Roots and Oxygen

Chapter 55 - Snow Serpents

Sage's hot tears melted the snow on his face. He didn't bother wiping them away; his hands were also wet with snow. He cried quietly until a head covered the moon and yanked him into a seated position.

"Sage, are you alright? Are you hurt? What the hell are you doing?"

He stared into Taro's troubled eyes, wide and fearful and confused. "Did you know?" he asked. "Did you know about Patrick?"

"Your uncle Patrick? What do you mean?"

"He's a traitor because he's . . . " Sage's stomach flipped painfully, and he numbed to his very core. I should've known it would be this way. "I'm just not meant to be happy, am I?" He didn't see Taro's expression because his tears clouded his vision, but he felt hands on his coat and was pulled to his feet.

"You can't be out here, it's too cold and you're not dressed properly." Taro turned him back towards the slope and forced him to climb. "Get inside and get warm, and you can tell me what's going on." The two guards stood by the door when they returned, both visibly worried and anxious. "Why didn't you go after him?" Taro snapped and steered Sage inside.

When he was sitting in front of the fire with a hot drink, Sage could barely stay on one thought for long enough to make sense of it all. He watched the flames caressing the wood, turning it black, burning it to dust. Nothing felt real, not even the heart beating inside of him.

Taro sat down. Sage felt the couch cushion dip beside him. "What happened?" he asked calmly.

"I overheard the guards talking," Sage whispered, transfixed on the fireplace. "They said they overheard my parents saying how Patrick was a traitor because he was gay."

The silence in the room made Sage feel colder than he ever had before, even when he was knee deep in snow with an icy wind whipping his face.

Taro suddenly jumped to his feet and stormed through the room, only to return, shaking with rage. "I just spoke with the guards, Carno and Bell." Taro paused to take a long breath. "They swear they're telling the truth. They have no reason to lie, especially since they didn't mean for you to hear them."

Sage looked down to his tea. The heat of the cup hurt his fingers, but he couldn't loosen his grip. "So, you didn't know."

"I didn't. I would've told you if I had." Taro touched his wrist. "Please look at me."

When Sage did, a tear rolled pathetically down his face. "I can never tell them who I am. They'll never accept it."

"They can go fuck themselves," Taro muttered. Sage was so stunned by the harshness of his tone that it cleared his head. He blinked at Taro, who added, "If they want to label a member of their own family as a traitor for being gay, then they can piss off."

"What if they murdered him?" Sage's eyes widened. "What if they murdered him for being gay?"

"Sage, don't think that aloud." Taro scanned the room. "If they did mur-" he moved closer and hushed his tone, "murder him . . . then why would they freak out so much and keep you and your brother inside? Why would Oxley have a file on him? I think there's more to this, and I think it's dangerous for us to know."

"Why was Oxley allowed to know and not me?" Sage's hands trembled and some tea spilt onto his fingers. He dropped the mug and it smashed on the floor. He grabbed Taro's arm to stop him from getting up to clean it. "What if they knew I'm gay? What if that's the reason my dad was so pushy with me and Lady Liniana going on dates?"

Taro looked from the shattered golden cup to Sage's firm grip on his wrist, to his wide and terrified eyes and the angry flames reflecting against his tears. Slowly, he rested a hand over his shaky one. "You were so happy only an hour ago. It's always your family who make you so upset."