Molun moved protectively in front of him, Arvus tucking him up beside him.
“I don’t want to make you unhappy again,” the smaller man said.
Which was not… Molun and Arvus both turned to look at him. That was definitely not the normal sort of answer that you’d give to that question. And even though it didn’t make sense, even though it wasabsurd, really, Cormal already knew the answer.
“Another grand-nibling?” he asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.
Whatever this was, it wasn’tthisman’s fault.
The man shook his head, licked his lips, and then ventured, “You’re my uncle.”
Cormal looked at the others, who looked as shocked as he did.
“But not related to them?” He pointed at Livala and her family.
He shook his head, a short negation. “My mother didn’t show any signs of magic by eighteen, either. I’m Trill.”
Cormal nodded, mind feeling a little too numb to completely process. “Threehidden families. My mother exposed me, but the rest of you stayed hidden. Until now.” He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Well, I almost wish my father were alive so that he’d have to deal with the consequences of his actions, but I suspect it’s better for all of us that he’s not. I’m Cormal, for those of you who haven’t been formally introduced to me, currently Summus of the Mage Warriors. I’ve probably acted more like my father than I wanted to, but I’m doing my very best to do better about that now.”
He drew another deep breath. “Trill, Livala, Tramon, uh, Livala’s mom.”
“Chima,” she provided.
“Chima,” he added. “You’re all welcome to stay here. If you want to stay while Livala trains, we’ll host you. If you’d like to stay for the first little while, make sure she gets settled in, you can do that. Regardless, she’ll be able to write to you, and youcan always come and visit. Once she has enough training, she can go visit you, though we might need a Water Mage to escort her the first few times. We can definitely figure this out. Trill, you’re welcome to stay, too. Maybe we can get the chance to know one another as well.”
Given how Arvus and Molun were hovering, Cormal was pretty sure that wasn’t theonlyreason he was here, and he didn’t want to mess anything up making assumptions about why the man had come or what he might have found when he got here.
“I’d like that,” Trill said, giving him a slightly nervous smile.
Which, fair, Cormal had just lobbed enough fireballs to destroy a small town.
“I feel certain that it’s time for a meal,” he continued. He’d entirely lost track of what time of day it was. “Would anyone like to eat?”
Livala and her family accepted, and Trill looked uncertain.
“You’re all welcome,” Cormal said, making sure to include Molun and Arvus.
The two of them tucked Trill up even closer between them, but Molun said, “Dinner sounds great.”
Maybe he just wanted to be there in case Cormal tried to set everything on fire again. Given how the day had gone so far, Cormal was honestly kind of happy a Water Mage would be close by.
Cormal had been angry about whathe’d lost, but he’d been angry about what everyone else had lost, too. Since he’d already raged about that, the best thing he could think to do now was to bring them all together, to try to undo some of the damage his father had wrought and make everyone welcome.
Cormal suddenly had four relatives right here with him, people who were connected to him by blood. They weren’t likely to suddenly become a perfect family. No doubt, they had theirown families already. Maybe they were going to realize that they didn’t even want to be friends. But up until this afternoon, Cormal had thought he was alone in the world, and now he knew that wasn’t true. He had half-siblings, niblings, and grand-nieces. He might have evenmorefamily; he’d need to ask them more questions later.
Tramad had been selfish and greedy. Cormal was going to be better than his father.
Chapter Fifteen
Trill
When the novice had come running for Molun and said that he was needednowin the small training room, Trill had been with him, and he’d grabbed the man’s arm and pushed an extra boost of energy into him so that it was easier for him to get down those stairs in a hurry and rush to the room in question.
Trill hadn’t had the slightest idea what to expect, but it definitely wasn’t his uncle practically wreathed in flames and more people suddenly revealed to be family members. (Arvus had quickly muttered what was happening to Molun when he arrived.) It shouldn’t have actually been surprising, once Trill thought about it. If the man had abandoned Trill’s grandmother and mother, why wouldn’t he have done it to others? But ithadbeen a surprise.
And then there was theotherthing that had stunned Trill completely speechless. He’d never met the Prince before, and under what he was pretty sure were any other circumstances, his stunned amazement would probably have been questioned.
Thankfully, in the midst of all the other shocking news, Trill didn’t have to come up with a lie to cover how he’d never, in his whole entire life, not in all the time since he’d learned what he was, seen a person who looked like the Prince. He wasallenergy. It was almost too much for Trill’s eyes to comprehend. It wasn’t until the Prince tried to touch Cormal and couldn’t that Trill realized the Prince… wasn’t solid?
