CHAPTER 172: HIS PENANCE

Gerald had walked a long distance without stopping to rest. It was this day he would take Rhane to see the hell he’d been living in. It was no longer about Jenna.

It was never even about Jenna, if the young man was being honest with himself. The person Gerald had always wanted to break was Rhane. And for all his effort, it didn’t seem like he had done anything at all. His father looked down on him; Jenna did the same, but they always praised Rhane if all he did was breathe.

Getting to the cave, Gerald sat down under a tree and waited. He didn’t bother to search for Jenna’s veil; he was never going to find it. He didn’t know what Jenna loved or how her veil would look like. Not like it would benefit him.

Gerald had seen the way Jenna looked at him, like she would throw up anytime soon if he did as much as breathe close to her.

"A tournament for Jenna..." he chuckled, shaking his head. It was all a farce and never did he agree to it. Nikolai had forced him to join, saying he had plans, but until now nothing had been fruitful— leaving Gerald wondering exactly who was to be blamed in the situation.

It was after an hour, when Gerald was almost giving up, that he heard footsteps. He ducked near a thick bush, watching as Rhane made his way towards the cave. Gerald’s first thoughts were to lunge at him and stab him from the back, but on second thought he waited. It was going to be a flawless attack if he should give Rhane that fleeting sense of victory. Let him take Jenna’s veil and get ready to leave, not knowing what awaits him.

When Rhane turned, Gerald held his breath, thinking he’d been caught, but Rhane just walked ahead.

"I am the only son of my father," Gerald chanted, his eyes staring at the cave. There was no longer reason in his gaze, just madness and a glint of hopelessness. The thoughts of his childhood came crawling back.

The nights he would walk past his parents’ chamber and hear his mother weeping. Gerald had seen Nikolai swear that Rhane would be the last, but news came again that the whore was heavily pregnant. This time Gerald watched his mother become a shell of herself. She left herself, living life like she didn’t want a part of it.

Liquor and rum always filled her room, her dress and hair unkempt. The woman had been betrayed by the man she loved.

"You look nothing like him... I tried... I have given my all,"

Gerald’s mother had said to him once when he sought her out just to console her, to plead with her to be a mother to him. The horrors didn’t end there. Nikolai went ahead to bring Rhane to their home. Even in secret, Gerald had seen his father watch the son he called filth. There was a sense of pride in his eyes, like a father seeing his replica and basking in the honor.

The case was different when Nikolai stared at him. What Gerald saw in his father’s eyes was shame, disappointment, and most times disgust.

And for all these years it didn’t end; all the people that walked into his life always placed Rhane above, like he was some sort of god that should be worshipped.

Never again. Gerald gripped the dagger when he saw Rhane’s shadow exiting the cave. It was time to end their ill-fated brotherhood.

"We cannot exist together. One must die," Gerald muttered to himself, stepping out of his hiding place. His eyes fell on a half-tucked veil hiding behind Rhane’s shirt. A wry smile curled his charred lips.

"So you found it..." Seeing that Rhane wasn’t going to say anything to him, Gerald took another step closer. "You should have stayed in your place..." His words fell in between threat and plea.

Maybe if Rhane had disappeared forever, things wouldn’t have been the way they were now. Why did he have to see Rhane in everyone and everything? Why did the universe have to compare his life with Rhane’s own? And why did Rhane want so badly to have Jenna?

"Tell me, Gerald... what is it you want?" Rhane asked calmly.

Seeing the flash of pity in Rhane’s eyes, Gerald gritted his teeth. "For you to leave my life... and go to the shadows where you belong."

Before Rhane could finish his statement, Gerald charged with the rage of a bull seeing red. He had no aim; he just went for the kill, a kind that was deadlier than a scorpion’s sting.

Rhane waited for him to get to him. Going at the same speed, he would be losing. His eyes remained on Gerald’s legs and then on his dagger. Once the young man got to him, Rhane shifted to the side; the slash Gerald’s blade made in the air caused Rhane to wince.

"DIE ALREADY!!" Gerald got his balance and turned with the same speed. He waved the blade in Rhane’s face with the aim of a mad dog, but Rhane ducked, landing a heavy punch on Gerald’s lower stomach.

Gerald howled, losing his balance as his eyes pricked with tears of anguish. With anger, Gerald gnashed his teeth and turned, aiming to stab Rhane’s face, but Rhane caught the blade with his bare hand and pulled it out with force. Though the pain caused Rhane to grit his teeth, he didn’t let go until the dagger had dropped on the ground, covered in his blood.

"Give it back!" Gerald reached forward to take it, but Rhane kicked his shin with one leg, then kicked the dagger far away with the other.

Gerald fell on one knee, his hand on his stomach and his leg. He heaved for air, his eyes cloaked in fury. "I will slit your throat, Rhane... I will kill y-you," his voice cracked.

Rhane stared down at the young man. As much as he would love to kill him, it wasn’t what he had come to the cave to do, and he wouldn’t let Gerald ruin everything he’d worked hard for.

"Give it up, Gerald. It’s over," Rhane used Jenna’s veil to tie the wound around his palm. "You can come visit me next time, I can kill you then." He walked past Gerald.

Gerald struggled to his feet and spat to the side. "You have to die, Rhane... you ruined a man’s life. You have to accept your death for the things—" his throat hitched when Rhane turned.

"That is rich coming from you..." Rhane sneered, his gaze condescending. "I am picking the pieces you broke... you should be rotting for almost ruining a wo— my woman’s life," he corrected.

Gerald scoffed, shaking his head. "She had it coming when she looked down on me! She always wished there was another man inside her and not me!"

"Looked down on you or didn’t soothe your fragile ego- which one is it, brother?" The word felt heavy on Rhane’s lips, but he said it anyway.

Gerald wiped his face and inhaled. "You made me second always... because of your existence I had to struggle my entire life to let others see me! Do you know how it feels?"

"And you think my death will erase that?" Rhane tilted his head. "I am not the reason Nikolai was unfaithful... I and Kali are only a fruit of it. My existence is not the issue here, Gerald... you know that."

Gerald brought out another dagger from his waist and pointed it at Rhane. "I don’t care about anything else... but one of us has to die here today," he yelled, running towards Rhane.

Rhane charged at him this time. Before Gerald could make a hit, Rhane raised his own dagger first and with a quick slash tore his left arm from his shoulder.

"Arghhhh!!!!" Gerald screamed and writhed as he watched his arm fall from his shoulder.

Rhane dropped his hand to the side, his eyes void of any emotion. Seeing that Gerald wouldn’t be standing soon, he turned to leave.

"Kill me! Don’t leave me here... finish what you started!"

This was Gerald begging for death, but Rhane smiled.

"That would be a luxury, brother... stay alive knowing you’d never raise a hand on a woman again," Rhane replied. "It is a gift from you."

Gerald struggled to stand, but the pain was unbearable. Tears filled his eyes. "Please... kill me. Let me free from this punishment... I no longer wish to be in this hell..."

"How convenient... you wish to enjoy the luxury of escaping penance?" Rhane shook his head. "For every day a memory of you comes to Jenna... I wish for you to stay alive and feel thrice of the pain. Stay alive and bear that cross as a man."

Seeing there was nothing else left for him, Rhane left the place, making his way down the mountain. Killing Gerald sounded ecstatic, but that would be too easy for all the man had done to Jenna. And though Gerald’s hate was a result of Nikolai’s mistake and arrogance, he was still to be blamed for letting hate corrupt his mind.

It was over now. Gerald would no longer bother him. And the veil was secured around his wrist. Jenna would be—

"Rhane..." A woman’s voice whispered seductively.

Rhane raised his face, a little surprised to see a woman in the mountain— and not just any woman, one that knew him. "Who are you?"

"Lois... I am Lois."