silverchain.
chapter twelve: bringing clarity to a befuzzled mind
"Hey! Am I going to have to set you on fire to wake you up, ya lazy bum?"
Matthew's eyes snapped open, and gradually focused on the flame-haired individual shoving him out of the bed. Grappling with the covers, he threw them aside, and with a mix of early-morning grumpiness and earnest excitement, he shouted, "Tyrell! Nicer ways to treat your best friend, you know."
"Not when he's a boring, lazy pile of bones! C'mon, I've been up for hours." It was clear that he was telling the truth—his green eyes were shining bright, and he was nearly vibrating with energy. Matthew had a feeling the other young man had been quite eager to come home.
Suddenly reminded of the events of the past few days, the Venus Adept's eyes flicked over to the opposite side of the room. Amiti's bed lay vacant; he must have risen already. "You okay?" Tyrell asked, clapping him on the back, and Matthew nodded slowly.
"Seen any of the others yet?" he asked weakly, and Tyrell shook his head, bushy clumps of hair moving as he did so.
"Well, 'xcept for your mom. She sent me on over. Think Dad was talkin' to her about where your dad was and all," he added in an offhand manner. "So what's been going on? You look kinda worn out."
Matthew opened his mouth to explain, but thought better of it when a few clomps from the hallway reached his ears. Karis plodded into the room, hair messy and unbrushed, eyes at half-mast. "Mornin'," she mumbled, settling herself comfortably on the bed near the two boys. Matthew and Tyrell exchanged looks.
"Uh, why are you here?" Tyrell asked, never one for subtlety. "Ivan...Master Ivan kick you out or something?"
She yawned. "He's on a...trip, and since," her eyes darkened, "Amiti was already here and all..."
The hefty young man's eyes bulged. "Amiti's here?" he exclaimed. "Wait, are we having some sort of reunion thing that Matthew didn't mention?"
"He's here to work out some treaty or something," she replied, and Matthew winced. He was still unsure of Amiti's previous truthfulness, and of the credibility of Karis' mind-reading adventure. Still, he kept silent. Tyrell nodded enthusiastically and grinned.
"So where is he?"
Matthew shrugged. "Probably off somewhere in town."
"He's an early riser," Karis added, flushing slightly. Matthew looked at her with slight surprise, wondering at her apparent attachment to the young king. Had she forgotten yesterday's events? The look in her eye told him that she hadn't, but she was remaining remarkably calm about the situation—at least, compared with her previous, horrible state.
"Gotta love Kalay," Tyrell said confidently. "I could smell it from a mile away."
"Is that a compliment or an insult to our dear hometown?" Matthew asked, smirking.
His best friend pretended to think for a moment. "Both?" he guessed, and Karis giggled.
"Are you gonna crash?" the Venus Adept said, somewhat warily, and Tyrell shook his head.
"Hey, I've been away from Kalay for a month! Besides, I got plenty of rest. You know how I sleep," he added, and they nodded, smiling. "Anything new in town?"
"Tyrell!" said a voice from the doorway, and all three Adepts turned to look. Amiti stood there, hesitating at whether or not to come in. Tyrell strode up to him, and the young king shook the Adept's muscular hand.
"Wait, am I supposed to bow or something?" he asked Karis nervously, and she shook her head good-naturedly.
"We're old friends," Amiti told him, smiling genuinely. "There is certainly no need for such formalities." Entering the room proper, he stood as the others sat, and they fell to discussing times that seemed old to them, although their adventures had only ended a few months before. While Matthew seemed, at the very least, able to tolerate him, Karis never met his eye save once, when she glared with a fury that sent daggers whirling through the young king's heart. He was, of course, utterly mystified as to her sudden anger against him.
The day passed quickly and blurrily for the young friends. They shared a meal fixed by the adults, although they were forced to promise they would in turn fix the night's dinner; they browsed the bustling city in the lazy afternoon; they prepared dinner among many laughs and in the cool dusky breeze. Still, the atmosphere was hardly clear. Matthew's shaky acceptance of Amiti was palpable, as was Karis's awkward, ever-changing emotions concerning the Water Adept.
Both Matthew and Amiti declared themselves too tired to stay up late, but Karis, although obviously weary, kept her eyes open longer. Tyrell, eyes serious for once, seized the opportunity to speak to her alone in the sitting room.
"Hey," he began gently, trying his best to be tactful, although that was a skill not naturally born to him, "what exactly is going on with you, Amiti, and Matthew?"
She looked up, and her dimmed eyes met his friendly, ice blue pair. Karis sighed, and patted the seat next to her. He took it, resting his head upon his hands.
"I didn't think you'd notice," she said reflectively to her hands, and he frowned at her.
"Just because I'm not the sharpest sword in the shed doesn't mean that I'm completely unobservant," he chided her. "Even I can tell that something's messed up. What is it?"
Karis looked down the hall, and felt, with a more easy Psynergetic rush, that Matthew and Amiti were soundly sleeping in the other room. "I...well, I love Amiti," she admitted.
"Yeah, so?"
She wrinkled her brow, and looked up to his eyes, which still appeared quite concerned, but unsurprised. "Am I that obvious?" she asked sadly, glancing back at her hands once more.
A large hand rested on her shoulder. "That's not what I meant. Come on, Karis, I've known you since we were little kids. Did you really expect me to be that clueless to the way you feel about him? What's the problem?"
Willing herself to remain calm, she tried to recount the events emotionlessly. "Well, ever since he arrived things have been...kind of crazy. First it was really nice, I showed him around, he spoke to Lady Layana, stuff like that. Dad wasn't too happy about him, and I could tell, but I thought it was just, you know, general overprotectiveness. He's always been that way."
Karis heard the rustle that accompanied Tyrell's affirmative nod, and took this as a sign to continue. "Then Matthew came home, and that was good, too. It even seemed at first like Amiti might be...well, a little jealous of him. In a good way, I mean. Dad left, and he was kind of mysterious about the reason, and that was pretty worrying, but other than that, everything was fine."
"That was a few days ago, right?" Tyrell asked roughly, obviously trying to keep his voice low. She nodded, still trying to keep her emotional distance from the situation.
"Yes, it was. A few days ago...well...I'll be honest with you. I've been practicing Mind Read in secret, and I was so curious..." Karis waited for him to catch her meaning.
After a minute, he did so. "You read Amiti's mind?"
"Matthew's, actually." She stopped, and her eyes seemed focused on something not physically with them. "Wait...I read Matthew's mind. But a few days later...yesterday...he didn't seem to know."
"Know what?" Tyrell asked impatiently.
"That Amiti was going to propose to Sveta."
"Sveta?" He sounded incredulous.
"I must have messed up!" Karis breathed. "I read Matthew's mind, but he didn't know! Tyrell! I messed up!"
He smiled. "I've been telling you for years that you're not really perfect," he teased, and she made a face at him.
"This is great," she said enthusiastically, obviously caught up in the moment. "Oh, right. So Matthew is all upset at Amiti because, you know, he's going to propose to Sveta—"
"Wait, what?" interrupted Tyrell.
She openly laughed at him. "You saw that I loved Amiti but not Matthew's feelings for Sveta?"
"I knew he liked her," he mumbled, "but I didn't know it was that serious. Why didn't he tell me?"
"He didn't want to tell me either," she said sympathetically. "It just sort of came out when he was telling me that Amiti loved me, but then I told him about Amiti and Sveta...but I didn't think about that, that I got the information from Matthew's mind in the first place!"
Tyrell grinned, although his countenance remained slightly confused. "So...I helped...right?"
"You did!" She hugged him tightly. "Oh, I wish I could talk to Amiti or Matthew now, to get this whole mess ironed out, but," she glanced at the direction of their room, "I'm afraid they're passed out."
"Plenty of time in the morning," he reassured her cheerfully, and Karis beamed in reply.
"There sure is. I'm going to hit the hay." She hugged him again, and started walking toward her room.
Tyrell stood there after she had gone, a rather self-satisfied expression on his face, for a moment, before taking upon himself to leave the house, closing it soundly behind him, and made his way to his own home, ready for a night's rest.