Callan's Discussion (Patreon Exclusive)

Callan’s Discussion

As always, the Empress’s visage was a powerful and intimidating aura. A young man looked up at her authority as she glanced across the gathering brigade. Summoners stood in neat rows below her shrill purple eyes as they inspected her Army. As her words ended her greetings, clearing the brigade from their duties, the Summoners saluted, their hands forming fists against their hearts as they bent their arms behind their backs.

Shuffling the backpack that had gained a rip in its side, a young water Summoner brushed a strand of his tawny brown hair out of his grey-ash eyes. A shuffle of movement and shouts and the brigade began to disperse in organised formation. Callan’s attention drew towards the Trainees as they scrambled after their Lieutenant. Only one stood out to his gaze, a mess of black wavy hair amongst a mass of lighter colours, the point of his interest. Lynette Heversham hurried after her comrades as she was led out of the noble quadrant square of Zromore, the capital of the Zopan Empire.

“What ya looking at?” An airy voice tilted her head with a bright smile his way. Her ginger hair was plaited into a bun on her head.

“Nothing.” Callan broke away from watching his sister as he regarded his teammate. “Leave it, Felicity.” he tightened his lips at the glint in her eyes.

“Ooooo struck a nerve, did I?” Felicity Goodwin giggled, rocking on the back of her heels as she gripped onto the straps of her backpack. “You know, you could just strike up a conversation with her, maybe go out to eat, try a new hobby together, watch the sunset…” she rolled on, irritating Callan at her insistence to poke her nose into his life.

“I am not discussing this with you.” Callan snarled, whipping his head to move away from her.

“Felicity, stop it.” A tall man with dark brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard touched Felicity’s shoulder, pulling her back. “This isn’t easy for him.”

“Ugh, Fiiinnee”, Felicity rolled her eyes at their team’s captain, Calbert Cavendish. “Spoilsport”, she muttered under her breath, and she twirled on her heels.

“Don’t mind her, Callan”, Calbert sighed as he watched Felicity skip towards their other teammate, Shane Cooper. Shane nodded to the girl with a calm demure as he listened to her vibrant discussion regarding the best types of meat and what vegetables best paired with them.

“What? You think she bothered me?” Callan frowned defensively as they began to walk away from the noble square.

“Not at all.” Calbert smiled knowingly, causing Callan to glare at him.

“Let me guess, you have your own opinions.” Callan rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. His eyes glanced back towards the trainees, but they were no longer there. He hadn’t spoken with Lynette since the previous night when he had apologised for his actions. He likely wouldn’t see her today as she would be staying in Alinor Keep.

“Of course, but it is not my place to get involved in your family affairs. I can only make suggestions.” Calbert shrugged beside Callan as they walked under the stone archway to the left of the square, entering the cobbled pathway that led to the visiting nobles’ plateau.

Zromore was divided into quadrants within three stone rings. The commoners occupied the first ring, three quadrants made up the area, homes, markets and workplaces, and finally, a section for warehouses and city storage.

The second inner ring was only permitted for nobles and commoners within the Army, with the rare exception of commoners, usually merchants, who could afford to purchase a home within this ring. The first quadrant was sectioned by Alinor Keep, the home and training grounds for the Army. The second quadrant was for the estates of Nobles from Zromore. Grand mansions, lush gardens and private parks could be found there. The third quadrant was similar, only for the homes of visiting nobles and rich merchants. Rather than mansions, many townhouses are packed tightly together to provide the numerous housing required. There was simply not enough space for the lush gardens here. The final quadrant was the shopping district. Many businesses catering to nobles flushed there.

The third inner ring was for royalty. The palace towered above the white stoned walls blocked to all bar those permitted, a set of golden gates standing proudly. It was an honour for any to step through those gates, one all nobles took privilege with during the social season.

Callan and his team wandered among others as they entered the visiting nobles’ plateau; their families each owned a townhouse here, preferring to live in the comfort of luxury rather than the small rooms Alinor Keep provided.

“I would prefer you keep your suggestions to yourself.” Callan scowled at his friend.

“That’s why I haven’t said anything,” Calbert smirked, folding his hand behind his back, supporting the bottom of his backpack. It was filled with numerous small fire Aether cores they had gathered from killing flame scorpions in the deadlands. The enchantment on his bag was struggling to safely secure them all, threatening to break.

Callan paused his step at his friend’s response, opening his mouth to respond before closing it and rethinking. He had been trying to do that more lately, thinking about what he would say before he actually did.

“Fine. What would you suggest.” Callan finally said after some time, his curiosity getting the better of him. He knew he would probably regret asking.

“Well, I would start with trying to connect with her more.” Calbert grinned at his stubborn friend.

“Easier said than done.” Callan looked ahead as his features scrunched.

He had been furious to find out his team had followed him last night. They had seen the whole messy apology he had given to his sister. After he escorted her back to her camp, all three pounced on him with insistent questions about what happened. Felicity had punched him in the gut before he even had a chance to try and shut them up. Her anger at hearing his apology and what he had done to his sister was justified. But Callan was enraged that they had intruded on a private moment between him and his sister. They had no right to do that. He hadn’t wanted his dirty laundry to be aired so publicly. Yet he knew he probably deserved it.

He had been an arse.

“What’s so difficult about it? She’s your sister, isn’t she? Surely you have something in common you can talk about.” Calbert asked.

“We have nothing in common. She’s stubborn, never listens, and goes out of her way to make things difficult for us. Do you know how often my Father had to pay off someone for the stuff she broke?”

Calbert silently raised an eyebrow at Callan with amusement.

“What?” Callan scowled, irritated.

“You have plenty in common Callan.” Calbert laughed at his friend’s obliviousness. “Who do you think pays for the stuff you break all the time.”

“What-well-hmm.” Callan raised his hand to argue but found his words dead in his throat. “Maybe you’re right.” he finally mumbled, annoyed.

“Of course I’m right. I always am.” Calbert said smugly. “I would say your biggest obstacle is getting her engagement dissolved.”

Callan’s fist tightened before he dropped it back to his side. “I want to drown that bastard.”

“I would love to roast his arse on a fire spit, but we can’t do that. That would be considered murder, Callan.” Calbert gave a pointed look at Callan.

Callan bit his cheek. Calbert knew him rather well. It was no surprise he knew Callan had been considering the numerous ways he could make Lord Asher disappear. He had sat up all night in their shared tent, imagining ways he might be able to have that little twerp die. His favourite was having him accidentally fall into a pond in the garden of reflection, then using his water aether to drag him down.

“pfft. I know that, Calbert, I wasn’t going to do anything.” Callan said, but he wasn’t convincing. “I am going to speak with Eduard about it tonight.”

“Do you think he will help?” Calbert said as they turned off the main pathway and headed down a narrower street. Felicity and Shane with matching pace some distance behind them.

“He will. Nobody threatens our family and gets away with it.” Callan said with a huff as a hot rage flared, causing him to grind his teeth.

***

The setting sun cast shadows through the window panes as Callan marched down the hallway of the Heversham townhouse. He had stayed here every year since turning twelve. The hallways were just as familiar to him as the manor back in Talbour. At first, it had only been a couple months of the year as he accompanied his Father and brother during the social season. Then Kara had joined them on her twelve year as he turned sixteen. After joining the Army at eighteen, he grew more settled in the townhouse than in Talbour, now only visiting Talbour for a couple months a year. Sometimes, he hadn’t even gone back when he hadn’t joined the expedition to the deadlands.

Callan’s expression pinched as he stopped at a vase resting on a stand in the hallway. Kara had bought it to brighten the place up when she visited. He touched the fragile porcelain gently. Lynette had never been here. Roger Heversham had never wanted to bring her on the journey, worried she would disgrace them in some way publicly like she did in Talbour. Callan had understood his judgement, having heard the sorted stories of her actions whilst he and Eduard were away in Zromore. Now?

He pulled his hand back and continued forward in the direction of his destination. Lynette’s actions were probably his fault; he acted like a jealous, ignorant fool when he lied to his Father about his mother’s necklace.

Raising his hand, he knocked on his brother’s door. The servants had informed him he had returned. It had surprised Callan that Eduard had arrived a little over two hours after he did. Usually, they arrived at the same time. What had Eduard been doing after the Empress’s greeting?

No answer came from the door, disgruntling Callan. He wasn’t going to wait. He wasn’t some servant who had to await his brother’s beckon. Rather heavy-handed, Callan pushed open the door with strength as he stormed into his brother’s room.

“Eduard, we need to talk!” he called as he shut the door behind him but found himself faced with an empty room. “What... where..” he began to look around before spotting the steam floating out of a door on the right of the room.

“Oh”, Callan straightened as he realised he had just barged in on Eduard whilst he was bathing. “hmm. May as well wait then.” he shrugged and pulled out the chair from under Eduard’s desk. The chair scraped against the hardwood floors before he slumped into it, leaning back and letting his arms dangle over the arms. He felt a little deflated, having been prepared to argue with his brother, but now found himself waiting patiently.

Eduard’s room was similar to Callan’s. They were all the same in these townhouses. Not many of them varied in structure, having been mass-built from the same designs. It made It easier for the servants to navigate as they often changed houses if they were empty for some time when nobles returned to their home cities. Each had a private en-suite bathroom with a working Aether-tapped bath, shower and lavatory. The rooms had double four-post beds with patterned screens separating the area from a small sitting space. Most had a table and padded chairs for guests in their sitting areas. However, Eduard had removed them years ago and instead installed an office of sorts. A desk, a shelf filled with books and two chairs were all he had. He was never fond of guests.

The steam and sound of running water stopped perking Callan up from his slouch. After a moment, the bathroom door opened. Eduard stepped out into his room, rubbing a white towel on his tousled dark brown hair, glaring at Callan.

“Callan. It’s rude to enter someone’s room without permission,” Eduard chided as he tightened the belt on his trousers.

“You didn’t answer. I wasn’t going to wait at your door like an idiot.” Callan rolled his eyes, picking up a dark blue shirt laid on his desk and throwing it at his brother. “Put this on, will you? We need to talk.” he averted his gaze from his brother’s bare skin. It always made Callan uncomfortable to see his brother’s scars.

Eduard grabbed the shirt with a heavy sigh, dropping the towel into a basket of laundry for the servants to collect. He raised his hand over his scared arms, pulling the water off his skin with a flick of his wrist. The dozens of two equally distanced puncture scars lightened their tone as his skin dried before Eduard pulled on the shirt. It was rare to see them, as Eduard always covered them with his clothes.

“What is it that has you so impatient?” Eduard crossed the room towards Callan, pulling out the second chair behind his desk.

“It’s about Lynette,” Callan said, shifting to face his brother. Eduard narrowed his eyes at the mention of Lynette’s name.

“What did she do?” he said in a lower tone of apprehension.

“Nothing.” Callan frowned at his brother’s first reaction. Did Eduard always react like this? Did he?

“Then why are you here.” Eduard sighed, the tension from his shoulders relaxing.

“It’s about-” Callan hesitated, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, and he prepared. “It’s about what I did to her.”

Eduard released a heavy sigh, raising his hand to his temple as he worked a knot that beginning to form. “Callan, I’m sure whatever you did, Lynette will soon forget about it.”

“No!” Callan raised his voice, making Eduard pause his eyes at his intensity. “She won’t. She said she can’t trust me yet. I need to make amends to her.”

“What on Urish did you do that you need to amendments for. Lynette had caused us enough trouble that you should have nothing to apologise for.” Eduard said sceptical.

Callan looked away from Eduard, choosing to look at his hands as he flexed them. “I lied about Mother’s necklace.”

Silence beckoned between the two as Eduard absorbed what his brother confessed to him.

“Mother gave Lynette her necklace?” Eduard asked, his voice quiet.

“Yes,” Callan said, ashamed as his eyebrows knitted. “Kara needs to give it back.”

A loud thump struck out.

Callan fell back on his chair with a clatter, clutching his right cheek as his eyes swivelled to Eduard. Eduard stood, his hand squeezing tightly into a fist as he glowed down at his brother.

“How dare you!” Eduard shouted with a rage Callan had not experienced from his usually well-polished brother. “Do you know what that made Father think of her, what I thought of her after that!”

“I know!” Callan stumbled out of the chair on the floor as he picked himself up. “I know, all right! I was an idiot, I didn’t think! I just didn’t want her to have mothers necklace when she didn’t even give me anything!” Callan screamed back at his brother, his face numb where he had been struck.

“And you think that petty jealousy gave you the right to take it away from Lynette!?” Eduard gritted his teeth. “It’s no wonder she doesn’t trust you!”

“That’s why I’m trying to make amends to her!” Callan held out his arms in frustration. “I didn’t know that Father resented her so much after that. I didn’t know the servants started to give her that foul shit because of that! I thought she was just acting out. I thought she was just acting spoiled whilst we were in Zromore!”

“Then pray tell me, Callan. What made you suddenly have this realisation that what you did had consequences?” Eduard glowered at his useless younger brother.

“She told me herself!” Callan exclaimed, causing Eduard’s eyes to widen.

“She told you?” he replied, his voice lowered in surprise.

“Yes.” Callan sighed, picking up the chair. He slowly sat back down, rubbing his cheek. “She told me during the march.”

“She didn’t say anything about it to me.” Eduard frowned as he also sat back down, his rage simmering down.

“She tried to tell us before,” Callan mumbled as he felt a pit of guilt.

“What do you mean?” Eduard probed, confused.

Callan bit the inside of his cheek. He had been going over many things in his mind since Lynette had told him what his petty lie had done to her.

“Remember when we were still kids? She flipped that table, complaining about the food. Father was going to…” Callan paused as his eyes glanced towards Eduard’s arms. “You stepped in and sent her to her room as punishment.”

Eduard froze, his hand stilling on his head as he rubbed his temples. The memory flashed of such an event. She had practically destroyed the dining room that day. Her outrageous behaviour had infuriated Father. She had broken dozens of plates and splintered the wood table when she flipped it over. She had said something about the food, but she had lied so many times before that he nor their Father had believed her.

“I remember,” Eduard said sullenly.

“I need to make amends to her, Eduard.” Callan pursed his lips. “Her engagement needs to be dissolved.”

“What?” Eduard shook his head out of his stupor. “Why? Lord Asher was gracious enough to keep the engagement despite what she did with Lord Hudson.” Eduard’s eyes twitched. “There won’t be many other offers for her.”

“Maybe not, but she can’t be with that sick little man. Lynette told me what he tried to do to her.”

“What did she tell you?”

“How he tried to force himself on her during the march. He’s a wretched man.” Callan spat, his anger flaring just thinking of Garret Asher.

Eduard found himself pausing for the third time during this discussion. He looked at his brother’s irritated face as he started to tap his foot, the tell-tale sign he was struggling to hold back his emotions. Eduard couldn’t help a feeling of jealousy as he watched him. Why was Lynette opening up like this to Callan?

“That is not something for us to decide,” Eduard replied as he looked at the letter on his desk. Lynette’s crying face when she shared his tent repeated itself in his mind. “I will hand in Father’s request for her blood contract revocation tomorrow morning. Once she is safe back in Talbour, I will discuss this matter with Father.”

“You can’t seriously still want to send her back to Talbour!?” Callan sat up straight, his hand slamming against Eduard’s desk.

Eduard folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. He took a deep breath as he focused on himself. “You would rather she die on patrol? Use your head Callan. Lynette doesn’t have the capacity to become a Summoner. They will be making her a foot-guard. She hasn’t got the temperament for battle. She won’t survive for long once they send her to an assignment.”

“But then she will have to marry that bastard!” Callan Swifty flung his hand, knocking off a pile of paperwork and an ink pot onto the floor. “I promised her I wouldn’t let that happen!”

“Then you were foolish.” Eduard held back his emotions, tampering them down deep within his gut. He had to maintain control. He was the heir of the Hevershams. He had to do as his Father taught him. He had to keep his family safe.

“You have no say in her marriage Callan. We also have no evidence of what she insinuated Lord Asher did to her. She had made it clear she did not want to marry Lord Asher before we left on the march. This could be another rouse of hers, just like what she did with Lord Hudson.”

“You still doubt her?” Callan said, shocked. “After everything I just said?”

Eduard’s temple twitched at Callan’s statement. “I can only help when I know she is safe. That is in Talbour, not here. I will be handing in Father’s request.”

“Hah.” Callan made a chortled sound as he flopped back into his chair deflated. “I see. This must be what she has been dealing with.”

“What are you spouting now.” Eduard was slowly losing control as he tightened his arms closer to his chest.

“You know, since we left Talbour, did you notice?” Callan said numbly.

“Notice what?” Eduard replied.

“Lynette hasn’t once called Roger Father.”

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The last Patreon Exclusive for a while! I will be working on Book Two fully now! (Woop Woop)

Did any of you catch what I implied here about Eduard's and Lynette's past? O.o I wonder how this changes people's opinions of him? If any at all :P