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LUOCRE
She is here. My sweet little liar is here, listening to every single word my brother is saying.
I’ll need to reveal all to her soon – she needs to know the truth. She needs to know that Rhiucra has been denying his only brother’s existence the entire time that I have been back.
She needs to know that he has been lying to her.
My brother irritates me. His very existence is meaningless, and I know he hopes to drag Neveah into that same meaningless existence, too.
I am not sure what emotion I am feeling as I listen to Rhiucra rant about how evil and cunning I am.
I am certainly not hurt by his words. I lost the capacity to feel hurt and shame years ago.
But I am annoyed that Rhiucra disrespects me at every turn, and minimizes me, as ifIam the useless one of the two of us.
At least I’m doing something with my life,I think viciously to myself as I continue twirling the knife’s blade between my fingertips.
My fingertips are dotted with blood where the blade has pierced my skin, but as usual, it is more pleasurable than painful.
Warmth races from the tips of my fingers to the rest of my body.
For a second, I imagine stabbing Rhiucra through the eye with my knife as he continues to rant.
I am still aware of Neveah’s presence, and I am becoming tired of Rhiucra’s self-serving speech which, if we’re being honest, isn’t really going anywhere.
Time to reveal it all.
“So you would just send me away, brother?” I interrupt him, my voice sing-song as I taunt him. “You would just ignore my existence? You would just deny that I exist? That’s what you want to do, isn’t it? That is what you have been doing all this time?”
I hear Neveah’s gasp when I reveal that Rhiucra is my brother.
“You don’t want Neveah to know your dirty little secret. Right?” I continue taunting Rhiucra. “That I am your brother. That you have me for a brother.”
Rhiucra seems to deflate. I do not know if he heard Neveah’s gasp or if he sensed her presence, but he takes a step away from me.
My voice is lower when I speak next. Now, I am asking him genuine questions.
I do not know why, but I need Neveah to be completely disillusioned by Rhiucra. I do not want there to be any chance in this world that she might have any kind of feelings toward him.
“Is it because you’re ashamed of me? Or because you’re afraid that Neveah will want me more?”
“I never wanted you as my fucking brother,” Rhiucra murmurs angrily.
“The feeling is mutual. You’re a waste of space and time, and Protheka would be better off without you.”
Rhiucra grinds his teeth together so roughly that it’s audible.
Then I turn to the passageway where I know Neveah is hiding.
“Why don’t you come out and join the conversation, Neveah? You must know that it is rude to eavesdrop?”
Rhiucra lets out a strangled noise when Neveah steps out from behind a wardrobe and into the light of the room we’re in.
She doesn’t look ashamed that she was eavesdropping. Instead, her chin is lifted defiantly as she stares with blazing eyes at Rhiucra.
“He’s your brother?” she asks Rhiucra angrily. “You’ve spent all this time denying him, his existence, andlyingto me every time that I asked you about him!”
I am almost proud of her, for her anger.
