Page 47 of Dark's Savior

Aly thought for a moment on whether she should ask further, understanding it seemed deeply personal to him. But by his calm reply, she felt it was safe to continue. "Why did they?"

Ryziel turned his head slightly toward her. He did not reply right away, and Aly waited patiently, understanding if he didn't want to answer and say any more about it.

"I was...I am different from my kind. When I was born, instead of hiding me from sight, my father chose to use me for his own insidious purposes. I became his weapon in exacting justice and fear in those who opposed him. I was trained to fight, to use my differences to his advantage. When I grew, I accepted my place and my position as it was the only way I was allowed to be considered his son and be a part of his house. But...one day, I refused his order. My uncle, who had hated me from the beginning, convinced my father I would someday overthrow him if not kill him. My father, afraid of this possibility, chose to cast me from his house and send me here as punishment for defying him."

Aly listened to all this with silent awe. "Well...you certainly got me beat."

"Eh?"

"I only got thrown out ‘cause I didn't care to work in the family business. And be forced to comply with my family’s outrageous rules. Work for them, get married to some friend of the family, make babies who would eventually be subjected to the same rules, and never leave Earth...I forced myself to endure until I was out of school. Then no more."

Ryziel glanced back at her with a curious gaze then grunted. "It is...hard when you cannot be what they want."

"It is," Aly agreed. She watched his back for a long moment and frowned. "And I think I'm fine with never going back, honestly. To them, anyway. There are other places I could go." Aly went quiet as they walked then continued with, "Do you think they will take you back when you return?"

Ryziel took a moment again to answer then said, "My father is dead. Only my uncle remains. It is my brother I wish to return to. He will accept me back...once my uncle is dealt with."

Aly didn't dare ask what he meant by 'dealt with.' It was his business alone, and honestly, his uncle did sound like an ass. If she thought to judge Ryziel on his actions, she kept her opinion to herself. "My siblings wouldn't take me back. It's good you have a brother who will. He sounds like a good guy."

Ryziel turned his head and grunted again. "I haven't spoken to him in a long time. They've made sure of that. But I know I can trust him still. I know when the ship is ready and we leave Lethe Maws, that I will speak to him again. He will not stop me from returning and challenging my uncle. And then I will be by his side."

Aly smiled behind him, though a strange pang of some deeper emotion stabbed at her, and she realized it came from the thought that once they left the mines and he dropped her and her crew off somewhere, she wouldn't see him again. She didn't understand why, yet this bothered her. She didn't know him that well still, but she felt a connection through this shared confession.

"I hope it all works out for you," she said softly.

Ryziel looked back at her, and his eyes lingered longer than usual before turning away. "You as well."

***

They returned back to the Keep without issue. Ryziel, however, still forced Aly to hang onto his belt, even with Xilya at their back just as a precaution. Nothing crossed their path, though they heard the sounds of beasts moving about in the darkness. None drew near, and Ryziel hoped it was because they could sense him and knew enough not to come close. Once they made it to the chamber with the abundant source of minerals, they got to work right away.

Through the course of his work, Ryziel found his eyes drifting back over to Aly, watching her intently. When he realized he was staring, he brushed it off and went back to work. He thought about their talk on the way to the lair and how he had confessed so much to her. Things only Xilya and Nar knew of. Things he didn't expect to tell anyone else. But he didn't regret it or feel upset. In fact, he felt better after telling her, maybe because he had felt guilty about what had happened the day before. About how his Drega had slipped again in front of her, and in response, he had shunned her. He'd felt confused at first as to why he felt so guilty. It wasn't like him to be ashamed about avoiding someone when his emotions ran high. But with Aly, it just seemed different. Maybe because she didn't understand. She was so innocent. This led to him feeling the need to apologize (something he wasn't used to), and when she asked him about his past, he felt strangely obligated to answer her. As if her knowing would make her understand.

Though he still hadn't mentioned anything about his Drega, about why he was different from his kin other than in just a physical sense alone. That was something, perhaps, for another time, but he had a feeling he couldn't avoid the subject for long, not if another incident like the day before happened again.

He caught himself staring at her again from across the chamber as his thoughts wandered. He watched her delicate little hands brushing at the rock as pieces crumbled and slid from the wall. How it would feel to have those hands sliding across his chest and stomach. He thought of her hand pressing against him the night he had carried her back to the lair, and a low growl slipped his throat. Embarrassed, he turned away quickly and focused more sharply on the cave wall before him, forcing his mind back to his work and nothing else.

"Nihl Ryziel, I think it’s time we left."

Frowning, Ryziel looked back and saw Xilya and Aly sitting nearby, their mineral canisters already full and tightly shut, ready to return to the lair. Ryziel looked down at his own and saw his canister, too, was full to the brim with another pile of minerals scattered around it. Cursing silently, Ryziel moved from the wall. Hours must have gone by, but he somehow hadn't noticed.

Chapter Eighteen

They had gone one whole week down in the Keep without one major incident. Major being a cave tunnel falling in on them or a nyghi (or anything just as foul) finding them. And, though it was still taking more time than he liked to acquire the necessary minerals, Ryziel was pleased with the progress they had made so far now that Aly was aiding them. As she was able to squeeze into some of the more narrow holes that he and Xilya couldn't get to, she had helped greatly in extracting those minerals they desperately needed. She worked efficiently enough and, though Ryziel a few times had to remind her to not wander away and to be more quiet while they worked or made their trek, she complied and did not argue, cooperating with him and Xilya as best she could.

He still had to prepare himself for the worst every time they made a trip down to the Keep, to meditate and calm himself beforehand as fear still gripped him every time he forced her to travel down, afraid of the dangers that lurked close by. And to calm his Drega, which he had to do after he sent her back up as well.

He sat on his bed now, breathing slowly in and out, trying to force his mind into a state of black nothingness. Trying not to think about how Aly looked at him in the dark when she thought he didn't see. Or her instant reaction to rush close beside him whenever something slithered past a cave nearby, looking to him for protection, then smiling with relief when he told her everything was fine. Trying not to think about how she had brought herself against him the time the baelev attacked her. Trying not to think about her at all.

Ryziel closed his eyes. The ship's front exterior was nearly done. Nar had done a good job at fixing it. The shell of the ship would be completed in only another week’s time. There was only the interior left and the fuel. The ionx they still had yet to discover, but the tracer was looking, and something had to turn up eventually.

Black nothingness. His mind went blank, and he breathed in slowly.

A trace of a flowery scent caught in his nostrils, a phantom scent that lingered even after she was gone. Ryziel drew his lids open and found himself on the terrace of his father's house, the First House, the ruling house above all others. He sat on a bench, the sun at the edge of the horizon. The first night of the month was upon him. The flowery scent from the plants surrounding the terrace caught again in his nose, and he inhaled slowly then rose to stand.

"Nihl Ryziel..."

He turned toward the feminine voice and saw the nillium female before him, tall, slender, golden, and beautiful in her black slip of a dress.

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