Eyes On Fire

There was relief, that his brother and sister still seemed to be alive, maybe even thriving.

Then there was guilt, at having not gone after Sephira and Ignatius himself, what would his brother think of him? Was he a traitor for not immediately flying to the former heir's side?

But there was also anger, slow and simmering but there. Anger that he should feel guilty at all. Was he not allowed to grieve? What good would it have done to abandon their family in the face of such a tragedy? Some of that anger was directed at Sephira as well, for forcing him to lose a second sister in as many days. That anger was mostly reserved for something else though, the possibility that his biggest fear could prove true.

And of course there was that fear itself, that he should discover that his anger was well founded. That it had been true all along. If that was the case he wasn't sure he'd be able to hold himself back from tearing his brother apart himself. But of course that he believed it was possible at all only fed into his guilt more.

And under it all, flowing like an unending current was the pain. He'd spent the last few days on this continent distracted from it but it was always there, flaring up whenever he woke or was left alone with his thoughts at the end of the day. He'd cried so many times some part of him was sure he'd run out of tears, but that simply hadn't happened.

Souzan slowly rolled into conciousness each morning, screwing his eyes shut and begging, pleading to open them and find everything, all the terrible things he'd heard or seen; the destruction of his homeland, the tearing apart of his family, had been a long nightmare. And each morning when the world coalesced into solid images and he found himself in this veritable paradise, it felt hollow. By all rights he should have been stunned to find the realm around him was real but each morning he couldn't help but wish he was back home, being woken up by Sephira or Avis, or even their father. He'd have given anything to have it all back. And indeed while he'd never been a particularly pious man Souzan had found himself pleading each night to whatever gods could be found in this place to take him if it meant giving her back, and each night they ignored his pleas, unmoved by his cries.

Souzan shuffled again, uncertainty rolling over him as he waited. What would Ignatius do? What would he do? Did he even have any right to call on his brother like this? But did he also not have a right to know, a right to the truth?

These thoughts swirled in his mind when his brother finally made his appearance. Souzan watched him, following him with his gaze. Ignatius looked as he always had, no even better, sleeker, better fed and a wave of relief washed over the man, flashing across his face as it did.

"Been a while, brother," Ignatius spoke and Souzan felt his eyes prickle, those pesky never ending tears once more threatening to spill over. He could only nod, suddenly feeling nostalgic. He wanted to rush over and scoop his brother into a bear hug, ignoring that Ig was the oldest of the bunch he wanted to feel like if he simply never let go again he could protect the fiery man forever, but then he also wanted to hit Ignatius, wanted to growl and snap at him, wanted to make his brother tell him everything. So he stayed put and that internal conflict played out in him like a war, clearly raging in his eyes.

He hadn't wanted to open with it. He certainly couldn't help but feel like he was about to push ways his brother after only just getting him back but there could be no moving on from here if he didn't know, he imagined it hadn't even crossed their sister's mind to question him but Souzan was different, he had promised himself he'd protect them all and then had clearly failed to do so, and with the one everyone seemed convinced had done it standing before him he simply couldn't pretend it hadn't happened.

"Did you do it?" His deep voice was a soft rumble, barely above a whisper. His tone carried all the pain, all the anger of his grief, but also carried the guilt he felt for accusing his brother at all. This too was reflected in his eyes as he watched his brother.

"Speech" think "You"