Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 116220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Then the joy is soiled, bitterness rushing in just as fast.
Kyle looks away, not answering him.
You must have questions. I understand. They’re questions you’ve no doubt been holding in your heart for nearly a year now. That must be like swallowing a liter of ginger ale and refusing to burp.
“Did I not just say I don’t want to have this conversation?”
Yes, you did. I’m proving to be a terrible listener. Kyle, I missed you so terribly.
Kyle gets up from the bench suddenly, paces over to one of the tall, stained-glass windows. He stares through it at the sun, the fake sun, the fake sun as seen through a maybe-fake window in this bullshit illusion of a medieval citadel.
My deceit started long before the day I faked my death. I think it started the night I changed you. Twenty-seven years ago. The night I returned to your house and set fire to your life. I’ve been terrible …
“Just shut up, please.”
I’ve done worse things than you even know.
“Please.”
I don’t deserve your forgiveness. But I will do whatever is in my power to make up for all that I have taken from you, for the rest of my immortal days, I will help piece your heart back together.
“It isn’t yours anymore to piece together. And also, it isn’t broken.” Kyle turns his eyes onto Tristan, nearly scowling. “My heart belongs to someone else now.”
Tristan’s soft, understanding gaze lingers upon Kyle. The sleeves of his blouse are so long, they go halfway down his fingers, cradling the cup of tea. After a moment, Tristan brings it to his lips, slurps, stops. Oh, I forgot I got this for you, not me.
“Keep it.”
Are you sure? Thank you, I’m actually quite thirsty. Tristan takes another sip, sighs. It’s much better hot. Quite disappointing that it’s gone cold. Too bad Lord Mark’s illusions are not skillful with tastes. Then we would all eat like kings and queens.
Kyle peers out the window again, at the sunrise. He thinks of the one he almost saw in the desert.
Then the question spills out. “Why did you leave me?”
Tristan takes a step toward him, reconsiders, then sits on the bench, cuddling his cup of tea. Would you like the honest and less artful answer, or the one that sounds like an answer I have been rehearsing for a whole year?
“How would I even know the difference? How can I trust anything you say ever again?” Kyle huffs, shakes his head. “Just forget I asked.”
The answer, the true and honest answer … it’s quite boring, in fact. And it may lead to even more questions, more than I think I’m willing to answer just yet.
“You knew Markadian,” says Kyle at the window. “He has some kind of control over you. Power.”
He likes to think he does. Tristan reconsiders, then answers with a touch less sass. Yes, actually, he has an incredible amount of power over all of us. As was evidenced a moment ago. The truth is … Tristan casually throws the cup of tea over his shoulder with a sigh. It shatters, causing Kyle to turn away from the window, watching as all its contents scatter across the floor. I have known Lord Mark for a very long time. He is the one who took me in after I shot my fake parents with silver bullets. Remember that bit? Yes, he helped cover it up. He took me in off the streets. He gave my life a purpose. Recruited me … so to speak.
“This place is a business,” says Kyle. “It wasn’t a metaphor. You were serious. Death’s your employer. Markadian is like the Grim Reaper. This is your job.”
Well, sort of yes, sort of no. There’s no contract. No vacation days to accumulate. All the places in this region that established a House and a dwelling have an appointed director. Mark is the Lord of this region, seeing over all of them. After working here for a number of years, I … I had a bit of a breakdown, you might say. An emotional one. I craved the life I missed out on. A childhood, teenage years, high school, friends, the whole dream. Lord Mark didn’t understand. So I ran. Abandoned my post … a renegade, a deserter. Took off to live my life. Wasn’t easy at first. I had no idea where to start. I had to learn many things. Tristan hugs himself, his face softening. Once I had it all sorted out, that’s when I ended up in a small Texas town. That’s when I ended up meeting you, Kyle Amos, with the cute face and silly letterman jacket and Walkman in your ears.
“Then my life fell apart. I killed my family. You burned down my house. And I went on the run with you.” Kyle turns away, sour. “You lied to me. The whole time, you lied.”