Page 15

15

October 8, 743 AD

“ S o that’s your son, akri-Thorn.”

Thorn froze as he heard Simi’s voice behind him. Eyes wide, he turned toward her and motioned her to silence. “Careful, Simi. Cadegan thinks we’re half-brothers. I don’t want him to know the truth.”

“Why not?”

Too many reasons to count, just as he wanted no one to know who his father really was, but the most prominent one was his own fear of how Cadegan would react to the fact. “He hates his father for abandoning him.”

“That not your fault. The mean old goddess wouldn’t let you visit. Can’t you tell him that?”

How he wished. “It’s not that simple, Simi. Emotions are complicated.”

“That’s what akri say, too. Emotions don’t have brains. But I don’t understand. Mine are simple. Hungry, I eat. Mad, I eat. Happy, I laugh. Angry, I eat. Simple.”

He laughed at her childlike philosophy. While she was thousands of years old, she only looked like a young teenager. And Acheron had kept her so sheltered from the brutality of life that she had no real understanding of what the rest of them dealt with. To her, everything was good and easy.

No one dared teach her the hard lessons that had been shoved down their throats. Betrayal. Cruelty. Viciousness. Jealousy. Hatred. Those horrible emotions were unknown to her. How he envied her that.

Most of all, he wished he could have given the same gift to his poor son who’d been raised every bit as cruelly has he had.

No, Cadegan had it worse. At least he’d been able to fight back against those who bullied him. Cadegan had been forced to deal with cruelty and take it.

Thorn couldn’t imagine anything more awful than to be forbidden to fight back. It was a wonder his son was sane.

And there was something even worse that both and Cadegan understood better than most …

“You don’t know betrayal, Simi. Be grateful. It’s a hard thing to put behind you. If not impossible. The more brutal the betrayal the longer it takes to heal.” Because betrayal began with trust. No one should be punished for trusting or loving someone else.

Of all life’s cruelty, betrayal was the most vicious bitch.

Frowning, she turned to look at his son who was dressed in armor as he moved about the camp of warriors Thorn had assembled to battle the demons and others set to prey on humanity. Cadegan was a handsome young man, and Thorn couldn’t be prouder of him. But the one thing he never wanted was for Cadegan to curse Thorn’s existence the way Brigid had.

And he couldn’t blame the boy for hating him. Brigid had condemned his son to a wretched childhood. If only Thorn had been able to find him sooner, Cadegan would have been spared all that pain.

Even though Thorn had tried, he’d failed repeatedly. He’d never forgive himself for that.

But now that he’d found him, Thorn had no intention of ever letting Cadegan know he was his father. Cadegan pinned that blame on Paimon. And why should Thorn correct that misassumption? Paimon wanted to lie and pretend to be his father instead of Thorn. So be it.

Just like Paimon continually claimed to be Thorn’s father. Sometimes he played along.

Other times …

Thorn made Paimon pay for his part in his conception.

Even more ironic? The monks at the Cymara Clas monastery where Cadegan had been hidden had written down that Paimon had fathered the boy.

Imbeciles.

To a degree. They were right in that Cadegan’s father was a vicious demon, but one much more powerful than Paimon. And Thorn was sure Brigid had done that as a way to slap at him. She knew exactly how he felt about that pathetic demon.

So be it. He could take her cruelty. He’d taken a lot worse. Besides, the last laugh was that he was grateful to them for blaming someone else. This way, Cadegan couldn’t hate him for his mother’s actions.

Simi turned toward him and made an adorable face. “Do he know what he is?”

Thorn shook his head. “I’m here to make sure he doesn’t discover the addanc inside him.” Because that was a terrible beast that the world was unprepared to fight.

“What if it gets out?”

Thorn didn’t want to think about that. In truth, there were times when he feared his son might actually have more power than he did and in the form of the addanc, there was no telling how destructive his son could be.

If Cadegan turned against the humans …

Acheron would be honor bound to destroy him, and he’d go after Acheron to avenge his child. A vicious cycle that wouldn’t change anything.

Other than to make them both bleed.

Still, Thorn was going to protect his son. No matter the cost.

“I don’t want to find out, Simi.”

She smiled. “I trust you, akri-Thorn. If anyone can keep Cadegan on the right, it’s you.”

He loved her confidence. “I appreciate that.” Thorn jerked his head toward the camp. “Would you like to meet him?”

“Of course I would. The Simi loves making new friends.”

As they walked, he wondered what she thought of Cadegan. He was a tiny bit taller than Thorn, which nettled and at the same time made him proud. He had vivid blue eyes and dark blond hair that he kept a bit long for a knight.

But Thorn didn’t mind. He wasn’t one for short hair either.

Cadegan stood up from the table where he sat, eating alone. Like Thorn, he preferred solitude to bad company.

“Greetings, brother,” Cadegan said in a heavily Welsh accented voice as he wiped off his hands. “You’re the only man I know who could go for a walk and find such a fine young lady.” Placing his hand over his heart, he bowed to her.

“She’s the daughter of an old friend who was passing through. Simi, this is Cadegan.”

“Simi? What a beautiful, unique name.” Then he frowned. “But surely she’s not traveling alone. Especially not with the demons we’re trying to route.”

Thorn silently cursed as he realized the mistake he’d just made. In the human world, women didn’t travel about unescorted and definitely not ones who appeared around thirteen years old as Simi did.

Clearing his throat, he lowered his voice. “She’s a demon.” The last thing he wanted was for anyone else in their army to know that.

Cadegan’s eyes widened as he stepped back and reached for his sword hilt.

Thorn quickly grabbed his hand. “Not the kind we fight.”

“How so?”

“She’s a Charonte and we’re to protect her. Always.”

His son’s frown deepened. “I don’t understand. We’re protecting a demon?”

“This one, yes. With our lives if need be.”

Suspicion hung heavy in his gaze as Cadegan moved his hand away from his sword. “If you say so, brother.”

“I do. Simi’s a very special heart. She knows nothing of cruelty.”

Cadegan arched a brow. “Truly?”

Simi pursed her lips. “I know it hurts others, and the Simi doesn’t like that. I particularly don’t like the part where it keeps hurting long after the cruelty stops. It’s not right for something to keep making someone ache. Watching someone the Simi loves suffer hurts Simi, too.”

A range of emotions swept across Cadegan’s face. “I’ve never heard anyone put it that way before.” He met Thorn’s gaze. “You’re right, she is remarkable.”

Simi looked at the table and her eyes widened. “Oh! Who got the funny hat?” She went to Cadegan’s conical helm. “Simi’s seen these. They so fun!” Picking it up, she ran her hand over the polished steel and felt the dents caused by battle. “May I?”

Cadegan nodded. “Sure.”

Thorn was just about to stop her when she placed it on her head. As he expected, the helmet was far too large for her, especially without a coif.

“How you fight in this?” She turned her head inside it, but the helm stayed in place so that it covered her eyes. “The Simi can’t see nothing!”

With a laugh, Thorn pulled his coif up and then took the helm from her and put it on his own head. “It’s sized for a grown man, Simi, and to be used with an arming cap and mail. When you’re older, it’ll fit you.”

She reached up to touch the edge of the coif that formed a U over his chest. “The Simi don’t like this thing. I tried one on once and it snaggled all in the Simi’s hair. Hurt my hornays, too!”

Thorn didn’t speak. A peculiar tenderness swept through him at her touch. He’d never quite felt anything like it before, and he wasn’t sure what caused it.

Simi didn’t notice as she picked up Cadegan’s gauntlets. “These are good though. Akri has a pair that Simi plays with, and they keep his little dragons from biting me. I like these a lot.”

“Acheron has dragons?” Thorn removed the helm and placed it back on the table.

“Doesn’t everyone?” Simi asked simply.

Thorn looked at his son who had no idea of his alternate water dragon form that Simi knew about. He wasn’t sure how to answer that so he decided silence would be the most prudent response.

Thankfully, Simi didn’t seem to notice. She pivoted around to face him. “Well, the Simi better get back afore akri wonders where I wents off to. Or akri-Lexi start looking for me.” She smiled at Cadegan. “Nice meeting you.”

“You, too, me lady.”

She wrinkled her nose. “The Simi loves how you talk. I could listen to that all day!”

An unexpected wave of jealousy went through Thorn with such force that it actually startled him.

“Bye!” She vanished.

Cadegan returned to his food.

Still rattled by that unexpected jolt of raw emotion, Thorn took a moment to watch his son. How he wished he could tell Cadegan who he really was.

If only he had that courage.

For now, he’d watch his son closely and make sure nothing changed.

And that Simi stayed far away from Cadegan.