The Power and the Glory

Book 3 Chapter V: Monster

But inside the beast still grows
Waiting, chewing through the ropes
-- Starset, Carnivore

The town of Kulbiram had very few shops. It was really not much of a town any more and had become a suburb of the capital city instead. Irímé and Shizuki had to hunt for quite a while before they found a café that sold ice cream.

It's just as well I brought some money with me, Irímé thought as he ordered a bowl of ice cream for Shizuki and a cup of gilnosnan[1] for himself.

Luckily Shizuki was in his fully-immortal appearance and not his normal in-between form. The people in the café didn't give him a second glance. They would been far more curious if he'd walked in covered with scales and with his eyes a brilliant shade of yellow-green. As it was the most attention anyone paid him was when the waitress brought their order to the table.

"There you are, sir," she said, handing Irímé his gilnosnan, "and here's the ice cream for your--" She paused, looked from the obviously half-Seroyawan Shizuki to the equally obviously fully-Saoridhin Irímé, and hazarded a guess, "--your nephew?"

"Cousin," Shizuki corrected her through a mouthful of ice cream. When she was gone he gave Irímé a slightly sheepish look. "Do you mind if I adopt you as my cousin? I've never had one before. Ilaran doesn't count. He's too old. And my siblings yell at me and threaten to kick me out."

Irímé almost choked on his drink. He gave Shizuki a look of wide-eyed horror. The younger boy continued eating his ice cream without giving the slightest hint he knew he'd said something shocking. It was just as well that there was no one sitting near them and the other people in the café made enough noise to drown out their conversation.

"Do... Do your siblings often threaten to kick you out?" he asked. Irímé had never gotten along very well with his own siblings, so he was no stranger to yelling at them, but threats struck him as a step too far.

Shizuki nodded. "When they remember I exist. They want to pretend their family's normal and I prove it's not." He saw the look on Irímé's face and added, "Dad keeps them away from me. They didn't listen much so I learnt to hide. But it's all right. Now I never have to see them again."

Irímé was seized by a sudden urge to track down Haliran's other children -- possibly in his dragon form -- and give them a piece of his mind. "Aren't they also Siarvin's children?"

Belatedly he realised that if they were, Haliran's crimes meant they had probably been born under... miserable circumstances.

"Five of them are, I think," Shizuki said. "The others are like me. I'm just the only one who's half-Seroyawan."

Irímé remembered the trial. He remembered Siarvin revealing that he had been drugged and... That he had been drugged. He and Haliran had five children. Irímé felt sick as the full implications sank in. For the sake of his sanity he tried not to dwell on that. It was time for a change of subject.

"What do you want to do when you grow up?" he asked instead.

Shizuki brightened up at once. "I want to be a detective! Like the ones in the books!"

Finally a subject that wouldn't delve into disturbing territory and that Irímé knew enough about to have a proper conversation on. "What's your favourite book?"

"The Case of the Singing Falcon! I love when the crooks' heads explode!"

...What.

~~~~

Ever since the nightmares started Abi had been able to sleep less and less. The only way she could stay somewhat alert was by taking increasingly frequent naps during the day. Even this was becoming difficult. If she didn't sleep she wouldn't feel any better, but if she fell too deeply asleep she'd have nightmares during the day as well.