32

Tiv

Monday 23rd July, Year 825

It was my first day working for my Father. I wore an uncomfortable army uniform with a matching moronic hat. I realised quickly my job was to stand still and look pretty, smiling and looking presentable while Father made speeches to a crowd of supporters. Flashes from cameras illuminated the room as I tried to maintain the perfect image of a proud son supporting his father's political career. When the speeches were over, I was forced to shake hands and engage in small talk with people my Father had meticulously coached me on beforehand. I could feel my cheeks starting to ache from the fake smile plastered on my face. The last time my cheeks hurt from smiling, it was because I was happy. I pushed the memory down but couldn't stop her face from surfacing. Her wide-eyed gaze. Her body. Her smile.

My phone buzzed in my pocket jolting me back to reality.

"Yes?" I said.

"Mr Hawes, your offer has been accepted on the Nel Street property," the estate agent said happily.

"Great! What's next?" I asked.

"We have some paperwork to go over. I'll send it to you now. I'll get a move date to exchange keys to the property," she explained.

"You're a gem! Thank you," I said.

"Not a problem, sir."

I hung up as my father approached.

"I'm moving out," I grinned.

"Good," he smiled back, nodding at a passerby. "Meredith informed me it was your birthday. I'll pay for your apartment. Call the agent and sort it."

I was surprised by the gesture or that he wanted to mark the occasion at all. I wasn't surprised Meredith had to tell him it was my birthday.

"Thank you," I mumbled.

"You're a man now. Men work for what they want. Take what you can, when you can. You have your mother's money and an income. The apartment will be the last thing you get from me."

I ignored his cynical speech. "I want Meredith as my housekeeper."

"Not a chance," he said, a smile still tattooed on his face for the cameras yet there was no humour there.

"What if that's what she'd prefer?" I asked.

"Well, I'm hardly keeping her against her will. But she won't leave your sister," Father pointed out. "And you can't afford to pay her what I pay her."

I did not reply, knowing he was right.

Another potential voter came up and shook our hands, brightly enthusing about my Father's policies.

"Am I done yet?" I said under my breath, a smile still plastered upon my face.

"Not yet."

I did not get back to the manor until the sun was setting. I had to remind myself not to rush. I had two texts from Kale and one from Xander demanding I came out and celebrated but I was simply too tired. I had no intention of leaving the manor. The last few weeks had been awful in a way I couldn’t quite articulate. I felt heavy. Exhausted. Not in the mood to spend an evening watching Xander chase any woman who looked at him—some men too actually.

The moment Meredith opened the door, I made a beeline for the bar. The smooth liquid burned down my throat as I downed my first drink in one gulp. As I reached for a second glass, Meredith made herself known.

"Happy birthday!" she smiled.

"Thanks," I grumbled.

"Darling, are you well?" she asked.

"I'm grand," I threw back the second whiskey with a sigh, pouring a third.

She gently put her arm on my wrist to stop me from drinking from the glass. She had hoped to sooth me yet her touch did nothing.

"What is wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," I replied.

"Tiv, tell me," she commanded.

It was like having Mother around again.

"I'm homesick, I think," I muttered. "I miss our old life. I miss Mother. I miss…"

She let my words trail off before speaking, "I miss it too."

She barely made a sound as she spoke and it brought a prick of tears to my eyes. I rubbed my index finger and thumb across them to get rid of the unpleasant sensation.

"We must make the most of what we have here. It will never be home, however, it could be… enough," she whispered gently.

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I nodded.

"Will you be my housekeeper?"

She chuckled softly, "You do not need a housekeeper."

"I'd still prefer you out of this manor," I shrugged.

She stiffened slightly, "You have no reason to worry about me, my darling. Beau needs me here. As does your Father."

"I know," I said sadly.

I pulled my arm from her grasp and began to drink again.

"I have a gift for you. From Beau and I," she announced, pulling a small box from her pocket.

I felt a small rush of gratitude. Marco had not acknowledged my birthday and Father marked the occasion after being reminded by washing his hand of me, yet Meredith not only remembered, but went out of her way to mark the occasion in a sentimental way. I pulled her into a one-armed hug without taking the box. She patted my back gently and put the small gift in my palm, forcing me to put down my glass. I opened the box and found a ring crafted of polished wood, the grain meandering around the ring, creating a captivating pattern. Nestled within the wooden ring was a delicate band of gold. I pulled it from the box to examine it closer. On its underside a snowdrop petal was suspended in a transparent resin. I stared at the tiny petal in awe.

"The wood is oak from Harroworth, the gold is from Mother's jewellery collection, she left me a few things. And the petal…" she trailed off. "Well, now you have home with you all of the time-"

I embraced her again, my silence heavy with unspoken gratitude. Her grasp was also tight on me and I wondered what it was she could not say. Without another word, I released her and picked up my glass, sighing as I took another mouthful of whiskey.

"Is this because of the news?" she asked.

I almost smiled at the memory of Alayna telling me to watch the news more. I was out of touch.

"What's happening in the news?"

"Nothing," she hesitated. "You are simply not yourself."

"I don't know what you mean! Plastering a smile on my face while I'm forced to do my Father's bidding, that's the usual. I'm just as much myself here as I was in Vakosos, I'm simply not eight for this campaign, or twelve, or sixteen," I already felt the alcohol taking its effect.

"That is not all your life here has to be. Imagine the fantastic opportunities Mother would have made for you here. Make them for yourself, for her," Meredith smiled sadly.

"She wanted me to get a job with Father and end up in a loveless marriage, like her," I barked.

"Tiv, you know that isn't true-"

"Goodnight, Meredith," I dismissed.

She gave me a stern look and I immediately crumbled under the force of her gaze.

"Sorry. I've had a long day. I just need some time alone. Thank you for the gift. It was very generous," I sighed.

"Oh my darling boy," was all she said, rubbing a tender hand across my shoulder as she headed for the door. Yet before she left, she hesitated. "Tiv, I love your father, but you, Beau and Marco will always be my main priority. You are your own man. Please remember that going forward. Do what is right for you, not him."

What was right for me was going to Harroworth.

Meredith retired, leaving me to stand at the ebony wood bar alone. I looked at myself in the mirror which was buried behind the glass cabinets displaying various bottles of liquor. My distorted reflection looked tired. My feet echoed against the hardwood floor as I made my way to the large, leather Chesterfield couch, taking another mouthful of whiskey. Grabbing the remote, I lazily put the television on to the news channel. I gawked instantly at what I saw: Central Harroworth on fire. The main street my college had been on was completely obliterated. There was footage of scabs throwing things through windows and destroying cars. My drink slipped from my hand and spilt all over the floor as I noticed Ben Jameson at the front of the crowd of angry people, yelling unheard obscenities at the Guard. I immediately mashed up on the volume button.

"...a riot which was thought to have started over a month ago around Outer Harroworth. Much of the city's government officials are thought to be dead or missing and the Guard forces have been mostly overthrown. Today marks the worst day of fighting since the rebellion began, as reinforcements arrived from Vakoso's capital city, Thruck. This may have proven a bad move for Vakoso's president, Hillary Williams, as we have heard reports of riots firing up in the capital and Umbrith sightings in broad daylight."

The television showed images of Hillary Williams, talking from a podium outside the governmental building in Thruck. I had met the Vakosian president a few times. She oozed power and managed to dwarf my Father when in a room with him. Her golden eyes sparked and her thick jaw was cocked up in defiance.

"We will not let these murderers and thugs threaten our freedom. These mindless acts of violence will be quashed and their leaders will be punished-"

Yet her inspirational speech was silenced by screaming around her. She was immediately pulled from the podium as the camera panned down the steps to the busy street below. An Umbrith, out in the open, was visible for a fraction of a second, stalking between two buildings in broad daylight. The footage cut out after that as the camera operator had decided to run for their life.

"The footage, taken live earlier this afternoon, shows an Umbrith in a busy, central area of Thruck. It was always thought the creatures could not come out before sunset, yet this footage contradicts our current understanding of the Umbrith that plague Vakoso. President Beckett has announced an immediate border closure between Vakoso and Lambent. Lambentians are being urged to return to their home country immediately."

The reporter continued to talk yet I heard nothing else. I jumped to my feet and started to pace like Mother would have. Alayna was in serious danger. Her moronic brother would lead her straight to it. Father had been right; Vakoso would fall. And she would live through it, or perhaps she would not. Quick-fire worries shot through my head. I felt ill propelling my heart beat too fast.

No matter how badly Alayna had treated me, she, nor the other scabs, deserved the treatment they had received at the hands of their government. It was no surprise they would fight back. They'd taken the city in a month and it looked like the capital was next. If they were successful, would they try to take Lambent too? There had not been a war between the two countries in decades.

Lambent would win like they always did and Vakoso would be destroyed and forced to rebuild like they always did. Lambent had not fallen in over eight hundred years. Not since the Great War. Not since familiars had been used to destroy mortals.

I thought of Alayna again and wished, despite myself, I could do anything for her. However I knew I could do nothing. They had closed the borders so nobody was leaving.

Keep the phone active.

It wasn't much and I was definitely facilitating contact between her and someone new, yet what if a single phone call was enough to save her life? The last time I had checked her phone bill, she had made another call. Just one single call. Yet what if it had been a call for help? I decided then and there I would not stop paying for the phone, however I would not redirect the phone bills to my new apartment. They could keep coming to my Father's mansion in perpetuity so I never had to be aware of her activity. She was out of my life and she would stay that way. I poured another drink and realised I was shaking. To give my hands something to do, I fiddled with the ring wrapped around my middle finger and stared at the tiny snowdrop petal. I couldn't decide if the constant reminder of the girl who used me was a gift or a curse.

I woke up the next day still in the bar, sprawled across the couch. The light hurt my eyes and my head banged painfully. I was still wearing my clothes from the night before. A glass was smashed on the floor and I had no recollection of how it had come to lie there, shattered into a thousand sharp pieces of crystal.

I exhaled roughly.

Time for another day of meet and greets.