Claiming The Remnant

Chapter 72

[ Garrett ]

"There was something wrong with my Mother." He began after a pause. "Little things at first, harmless things but it got worse. Then Dad left. I guess he loved us to an extent but he couldn't put up with mother's erratic behaviour anymore. He told us that he would find a new home and come back for us but he never did." Closing his eyes he took a deep steadying breath. "He had a little perminance magic - a light pink moustache. Mother had no magic - she was beneath him. Probably why they moved to the middle of the woods. When Hannalin was born they were so proud but me not so much…"

I could see where this was going, I was wishing I hadn't asked. He copied what I was doing by grabbing the stiffer brush.

"Things weren't too bad when Dad was there, if Mother got a bit crazy he would protect us but after he left we had no one. Mother blamed Han, because of her magic… she… Han has…" He looked around, frightened. Then whispered in my ear.

"Bless'ed Earth and Sky, you can't be serious?"

"I am. Very. She really could. That's why Mother blamed her. That's why Mother cut her throat, she believed that if she could stop Han's magic then Dad would come back." The mare turned a little as if it wanted to nudge him but the rope was too short. Zach noticed the animals movement and stroked its neck "It didn't bring dad back, of course. Mother turned her attention to me. Punishing Han hadn't fix things so… she moved on." He pointed at himself. "Problem is she couldn't get her hands on me. So she would punish Han. Being my big sister she wanted to protect me but Mother was determined. In the end I let Han whip me at Mother's insistence. I hoped if she got what she wanted then it would all stop. We left not long after that. I was eight."

"Did Grace threatening Han remind you of your Mother?"

"Yes." He gulped. "Grace was always so nice to Han's face but when she spoke to me…" There was an edge to his voice like he might cry.

"Thank you for sharing with me, Zach, that must have been extremely difficult." I was contemplating whether I should give him a hug when he sort of shook it off.

"Speaking of extreme… I meant to tell you that the King had a meeting with Jo yesterday…" Zach looked sheepish and it took a second to clock everything.

"How long were you listening yesterday? Nevermind, what's done is done but you really need to mind your manners." Scolding him didn't please me but he really needed some adult guidance.

"Sorry…" He looked a little apologetic but not wholeheartedly sincere. "I don't know what they were talking about because I was with Rin but they pulled a prank on me!"

“Jo and King Leorè pranked you?”

“Well I don’t think Jo was really into it, he didn’t - they didn’t laugh. Well, not until after His Majesty realised I’d fused his sleeves into the arms of his chair. Hector had to cut him out of the shirt…” He smirked.

“What was the prank?” Zach didn’t really seem very ‘chit-chatty’. Everything he said had a point of sorts probably because he was used to only having limited communication so he tried to make what he had to say count. I was trying to see what he was getting at but I wasn’t quite there. Plus my head was still groggy from the Elbranis after effects along with spinning from Zach’s childhood experience.

“King Leorè called me, and Jo had up a projection of a sea view from a cliff top. When I step there is a moment when I see but when I’m connected to the floor I sort of feel my surroundings.” He looked at me with intense lightly glowing green eyes, making sure I was keeping up. A little nod from me reassured him and he continued. “So I arrive, one second I can see the castle. Objects are dimmer the farther they are from me, the King’s study is bright - sharp edges, every detail. I know Jo and King Leorè are there, but then I step to see the other way and BAM. Totally disoriented. I’m, like, four thousand feet above the ocean. The King bursts into a fit of laughter but Jo, Jo was on the verge of panic. I think maybe they were worried after all the incidents...”

“How could you tell? That they were panicked, I mean.” This was certainly a curious thing. I couldn’t see how his green magic could tell him that. If it were red certainly but green? Unless it was purely observation. Zach stepped around the horse and came right up to me. He put one finger against my sternum.

“I see it all. Your heart beating. Your lungs expanding. Your muscles - tense or relaxed. It’s how I found out about the thing we were looking for.” Ahh, the Remnant. “There is a lot going on in the body so without direct touch only the ‘noisiest’ organs stand out. So yeh that's how I knew Jo was struggling.”

“There isn’t really much I can do at this point.” I remembered my drunk declaration to the wall. If Jo didn’t want me to see them then I wouldn’t be able to.

“It’s not that…” Zach fidgeted. “It’s…I, I don’t really want to say but I have to tell you.”

“What?” My mind was reaching nonsense conclusions; a hum of noise that meant nothing. I held my breath, staggered by the dark look on Zack’s face.

“Jo was rather close to our King… with their hand around a dagger. He… they only stepped back when I stepped next to the King. I played a prank back to alleviate the threat and as an excuse to be close enough to move him away if I needed to. The King doesn’t know. I don’t know how much Jo knows I can see.”

“Fuck.”