Rathgarr was rubbing at his eyes too, and then angling another furious glare toward Ulfarr and Killik. Who were both frowning back, Killik still with a cold, glinting light in his eyes. “Ach, so if you knew naught about this,” he drawled, “where do you ken you now stand? The arena, mayhap? The library?”
Both Kesst and Rathgarr growled back at him, but then Kesst sighed, and pulled himself a little straighter. “I didn’t think of it again,” he said flatly, “until I asked Grim to send foryou, Rath. And you betrayed yourself, at our very first meeting!”
He was jabbing his shaky-looking finger toward Rathgarr, who was now blinking blankly toward him, his sword now held slack at his side. “How had I…” he began, and then his voice trailed off, his hand again rubbing at his eyes. “Ach. The dagger.”
“Yes, the dagger,” Kesst snapped back, though his voice wavered. “From Father’s hoard. One of his most prized possessions, supposedly forged by Ash-Kai himself. Not even Kaugir would have let that go, and Grim wouldn’t have, either. And whenyouleft” — he jabbed his finger at Rathgarr again — “it wasstill here!”
Rathgarr was still rubbing at his eyes, shaking his head, and Kesst tossed his hair over his shoulder, his own eyes flinty and narrow. “Soyoumiraculously having it, Rath,” he hissed, “meant that either you’d been in contact with someone here, or you acquired it somewhere out there. Either way, something was off, andsomebodyhad been pilfering from that hoard!”
His glare snapped back toward Killik and Ulfarr, to where Ulfarr was still glowering, and Killik was carelessly shrugging, and scraping at his claw. “As part of your mother’s terms,” he replied, “each Skai bound by the vow could take one piece from the hoard, with each summer that passed. How was Ulfarr to know this dagger had worth to you Ash-Kai? It is useless for fighting, and humans will pay senseless sums for such old, crusty orc-forged trinkets.”
Now both Kesst and Rathgarr were glaring at Killik, and this time it was Rathgarr jabbing his finger toward him. “And if this vow Ulfarr made with our mother was so binding, that he could not even tellKesstabout hisown hoard,” he snapped, “then how doyouknow all of this?!”
A decidedly smug expression was creeping across Killik’s face, and he nibbled at his claw before scraping it this time. “Followed him here,” he said, a little too casually. “Then made him tell me, over many days.”
Rathgarr made a face, while Kesst made a distinctive gagging sound, which he abruptly broke off as he glanced over at their listening audience. “Anyway,” Kesst continued, frowning back toward Rathgarr, “it was questionable enough that you evenhadthat dagger, Rath. But then to try to give it to me, on our first meeting, after sixteen years?! It was atrick, you great arsehole. You weretestingme!”
Wait, he was? Geva’s overwhelmed brain was desperately fighting to follow, and she was already shaking her head, because that dagger gift had just been Rathgarr’s thoughtless fumbling… right? So why was Rathgarr grimacing like that, his shoulders sagging, his hand again rubbing at his eyes…
“I was not seeking to trick you, little brother,” he replied, heavy. “But ach, I did not trust you. I could not fathom how this dagger had left the mountain, and I wished to see what you should say. That you had sold it, mayhap. Or it had been stolen from you. I hoped” — he sighed and exhaled — “that you had found the hoard, and a way to wield it.”
Kesst barked a hard laugh, and shook his head. “Well, I didn’t,” he shot back. “And it soon became very clear to me thatyouknew something about the hoard.Youknew Mother was hiding it here, even if you didn’t know exactly where. And you latched onto my invitation to come here, and pretended to want to reconcile with me, so you could find it, and claim it asyours!”
Geva’s stomach plunged, her eyes searching Rathgarr’s face with sudden, frantic disbelief. Because no, no, he’d come here to reconcile with Kesst, he’d said multiple times that had been his highest aim in coming here… right?
But Rathgarr was still squeezing his eyes shut, his hand now dragging through his hair, while visible pain spasmed across his face. And suddenly Geva was remembering that welcome-party in the Ash-Kai common-room, when Rathgarr had publicly made that demand toward Grimarr.You shall swear that our birthright shall be granted back to us, if ever it is found…
“I wished to claim the hoard asours,” Rathgarr finally said, his voice thick. “Ours, brother. Not only mine. I wished to reconcile with you, and I wished to claim my birthright, and I wished to seek vengeance upon those who had stolen it from us. On those who kept me apart from you, and away from my home and my birthright, for all those endless years!”
It sounded like truth, and it looked like truth, the way Rathgarr was glaring over at Ulfarr again, his hand flexing on his sword-hilt. But beside him, Kesst barked a strange, choked laugh, his head whipping back and forth, sending his hair flying out behind him.
“A fair attempt, Rath,” he said. “But you’re forgetting how you kept all this secret from me! You made me figure it out on my own! You didn’t say,Ach, little brother, did you ken our hoard is still here, let us seek it together!”
But that was the sound of Rathgarr’s groan, deep and exasperated, his hand again dragging through his hair. “Ach, I ought to have told you,” he replied. “I see this now. But when I first came here, and you spoke so fiercely of how you had been harmed, I could not bear to add more to this! Do you ken I wished to tell you I had good cause to believe our mother stole from not only our father, but from half the orcs in this mountain? That she hid away your own birthright from you, and thus made you needlessly suffer, so that she might gain more power through you,when the time was right?!”
His voice had risen to mimic a shrill northern accent, and he groaned again, and shook his head. “And the more I learnt here,” he continued, “the more I began to wonder if it wasshewho also plotted my exile, to part me from you, and keep you all to herself. And I thought if I found the hoard, I should learn this for certain — and ach, after many weeks of searching, now I have! And had I not met you here, I would next have…”
But the words trailed off there, his head tilting, his eyes studying Kesst’s face. How Kesst was looking very haughty, and very pale, and very… guilty.
“Yes, yes,” he said, his voice very even, his head slightly tossing. “I found it weeks ago. Your not-so-subtle gift attempt was agreathelp.”
Geva’s mouth had fallen open — Kesst hadknownabout the hoard being here, all this time? — and now it was Rathgarr’s turn to look shocked, and then wounded, and then… then just sad. His shoulders sagging, his head bowing, as if the fight had drained out of him all at once.
“Ach, I see,” he said, quiet. “I had… broken your trust in me, brother. It is only natural that you should have wished to keep this secret from me, and keep the hoard safe for yourself.”
Kesst blinked, and then twitched all over, his eyes suddenly incredulous on Rathgarr’s face. “What?” he demanded. “Of course not, you great lout, I wasn’t trying to take the loot from you! I just wanted” — he grimaced — “I just wanted to spend more time with you! Before you found what you came here for, and thenleftagain!”
There was more ringing, hanging silence, with Rathgarr again blinking at Kesst’s face, his eyes strangely bright — and then he nodded, jerky and fervent. “Ach, little brother,” he said, his voice choked. “I wished to spend more time with you, also.”
But Kesst had again tossed his head, his arms folding tight against his slim chest. “Is that so?” he replied, very steadily. “So youaren’tplanning to leave here again, as soon as you possibly can? As soon as you found the loot?”
Rathgarr stilled again, his mouth betraying a telltale wince, while Kesst gave a low, brittle laugh. “I’ll grant you, brother, you kept that one fairly secret,” he said flatly. “But then Jule went and let it slip that your mate would only be teaching for a few weeks. Andwhyeverwould that be the case, I wonder? Unless you were just planning on turning around and leaving again?”
He raised his eyebrows at Rathgarr, who was wincing again, his eyes darting uncertainly toward… Geva. As ifshehad something to do with this, something he didn’t want to admit — and she blinked back toward him, twitched a reflexive shake of her head. While Killik gave another light, dangerous laugh, the scimitar still in his hand now angling back toward her.
“Ach, shall we now hear the rest of this tale?” he said. “Who wishes to tell it?”
Geva swallowed hard, her eyes again searching Rathgarr’s, but she couldn’t read his expression, suddenly, couldn’t follow what he meant. Could scarcely think, now, through the mess churning in her thoughts. Rathgarr had known about all this gold, about his mother, he’d tried to trick Kesst, he’d tried to trick her…
