ELVEN | K.TH

36

RINEI

It's early morning.

The sun isn't even out, the skies still gray outside the window. I'd been lying awake for an hour now, the thoughts in my head driving me anxious.

I wanted to kill him.

I wanted to put an arrow through Lord Elven so badly that I was a little afraid of myself.

Back at the City, I'd been so focused on getting Taehyung out of the hell that his own father had put him through to feel this fire. But now that he was safe and next to me, it burns, a heat deep in my stomach.

Because he shouldn't be alive and well like that.

Not after what he did to my parents. Not after what he did to Tae.

Was it fair for him to still have everything, after he'd nearly stripped me of everything I loved?

Was it fair? Was it truly right.

It's not.

Then a deep, quiet voice breaks me out of my thoughts.

"Rinei...?"

"What's keeping you awake?"

My wide eyes flash to Taehyung next to me. His lashed eyes are open, fixed on my face. I'd been so caught up in my own mind that I hadn't even noticed that he was watching me.

I stutter a little in my signs from surprise.

N-Nothing, I sign hurriedly. I just, uh, couldn't sleep. That's it.

But his heart lips are pursed, and the corners are aimed downward.

He knows.

"...that's it?"

I fall silent at his soft murmur. The tips of my feet fidget with the sheets, before I finally shake my head.

Not...really.

"Is it my father?"

My eyes flash up. But his stare is steady, and I slowly nod. I can already know, that I can't really hide anything from him. He knew me too well— maybe even knew me better than I knew myself.

And I trust him.

I can't stop thinking about him.

"What do you mean?" He whispers, asking something that he already knows the answer to.

That he...he should be paying for what he did. He shouldn't be— He shouldn't be sitting on the throne and ruling the City. He should be suffering. He—

My signs falter when I realize that I might be making a mistake. He was still Tae's father no matter what he had done, and it might be making Taehyung feel uncomfortable if I...

"I've never thought of him as a father."

I glance up.

"But he is still too powerful." He says, a little faster, more urgent. "He can kill you faster than you can kill him. His magic—"

________________________________

TAEHYUNG

"His magic...is much stronger than you think it is."

I'm not convincing her.

She just stares up at me with her pretty eyes, lit with fire. What can I say that could change her mind?