I waited, but my friends didn’t appear next to me like they should have.
Instead, the doors across me opened, and someone stepped out from between them.
“Hello, little brother. I’ve been expecting you.”
Chapter XXIV – Scales of the Serpent
Five years had changed Tristan Cadence a great deal, but visually, he was much the same.
He was tall, with the athletic physique of a professional duelist, and the impeccable confidence to match. His brown hair was our mother’s, but it had grown much longer in his time away from home.
He may have had characteristics that mirrored our father as well, but I chose to ignore those.
Tristan wore a formal tunic that trailed to his feet, and a sword belted on his hip. He slowly shook his head. “I warned you not to come here, but I knew you wouldn’t listen.”
He opened his arms wide. “Welcome to my humble home.”
I glanced from side to side. “Where are my friends?”
Tristan chuckled. “They’re fine. They went straight to a safe room on the next floor. I made special arrangements for when you passed through that doorway.”
I nodded slowly, examining the area further. “Was this all a part of your plan, then? Telling me not to come here, just to encourage me to do it?”
“No, no. I was sincere about that. It really was dangerous for you to come here, and you shouldn’t stay long. We’re both in danger right now. But since you made it obvious you were too stubborn to leave from written instructions alone, I decided it would be wise to tell you directly.”
I took a breath. “We can leave just as soon as you’re ready to go.”
Tristan laughed. “If it was that simple, I’d have left a long time ago.”
I’d expected that answer. I frowned, scanning the area again while I considered my approach.
Tristan frowned. “You’re being awfully quiet. I assumed you’d object more strenuously.”
I turned my eyes back to him. “I’m looking for traps.”
“This isn’t that sort of room. Not that I blame you for checking, of course.”
Thinking of Tristan himself, I wasn’t entirely certain I agreed. His appearance here could have easily been a trap in itself.
I turned my attunement on.
He registered as having a Sunstone-level aura. Ordinary for his age, nothing like monstrously powerful youths like Derek or Elora.
I nodded to myself.
He’s probably suppressing his shroud.
I took a few steps forward. “Before we discuss things any further, I should confirm something. How can I be certain that you’re Tristan and not an illusion or trick?”
“Ah, good, we’re getting to that part already. Shall I tell you another story about our youth?”
I shrugged. “A simulacrum could tell a story.”
“Ah. Nothing I can do is going to prove I’m not a copy of myself. I can, however, at least convince you that I’m something with Tristan’s memories, and not a trap by someone else?”
I folded my arms. “A bit of transference mana could test if you’re a simulacrum.”
Tristan blinked. “You want to hit me with mana?”
“It won’t hurt. Probably.”
Tristan sighed. “Does it even matter if I’m a simulacrum or not?”
“I’d really like to know. Someone else could control a simulacrum. Get you to say anything they want you to.”
“Humans can be controlled, too.” Tristan took a few steps closer. “Don’t you recall what happened to Derek?”
“You’re not exactly inspiring confidence by pointing out there are other ways you could be deceiving me.”
Tristan waved a hand dismissively. “Fine, fine. I’m not lying, though. It really is me. And you can run your little test.”
I channeled just a bit of transference mana in my hand, walked to a few feet away, and blasted him with it.
Tristan rubbed his shoulder, but he didn’t evaporate. “Satisfied?”
I shook my head. “Not yet. Give me your hand.”
“Why?”
“I’m going to flood you with purified mana to attempt to free you from mental compulsion, since you pointed out you could be controlled by someone else.”
Tristan laughed. “I suppose that wouldn’t hurt anything.” He reached out his hand.
And, for the first time in five years, I held my brother’s hand.
Then I bombarded it with mana.
Tristan made a perplexed expression. “That tingles a little.”
“You’ll be fine.”
I waited until I’d given him what I approximated to be about fifty mana before releasing my grip.
“That felt a little odd…but no, I’m not mind controlled, Corin. This is really me. Are your tests done?”
“Those parts are, at least. Now, tell me something obscure that Tristan would know.”
Tristan smiled. “A better test. Let’s see… I always hated my middle name growing up, because I thought it sounded like a girl’s name.”
“Val does sound kind of like a girl’s name, yeah. They should have gone with Valor. But a lot of people know about your middle name.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Like who?”
“I’m not feeding you more information. Nice try.” I folded my arms. “Tell me something about myself.”
“You were always jealous of my height.”
“Too generic. Anyone could guess that. Try again.”
“You were jealous of my swordsmanship, too.”
“So was virtually everyone your age and younger.”
Tristan pointed a finger at me. “Fine. Once, when you were about three, you stepped on an insect and it stopped moving. I explained to you that it was dead, and what that meant. You cried for the next hour. You were inconsolable.” He pulled a hand back to his hip. “From what I’ve seen, you haven’t changed.”
I glanced at him up and down. “You don’t seem to have changed much, either.”
“You’re wrong about that.” He turned his head away. “But if you believe my identity now, I suppose we can discuss more important things. I’m sure you have questions. Shall we start with some of the obvious ones?”
I nodded slowly, taking a breath. After all this time, it really was him.
Tristan, my older brother, was right in front of me.
I should have been happier. I should have been thrilled.
But he wasn’t what I’d expected. He wasn’t dead, or chained to the walls of a dark cell.
He looked…normal. Healthy. Safe.
I…didn’t know how to handle that.
I had so many questions I wanted to ask him. The first one that came to me wasn’t what I’d planned on. It just sort of slipped out.
“…why didn’t you come home?”
Tristan raised a hand to brush some unkempt hair out of his eyes. “That’s…sort of a complicated question.”
“I think I deserve an answer.” I shook my head. “I… Why didn’t you at least tell us you were alive? Mother, Father, and I… Everything changed while you were gone.”
Tristan shook his head slowly, a hint of sadness in his tone as he replied. “That wasn’t my choice. It wasn’t allowed.”
“Not allowed? By who?”
I found my hands balling into fists.
“Calm down, Corin. The simple answer is ‘Tenjin’, but there’s more to it.” He let out an exasperated breath, his expression somewhere between sadness and frustration. “I wasn’t expecting you to react like this. You seem almost upset to see me.”
I took a breath. “I’m not upset to see you, Tristan. I’m glad you’re alive.” My hands tightened again. “But when you first contacted me, you lied. I asked the Voice of the Tower if they knew anything about you, and you lied.”