Chapter 225: Candle Wax
He shifted Elias in his arms, rotating until the boy was fully in view. The movement jostled something in Elias’s ribs, but he didn’t fight it.
"This here’s your eldest brother," Gavric said, voice lifting like it carried something official. "Torren Kaelithar. Heir to House Kaelithar, keepers of the western terraces. When you’re older, Veyren, it’ll be your job to protect him. Ensure our name grows in excellence."
Torren didn’t blink.
The scowl deepened. His fists bunched at his sides.
"I don’t need my younger brother protecting me, Father."
He said it without flinching.
"I’ll be strong enough to defend our borders from monster spawns. And one day, I’ll drive out the blue-faces myself."
His voice cracked on the last word, but he held his ground. That spark in his eyes—whatever it was—didn’t waver. It wasn’t just pretend bravado. Not entirely.
Blue-faces?
The word snagged somewhere deep—not memory, but something close to it. A shard of the godless crucifix’s voice lingered. Alien conquerors. Outsiders that had taken root. The phrase carried more weight than Torren could possibly understand.
Elias tried to fix his eyes on the boy, but the world was too soft at the edges. Torren became a smear—green and brown and motion, framed against the warm haze of sunlit wood.