“I can see you’re feeling better,” FeiWan pointed out in an open provocation.
“Better than you.”
FeiWan smiled at the almost grumbled reply. He liked this tart side of CalRimRan a lot more than his usual, cold and politically correct one.
“So. Are you going to tell me? What’s wrong with you?”
CalRimRan’s gentle fingers halted for a brief moment, before he went back to spreading that fresh balm all over his arm.
“I’m grateful for the honorable El’Gin’s concern. And I can assure you that it’s nothing that a few day’s rest won’t solve.”
FeiWan’s smile immediately disappeared at that, and he quickly pulled his arm from CalRimRan’s gentle grasp. The sudden movement made it hurt again, but by then he couldn’t care less about such things. He was feeling angry again, and it was all he could do not to outright punch him in the face.
“You think I’m an idiot!” he demanded instead, raising his voice, a furious heat coursing through his veins. “I spent the entire night trying to replenish your dying energy! And you’re going to sit there and tell me that nothing is wrong with you?!”
CalRimRan sighed, raising his head to face him, his stormy gaze annoyingly cold and piercing.
“I am grateful for what the El’Gin has kindly done for me. But that doesn’t change the fact that you shouldn’t have done it.”
“You!! Are you telling me that I should have just let you die?” FeiWan blared back, unable to contain his anger.
“Everything in this world dies. It’s an undeniable fact,” CalRimRan simply replied, making FeiWan greet his teeth.
“So you’re okay with it!”
“I’m okay with it.”
FeiWan really, really!, wanted to punch him.
“Well, I’m not! Not as long as you’re staying in my Palace! In my presence! Not when you’re right here, in front of me! If you want to die that badly then go and die in your forsaken village!” he spat it all in one breath, so much so that he was actually left gasping for air.
Suddenly CalRimRan’s face was so close to his that he couldn’t help hold his breath, his oxygen needs completely suppressed.
“For someone who has no qualms taking another’s life, the honorable El’Gin seems to be rather attached to this insignificant life of mine.”
FeiWan frowned, quickly pulling himself together, refusing to show any signs of weakness, even though his heart kept slamming impossibly hard against his chest.
“That’s right! I don’t want you to die! There’s still a lot that I need you to explain!”
“Oh. So the honorable El’Gin still hasn’t given up on his obviously useless attempts to interrogate me,” CalRimRan declared, pulling back again. His expression was as cold and indifferent as always. But, somehow, FeiWan could almost swear that he was being sarcastic.
“There are still many questions that need to be answered, yes,” FeiWan replied, facing his cold gaze, refusing to waver.
“And so, in hopes to attain a few answers to questions that I probably will never answer, the honorable El’Gin was even willing to break the Imperial law that clearly forbids any member of the Imperial Family from sharing their inner energy with anyone not of Imperial blood.”
FeiWan couldn’t help purse his lips in frustration at that, his cheeks becoming embarrassingly warm. Of course that bastard would know about that! After all, CalRimRan had always been an expert at memorizing and reciting every boring law and rule in the book.
“I guess I should commend the honorable El’Gin’s dedication to this pointless inquiry, since it will most likely never be successful.”
“Why don’t you let me worry about that? And you worry about remaining alive!” FeiWan replied and CalRimRan released a silent sigh.
“So be it. How can I not abide by an Imperial El’Gin’s command?”
That El’Gin, El’Gin, El’Gin!, was starting to piss him off!, FeiWan growled inside his own head, trying his best to restrain his storm-like temper, more than certain that the gray eyes staring fixedly at him were actually hoping to see him lose his temper. As if that was going to happen!, he immediately decided, facing his cold gaze with his own, in a duel of stares that said more than any words that they could exchange.
“Good. Then you can start by telling me how in the world are you constantly losing energy, when you’re obviously not seriously injured,” he put it out in the open, and CalRimRan averted his gaze, leaving a victorious smirk on FeiWan’s face.
“It is as the honorable El’Gin has wisely observed. Indeed I’m not currently injured in any way.”
Currently!, the word immediately stood out in FeiWan’s mind. He didn’t have to ask, though, since CalRimRan immediately answered his silent question.
“However, I was severely injured once, a few years back. In fact, you could almost say that I’ve died once, and miraculously returned from the dead. But every miracle has its price. And so, even though my physical injuries have all successfully healed, the same cannot be said about my inner energy.”
FeiWan’s eyes widened in surprise. Was that related to the deep burn marks he had seen on his back. But, even more than that!
“Can that even be?”
A small condescending smile tugged at CalRimRan’s lips.
“I am right here, am I not?”
FeiWan closed his mouth before he could ask another silly question. And yet something just didn’t sound right about CalRimRan’s explanation.
“But then … How come you’ve survived so far? The way you’re constantly losing energy, you should have been dead in a matter of months.”
“The answer to that question isn’t easy to explain,” he declared, immediately leaving a frown of protest on FeiWan’s face. Before he could utter his complaints out loud, however, CalRimRan was already continuing with his explanation. “I guess the El’Gin could say that we share a lot more than our physical appearance?”
We as in the people belonging to the Demon Clan, right?, FeiWan guessed.
“So, the other members of your Clan have been sharing their energy with you?” he obviously concluded. As far as he knew, that too was an impossibility! But then, once again, he reminded himself that the Demon Clan was indisputably different from other people in a lot of aspects. So maybe such a thing was possible for them … ? And then it hit him, his eyes widening in disbelief. “So, when you decided to stay here and the others left!”
CalRimRan nodded once.
“That’s right. There is a limit regarding how far we can be from each other, for that …. exchange to work,” he calmly admitted
“So you knew! Right from the start! You knew that if you stayed here you’d end up dying?” FeiWan demanded, his anger escalating again, and CalRimRan simply took a deep breath.
“Like I said, everything in this world dies. I, for once, should have died a long time ago. I’ve been living on borrowed time, at the expense of my brothers’ and sisters’ sacrifice. I am also the one who chose to place myself in such a disadvantageous position.”
“You could have left with them!”
CalRimRan stared straight at him, a strange indescribable glow dancing deep in his gray eyes.
“Hasn’t the honorable El’Gin just declared that he still has a lot of questions that need to be answered? How come he’s now openly scolding me, telling me that I should have returned to my forsaken village?”
FeiWan gaped, completely at a loss for words, feeling embarrassed at the impulsive words he’d just uttered.
“Those are two completely different things!” he immediately argued in his own defense. “Of course there are still a lot of questions that still need to be answered! But not at the expense of your life!”
“Even though the honorable El’Gin has just declared that the only reason he wants me to live is so I can provide the required answers?”
FeiWan pursed his lips. He had the feeling he was inevitably sinking deeper and deeper into a pit of mud, even though he was trying his best to make his way out of it.
“I … never meant it like that!” he finally managed to declare, frowning in annoyance at his own inability to gallantly find a way out of that maze of words. “In any case! Since you’ve decided to stay, you should have at least ordered some of your men to stay with you!” he decided, hoping his escape attempt wouldn’t be too obvious.
“That is something I could never do,” CalRimRan breathed, apparently willing to allow him an apparently dignified escape. “Unlike the honorable El’Gin, I have no right to command or order the other member’s of my Clan.”
“But they listen to you!”
“And I listen to them. It was decided that our stay in Imperial lands was to come to an end. I alone wanted to stay. As such we all simply followed our desired paths.”
FeiWan stared deep into those gray eyes. And all that because he wanted to wait for some child? Sure, he knew better than most how tight and close the Demon Clan was, usually moving as one single body. Even when they talked, they did so in the name of the collective. That’s exactly what had led him to find CalRimRan’s decision to stay behind so abnormal. Still! Surely waiting for one child couldn’t be worth risking one’s life like that! And if he was that worried about him, why allow him to go with the Lun Calzai in the first place? Okay, they had that whole politic about respecting one’s individual freedom to follow their desired path. But wouldn’t it have been more logical to simply follow the child and make sure he was safe? After all, the way things were progressing, CalRimRan could very well be dead by the time that child finally made his way to the Palace. In fact, unless that child were to cross the Palace gates in the next few weeks or so, FeiWan was sure that, without his interference, CalRimRan wouldn’t have managed to remain alive to meet him. So there must be something else, something he wasn’t telling him, FeiWan concluded. Either about that child, or about CalRimRan’s true reason for wanting to stay in the Palace, even at the risk of his own life.
Why are you here, really?, he almost uttered the question out loud. But then he knew better than to ask. CalRimRan would definitely either give him the same answer he had given him before, or would simply refuse to reply.
Taking a deep breath, FeiWan decided not to press the matter, for now.
“Fine! In any case, since you’re staying, I’m not allowing you to die. Which means that I will keep providing you energy from time to time.”
For once CalRimRan actually looked actually displeased, a scowl burrowing into his smooth forehead.
“And it’s not open for discussion!” FeiWan immediately added, before he could contest his decision. “The way I see it you only have two choices. Either you return home, to where your people can help you, or you stay here. And if you’re going to stay here you’ll have to allow me to share my energy with you!”
“You would have me expelled from the Palace should I refuse?”
FeiWan’s green gaze glowed fiercely, a wolfish smile stretching his lips.
“Please have no doubts about that. And your status of distinguished guest of the El’Dur wouldn’t be able to protect you either. I will do better than have you expelled. I will have them portal you back to your village! The same way they did to me, ten years ago.”
[1] . FeiWan: Literally fei (raging / furious) + wan (fire)
[2] . CalRimRan: Literally cal (bright) + rim (cold) + ran (moon)
[3] . El’Gin: Literally el (supreme) + gin (gold). Name given to the male children of the Emperor. Could be translated into prince in the common language.
[4] . El’Dur: Literally el (supreme) + dur (ruler). Name given to the Emperor
