then grinned and took Kael’s hands to pull him inside to where her parents were waiting.

‘Welcome home, my boy!’ Dailen flounced forward with both arms out and took him in a strong hug, planting a kiss on both cheeks as she did so. ‘You’re family now,’ she emphasised before Kael could argue. ‘Our home is yours, at least until you have a real home of your own.’

Kael glanced sideways at Ronanen’s father. ‘Me home’s real enough,’ he replied. ‘Just ain’t safe fer me to be there right now.’

Dailen shrugged as though it made no difference to her. ‘Well, know that this home is here for you, too.’

‘She’s right,’ Elak rumbled. ‘You’ve handled yourself well, and I’m proud to call you son.’

Kael stared, open mouthed at his new father-in-law’s admission. He had always thought Elak merely tolerated him, and had hoped his daughter’s infatuation with him was just a passing phase. Proud?

‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘I mean… I haven’t had… thanks.’

Elak smiled at his fumbling words. ‘You’re welcome. Now, come on through, it’s time we started eating.’

There was never any one point during the evening when a couple was considered husband and wife, and indeed, Dailen and Elak had already both welcomed him warmly into their family the moment he stepped through the door. Though the meal was the most extravagant he had ever eaten, with delicate sculptures on his plate more suited to an art gallery than to a dinner table, it almost felt like an afterthought to him. The real reason for the evening was sitting right beside him.

He rested a hand on Ronanen’s leg, smiling as she clasped his fingers with hers, and couldn’t resist leaning across to kiss her. ‘Best week ever,’ he murmured. ‘Thank you.’

Ronanen returned the kiss more strongly, reaching her fingers up to caress his jaw. ‘And you,’ she replied. ‘My beautiful husband.’

~ ~ ~

I don't. Romance? Whut?