Emma waited for Liron on the roof terrace of their inn. Shielded by the trees growing alongside it, it offered a great view of Sira-Do and the fields surrounding the small city. She sat on a bench, playing with a flower in her hand. It had started to wither, the first petals falling down.
"Took you long enough," Emma said, having heard Liron climbing the stairs.
"Would have come early, but you couldn't be bothered to drag your ass out o' your bed," Liron replied.
He stopped at the doorway leading to the roof terrace, watching the back of Emma's head. She had tied her hair in a messy bun. It was her. He still couldn't believe it.
Emma slapped the place next to her. "Come here now. Don't act shy."
Liron hesitated for a moment, but he did so after all. He sat down next to her, wringing his hands. He wanted nothing but to see and talk to her. Now that he had his wish, he didn't know what to do. What would be said with all his dark thoughts raging inside his head?
Emma struggled too, neither saying anything. "Ehr," she started, slowly spinning the flower in her hands. "I… I don't know where to start."
"Same," Liron sighed.
They didn't look at each other, keeping their heads straight at the sight before them. "It's beautiful," Liron said.
Emma nodded. "It is."
Liron played with his thumbs. "Why… why don't you… like… tell me what happened since… that day."
"When you became the Empire's most wanted man?"
"I… I don't think I actually am. Angin, the Alchemist, said they don't see me like that. I'm like a… symbol. Proof that they can be put down, but folks in the Resistance are more dangerous, like Wran and so on."
"I get that. Ehr… so, sure. I can tell you about the shit show I went through."
Emma and Liron explained what had happened to each other. Her days in captivity, meeting Adenius, their strange meeting, finding the tree, and activating her Gate. The part when she had discovered their parent's fate made her pause, tears glimmering in her eyes. Liron rubbed her shoulder, helping her to relive this moment.
Liron's story was twice as long as Emma's. He described the escape from Lance, the journey through the wild with Angin, their battle against Amor, and their days in Kupferrang. Emma grew horrified at her brother's tale, struggling to believe what she listened to.
"You little liar," she joked, her eyes weary. "You… you're tryin' to tell me that all o' this happened?"
Liron looked at his sister, letting his eyes convince her. They had dulled, aged in the trials and violence he had survived and had enacted on others. Emma paled, squashing the flower in her hand. She pressed her thumb into a thorn, cursing as the flower drew her blood.
"Here," Liron said, pulling out a handkerchief. Janloo had provided them with new clothes, all in their style, as theirs was beyond salvation. He held his sister's hand in his, wiping the blood away. He held onto her, patting her fingers even as no crimson oozed from her wound. As their mother, Emma's skin bore the fruits of her labor in the tannery, thick with calluses.
They remained as such until Emma's lips quivered. "Do… do you feel… responsible for what has happened in Kupferrang?"
Liron said nothing, letting go of her hand. He turned back towards the golden sight ahead, searching for beauty to battle against the ugly things inside him. "Yeah," he said.
Emma snorted. "You shouldn't. Was my fault. Could have just smashed my head against the wall until the lights went out for good. Would have saved you all a lot o' trouble."
"Emma, don't joke about things like that."
"Why not? It's the truth. You should have abandoned me. You risked too much. And I like myself, but I'm not worth losin' an entire city over. You thought the same, right? Don't lie to me. I know you well enough."
"Em, don't say shit like that. Ever."
Emma examined her brother, unconvinced, but she ceased arguing. They sat there, the silence like a third person sitting between them, preventing them from getting closer.
"Your Conduit," Liron said. Not the best, but at least a beginning. "It does… fuck with the senses of others, right?"
Emma nodded. "Yeah. I think I can alter my voice and appearance. My Gate and Conduit work well together. My Gate is fog, and it already... makes it hard to see right. The mask it changin' my voice, completin' my illusion."
"Illusions, aye," Liron said, smirking. "That's the road you wanna go down?"
"I like it," she said. "It has… ehr… what's the word? Ah, grace! It has grace to it. Unlike yours."
Liron narrowed his eyes, sneering. "My Magic is a thing o' beauty, you oaf."
"You just explode things."
"No. I combine my explosions with my fencing and my smoke. I can also fuck with what my enemies see, heating up my blade with my embers, and, if need be, yeah, explode things. My Gate's just better than yours, Em."
"Really, then why was I the one to stab Trisa in the neck?"
As soon as her words escaped her mouth, both looked away. The past leaped onto their shoulders, burying them in the memory of their actions.
"Feels weird to have killed someone," Emma said.
Liron said nothing.
Emma noticed his silence. "You've really killed folk. Do… how was it?"
Liron chuckled, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Like I'm gutted. Like I'm not human anymore. But do you wanna know the shitty part? I kinda liked it. It did feel good. To have someone who wants me dead, for whatever reason, and serve 'em right back. Like me killin' 'em proves I'm worth a damn. That… I can force change.
"This feeling pops up in my head for like a moment, and I do feel good. But it goes as fast as it shows up. And let me tell you, I feel like the worst cunt afterward. I mean, isn't that proof the assholes in Eisenrahm were right? Perhaps I am a Child of Drom, after all."
Emma didn't know what to say. She simply listened, tensing up at her brother's description. She reached out to him, wanting to pet his back, but Liron shifted in his seat, making her retreat.
"Sorry," Liron laughed. "Way to ruin the mood, huh?"
They both shared a hollow chuckle. Her eyes spoke volumes of what she wanted to say, but she knew her brother would refuse. So, she changed strategies.
Emma threw away the flower, playing with a strand of her hair that escaped the bun. "I gotta say, you've found interesting folk."
Liron smiled. "Yeah. They're all Resistance, Emma."
"I know. They're… not as I imagined them. Especially Zonis. He still freaks me out."
"Was the same with me, too. But he's better than most men."
Emma grinned. "He's like… a grandpa."
Liron nodded. "Like he's meant to tell good night stories to children."
"Yeah. I think I like him. Will take some time to get used to seein' a Qilesh, but knowin' you like him will make it easier. Jean, though, will be impossible."
Liron grunted. "He can be…"
"What a fuckin' prick. He moves around like he's better than us while having something deep up his ass."
"You should see him around Gabriella. He's very easy to fuck with."
"I can believe that. We need to do that. He's beggin' for it."
Liron giggled. "He is."
"Yeah. His entire demeanor screams for it. He's perfect for it. We should start simple, though, and see how long it takes for him to lose his shit."
Liron's laugh grew, and his head slipped on Emma's shoulder. She joined in, her brother's enthusiasm contagious. But as his laughter escalated, turning hysterical, his lips began to shake. His features twisted, and he clawed into Emma's hair. Tears poured down his cheeks, and he struggled to breathe through his sobs.
"I thought I had lost you," Liron whispered, pressing himself against his sister. "I thought I had failed you, too. You nearly died. Em, I'm sorry. All… all this happened because of me. Please… I didn't want any o' this. Please, forgive me. I… I killed mother and father. It's all my fault."
Once Liron lost all composure, so did Emma. Any restraint that had held her back melted into bitter tears. She pulled Liron close, refusing to let go of him. "It's not… not your fault," she cried. "Never say anything like this ever again. You didn't kill ma and pa. Adenius did. You didn't throw me in prison. The Inquisition did.
"Liron… I… I was so afraid. After what they did to ma and pa, I… I didn't want to die, too. Fuck, I was so afraid, but you saved me. You didn't run away. Thank you. Thank you for coming for me. For… for not abandoning me."
"Never," Liron breathed. "I would never leave you behind," Liron pulled himself free, holding Emma's face, wet with tears. He brushed them away from her cheeks with his thumbs. "Remember what I told you? I said we would make it out of this shithole together. No matter what, nothing will separate us. Do you hear me? Be it the Inquisition, the Empire, or the Qilesh. Where you go, so will I.
"Em… you were right. With everything. About the Empire, their lies… everything. I should have listened to you. If I had, instead of being an arrogant prick, things…"
"Hush," Emma intervened. "You know that's not true. You had all the reasons not to listen to me. I'm not good at convincing either. We are back together. That's what is important."
Liron smiled, but it soured. He hung his head. "Em… we are Resistance from now on. We owe them our lives. What I've told you… all the fighting and death… this is our fate now. We…"
"I don't care," Emma said, shrugging. "I don't care, Liri. This world is shit. It's horrible. It never wasted one thought on us. If we have to spend what time we have left dying in a pointless war, at least I can die with you. Liron, look at me. You are not alone. Whatever bullshit your head is telling you, whatever it's tryin' to convince you of, you are not alone. If you are a Ravenspawn, so am I. If they say you are the doom of Ekon and Harras' children, so am I. Wherever this one will go, we will be together."
Liron fell apart. For all this time, he had faced his darker thoughts, but he kept the hurt at arm's bay. He had built walls as high as mountains, and thick as the ground itself. He had fought day and night, enduring the siege on his heart. But for the first time, he felt not alone. For the first time, he had Emma allowed to step in, seeing what her brother had turned into.
What a fool he was for doubting. As Liron collapsed in his sister's arms, both reduced to the pain they had carried for too long, he remembered Angin's words. Sometimes, you don't need repetition to learn your lesson. But only if you were willing to learn.
Liron was. He had learned.