Page 90 of Feathers and Thorns

Rook laughed coldly, taking her words as a sort of cruel joke. He had accepted a long time ago that he had no true family. The thought was ludicrous.

“But how?” Soren asked, still in shock at the news. She could not comprehend that the two most important people in her life, apart from Baz, of course, could possibly be related. Though, she had to admit that the thought warmed her. “It would have been before you were born. He’s older than you.”

Rook realized now they were not trying to play a trick on him and immediately rounded on Enara, questions coming out one after another as fast as arrows from an archer’s bow. “Where did your family originate? Who is your mother? What was her maiden name? Did anyone in your family have hair like mine?”

“Slow down!” Enara snapped. “I know as much as you do, so take it down a peg, will you?”

“I’m sorry,” he replied sincerely. “I grew up amongst animals. My father took me from my mother. I did not think of the possibility that I had other family members.”

“What about you?” Enara asked, returning fire as she pinned him with questions of her own. “Where were you born? Who was your mother?”

“I never knew her name,” Rook replied. “Adriel found me as an infant, in the woods, on the twenty-ninth day of the autumn tide.”

At this, Soren placed a hand on his forearm, garnering his gaze. “You never told me that it was your birthday a few days ago.”

“It hardly seemed important with everything going on,” he replied quietly.

“You are important to me,” Soren said, looking into his glacier eyes.

The ice in them melted slightly before Enara’s comment broke through their moment.

She stared off into the distance as she said, “My brother was born that day.”

“Enara,” Baz said, pulling her close to him, “I thought you mentioned that your brother passed after childbirth.”

“That’s the story my father told my mother,” she said, her voice sounding far away. “My mother lost a lot of blood. She was not conscious at the time.”

“So, you have no proof that your brother actually died?”

“I don’t know,” Enara said, wringing her hands together. “I mean, there was a gravestone, and Mother said people in town attended the funeral.”

“Wouldn’t the city watch have to investigate?” Baz asked.

“Not if it was medical. They only investigate if there is just cause or reasonable suspicion.”

“Did your parents have any other siblings? Could he be a distant cousin or something?” Jai asked, trying to help.

Enara shook her head. “Mother lost her sister when they were children, a freak accident with a runaway carriage, and my grandfather only ever wanted a son, so my father was an only child.”

“Where did she live when this happened?” Rook asked.

“They lost him shortly after they moved to Vreburn. My father had received an offer for a position on the council, but they used to live in Southern Estelar.”

Rook sucked a breath in through his teeth, and Soren could feel him go rigid beside her.

“That is where my father found me,” he said, his voice a low whisper.

“So, that means …” Baz started.

“You’re my brother,” Enara said, putting the pieces together.

“And you’re my sister.” The words fell from Rook’s lips like droplets from a cloud. Then the pressure in his chest became so heavy that it finally burst into an emotional storm of rage and sadness.

“All this time!” he yelled to no one in particular. “All this time, I had a family and did not even know. All this time …” His voice trailed off as his throat constricted with tears. He turned from the group to blink them away, allowing the anger for his father and his lies to twist the protective thorns back around his breaking heart, piecing it together like a dying botanical sculpture.

“Hey,” Soren said, trying to push back the brittle wood and spikes. “Do not let him have this power over you.” Then she locked eyes with Enara. “Or you.”

Enara’s fists were clenched, and Baz was hovering beside her, giving her some space to vent her anger. “Even in death, he still finds ways to hurt me,” she said, grinding her teeth together.

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