He was irritated with himself for feeling this way.
He barely knew the man and yes, he was admittedly handsome but that was barely any reason to be feeling whatever this was.
He kept his eyes fixed on the short fence that enclosed the small village. It offered no protection from what he could tell. Bandits and wild beasts could easy jump over or break it down during an invasion.
Any moment now, the dark haired man would come into view, probably side by side with his "old friend" Gian, and he'd tell him and his brother that he would rather go back to Galoria and risk the king's wrath.
He saw it in his eyes last night, Raven did not like the idea of going off to the capital with them. Whether it was because he didn't want to leave the life he had built for himself behind or if he did not want the responsibility that had fallen onto him overnight, Vermilion couldn't tell.
Vermilion didn't know why the thought of the other man being so unwilling irked him so much. Being Chosen was a privilege, that was a lesson that had been drilled into his and Ivory's heads since the day they moved into the castle. Raven, if he decided to join them, would have to learn that too. And soon. The castle politics would eat him up otherwise.
They heard them before they saw them, good-natured laughter and bickering floated into their ears, carried by the crisp morning air.
Raven and Gian approached them, both on horseback and seeming ready for a long ride.
They stopped a few meters away and Gian pulled Raven into an awkward embrace as they both stayed on their horses. He whispered something to him, and the dark haired man nodded with something close to affection lighting his eyes.
Disgusting, thought Vermilion. He was disgusting for being twisted up inside by that simple exchange. He needed to keep reminding himself that he didn't know this man and had no claim to him whatsoever.
"Good morning," Gian said in a chirpy tone that matched Ivory's returned greeting.
They conversed for a few more minutes, stalling as if reluctant to part ways. Vermilion didn't rush them. They had time to spare and he understood that his brother would need time to say his farewells, he tended to get attached to people easily.
"Shall we?" Raven asked. The question was for them both but his eyes peirced the side of Vermilion's face. Had he noticed him avoiding his gaze at all costs? Surely not.
"Let's, " Ivory answered.
They rode for two days after that. That first night, they sleept under the stars and took turns to be on the lookout. On the second, they managed to find a water source. The small river was narrow enough to cross in 10 steps, but it felt like an ocean to the three tired travellers.
Vermillion got busy setting up the tents while Ivory went into the woods to look for logs for their fire and Raven watered and fed the horses. They all did their parts without talking, as if they instinctively knew what the other person was going to do and which part they themselves would play.
The way they moved was fluid and efficient, like people who had travelled together for years and not just met the previous day.
When all the chores were taken care of, they sat around the fire and ate a stew that Ivory had cooked.
"We are probably approaching one of the ancient tomes," Ivory said when the quiet became unbearable.
"That is what we call the places where the Orbs of the Evil Essence are sealed right?" Raven inquired. At Ivory's nod he asked again with a raised brow, "is it safe for the tome to be near the capital? I would have expected the kingdom to cast those vile things to the far outskirts."
Ivory nodded his head in understanding because he too had thought that. He gave his brother a sign to elaborate.
Vermilion sighed but didn't argue.
"They tried that. The Orbs resonate with each other, the same way we do. The closer together they are, the stronger the Evil Essence gets and it becomes easire for it to chip away at the seal. But the further away they are, the more unstable they get and the more they leak some of that essense into the surrounding affecting animals and vegitation in that area.
"After the Chosen sealed the Evil Essence, a group of highranked mages and scholars first attempted a large Triangle, placing the orbs in tombs at the kingdom's furthest borders. However, the circumradius was too large, it rendered the connection unstable. They only noticed when orbs bled essence, corrupting the wildlands. That was the first sighting of monsters and killer plants in the kingdom. Next they tried a Micro-Triangle near the heart of the realm, the proximity nearly proved fatal—the Evil Essence drew upon the concentrated energy to fracture the barrier from within.
"Realizing the three-way resonance was the flaw, the scholars abandoned the triangle for a Linear Axis. By aligning the orbs diagonally across the kingdom, they discovered that only two orbs need maintain a standard distance to ensure stability. So the smallest, weakest orb was anchored in the forest behind the Capital as a central stabilizer, acting as a axis that balanced the power of the two stronger orbs at either end of the line. This configuration prevented both the leakage of distance and the volatility of proximity."
"...."
"...."
Silence met him.
"What?" He asked in irritation at the the dumb looks on both their faces.
"You really outdid yourself with that explanation, brother." Ivory finally said. He looked at him as if he was trying to figure him out. "You didn't explain it in that much detail to me. Why does Raven get the premium lesson?"
Vermilion felt himself flush at that. Maybe he had felt that he needed to show off just how booksmart he was to the other man. Yes, he could admit to himself that he wanted to impress Raven, sue him.
"I just thought Raven would at least understand my detailed explanation. You're too dumb to get most of what I just said so I gave you the watered version!"
"Ha!" Ivory scolded but he didn't push it because he knew there was at least some truth to that.
"You hold too high a regard for me," Raven said making Vermillion face him.
As their gazes collided, it was like a head-on collision of two stars. Hot pressure pressed down on his chest and he didn't know what that meant.
The playful glint in Raven's eyes was intoxicating. As if in slow motion, his eyes roamed all over Vermilion's face. Searching. The world had fallen away and he hadn't even noticed until he was pulled out of his trance by the sound of his brother's voice asking what was wrong.
"Whatever," he muttered and got up. He was embarrassed and confused. Whatever just happened left aftershocks of that weird gooey feeling running through his veins. He tucked himself inside his tent and pretended to sleep.
The soft mummer of conversation between Raven and his brother lulled him to sleep.
He was startled awake by a ferocious growl and the sight of Ivory bleeding on the ground with Raven standing between him and the beast in a defensive pose shocked his senses awake.
What the heck had happened?