(no subject)

[bloodandflowers]

Kell sags against the thick stone wall of the Basin. Overhead, the ruby waters of the Isle slip endlessly by, and around him, the unnatural dark Kell had summoned begins to shiver.

"As Anasae," Kell says into the darkness. Dispel. The smoke twists into nothing as if it was never there, and Kell draws a deep breath.

"Did you kill them all?" Rhy would ask if he were here, and Kell would nod and step back to reveal the ruined remains of his training dummies. But Rhy has yet to find him today, and Kell takes another breath, closing his eyes for a moment to listen for his brother's heartbeat. Beneath the brand on his chest, the magic that binds them rises and flares, and beneath Kell's heartbeat he feels another, its thump steady and even. It means Rhy is calm, at least for now. He would feel excitement in his breast if Rhy were coming to drag him off again, back into the bowels of Red London to chase another adventure.

Kell grimaces. As if provoking Red London's criminal element could be called adventure. His ribs still ache with the hits Rhy had taken only the day before, his head foggy with Rhy's hangover. Where Kell would fight the memories that haunt them both with magic and blood, Rhy would do it with his princely fists and copious wine, and the bond that binds their lives together means that Rhy's pain is Kell's. Reaching up, Kell tugs on his own hair hard enough to sting, smirking faintly when he feels Rhy's heart skip in response.

"Sorry," he whispers into the dark, even if he isn't, and begins to clean his hands of blood. He's used a lot of magic today, and Kell's head swims as he tucks his silver blade back against his wrist. He needs food. He needs...

Kell closes his eyes.

Something more than this palace that feels so much like a prison.

You could still run. The thought echoes between his ears with a voice that sounds like Lila's, and Kell shakes his head to dispel it. Lila escaped, and Kell stayed. For Rhy, he'll stay forever.

Mostly clean now, save for the sheen of sweat on his skin, Kell raises his right hand, the cut across his palm still wet from training, and presses it to an X drawn in blood on the wall. "As tascen," he says, transfer, but when the door opens up and Kell steps through it to the other side, it's not the lavish chambers of the prince he walks into.

It's onto the wooden gangway of a port, and before him looms a gray and wintry sea. Kell turns a circle, but the palace has disappeared, without blood or command to see it gone. Kell’s heart stutters and begins to pound.

This is no London, Red, Grey or White.

This is a different world entirely.

Comments

[bloodandflowers]

Resettling his glass before him, Kell frowns. It's strange to have to explain what and who he is, when all his life, he's never once been able to hide it. "Antari are rare," he says. "We are the only ones who can travel between worlds. I know of no other Antari still alive. And - "

Kell's expression darkens before he wrestles it back under control. "I am a symbol. The other empires think Arnes' might is because it owns an Antari. Superstition, of course, but the idea is powerful."

[thebloodtraitor]

"Owns," Sirius replies, eyes narrowing as he catches onto that one world. He has one hand wrapped around his glass, but he's leant forward, watching Kell carefully. "As if you are a thing and not a person."

He pauses then, head tilted, lips parting to inquire further just as the waitress returns with their basket of chips. However, the basket isn't all she brings, her lips curved in a strange smile just for Kell as she hands him a familiar envelope and then walks away without a word.

"Ah, yes," Sirius says, watching the woman walk away before turning his attention back to Kell. He grabs a chip from the basket and bites into it. "Welcome packet, I believe. I'd forgotten about that," he says with an apologetic smile. "Go on, open it. It's only further proof that you've gone completely mental."

[bloodandflowers]

Kell looks up in surprise. Has he really said owns? He's long been thinking it, but the thought is close to treason. Something in him stirs, restless and defiant and nearly pleased, a feeling that blooms all the more when Sirius calls him a person.

He feels warm and, if not happy, encouraged to hear another person say it. He's almost smiling when the chips arrive, but it falters when the woman's smile is something he doesn't know how to read. Sirius, on the other hand, has no similar problem, but Kell doesn't feel particularly reassured. He lifts the packet as one would a viper and opens it carefully, frowning when a card with his image on it falls out, along with a key marked Candlewood.

"When could this have been made?" he wonders, lifting the card. His picture there is better than any scrying board, and shows his red coat, one that's yet to be turned out here.

[thebloodtraitor]

"Anyone's guess," Sirius replies with a flippant wave of his hand, which he then quickly uses to grab the bottle of vinegar at the side of the table, drizzling a fair amount over the basket of chips. "I got one as well when I arrived. There should be a key in there too, and an address for where you'll be staying. Oh, and something called a mobile my godson swears is useful."

Said mobile has been on Sirius's night table since the nearly the moment of his arrival. As far as he's been able to tell so far, despite what Harry's told him, he really sees not much use for it at all.

"Here," Sirius says then, nudging the basket toward Kell. "Try a chip, it'll make the loss of reason easier to digest."

[bloodandflowers]

Kell pulls a heavy rectangle of what feels like metal and glass from the bag and leaves it on the table, staring at the chips when Sirius' nudges them forward. Feeling numb, he lifts one and ignores the heat that burns his fingers, pushing half into his mouth and biting down. It is, admittedly, delicious, salty and hot and a little bit crisp, but somehow it adds to the permanence Kell can suddenly feel settling over him.

Shelter, a place to sleep, food - can he really be expected to stay here? It's a mistake, he knows it is, but Kell feels panic clawing up from deep within him, and with it, childish tears. Sanct, what if he can't get back to Rhy? It's impossible. He's Antari. No world can hold him.

"Has anyone left here?" he asks Sirius, struggling through the rest of his chip.

[thebloodtraitor]

Biting into another chip himself, Sirius keeps an anticipatory gaze on Kell and is mildly disappointed when the man's face doesn't immediately break into a satisfied smile at the taste of greasy, salty potatoes.

"Ah," Sirius remarks, understanding more of Kell's uneasy expression with the question. He chews a moment, then takes a sip of his drink before settling his forearms against the table. Is there any easy way to bear this news, he wonders. Harry hadn't had an easy time of it and the first Sirius has had to attempt it.

Perhaps he should've paid a bit more attention when Remus had tried teaching him couth.

"As far as I've been told and as far as I've seen myself in the month I've been here, I'm afraid not," he says, grimacing slightly, apologetic. "People do leave, it seems. But it's just as unexpected as their arrival and doesn't appear to happen by choice. Or effort."

[bloodandflowers]

Kell shakes his head, unwilling to believe that. Of course it's impossible for other people, but a traveller is what he is. Kell stares down at his hand, debating with himself whether he ought to cut himself open and try again, fatigued or not, but the shudder of his heart reminds him of something even more pressing.

Eyes widening, Kell pulls at his shirt, parting it to expose the silver concentric circles scarred over his heart. The seal is still there. He can't feel Rhy, but the seal is there, meaning the magic holds. It must, across worlds even, as it always has before, but why can't he feel him? "Rhy," Kell whispers, closing his eyes to feel for him again, but there's nothing.

[thebloodtraitor]

Another strange expression crosses Kell's features. It isn't one of acceptance -- reluctant or otherwise -- or even argument. There's something Sirius is missing and, as Kell begins tugging at the shirt to reveal a strange, circular scar over his heart, is only more intrigued.

"Rhy?" he echoes, gaze darting from Kell's face to the mark against his skin. Kell had explained earlier that he could heal quickly from his wounds, but it's obvious this is no ordinary scar. There's even a shimmer to it, as though decorative. His gaze lands on Kell's face once more and holds, assessing. "Person or place?" He pauses a moment, lips pursed and head cocked. "Or merely a curse?"

[bloodandflowers]

Kell listens a moment more, straining with all of his will towards his brother, but nothing comes. "My brother," he says, opening his eyes, glad he's seated as a wave of dizziness crushes over him. Red London or Darrow, the world has no shape without Rhy, and for the first time since he arrived here Kell is truly afraid.

"In all ways but blood," he says, pressing his fingers to the seal as if it revive it. "My life is bound to his own. I can't feel him."

[thebloodtraitor]

Eying the mark as Kell presses his fingers against pale skin, Sirius feels a strange sense of unease. As impressive as Kell's wall of steaming water had been, Sirius is oddly certain it had only been the very tip of this man's capabilities.

"Normally you can?" he asks, eyebrow arched. "And he can feel you?"

Sirius isn't certain he even knows what it means to bind one's life to another's, can barely comprehend the sort of magic that must be necessary for such a spell. Yet, somehow, he finds himself believing in the possibility.

[bloodandflowers]

Kell nods, silent as he reels with it, the emptiness where Rhy should be carved like a hole in his chest. "I had to," he says, eking the words out around the lump in his throat. "To save him. I promised him."

Kell draws a deep breath. He's made these justifications a hundred times over. He had to use the stone, only black magic would have saved him, he promised to stand at Rhy's side when he ruled - he had to.

And Rhy is still gone. "Could he come here?" he asks, hating himself a little for asking.

[thebloodtraitor]

There's such an air of desperation, Sirius once again considers lying, if only to provide some bit of hope in an otherwise devastating day.

But he knows Kell will learn the truth eventually, be it now or later. And, despite the weariness in his shoulders and the sadness etched across his face, there's a sturdiness there, too. It would be demeaning to lie.

"Yes," Sirius replies because that's the easy part of the answer. "It's as much a possibility as my arrival here when, by all accounts, I should be in prison. My godson is here, and his mate. People of the same worlds can find themselves here surely as any other. However," he adds, still watching Kelly carefully. "I don't believe wishing it will get you anywhere. Nor trying to find him. He'll either arrive someday or he won't and there's no way of knowing which it will be."

[bloodandflowers]

Kell is grateful for the somber look on Sirius' face. He has no reason to trust him, but after the kindnesses he's shown, Kell has no reason to distrust him either. If he were lying, surely his words wouldn't be so devastating, and Kell trusts the grief he can already feel welling within him most of all.

Rhy isn't here. And Kell can't get to him.

"It would be wrong of me to wish he was," he says, glad that his voice is steady. "He has an empire to run one day. And he will be a good ruler." Fitting, that Kell's rare words of praise will never reach Rhy's ears now.

Kell drains the rest of his ale. "May I trouble you for another?" He asks Sirius. "According to the chit inside this packet, I will soon be able to repay you for the favor."

[thebloodtraitor]

Ah, yes. If Kell has been treated as family within the royal household, albeit distantly, it's only logical his brother is the prince. Still, it catches a little, intrigues him further. Kell's deep care for his brother is obvious, but Sirius does wonder if there's any sort of resentment beneath it. Not a jealousy for the crown, maybe, but resentment nonetheless.

"There's the trick though," Sirius says, gaze dropping to the stretch of Kell's neck as the man swiftly empties his ale before his lips flicker into a grin. "As I understand it, we're in a separate plane of existence, merely a version of ourselves while our other lives continue elsewhere. For instance, my godson remembers much more of my life than I've ever lived, has shared stories of times spent together that I can never hope to remember. Similarly, you continue to exist with your brother even now and, if he were to arrive here, there would still be a version of him in your world, to rule as you've said."

He glances at the empty glass Kell holds up and, letting out a quiet laugh, nods before holding a hand out to grab a server's attention. "Mate, I'm not certain there's enough drink in the world for this conversation, but I say we try our best all the same."

[bloodandflowers]

"At home, I am not missing."

It's as mad as everything else Sirius has told him, but Kell understands the implication at once, or perhaps it's Lila who tells him so, for a moment so real he can almost see her sitting next to him. You could be free, she whispers, and Kell's heart begins to pound.

For all that he rails against it, Rhy will be a fine King. He doesn't belong anywhere but the throne, and though he longs for him, Kell finds that he truly doesn't wish for him to be taken as he has been. And now that he is...Kell's mind flies to the ocean, the boats that must sail there. Lila could not be on them, but perhaps he could be like her, free to live as he chose.

"You say no one rules here," he says, leaning over the table. "There is no one who would wish to make use of a man like me, or try to claim him?"

[thebloodtraitor]

There's a wonder in Kell's voice then, surprise mixed with awe, as though something wondrous has been opened before him.

It's only when Kell leans forward with another question that Sirius understands. "As far as I'm aware, no. There's a government as I understand it. A mayor. But his rule isn't like that of any king -- no singular person here has claim over any other. Including you."

How strange, he thinks, that this man has been treated as a thing his entire life. Perhaps guarded by royalty, and protected, but only as one would shield a prized work of art or invaluable object. It's stranger still given the powers Sirius knows Kell to possess and he frowns slightly, curious. "The monarchy you remember, the king and queen you served, were they as powerful as you?"

[bloodandflowers]

"No one is as powerful as I am," says Kell with no hint of boasting. Power in balance. Balance in power. Kell has balanced his immense power with equal sacrifice. Even if offered more, he would not take it.

"At least not in the worlds I knew, now that I am the last Antari." Kell studies Sirius' frown. "You want to know I stayed," he realizes, impressed with Sirius' shrewdness. He should say duty. He should say because he was where he belonged, and with who he belonged to, but Kell doesn't.

"I stayed for Rhy."

[thebloodtraitor]

It's the answer to the question Sirius had been leading to and Sirius is only surprised by Kell's honesty, though he's beginning to think he shouldn't be. However macabre the man's powers may be, he doesn't at all seem devious or calculating.

Then again, Sirius isn't always the best judge of character.

"Tell me, does he care for you as deeply as you do him?" Sirius asks, reaching once more for a chip, though he only holds it, eying Kell intently. "Does he give even half as much of himself?"

[bloodandflowers]

"He will one day have the wellbeing of every Arnesian life in his hands," Kell replies. "A ruler's life is sacrifice." Perhaps not as much for Rhy as King Maxim would like, but the seeds are there. Rhy is a smarter man than he lets on, and with every night spent dragging Kell from disreputable party to the next, Rhy made himself one of the people. He could never rule with might, but Rhy may very well manage to rule them all with their love for him.

Kell smiles through the pang in his heart. "But yes, he loves me. When I did not have one, he tried to make his family my own. I have no more fervent advocate in all the Londons."

[thebloodtraitor]

There isn't any doubt Kell believes every word he says and, as there is every likelihood Sirius will never meet this Rhy, he can only hope Kell's faith isn't misplaced. There's a quiet gentleness to Kell despite the power Sirius knows to be rippling beneath his skin.

And Sirius knows a little bit about the failure of brothers.

The reminder pulls his lips into a grimace, but he shoves the chip in his mouth quickly, ignoring the flare of guilt as he forces his attention on Kell once again. "You're referring to the royal family, I assume. The king and queen who treated you as a thing. But what of your parents? The ones who birthed you?"

[bloodandflowers]

Kell reaches for another chip, and though his hunger has not returned, he's better able to appreciate the taste of it in his mouth this time. "I can't remember them," he says, savoring the preciseness of the words. Even now, he can't quite bring himself to speak treason against the Maresh family, but Kell knows very well that it's not that he doesn't remember - it's that the ability to was removed from him.

"What of your own?" he asks, for that grimace has not escaped him. "Do you have a brother?"

[thebloodtraitor]

Sirius watches Kell take another chip, pleased to see him eating, though any smile that might have graced his lips falters at the question.

He's saved from answering right away by the waitress dropping off their second round of drinks. Sirius flashes her a quick, easy smile before quickly finishing off his glass in two large gulps, exhaling loudly as he sets the empty glass on the table. He considers dodging the question, steering it back to easier waters, but Kell has been rather candid. Perhaps he's owed.

"I do," he manages after a moment, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table once more. "Or did. One by blood and one by choice." His lips twist into another grimace, a strained attempt at a smile. "Both dead, coincidentally," the words bitter on his tongue, catching in his throat almost imperceptibly before Sirius takes another quick drink from his newest pint.

[bloodandflowers]

Kell thought so, but his satisfaction lasts only seconds when he remembers that Sirius' brother is removed from him by the same distance between his own world and Darrow. And it grows worse - Sirius' brothers are both dead.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly, wishing for a moment that he had Rhy's gift for words. He doesn't have to imagine the pain of losing two brothers - he can simply magnify his grief for Rhy by two - what Kell can't imagine is how Sirius is still able to smile under the weight of that. Disease could claim so many at once, or an accident. But it's to a third possibility that Kell's mind immediately goes, spurred on, perhaps, by the King's constant worry.

"War?"

[thebloodtraitor]

With a huff, Sirius nods, not even mildly surprised that Kell's been able to pin it in an instant. It's a rather wide guess, after all. Regulus and James had died by very different means, but the overlying cause had been the same.

"Indeed," he clarifies, his gaze dropping to the foam of his drink as his fingers skim the sides of the glass. "Regulus," he continues, though his voice is quieter, hesitant in a way it hasn't been til now, "was on the opposing side and died foolishly. Or so I thought. My godson has informed me since that his death was actually quite noble." He smiles then, though it's pained, and he brings his drink to his lips once more. "I suppose I had some influence over him after all, though I've yet to determine how I feel about that exactly."

[bloodandflowers]

"Pride, I would hope," replies Kell, "If he died nobly. I don't believe there is any good way to die, but there is some comfort in that, at least."

A paltry comfort, no doubt, to one in mourning. Kell wishes he had better to offer this strange, smiling magician who's shown him such kindness. "Your godson," he says. "The child of your other brother?"