Chapter 13 - The Ring
As the quiet minutes of their trip stretched into agonizingly silent hours, Wilhelm felt his mild annoyance towards his brother begin to grow. Jacob hadn't once bothered to look up from his book to speak to him since they'd departed, aside from distractedly providing directions as the roads twisted and forked. The very fact that he had agreed to leave Jake to his reading made the silence even more unbearable.
Will leaned across his saddle, glancing at his brother who was completely absorbed in his own thoughts. Jacob's eyes were unfocused and his lips were pressed together in an uncharacteristic frown, making Wilhelm all the more curious about what Jacob was thinking so carefully about.
Settling down into his saddle, Will wondered why his brother had such a troubled expression. 'What could he possibly be brooding about?' Will thought to himself. 'Of course,' He realized with a sigh, 'He's probably wondering what the hell's wrong with me.'
Raking a hand through his hair, Wilhelm considered whether he had the courage to approach Jake on the subject of his recent bouts of unprovoked anger and unnecessary arguments. 'What a conversation that would be,' Will thought to himself sarcastically.
"My dear younger brother, I have something I need to tell you. After months of agonizing over the fact, I've finally came to the conclusion that I…" Wilhelm trailed off, as he looked up to see Jacob's surprised expression. Seeing his brother's face, Will felt his throat go dry as he realized he'd spoken his thoughts aloud.
"You what?" Jacob wondered with a grin, intrigued by Will's sudden visible discomfort.
"I- I want to settle down somewhere, find a gorgeous wife and have kids. Lots of kids," Wilhelm explained with an expansive gesture, "You know, the happily ever after, I want that."
"A wife. Kids." Jacob echoed faintly, "Isn't that what everyone wants?" He asked, not quite managing to keep the scorn out of his voice.
"Isn't that what you want?" Wilhelm asked defensively, wishing he had kept his mouth shut.
"No, Will. That's not at all what I want," He snapped. "I thought you, my brother, of all people would be able to understand that," Jacob added, abruptly turning back to his book.
"Then, what do you want, Jacob?" Will questioned, his suddenly serious tone compelling Jake to respond.
"I want… or rather I don't want to be tied down to one place for the rest of my life," He explained, running a finger over the book's soft leather cover. "Seeing new things, writing down these stories… After the things we've seen, I don't know if I even could give it up," Jacob replied sadly. "But I guess that's what makes us so different, isn't it Will?" Jake added with a half-hearted grin.
"Wait, are you saying you don't want to get married? You don't want a family?" Will persisted, compelled to hear his brother's answer.
"I never said that I didn't want to get married… I just don't-" Jacob froze, horrified as he realized what he'd nearly confessed, "I mean, I don't want to be tied down," He amended.
"Ah?" Will questioned, suddenly interested. "So, you do want to get married but you don't… what? Want kids?" He clarified, nudging his horse towards Jacob's.
"Something like that," Jake answered, flipping his book back open. "It doesn't really matter."
"Of course, it matters!" Will persisted, "What about your happily ever after?"
"I've thought about it, Will, and realized that I'll never have a happy ending. Not in this lifetime. Race d'Abel, dors, bois et mange; Dieu te sourit complaisamment… Race de Caïn, dans la fange; Rampe et meurs misérablement," He recited in a singsong voice. "You know as well as I do what happened to Cain," Jacob continued softly.
"Don't be an idiot," Will said firmly. "Your story and Cain's are nothing alike," He assured his brother.
"The scar on your chest says differently," Jacob snapped, turning back towards his book.
"You're wrong Jake," Will responded, imploring his brother to meet his gaze.
Jacob pointedly kept his eyes on the book's pages, "It's nice of you to say that Will, but it would be easier to believe if you didn't always yell the opposite at me when we argue."
Wilhelm felt a stab of guilt, "Jake… Jacob," He implored. "You know as well as I do that the things people say when they're angry aren't necessarily the truth."
"Why say them at all, then?" Jake snapped, slamming his book closed and sharply ending the conversation.
The heavy silence between them thickened with every passing minute, muting the sounds of the horses' hooves and the clinking of their luggage. Jacob wasn't particularly upset because his brother had disturbed his reading, but the message underlying his words tore at Jacob. 'Although it's only natural, isn't it… Wilhelm and I eventually going our separate ways,' He thought sadly.
'Will is right, I must live in a fairy tale. What kind of idiot could believe that our stories will both end happily? He wants a wife and children, and I can give him neither. I could tell him that I love him, more so than anyone that I've ever laid eyes on. I could… could never tell him that. He'd leave or worse, laugh and call it a joke,' Jacob realized with a groan, rubbing the bridge of his nose and adjusting his glasses.
Taking in the glow of the warm dusk as it illuminated the forest surrounding them, Wilhelm was equally lost in thought. 'I'm an idiot,' he affirmed, glancing at his younger brother from the corner of his eye, 'Only I have the wretched capability to say something that stupid. Only I would panic like that. Only I could find a way to accidentally take the conversation down such a painful turn,' Will thought bitterly. 'And Jake's entirely right, I'm not fair when we fight. It's just that I don't what else to say, he's everything I'm not. How am I supposed to argue that?' He wondered in frustration.
Noticing how much of the afternoon had slipped away, Wilhelm was jarred from his thoughts. "Jake?" Will questioned suddenly, "The horses need a rest," He stated, noticing how Jacob had startled in response.
"Right, of course!" Jake exclaimed, vaulting off of Fee. "Poor girl," He murmured softly, stroking her muzzle and before leading the mare off the road towards a clearing in the trees. "I should've been paying more attention to the time," Jake apologized to his mount as Will brought Kastanie over to join her sister under the trees.
"There you go, good girl," Will praised as Kastanie took the offered food from his outstretched hand. "Now we just need to find you two some water, where did Jake go… Jacob?" He wondered aloud, noting Fee was hitched to a nearby tree, happily eating, and his brother was nowhere in sight.
"I'm over here, Will," He heard Jake's voice drift over from somewhere behind the trees. Wondering what had distracted his brother, Will tied his horse up and went to see what Jacob was doing.
"Isn't this interesting?" Jake asked enthusiastically, leaning over the edge of a small, clear pond.
"Careful Jake," Wilhelm responded with a sigh. "And what an absolutely fascinating watering hole you've found," he added dryly.
"Come on, it's an interesting little pond, Will. Also, I'm a grown man, I won't fall in," Jacob answered flippantly, ignoring his brother's blatant disinterest.
'Of course you won't,' Will thought dryly to himself. He knew the extent of Jake's clumsiness and fully expected the forest's silence to be broken any instant by a splash. Untying the horses' reins from the tree, Will led them to the pond. Scanning the pond as the mares drank their fill, he was equally relieved and surprised to see that his brother had stopped examining the pond and had moved on to studying a tree. Not knowing or particularly caring about what made the tree so fascinating, Wilhelm continued enjoying the serene view of the pond.
"Will?" Jake questioned, spotting his brother reclining against the base of a tree, looking uncharacteristically content with a small grin and closed eyes feinting sleep.
"Yes?" The older Grimm responded lazily, cracking an eye open to look up at Jake, "What?"
"Guess what I found. Close your eyes and hold out your hand," Jacob directed with a grin, unable to contain his childish excitement.
If anyone else had made such a request, Wilhelm would not have complied, but he knew that Jake wasn't the kind of person to play practical jokes. Grin in place, the older Grimm closed his eyes again and held out his hand.
Feeling Jacob gently turn his hand so that his palm faced downwards, Will felt something cold and smooth slide across his finger to rest at its base.
"What are the chances it actually fits," Jacob exclaimed, as Will yanked his hand back in surprise, opening his eyes to stare at the piece of metal encircling his finger. A ring. A thin, delicate, silver band with what looked to be a pale sapphire perched elegantly on his finger. On his ring finger. "Isn't it beautiful?" Jacob asked, oblivious to Will's increasing distress over the newly found jewelry.
"What are you…? Why? Jake!" Wilhelm stuttered, his usual eloquence abandoning him as he looked from the ring to his now concerned brother. Taking a very deep breath, Will took a quiet moment to collect himself and started again. "Jacob, what is the meaning of this?" He asked quietly.
"What do you mean, don't you like it?" Jake answered helplessly, unsure of how he'd upset Wilhelm. "I found it in an empty bird's nest in the tree. Since it was too big for even my index finger, I figured that you might like it," He explained, before adding, "You can give it away as a gift, if you prefer."
"I see," Wilhelm responded faintly. "Why this finger?" He questioned with a drawn out exhale.
"What's wrong with that finger?" Jacob wondered, wearily holding up his right hand, "It doesn't mean anything on this hand." He explained, pointing to Will's hand which mirrored his own.
"Your right, my left," Will muttered. "You still make that mistake? After years of schooling and rigorous academic training?" He asked in disbelief.
A pale blush spread across Jacob's face. "Yes, I suppose I do. Sorry Will," He apologized, looking away from his brother.
"It's fine," Wilhelm assured him.
Nodding his agreement, Jacob turned to his saddlebag and began digging through it.
Pulling himself up to a standing position with a lazy stretch, Wilhelm motioned towards the road. "I think we should be getting back on track, Jacob," He suggested as Jacob pulled yet another book out of his bag. "Jake..." Will warned as his brother began flipping through the new book.
"It's an atlas, Will," Jake explained. "I need to see how far the next town is, assuming that you don't want to sleep outside," He added dryly.
"Right, go ahead then," Wilhelm answered sheepishly, beginning to check over Kastanie's saddle and reins.
"If we hurry, it looks like we'll be able to find somewhere to stay before nightfall," Jacob added, tucking his book back into the saddlebag and loosing Fee's halter.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading. This is the updated version of Chapter 13, uploaded on 02/2023.