A Little More Than Kin-Chapter 12

"A Little More Than Kin"

Chapter 12

By: Crystalis Blade


The ball was officially announced over

Everyone had gone home

The King was dead

And Sabin and Edgar were kings

Wowthat was an uneventful evening Edgar caustically thought to himself as he ripped off his armor and threw it onto the bed angrily. He wanted to hit something, yell, screamlet everything he ever felt out. But instead, he took a deep breath and took his shirt off, pulled his hair down out of its once elegant braid, and checked the clock. It was only one thirty in the morning and he knew he wasn't going to sleep. The chancellor would insist on meeting with him, the guards would want to also see himand Sabin

Poor Sabinmy dear, dear brother Edgar wept to himself as he looked at the picture of him and his brother. He stopped, and walked over to it. He held it intently and studied his brother.

Sabin stood with his left arm up upon his brother's higher shoulder. He had had his right hand on his hip and his left foot crossed flatly over his right while leaning on Edgar. Sabin had the best smile in Edgar's opinion. It was always big and real—never faked. You could always see his teeth with those rosy cheeks. It was justSabin. Edgar could never explain his brotherhe just understood him. A sibling connection so to speak. Edgar knew what Sabin was feeling. He could hear his brother's words float back into his head.

I'm not cut out to be a king

Edgar could never convince him otherwise, even though Edgar knew Sabin would make an exceptional king.

Edgar sat back in the chair by his desk and picked up a coin. He began to do some legerdemain with it; it helped him think. The coin fluidly moved across his fingers like water. He'd flip it around and then back onto his fingers, then knuckles, and back to his fingers, over and over He could do it for hours and never drop the coin. He was good with his hands; maybe the engineer in him. Whatever it was, he kept playing with the coin without looking at it; just at his brother.

So many voices and sounds floated into his head at once. The chancellor talking outsideLiam yelling at some other guards on watchMatron trying to comfort one of the servantsand the piano

Each note had a desolate emptiness in it. The conviction of its creator had somehow left with the subtle wind that carried those lonely notes to Edgar. Edgar knew the notes. They weren't just music, but words to him. It was how Sabin talked to Edgar; a language they shared. No words were every necessary between them. Edgar put the picture down and just listened. He blocked everything out. He had to have sat there for forty-five minutes.

Edgar could hear the grief in the sonata as his brother played it. It crushed Edgar to hear his brother play like that. It hurt him enough that Edgar dropped the coin off his fingers. It spun on the floor He looked down vacantly at the spinning coin as his beloved "Coin Song" began to play.

Suddenly, the voice of his father floated back into his head.

Promise me you'll take care of your brother

Edgar's eyes suddenly widened at the coin as it slowly finished spinning. It was his favorite coin. His mother had given it to him when he was about six and it was double headed. He could distinctly see the two faces as the coin stopped on the floor. On one side, it was his face, at what he was thought to look like at about eighteen; on the other side, it was his brother's face.

How ironicthe faces matched perfectly

Edgar had always used to play tricks on his brother. Always asking what side would land up, using it to do magic tricks winning bets HehSab could never resist a bet Edgar thought.

That was it! Edgar got up and grabbed his shirt and cape, tossed them on and picked up his coin. He ran down the stairs, almost tripping over his own feet, and flew out of his door.

He never noticed that the piano had stopped.