Chương 50: Tobias and Telos

Kenna sighed deeply, her hands on her hips.

"Thank you for grabbing me, Jens." The servant bowed and headed off, leaving her at the tavern and staring at her sloshed brother. She nodded to the barkeeper who raised a brow at the loudly snoring wolf at his counter. Kenna put on her best smile as she approached.

"Any idea what this is about?" The barkeep snorted, his pig-like nose making the nose louder and more guttural than most.

"Says he's broken cuz he can't love no one but the one that won't look at him." She pursed her lips as she put her hands on Tobias's shoulders.

"Yeah, well, there's nothing new there…"

"Keeps mentioning the mage. Are they a thing?"

"Which mage?"

"The pretty one ya'll brought from the Capital. The elf." Her brows furrowed.

"No, they're just friends," she said quietly, partially to herself. Ducking under his arm, she lifted him up.

"Come on now, Tobias, up you get," she said in a soothing, encouraging voice. He murmured something that was mostly unintelligible, but she heard her name in the mix. He reeked of fey spirits, and she wrinkled her nose delicately. Luckily, they were just outside of the tavern when she scented a slight shift in the air, turned him, and aimed his head into a patch of dirt as he hurled. She grimaced, her nose wrinkling at the simultaneously putrid and nostalgic scent. Kenna did not miss the slums.

The journey back to the den at the castle slowly sobered Tobias up enough that by the time she finished bathing and dressing him for bed, he was coherent again, though by no means sober. Laying him down on the furs, she asked quietly, "What gives, Tobias?" His face crumpled.

"I'm broken, Kenna."

"Uh huh, and what broke you this time?"

"Telos… Telos loves me and… and I didn't… gods, I didn't even notice." She blinked a few times in mild surprise.

"You knew?" Her hands returned to tucking him into the furs as she answered mildly, "I don't interfere with the love lives of others. You know that." Or he would normally, anyway. He groaned, wiping his hands down his face.

"Gods. I should have… I don't know how I missed it."

"Neither do I, frankly, but here we are."

"… I should have… I… gods, Kenna, I can't even imagine her that way and… I'm broken. I'm so broken. I could be happy! I could have been happy with her, but my wolf, my stupid fucking wolf, he won't even consider it." Kenna didn't allow herself to stiffen, but the cold edge of anger began to take hold of her heart.

"And?"

"And… and… and I should!" Letting out a steadying breath, she said, "My wolf has no interest in anyone else, either. If you're broken, so am I." He rolled over, clearly still in his pity party.

"… how did you find out?"

"… she told me," he mumbled into the furs.

"Told me she was done waiting when she's never been brought in as pack." Kenna shrugged.

"I'd be happy to make her pack. I just didn't because I was hoping you'd pull your head out of your ass." He groaned, covering his head and generally moping about. Kenna pursed her lips again.

"… you know this isn't about you, right?" He didn't respond.

"She confessed her feelings and is moving on with her life. Did she break off your friendship or something?"

"… no," he muttered petulantly.

"Then why—""Because I should have—I could—I hurt her, Kens!" Rolling her eyes to the ceiling, she prayed to the gods to give her strength.

"Tobias, honestly, she's too feminine for you. Fluid or not, you've never been into girls." He muttered, "Because instead I'm interested in an unavailable, unattainable guy."

"And?"

"And what?" Thoroughly fed up with his pity party after the last unexpected hour of having to baby him, she snapped, her voice cold, calculating, and devoid of empathy.

"Then either accept you do or start shopping around for someone else." He flinched. Sitting back, she took a few more steadying breaths, easing her temper back down. Only once she had control over it again did she speak, her voice softer and gentler than before.

"Listen to you whining is not something I have patience for right now, Tobias. Someone actually loved you, loved every bit of you, and she's decided to accept things as they are as she makes an attempt to move on. You should be supporting her, encouraging her growth as a fey, not drinking yourself into a stupor when the hunters need you." If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Though he didn't stiffen or otherwise react, she could tell from the way he was clinging to the furs that her words were getting through to him. As the last nail, she said lightly, "Just so you know, Ala'ole had to send a message to the keep since you never returned. She thought you'd been sent off with our huntress, and you with the Chief Hunter title and everything. And yes, he was the one that sent me to go looking for you."

Grimacing, he snuggled further into the furs, though there was something about it that told her he was at least considering what she said. She stood.

"Good. Tomorrow you're going back to the Hunter's Clearing to do your gods damned job and figure out if you're going to suffer like me or start exploring your options. Rest now and suffer the hangover tomorrow." He winced.

"… as you wish." Without another word, she left him to his guilt. Telos took a breath in front of Lord Everwinter's office door, steadying herself. Just in case. She'd said all of that to Tobias about moving on, and yes, it did ache less to be around him. There was also now something that had changed between them, and she wasn't quite ready to face it. Which was why she was here, early in the morning, after her attendant had spied on Tobias and told her he was sleeping off one hell of a hangover.

She took one more breath before knocking on the door.

"Enter," came the voice of Lord Everwinter. Telos obeyed, opening the door and closing it behind her. The attendant Lowvyn was serving the lord tea to the side of his "desk" as he read through a mountain of reports related to the expected farming outputs of the different villages. Everwinter Keep had emergency supplies for villages where their food supplies would be decimated by the local beasts, but that was meant as a temporary measure.

No one wanted to live on field rations for an extended period of time, and more importantly, even those stores would be limited. Based on the tired pull to his lips, those supplies were estimated to be running low. At the beginning of summer. Telos's lips pressed into a firm line of grim determination as she strode forward, taking as elegant of a seat as she knew how and keeping her chin raised. The lord noted her posture, putting his quill down and ignoring the tea in favor of studying her.

Several beats passed before he spoke.

"Telos. How may I be of assistance this morning?" Heart hammering in her chest, she managed to keep her voice level.

"I'd like you to send me out, my lord." He didn't speak, but leaned forward over the desk, his elbows resting on either side of the stack of waiting reports as he gave Telos his full attention. She continued.

"I believe I can cloud weave well enough to protect the mountains from more fey dumping into the Wylds." From the way his eyes seemed to bore into her soul, he knew that there was more to her request than simply offering to watch the mountains from the clouds. Wheels turned behind those dual-colored eyes, and more than anyone else in the entire world, she knew he was weighing her measure. He finally spoke.

"You may be gone for months."

"I know, my lord." There was a tired pull to her tone, and she knew a touch of her relief at the prospect could be seen in her eyes.

"It's important." She needed time. She'd been hoping that Tobias might see her, even if only when she felt she was masculine enough for him, for twenty years. Fey hearts often move slowly, and her heartbreak was one that she did not want to dwell on. It was clear from the way he nodded slowly that he could read in between the lines. That she was not truly altruistic with this offer. Even if it had altruistic benefits.

His voice did not rumble with the concerned growl of his wolf like it would for Athereon, had she made the same offer, and a bit of Telos's heart crumpled that much further at the distinction.

"Very well. Patrol the mountainside. I want reports every three days. Take a beacon." Telos inclined her head in gratitude.

"I shall, my lord." He leaned back in his chair, rapping his fingers on the makeshift desk.

"… should any be sent over…"

"Should I guide them to a safe landing?" It was clear the decision weighed heavily on the young lord as he played out the possibilities in his mind. Telos waited patiently, more relaxed now that her mission was approved. The chair creaked slightly as he leaned forward once more, slowly, the weight of his title slowing his movements without stiffening his limbs.

"Prioritize protecting yourself and our people. If you can guide a ship to a safe landing, then yes."

"And otherwise?" His eyes hardened.

"Better to let it crash in the seas than the Wylds." She nodded, understanding that, more than likely, she would be choosing that option. It was much easier to sabotage the ships attempting to come over the mountains than to guide one to a safe landing somewhere that could house that many fey. Having seen the body counts, none of the villages in the Outskirts would be able to make for a safe landing. Not really. Not without massive resource allocations to then caravan all the new fey across the whole territory.

She stood, at ease with this decision and eager to make sure she didn't have to run into Tobias once more.

"Then I will be away by noon. I suppose the quartermaster will have a beacon for me to use?" He nodded. From the way his shoulders squared and his expression darkened, he was still caught in the weight of his decision. She hesitated before hedging gently, "It's the right decision, my lord."

"That doesn't make it the easy one, or even the best one."

"It's the best one because it is the one that saves the most lives, my lord." His lips twitched in a ghost of a smile that did not reach the hollowness of his eyes.

"You are dismissed. Take care. I will aim to strengthen the barrier as well." She shook her head.

"No."

"No?"

"We will need those resources, my lord." Without her here helping to store up magic in feystones to be used for territory defense, he wouldn't be able to expand the town. She would be using too much magic to set aside any for her usual tithe. From the crinkle in his eyes, he knew it, too.

"Wise."

"Were you not the one who predicted that our territory's population would be expanding over the next few months?" He nodded once, his expression solemn.

"It is a future that I must account for." But not one he hoped for. Telos nodded.

"I'll use the village protection stones to increase my range. It will have the added benefit of increasing their potency as well."

"If you can, increase their range to cover as much of the fields as possible." She hesitated. Then her eyes dropped down to the reported calculations in front of him.

"… are the predictions that dire?"

"Circumstances already are." He shifted through the stack of paper, handing her one.

"This village here has already lost half their fields to feybeasts. She scanned the page, frowning.

"This village… but I had already updated their wards by this time. It should have—""—should have warded the beasts away?" he finished tiredly. Unintentionally, her fingers gripped the page too tightly.

"You suspect…?"

"I do. Spies and infiltrators are to be expected. That they normally leave these Outskirts alone seems to no longer be relevant." Anger rose in her.

"I bet it's more that are angry about the choice in Queen—""We cannot know that for certain." Telos considered him. Really considered him.

"If… I might be so bold…" He gestured to allow her to speak.

"Why did you give up your earned place to her?" He was meant to be the next ruler, after all. To her surprise, he chuckled, relaxing as he leaned back in his chair with a soft, fond smile.

"… I was raised for the position. Annabelle was made for it. My skills translate easily elsewhere. I gave nothing up, merely choose the best possible outcome."

"You sure it wasn't just to keep your supporters and hers from tearing each other apart?"

"The best laid plans have multiple benefits, Telos." Looking at him, she came to a sudden realization.

"You never wanted the crown." The corners of his eyes crinkled a touch. He leaned forward.

"May the gods bless your trip." Knowing a dismissal when she heard one, she bowed politely and exited the room, suddenly eager to be gone before Tobias even knew she left.