Morok’s powers and his alliance with the monsters of Zelex would have been a fine addition to the forces at Jirni’s command, but there was no way that Morok would be able to keep the secret from Quylla.
Jirni had no intention to involve any of her children in the battle ahead. It was Jirni’s mess, something born out her grief from Phloria’s death. The thought of losing another precious member of her family, and because of her at that, was unacceptable.
Morok sat down fiddling with his fingers. It was his turn to feel embarrassed after being read like an open book.
“I agree with Mom.” Gunyin said, surprising no one. “Morok is not and will never be Royal Court material. Yet knowing that you have at least one honest friend in a world of lies and deceit is of great comfort to me, dear sister.”
“What about Nalrond?” Friya asked.
“This is not for me to say.” Jirni turned toward the Rezar. “Go, dear. You two have much to talk about and you’ve waited too long already.”
Nalrond had been a true surprise to Jirni.
Since she was already aware of Friya’s Awakening, Lith’s and Morok’s past hybrid nature, and Nalrond skills as a Light Master, the Rezar had decided that disclosing his past wasn’t a big deal after all.
Also, in his naivety, he believed that by being honest with Jirni she could later better help Friya in making up her mind about their relationship after he informed her about his plans.
Instead, Jirni used the garnered information to further her own. Nalrond had gone through a lot of suffering. He had lost his entire village and his first fiancée. He knew grief even better than Jirni and would have been a priceless asset to her.
Yet before involving him in her schemes, Jirni needed him to go on with his experiments and clear things with Friya. As he was, Nalrond’s only worth was his Light Mastery and the fact that Friya loved him.
There was no point pitting him against Awakened. If he succeeded in fusing his life forces, however, after Awakening he would reach the bright blue, if not even the violet.
Being already a true mage, Nalrond would quickly get used to his newfound condition and his powers would play a key role in Jirni’s strategies. Before deciding how to use him, however, she needed to hear Friya’s answer.
It would made the difference between making whatever the Rezar might become a sacrificial pawn and a piece that Jirni had to preserve at all costs.
“Thanks.” Nalrond was glad to have opened up to Jirni and have received the full support of who he hoped would be his future mother-in law.
Despite her inquisitive line of “conversation”, Jirni had proved to be a great listener.
She had shed (fake) tears upon hearing about the fate of his village, showed no concern about his hybrid nature, and had even encourage him about fusing his life forces.
As for Tulion and Gunyin, they would have preferred fully human companions for their sisters. Yet Nalrond’s and Morok’s honesty and hard-working nature made them better than any of the spoiled nobles and arrogant mages that plagued the Royal Court.
On top of that, their tragic past put them in a unique position to bond with Quylla and Friya like not even the members of their adoptive family could. Morok was an orphan just like Quylla while Nalrond had lost his family in a single day, just like Friya.
The fact that the two men were also powerful mages was a huge plus on any brother’s book.
Nalrond stood up from his armchair, taking Friya’s hand and gently pulling her toward one of the safe rooms of the house.
They were soundproofed and magically insulated against any kind of listening device but since Nalrond didn’t want to take risks, he added a Hush spell and a couple of arrays of his own to ensure their privacy.
His conversation with Jirni had given him a glimpse of the personality of his host and he suspected that the safety measures didn’t apply to the Lords of the house. Even though he wanted Jirni to help Friya with the aftermath of their conversation, he didn’t want her to take any part in it.
“How was Jiera? Do you need some rest?” Nalrond took Friya’s hands into his and cast his best diagnostic spells to check on her condition.
“It was exactly as the reports say.” She smiled at him, glad for his care. “A beautiful and rich land on the precipice of annihilation. It showed me what the Kingdom might have become if Hatorne’s plague hadn’t been contained or the civil war avoided.
“It made me appreciate the Crown despite all of its shortcomings. I don’t need any rest. I had plenty on Jiera while shadowing Quylla. Aside from the occasional skirmish with a monster horde, there wasn’t much for me to do.
“I spent most of my time using Accumulation and practicing dimensional and gravity magic. If I manage to combine them like Tezka showed me, I could-” Nalrond wrapped his arms around her body, giving her a sweet kiss and cutting her short.
“I missed you.” He said.
“I missed you too.” Friya looked him in the eyes, reading in them how glad he was of their reunion and how nervous he was.
“I guess that the magic lecture can wait.”
“Yeah.” Nalrond nodded.
“And that you brought me here to talk about something important you’ve already discussed with my mother.” Asking the mother’s blessing instead of the father’s before proposing was unusual, but Jirni was the one available during Friya’s absence.
“You’re on fire today, babe.” He replied, taking a few steps back and flexing his fingers to relieve their tension. “There’s something that I need to tell you and I can’t wait any longer.”
Friya expected him to get on one knee and pull out a betrothal gift from his dimensional amulet. Instead, Nalrond kept standing and told her about his plan to fuse his life forces and how Quylla had refused to help him until he discussed everything with Friya.
“What do you mean, almost die? Are you insane?” The missed proposal hurt but the ease with which he spoke about endangering his own life was even worse.
“I’m not insane. This is the path werepeople sought for millennia.” Nalrond shook his head. “The path that I was already walking before meeting you. Now that I’ve finally found a solution, I need to put it into practice.”
“No, you think to have found a solution.” Friya clenched her fist, needing sheer willpower to not yell. “And you have no need to put it into practice. It’s just something you want to do. There’s a difference.”
“And what would that be?” Nalrond narrowed his eyes in annoyance.
“That you are obsessing about one thing you don’t have and ignoring everything and everyone else.” Friya replied. “What if you are wrong? What if you die? Why can’t you just pass this knowledge to a tribe of werepeople and see how it goes?”
“Are you seriously asking me this?” He was flabbergasted.
