Tempered by the Will

21 - Understand

"What do you want with me, half-breed."

"Vica would be disappointed to hear you speak that way."

"Doesn't change what you are."

"No. But it does reflect how you are, and I expect she finds it unsatisfactory."

Constantine's breath huffed out in a derisive snort. "Trying to use her against me won't work."

"I expect it already has," Bren said mildly. "But this is irrelevant to what I wanted to discuss. I thought since this involves Vica's future, you should hage a say in it."

"Is that right."

"I think, despite whatever else you might have done to her and whatever your true motives, you do have an interest in her welfare. Therefore, whatever perspective you might offer will be beneficial."

Constantine narrowed his eyes, and he eased up off the sofa to rise to his feet. There was a menacing sway to his movements, lazy and hypnotic like a snake. "Whatever else I might have done to her," he repeated. "Is that what you just said?"

"You must not have expected her to respond the way she did when you warned her not to trust me. In all fairness, if she had known as you did that I was standing nearby, she would not have mentioned it at all. I don't suppose she is very proud of having been subjugated at your hands in the past; she would not publicize that to anyone willingly."

"Half-breed, you're on thin ice."

"Why? Are you ashamed? Or perhaps you feel very sorry for yourself...You have my sympathies." Bren remained motionless before the closed door, adamantly refusing to budge even when Constantine began to take menacing steps toward him. "There are few circumstances that I imagine would surround you becoming physical with Vica, but none of them flatter you. Little wonder that she would trust me more, even considering how I have played accomplice to her injury myself."

The assassin stopped in his tracks, yellow eyes gleaming with a vicious light. "You did what, now?"

Bren's pale lips had been curved in an irritatingly faint smile, but now they twitched a little wider than before. "Are we no longer attempting to hurt each other, then?" he inquired in that lilting, secret-keeping voice that Constantine hated so much. "You with your insults, me with my needling. If we are, then I was hoping we could begin helping each other instead."

"What injury are you talking about. Depending on what you say, you won't last long enough to be helping anyone."

"Did she not tell you?"

"Keep stalling. See what happens to you."

The elfling clasped his hands together in front of his modest gray robe and remained demurely silent with his pale eyes cast down to the floor. Yet another thing that irked Constantine: Bren was perpetually doing his best to blend in and stay inconspicuous. When he spoke, it was always softly and with measured reserve, and he rarely ever expressed himself with anything stronger than a polite suggestion. He was like an animal trying to keep hidden, watching from the underbrush and waiting for smaller prey to come wandering closer, closer, until it was close enough for him to snatch up without warning.

He had already lured Vica into a reckless world, and she was now too entrenched in it to leave. Constantine could do nothing about it. He'd tried, of course. But he now understood it had been the wrong way. The time he'd spent being cruel to her on the last leg of their journey here to try to frighten her off of her rash mission, the time he'd spent hurling insults at her and ruthlessly tearing her down to demoralize her before they reached the Capital - not only had it all been futile, it had only made her more determined. And it had driven a wedge between them, too, that he could not seem to remove.

So of course she would be driven to trust the half-breed instead. She'd been pushed straight into the only friendly arms she thought she could rely on. Constantine could admit his mistakes now, that he'd been idiotic to try to bully her into submission just because it was how he was used to solving his problems. But it was too late, and now Bren profited from his blunders.

To what end, Constantine couldn't be sure, but he would never trust the little rat for as long as either of them breathed. Bren was hiding something, he was sure of it - he just had no way to prove it.

"You going to stand there and wait for me to choke the answer out of you, half-breed?"

"I was wondering if perhaps Vica did not tell you for a reason. I would like to respect the choice she made." He smiled, and Constantine immediately sensed the reproach in it, as if Bren were admonishing him for not doing the same. He was almost sure he could see some smugness there too, the little piece of s**t - "But for you to trust me, it would be good for you to know."

"Enough. Just say it."

"You and Vica entered the Yrol some weeks ago while traveling this way. Before Yezia's comrades found me, I was hired on to help a group of rogue mages, trappers. I was to be their eyes and ears, guiding them through the forest's enchantments with my magic. There was an issue with runaway dragons, you see."

"...You were with them?"

"For a time. It was regrettable, but I needed funds so that I could continue my travels. There are few who would stoop to associating with a half-breed, after all. You know well the objections against those like me, yes? There are many who share your opinions."

Again, that smile. Constantine wanted to rip his mouth off of his face.

"...But that was the extent of it. I was drawn to her just as you were, so if you choose to withhold your trust from me for that, you would do well not to trust yourself around her, either."

"Do you think I won't cut you open right here?"

"I think you would. I also think perhaps your anger would be misdirected. It is no fault of mine that you did whatever it was that you did to her, or am I wrong?"

A blade to the throat would be too easy for him. "That's none of your f*****g business, elf."

"Elf? So it was half-breed before, but now you call me elf. Are you so displeased that you are disowning my human half?"

Bren was still smiling, but it took on such a sudden, tired wryness that it made Constantine hesitate. He had been about to cross the rest of the distance between them and gut the mixed blood from throat to groin, but he simply stood there in silence as they watched each other with cool, careful gazes. No. It would be a bad idea to do this here...but Bren wouldn't last very long if he continued to provoke him this way.

"This is not what I came to discuss, Constantine. There will be more than enough time for you to dispose of me later. For now, it would be wise to think of Vica's predicament first. I know nothing of Lady Murena nor of her husband, but I think it safe to assume she will send a more compelling force this time, now that she knows what she seeks is here."

Fine. He would let the conversation take this turn - but only because Constantine knew how to be patient. Bren's time would come, sooner or later. "I'll get Vica out of here," he said. "Don't worry yourself about that."

"But is that wise? She has momentum without even having done anything. We should take advantage of her exposure while we can, before Lady Murena can turn the rest of the Court against Vica. The credit for rebuffing the first advance will go to her, and there will be many who are attracted to such a display of power. It would be better for her to exploit it than to run and put doubt in their minds as to her strength."

"What strength? You think she can really go against the Order?"

"You underestimate her."

"And you're trying to use her. Don't think I don't know it."

"She came here with a purpose," Bren insisted. "I intend to help her fulfill it, not hold her back."

"And you think that's what I'm doing."

"What I think is that if you want to reconcile with her, then perhaps you should first try to understand her, instead of dismissing her. But that is enough from me -"

"It sure is -"

"- and I hope only that you consider my suggestion instead of discounting it simply because you think I have spited you. Vica has already been revealed. What she does tonight will establish a precedent and go far in making up the minds of the undecided. If she appears weak, they will come for her too, and then Lady Murena will not be the only enemy we have to worry about."

"And you think if she stays and takes this fight, she'll seem strong enough to make everyone want to rally to her instead? Don't make me laugh. The Order is the Order. If they can't control her, they'll crush her to pieces under their feet."

"If she makes sure they understand she is dangerous, they will hesitate. After all, an all out war between Houses will mean casualties, and none of them want to be the sacrificial lamb for their own cause. They want to be left standing, which means some of them will decline to pick any side at all. That is what we want. Fewer bodies, fewer enemies. If they choose to remain neutral, that would be far better than them choosing to align with House Murena. Think on it, and you will see."

Constantine didn't want to think on it, didn't want to see. He didn't trust a single word the half-breed said, and he wasn't about to let him weasel through another one of his schemes.

"Get out," he said. "Before I change my mind about letting you breathe a little longer."

To his credit, the half-elf seemed to understand instantly that the threat was not an empty one. He backed up to the door with a careful step and reached behind himself for the doorknob. Once there, however, he paused one final time:

"You've already bled for this," he said, and he pointed with a too-slender finger at the sofa where Constantine had risen from. There, a dark red patch stained the cushioned backrest. "So I hope you realize soon that this is greater than any one of us."

The door closed behind him, and Constantine stood alone.

* * * * *

"Skillful work," Felix commented as he peered at Constantine's bare back before it disappeared under a black tunic. "I didn't expect it to have such results. You take to elven magic well."

"It was a scratch."

"A fearsome one, then."

Constantine said nothing and simply kicked the tattered cloak by his feet so that it would bunch at the foot of the wall next to his chair. The duke was right: the gash had been deep, and if it had been any closer to his spine, it would surely have nicked a vital bone. As it was, the wound had run diagonally and grazed two ribs, but the elf's work coupled with his naturally quick healing would mean that the twinges of pain would disappear in a few days.

Until then, however, the elf's instructions had been clear: he was not to make any sudden or wide movements that would strain the wound. It would heal more cleanly than any human magic could manage, but he was also most decidedly not an elf. The healing would not be rushed.

"You didn't say anything."

He looked up at the sound of Vica's voice. She was standing by the door with Bren, wearing such an uncomfortable expression that he couldn't help but smirk at it. It was the first time she had looked at him without any hint of hostility or bitterness in a long time. Unfortunate that it had to happen because she felt sorry for him.

"I know I didn't," he said. "Why, did you want me to?"

"I asked you if you were hurt earlier."

"And? Would you have been able to do anything about it?"

A flicker of irritation crossed her face, but it didn't linger long. Good. He was only teasing, anyway, while he still had the chance. No doubt it would slip away from him again in no time at all. So while she deigned to suffer his company, he intended to enjoy it.

"We should discuss what our next step is," Felix announced suddenly, and he took a seat on the opposite sofa with one leg elegantly crossed over the other. "The most obvious solution is staying here, of course. I have my men standing by, and while we don't have the largest House or as many willing acolytes as the Murenai do -"

"How many?" Constantine interrupted. He didn't care about irrelevant information. "And how big of a mess are we looking at?"

"Not as many as I'd like. Perhaps a few dozen who will be here in time and be of any use. House Murena has a prestigious academy they can draw their forces from, so they'll have far more in numbers at least, if not in skill. They have a massive Charter, one of the greats."

"Then fighting isn't an option. They'll just come back tomorrow with fresh meat even if we make it through the night."

"True, but for some reason, it seems that Lady Murena has instructed her men not to kill. It's strange for her - she's usually far more ruthless. I expect she's trying to curry favor with Vica...would be difficult to ally with someone who holds a grudge over killed comrades."

"Doesn't change anything. Best thing to do is get Vica out of here." He glanced at the door then, looking for some response from the woman. She hadn't said anything yet during the exchange, and neither had Bren. Had they already spoken? Had the half-elf already inserted his reckless schemes into her head?

There was a darkly contemplative look on her face that made him continue to stare at her. She was watching the floor with narrowed eyes, clearly deep in thought. What was she thinking? Or was she simply listening intently to what everyone else said?

'Perhaps you should first try to understand her.'

Damned half-breed, preaching at him. Constantine clenched his jaw for a moment, then worked it open so that he could grind out a question that he most assuredly didn't want to ask. He didn't have a choice though, did he?

"What do you want to do, Vica?" he asked. "You already have something in mind, don't you?"

His suspicions were confirmed when her head jerked up. There was undisguised shock on her face, and she stared at him in disbelief as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard.

Was it that unusual, he wondered. Surely he had asked her opinion before on important matters that involved her.

Or maybe he hadn't. Maybe he'd always taken the liberty of making decisions for her, and then held it against her when she tried to do so herself. But that wasn't all true. He'd humored her from time to time...

"Spit it out," he said, and he leaned back against his chair with a groaning exhale. "This is about you, isn't it."

She hesitated, and he saw her eyes dart between him and Felix and Bren, too, who stood beside her. She said nothing for a moment, but no one said a thing: they simply waited.

Finally, her lips parted.

"I think," she said, "I should go pay Lady Murena a visit."