Within The Trees

Heartbreak

In all fairness, I have no idea how long my brother and I sat in that garden. What I do know was that the silence was deafening.

Our father had left us alone in that garden, and the only reason that I believed he did was so that I could get Arcanum to open up. Little did I know just how much my dearest brother would open up in those moments we shared.

I had gotten him to follow me back to the stone bench that previously, father and I had sat, and actually relax a bit. We sat in silence for some time, with his hand still in mine offering the only solace I could give. He had this look of complete loss in his eyes, staring down at the ground. I could only imagine what raged inside that mind of his. The silence was only broken by our shared breaths, until finally... he spoke.

"I apologize, sister. I should not have snapped at Father in front of you. I just... my mother is a heavily soft spot for me. I see every detail of that day each time I close my eyes. Even certain scents make memories of her flare up." The pain in his voice spoke volumes to my core. I shook my head and squeezed his hand, "Don't apologize, I shouldn't have let him tell me what happened to her. It wasn't my place to know such things." I involuntarily bit my bottom lip before speaking again, "In all fairness, since I know at least that bit, I'll tell you something about my father... or rather Ronan. You may already know from Father, but the day Ronan died plays over and over in my mind. The mere fact that I couldn't save him, that he died in a way..." my voice was practically shaking as flashes of his severed head bled into my brain. Still I continued, "I don't know the severity of how your mother died, but my father was practically beheaded. His head was in their claws like a trophy of glory, and I snapped."

Arcanum sat there, listening to me with such genuine attention as I practically broke in front of him. Talking about Ronan brought a bout of such raw emotion that a sob racked in my chest, and I found myself in the comfort of my dear brother's arms. To this day I'm not sure if he knows that I felt the drops of his tears on my  back... either way in that moment we consoled each other's broken hearts over the lives who impacted us most.

Arcanum began to speak rather quietly in my ear, as we sat in each other's embrace. "This may come as a shock for you, from where you were raised it is uncommon I'm sure..." he started off speaking in a rather nervous voice, "but my mother's death affects me so on more of an intimate level." He pulled back just enough to look down upon me, "She nurtured me when I was first cast down from Evron. She taught me many things...one being how to please a woman..." he eyed me carefully as the disbelief crossed my eyes. I blinked in surprise, "Are.. are you telling me she deflowered you?!" I pushed back away from him, "is that not forbidden?" Arcanum shook his head and began to explain his upbringing.

I learned something that day, about just why he was so broken over his mother... I learned just how close family could get. Arcanum had explained that he was not born, but created. Our father took his own essence as well as DNA from Arcanum's "mum" and with that breathed him into the cosmos. Whereas, I was made the old fashioned way...

"So... we are siblings but not completely related?" I was trying to wrap around my head the information that had just been shoved upon me. Arcanum and I were basically twins but he still older than I because of his incubation period. It oddly brought a sense a relief. "Exactly, you are my twin in this life, my dearest sister. No matter what we are bonded by that." As he spoke these words, he gently caressed my cheek. His fingers gently brushing upon my skin. While sitting like that, a question escaped my lips, "did you love her?" To my surprise, he answered without hesitation, "Yes. I loved her more than I ever thought I was capable of loving someone."

Soon after that, we left the garden. We had spent such a long time there that dinner time had come 'round. He lead the way to the dining hall, and while we walked my stomach let out a rumble. A blush creeped upon my face in embarrassment, only to see a smirk from upon my brother's lips. I elbowed him and huffed, "it's not funny!" At that moment he started to laugh, "Oh Kira, do not be embarrassed. We are almost there." He grinned a bit and took my hand, taking me down another hallway until we stood in front of two grand doors. Once again, I became nervous but then confused as Arcanum took my hand again and lead me away from the doors and the faint smell of delicious food. I continued to let him take the lead until  he stopped in front of another door. "Before we can eat, we have to get washed up. This is your room, you'll find all that you need here. When you're finished, I'll be back." He let go of my hand and left.

I stood there for a moment and sighed, "it's just a room, Lev..." I huffed and then walked inside and practically was struck speechless. As if anything else could surprise me... the canopy bed alone had me standing stock still;as if I was an intruder. I shut the door behind me and took everything in. My eyes found the washroom, and that was where my feet took me.

The hot water was just what I needed to wash away the grime. To wash away the past...