CHAPTER 26: BURNED

Kaelen’s knees hit the stone floor hard enough to bruise him, but he didn’t feel the pain. His hands hovered over his father’s burned chest, trembling with the desperate need to help and the terrible knowledge that he might already be too late.

"Father!" The word tore from his throat like a prayer.

Beside him, Lyren dropped down as well, his face pale as death itself. The golden fire that had burned in his eyes moments ago was gone, replaced by pure horror. His hands reached for their father, then pulled back as if afraid his touch might cause more damage.

"What did I do?" Lyren whispered. "What did I do?"

Lord Valerius’s eyes flickered open. His breathing was shallow and ragged, each exhale a struggle that made his whole-body shudder. The burns across his chest were severe...angry red flesh already blistering, the smell of charred skin filling the room.

"Brother, what did you do?" Kaelen asked, his voice breaking. He looked at Lyren with eyes full of anguish rather than anger. "He was trying to stop us. He was trying to help."

"I didn’t mean..." Lyren started, but their father’s hand moved weakly, silencing them both.

"Please... stop," Lord Valerius said, his voice barely a whisper. Each word seemed to cost him tremendous effort. "No more... fighting."

Kaelen leaned closer, his Aether senses reaching out to assess the damage. What he found made his stomach drop. The burns were bad enough, but beneath them, his father’s life-force was flickering like a candle in a storm. The shock and pain were overwhelming his system.

"Don’t try to talk, Father," Kaelen said, placing a gentle hand on his father’s shoulder...one of the few places not burned. "Save your strength. I can heal you. Just give me time to..."

"No time," Lord Valerius interrupted, coughing. Blood flecked his lips. "Listen... both of you."

Lyren was crying now, tears streaming down his face. "Father, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just wanted..."

"I know," their father cut him off. "I know what you wanted. And it’s my fault." Another cough, more painful than the last. "I regret... the competition I sowed between you brothers. I pushed you both... made you enemies when you should have been allies."

Kaelen felt tears burning in his own eyes. "Father, please. Let me heal you. I can fix this."

But Lord Valerius shook his head slightly, the movement clearly causing him pain. "Our house will fall... if you don’t stop this rivalry. There are things... things which you do not know. Dangers coming that need you both... working together."

His breathing became more labored. His hand found Kaelen’s and gripped it with surprising strength.

"Kaelen," he said, his voice urgent despite its weakness. "Find your mother."

The words hit Kaelen like a physical blow. "My mother? But she’s... I thought she was dead."

Lord Valerius’s eyes held regret so deep it seemed to swallow all the light in the room. "Not dead. I told you she was dead, but I lied. She’s alive, Kaelen. She left when you were very young. She’ll... she’ll answer your questions. About your power. About what you really are."

"Where is she?" Kaelen demanded, leaning closer. "Father, where did she go?"

"She..." Lord Valerius began, but another fit of coughing cut him off. This time, more blood came up.

Kaelen’s hands moved instinctively to his father’s chest, silver light beginning to gather around his fingers as he prepared to channel healing Aether. But before he could begin, Lyren’s voice cut through the air.

"Guards!" his stepbrother screamed suddenly. "Guards, help! Murder! He’s killing Father!"

Kaelen’s head snapped up in shock. "What? Lyren, what are you..."

"He attacked Father!" Lyren shouted, scrambling backward away from them both. His face was a mask of false horror, his acting so sudden and complete it was almost convincing. "The heretic is using his dark magic to kill Lord Valerius! Someone stop him!"

"Lyren, stop this!" Kaelen said desperately, keeping his hands on his father. "I’m trying to heal him! You’re the one who..."

"Liar!" Lyren’s voice rose to a hysterical pitch. "Everyone saw you two arguing earlier. Everyone knows you resent Father for banishing you. Now you’re taking your revenge with your unnatural powers!"

Footsteps thundered in the corridor outside. The house guards were coming, drawn by Lyren’s screams.

"Lyren, please," Kaelen begged. "Don’t do this. Father needs help. Put aside whatever madness is driving you and help me save him!"

But his stepbrother was already backing toward the door, his face twisted with something that looked like genuine terror. "Stay away from me, monster! You’ve already murdered our father. I won’t let you kill me too!"

"I didn’t..." Kaelen started, but Lord Valerius’s hand tightened on his.

"Go," his father whispered. "Kaelen... go now."

"I won’t leave you," Kaelen said firmly. "Not like this."

"You must." Lord Valerius’s eyes were losing focus, but his grip remained strong. "If they take you... before you understand... you’ll never learn the truth. Find your mother. Find... find the answers."

The guards burst through the door, weapons drawn. Six men in the crimson and gold of House Valerius surrounded the scene, their faces showing confusion and alarm.

"Lord Lyren called for help," their captain said, looking between the two brothers and their fallen father. "What’s happened here?"

"That’s what happened!" Lyren pointed at Kaelen with a shaking finger. "My stepbrother attacked our father with his heretical magic. I tried to stop him, but his power is too strong. He’s a monster, Captain. He needs to be restrained before he kills us all!"

"That’s not true!" Kaelen protested. "Lyren attacked me in my sleep. Father tried to stop the fight and got caught in the crossfire. I was trying to heal him when..."

"Lies!" Lyren shrieked. "Look at Father’s burns. Look at what he’s done!"

The captain’s eyes moved to Kaelen’s hands, still glowing with silver Aether light, hovering over Lord Valerius’s burned chest. To someone who didn’t understand Aether magic, it must have looked damning...like Kaelen was in the process of causing the injuries rather than healing them.

"Young master Kaelen," the captain said carefully, "I need you to step away from Lord Valerius. Slowly."

"I’m healing him," Kaelen said desperately. "Can’t you see? I’m trying to save his life!"

"That’s not healing magic," one of the guards muttered. "That’s something else. Something wrong."

"Please," Kaelen looked down at his father. "Tell them. Tell them what really happened."

Lord Valerius tried to speak, his lips moving, but no sound came out. The pain and shock had finally overwhelmed him. His eyes fluttered closed, and his breathing became even more shallow.

"Father!" both brothers cried out at once.

"Seize him!" Lyren commanded, his voice carrying the authority of the heir. "Before he finishes what he started!"

The guards moved forward cautiously, weapons raised. Kaelen looked at the ring of steel surrounding him, at his unconscious father, at his stepbrother’s face twisted with false horror and real calculation.

He could fight. His Aether powers could disable all six guards without seriously hurting them. But then what? He would be a fugitive in his own house, hunted as a patricide. And worse, his father would die without proper medical care while everyone focused on capturing him.

"I didn’t do this," Kaelen said quietly, meeting the captain’s eyes. "But I’ll go peacefully if you promise to get healers for my father immediately."

"We’ll summon the healers," the captain agreed, though his weapon didn’t lower. "But you’re coming with us to the holding cells until this matter is sorted out."

Kaelen looked down at his father one last time. Lord Valerius’s face was pale, his breathing barely visible. The man who had banished him, who had called him a failure, who had just thrown himself in front of fire to protect him.

"I’ll find her," Kaelen whispered, knowing his father probably couldn’t hear him. "I’ll find Mother. I’ll get the answers."

Then he stood and allowed the guards to take his arms. As they led him from the room, he caught sight of Lyren’s face one final time. His stepbrother was still crying, but beneath the tears, Kaelen could see something else.

Satisfaction.