Page 42 of Storms & Sacrifice
“We wanted to see if we could be of any help.”Who is this “we” hespeaks of?
“Rurig will love that.” Jarek smiles, knowing his husband.
“Actually, where is Yogik?” Khazak asks after his brother, the family’s middle child.
“I believe he is in the kitchen as well,” Jarek replies, nodding.
“Perfect. Would you mind taking David to say hello to Ayla and the others?”Huh?“Yogik and I need to have a discussion, and then we will join you.”Uh oh.
“...Sure thing.” Jarek looks at his stepson questioningly before leading me fromthe hall.
Jarek walks me into the living room, or the den, or whatever they call the room with the couches and fireplaces around here. Ayla, Khazak’s twin sister is here, as are his younger siblings Urzsa and Ignatz. They look different, their hair color now a matching red. They’re playing some sort of board game at a table in the corner, barely lifting their eyes at ourentrance.
“David!” Ayla gets up from her seat to greet me. “It is good to see you again.”
“You too, Ayla.” I happily return her hug. Khazak’s sister just returned from a year-long globe-spanning trip, and frankly, I think she’s awesome.
“Ignatz? Ursza, do you want to say—?” The two young orcs grunt and half-wave in my direction, making their father sigh. “Sorry about them.”
“It’s okay, I have a younger sister.”At least there’s only one of her.
“Were we like that when we were younger?” Ayla asks, nodding her head in theirdirection.
“Antisocial? No. Quiet? Yes, you and Khazak were, at least.” Jarek sounds more amused by his children’s behavior than anything else. “Yogik nevershut up.”
“So, David, did you enjoy the festival last week?” Ayla asks me. I hesitantly open my mouth to answer before she holds her hand up. “We don’t need any of the details, just a generalquestion.”
“It was...a lot of fun.” I think carefully about how to word my responses here. “It was also kind of crazy? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anything like that anywhere else in the world.”If there are, I’d like to know about them.
“Imagine how popular it would be if people actually knew about our city,” Jarek adds. “What about Khazak? Did he have a good time?”
“Yeah, he was practically giddy.” I remember how excited he was at times. “All the food, the drinking, the dancing...”
“Wait, you actually gotKhazaktodance?” Ayla looks shocked at my news. “Mybrother?”
“I mean, beer was involved, so I don’t think I can take all the credit.” I’ll keep the story of how he got jealous to myself forhis sake.
“He has been waiting for years to have someone he could take.” I remember Ragnar saying something similar. Both Ayla and Jarek look genuinely happy to hear about Khazak and thefestival.
“I didn’t even find out he was named after your great-great-great—” I circle my finger in the air a few times since I’m not sure how many times I need to say that. “—great grandfather until we saw the play on thelast day.”
“Really?” Ayla looks curious. “I’m surprised he was able to keep that to himself considering how obsessed he was with that story when we were teenagers.”
“‘Obsessed’ is a strong word,” Jarek counters. “It is also an accurate word.”Maybe not.“Khazak had always taken a small amount of pride in being named after one of V’rok’sh Tah’lj’s founders, but once he was old enough to learn more about the rest of Khazak Steelrun’s life, he really connectedwith it.”
“‘Connected?’ David, he bought his first boyfriend a collar,” Ayla deadpans. “It was weird.”
“It wasadorable,” Jarek defends his stepson from his stepdaughter. “Poor thing was heartbroken when the boy rejected it. Barely came out of his room for weeks.”
Aww, I can just picture a sad little Khazak (okay, notthatlittle) crying into his pillow over a boy he liked. It is both one of the cutest and saddest things I can imagine. It also makes me realize even more how important me wearing Khazak’s collar is to him. He had it specially made, his family’s crest engraved intothe lock.
Ayla and Jarek are both chuckling when we see Khazak entering the room with Yogik in tow, and all three of us quickly straighten our posture.That was obvious.
Khazak gives us a weird look but doesn’t say anything before pushing his brother forward. “Yogik has something he would like to tell you, David.”
“Yes.” Yogik looks back at his brother, annoyed, but continues somewhat stiffly. “I am very sorry if anything I said last time you were here made you uncomfortable. I was only joking, but it was still inappropriate.”
“Thanks.”Okay, this is pretty funny.“I, uh, accept yourapology.”
