Page 26 of Whispers of the Water

“Maybe we should—”

My words were cut off as a knock came at the door. Rune nearly leapt for the door with me right behind him. Newt and Greshim stood there, and it looked like they’d been in the middle of whispering something between each other when the door opened.

As soon as they saw us stepping out into the hall, Greshim offered an apologetic smile. “Sorry for being late. Mother wanted us for some training practice.”

Newt kept his attention on Greshim as he spoke, leaving his head turned so that we couldn’t see the left side.

Stomach plummeting, I gently said, “Newt?”

He glanced at me, and when he did, his head turned just enough that I caught a flash of red on his cheek.

Inhaling sharply, I asked, “What happened to your cheek?”

Rune knelt down and gently grabbed Newt’s chin to turn his head. A fresh cut like that from a clean swipe of a blade ran from the corner of Newt’s nose toward his ear. Newt quickly pulled free from his older brother’s hold to look away from us.

“It’s fine,” Newt grumbled.

Rune’s face contorted with barely contained fury. “It’s not fine. What happened?”

“It was an accident,” Greshim said quietly. His eyes were trained on the floor with his shoulders hunched. “I tried to go easy on him, but Mother kept pushing me to fight like I meant it.”

Newt grabbed Greshim’s arm and tried to make his twin look at him, but Greshim refused to tear his eyes away from the floor. “I’m fine, G-G-Greshim. It’s alm-most healed. I know you didn’t m-m-mean it.”

Rune’s jaw worked as he no doubt tried to reign in his anger. We’d both assumed Myra had been behind the wound, which she was in a way. Instead of physically hurting Newt herself, she’d forced Greshim to do it. The cheerful, carefree boy from yesterday had all but disappeared, and I wanted nothing more than to wrap him in my arms where he would be safe and loved.

Rune reached forward to place a hand on Greshim’s shoulder. The little boy glanced up as Rune said, “It’s not your fault. We all know how Mother can be when it comes to training. I know you both hold back as much as you can. Don’t let her break you or the bond you have. You’re stronger than that. I know you are.” Rune paused a fraction of a second before asking, “Are both of you okay?”

The twins nodded.

Rune studied both of them for another moment before finally taking a deep breath and standing. “Then let’s have some fun, just the four of us. You wanted to give Bria a tour, right?”

This seemed to bring some life back to the boys’ eyes, even Greshim’s. Newt grabbed my hand and pulled me after him while Greshim walked alongside Rune, who lovingly ruffled his little brother’s black locks. Greshim swatted Rune’s hand away with a small laugh as he tried to fix his hair, and Rune chuckled at his efforts.

It seemed Greshim and Newt had all but forgotten about their troubles, for which I was grateful. I was glad Rune and I could provide that distraction.

We started on the third floor, and the twins explained that this was the guest wing. Across the long stretch of hallway—in the east wing of this floor—was Rune’s old room. Curiosity reared its head, and I desperately wanted to explore that wing. That clearly wasn’t part of the itinerary though, because we bypassed that wing in favor of heading downstairs to the second floor.

Rune and I listened as the twins animatedly told me about themselves and all their memories with their older brother. My personal favorite was the time the twins were bored inside the house during a thunderstorm. Rune had gathered both boys, dragged them outside in the pouring rain, and started a game of wet, muddy tag. They’d played for hours, and when they were done, Rune made them hot chocolate and huddled them by the fireplace to close out the day with s’mores and movies.

We reached the second floor and had started for the twins’ room when two Fox Fae came up the set of steps at the other end of the hall. Greshim and Newt immediately went quiet. They stood straighter and moved in closer to me and Rune. I froze and held my breath as the newcomers strolled in our direction. Recognition sparked the closer they got, and I recalled their faces from the images Rune had me study back when first preparing for this charade. It was Lilith and Devoss, Rune’s grandparents. Which was weird since they looked like they would be in their mid-to-late forties.

My God, Fae aged beautifully.

At least that was one thing I had to look forward to.

Lilith’s long, black gown trailed behind her, and her gait was tall and proper. Devoss strode next to her in a dark suit with his head held high. Each of them met my stare with narrowed eyes, their curiosity evident on their pinched faces.

“And who are you?” Lilith demanded. She remained poised with her clawed hands folded in front of her and an unrelenting scowl on her face, which displayed her canines in all their sharp glory.

I plastered on a polite smile and said, “Hi. I’m Bria.”

“She’s my girlfriend,” Rune added.

Devoss gave a slight chuckle as Lilith raised an eyebrow at me. I swallowed hard, feeling Greshim and Newt lean further into my legs. Rune snaked his arm around my waist, which provided the reminder that he was there. I wasn’t alone. Even so, I had no idea what to do or say. All I could remember was that, when it came to his grandparents, I was not supposed to speak unless spoken to first.

“Grandmother, Grandfather,” Rune started to fill the sudden silence. “You’re both looking well.”

“Hmph,” Lilith grumbled. “As are you. I have to admit, though, I don’t understand. You’ve chosen someone of such poor taste when your mother has a fine Fox picked out for you. What are you thinking?”

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