“You will hail whoever you wish and ask them to come pick you up.” Kira ordered Keefe. “And you will ask whoever to bring with them all Black Swan members with them.”
“Yes ma’am.” Keefe said, taking the Imparter. He stared at it for a few moments then looked up at Kira and said, “Can a guy get some privacy?”
Kira bowed, though she looked more than a bit offended, and left the room. Keefe looked at the Imparter, considering who he should hail. After some going back and forth, he finally nodded his head and told the Imparter, “Show me Elwin Hesledge.”
“You are in so much trouble.” Elwin said when he had answered and saw Keefe’s face.
“I know, I know.” Keefe said. “But this was not my idea. If it was up to me-“
“You wouldn’t hail me at all.” Elwin said. “You would find some way to come back home that is just dramatic and over the top and 100% Keefe that would help to distract people from the fact that they’re mad at you. But unfortunately you have landed yourself in some medical problem that threw a wrench in all of those plans.”
“Yes and no.” Keefe said. “Ruined dramatic plans, yes. Medical problems, yes. But I would have found my way around two broken legs I’m sure. Anyway, I hailed you because the Sencens want to talk to all members of the Black Swan. And also because they’re sick of having me in the house and want me to be gone.”
“I see.” Elwin said. “So I need to bring…?”
“Everyone.” Keefe said. “And bring Dad.”
“Right.” Elwin said. “When you get back, everyone is going to kill you.”
Keefe smirked. “Somehow, I just don’t see that happening.”
“We’ve found Keefe.”
Lord Cassius choked on the tea he’d been drinking and stared at the Imparter.
“You found Keefe?” He repeated.
Elwin nodded. “There’s a bit of a catch though.”
“What?” Cassius asked, staring at Elwin with a suspicious glance.
“He’s at the Sencen Estates.”
The Black Swan, all of them as requested, stood on the front porch of the Sencen Estates, waiting for Lord Cassius to knock.
“Is something wrong?” Mr. Forkle asked, tired of waiting. It was quite cold here, wherever here was, and everyone very much wanted to be inside.
“I just haven’t been here in years.” Lord Cassius answered.
“Is your family anything like you?” Sophie asked.
Lord Cassius turned to look at her and said, “Miss Foster, I am nothing like my family.” And with that, he opened the door and they all walked in, grateful to leave the cold.
Cassius led them down a hallway which seemed endless. And there were so many more halls branching off of this one. The house had to be massive. But Cassius seemed to know his way around, leading the group into what seemed like a living room where ten or so people who looked very much like Cassius were waiting. Keefe lay on a couch. He would have appeared fairly at ease with the way he was stretched out, his head at one end, his feet at the other, propped up on a pillow mountain. His head hung over the arm of the couch a bit and his eyes were closed but his body was quite rigid. He didn’t look up as the Black Swan entered the room but he did twitch and somehow tensed up even more.
“What are you doing here?” An Ancient woman with silvery blond hair and ice blue eyes demanded.
“I’m here for my son.” Lord Cassius said, avoiding eye contact with the woman and instead keeping his gaze trained on Keefe, who wasn’t acknowledging the fact that things were happening around him. He instead let out a cute, quiet snuffle and twitched again. Like they were going to believe he was asleep.
“Oh.” The Ancient said with heavy sarcasm. “Of course. You’re here for your son.”
“Since when has family meant anything to you?” Another woman snapped.
Lord Cassius scoffed. “When has family ever meant anything to me? When has family ever meant anything to you?”
“Family is everything to us!” The second woman yelled.
“You abandoned me!” Cassius shouted back.
“You abandoned us!” The woman argued.
“I was sixteen!” Cassius said. “I was sixteen and living alone.”
“You knew the rules!”
“The rules were stupid.” Cassius replied.
“They were there to keep you safe.” The Ancient stepped in.
“They were there to keep us trapped.” Cassius argued. “They were there to control us.”
“You knew the rules and you broke them.” The Ancient said. “You made your choice.”
“No.” Cassius said. “The choice was made for me. I would have stayed. I would have come home every day. But you didn’t want that. You made the choice.”
“You were disgracing the family name.”
“The family has no name!” Cassius yelled. “How could I disgrace something that isn’t there?” The two women opened their mouths to protest but Cassius seemed to have gained too much momentum to stop. “This family had nothing. I wanted to be something more. I wanted to do something more. I was tired of doing the same thing every day. I was tired of waking up every day to the same thing. Nothing was new. I was so excited to start something new and I loved it. I made friends. I had a life. I had a chance at something more. But I still came home every day. To this family. To my family. Even though people would invite me to their houses after school, I always came home. And they were still my friends and you were still my family.”
“We have no place in society.” The Ancient said as if this was a friendly reminder.
“Because society doesn’t know who we are! Society would make a place for us if we put ourselves out there. But instead we sit in our “haven,” letting the world go on around us. You’re living in the past. Times have changed. Society isn’t the problem. You are.”
The other Sencens in the room gasped. Cassius just kept going.
“Look, I’m sorry I’m not who you wanted me to be. I’m sorry I’m not the perfect son you wanted. I’m sorry I couldn’t fit into the perfect family you had created. I’m sorry I wanted more. I’m sorry that wanting a life is such an inconvenience for you. I’m sorry that I was never perfect enough. I’m sorry that I was never good enough for you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I could never be worthy of your love. I tried. I really did. Everything I did. Every assignment I completed for the Council. Every praise and title I received, I did it all for you. I dedicated it all to you, in hopes that you would notice me. That you would see what I did and be proud of me. But no. You never noticed. And even if you had noticed, it’s not like you would have cared. So yes, I’m sorry. But you have no right saying I turned my back on this family. Because I never did. I loved this family. I love this family. I sacrificed everything for you. Everything. For you. And it meant nothing. I meant nothing. Your talk about family being everything is meaningless. Because the second someone steps out of line or does anything that goes against tradition, they’re dead to you. They mean nothing. So yes, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Silence descended on the room. The Black Swan looked from Lord Cassius to the Sencens. Everything was tense and uncomfortable. Finally Lord Cassius stepped forward and picked Keefe up. Then he walked back to the group and nodded. Mr. Forkle held up a pathfinder in a daze as he looked at Lord Cassius. Then they leaped away.
At the hideout, Cassius laid Keefe on the couch. Keefe finally decided to gain consciousness and looked up at his father. He took his father’s hand and squeezed it, letting his dad’s empathy decipher the words he couldn’t say. His father nodded, smiled, and wiped at the tears rolling down his face. Then he turned and walked towards the door.
“I have to go.” He whispered, to no one in particular it seemed.
“You don’t have to.” Keefe called out.
“I should grab your things.” And then he was gone.
Keefe sighed and stared at the ceiling. Everyone stared and Keefe. After a few moments of silence. Finally Mr. Forkle stepped forward and asked, “Explanation?”
Keefe sighed again and looked up. “Sure. I’ll make it quick. So basically, my family, the Sencens, were banished for causing unrest in the Lost Cities. Well, nevermind. Back up. My 25 some great grandfather was king of the elves. Then he was killed by some rebels, we’ll call them the pre-Neverseen. So anyway, he was killed. Then the king’s wife, who was human, wanted the king’s son put on the throne. Logical right? But Fallon, who had initially stepped in after the king’s death, said it was best to let the monarchy dissolve because it caused more trouble than was worth. So she got mad and started causing more unrest than the pre-Neverseen had. So Fallon banished her and all Sencens. My family is living alone on an island and being old-fashioned and grumpy. Then, in the time of my 10 some great grandfather, the Council decided to give Sencens a chance to reenter society. Like you Foster. Each Sencen born had a trial year at Foxfire and if they succeeded, they could stay in the Lost Cities. But Kira (she’s the Ancient who was there)
said that if society didn’t want us, society wouldn’t get us. So each Sencen born caused trouble, were deemed unfit and were sent back. That all changed with my dad.
“He wanted more of life. He fell in love with Foxfire and the people and everything. He was bored of life on the island and wanted something more. So he went the full eight years at Foxfire and became a citizen. That’s why I didn’t get kicked out of Foxfire. Because my dad was a citizen now and he refused to have me sent to the island. He was just scared of losing me to his family. Everything he did, he did to keep me safe. Every time he pushed me and pushed, telling me to do better, was just to help me. Anyway, when Dad had completed Level 6, the Council told my dad if he passed the Elite levels with flying colors, he could be in the Lost Cities. When Dad told his family, they had this huge argument. Basically what you saw today, just hundreds of years ago.
Anyway, he was disowned. So Dad lived in the Elite towers all year round, working his butt off, guessed all the mirrors on the first go, had the highest scores anyone has ever had and became the first Sencen in the Lost Cities in thousands of years. He was eighteen when he had Candleshade built. He lived in Candleshade alone for a couple hundred years. And he’s an Empath. We can lie like nobody else. But we also lie to ourselves. And it destroys us. My dad faced that for centuries, always believing he was at fault. Always believing that he had messed up. That he was never good enough for his family. Then he married mom and well, you know the rest.”
Silence.
“I will never judge him so quickly again.” Sophie, the first to speak, whispered.
Keefe laughed good-naturedly. “Don’t worry about it. He knows he was a jerk at times. But, hurt people hurt people.”
“No kidding.” Fitz said.
“But it makes sense.” Biana said. “He was always talking about how he wasn’t the one at fault. Now we know why.”
“Why didn’t he tell us?” Sophie wondered.
“Ummm, maybe because my dad isn’t going to dump his sob story on some teenagers he barely knows?” Keefe offered. “Also, it’s a sign of weakness. He wasn’t just gonna go around telling people anyway.”
“Fair point.” Sophie said. More silence before she added, “Will he be okay?”
“Yeah.” Keefe said. “He’s managed for years. He knows how to handle it. It’s how most Empaths are really. We learn how to handle our own stuff. Even when it’s hard. Even if it hurts people.”
“Hurt people hurt people.” Sophie whispered under her breath. “So what happens when you heal them?”
