Hawk Heart

11. The Other

I was woken at around noon by a knock on my bedroom door.

I sat up straight, disoriented as I tried to make sense of things. I had barely gotten five hours of sleep. I hadn't really expected to be awoken so unceremoniously. Was something wrong?

I got to my feet and made my way towards the door, opening it just an inch to see Mel standing there. She nodded at me, "Greetings sir. Your father would like you to join him for lunch. He also has a guest with him."

"Oh," my stomach knotted. Another guest to meet? What was expected of me this time?

"I'll be down in a few minutes. Thanks," I nodded and shut the door, forcing myself to take a quick shower. On the positive side, it was just one guest, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad. I could just smile and nod and be done with it quickly.

As I climbed down the staircase I discovered however, much to my surprise, that the guest in question was a boy. He seemed to be around my age. Similar blonde hair and build. It was then that I realized with a jolt who he was supposed to be. The 'stand-in' son. He sat on the opposite end of the dinner table, facing dad.

I debated about leaving immediately. Why did he want me to meet him anyway? So he could insult me even more? I had two options in hand. Either I could bail, or I could be as much of a bitch as I could be. So of course, I decided on the latter.

"Morning, dad," I said, pausing their conversation. The guy turned to look at me, his hazel eyes slightly wide in curiosity. My dad looked as unimpressed with my existence as ever.

"It is afternoon, Asteroth. The day doesn't begin when you arise. Have a seat," he nodded at the empty chair between the two of them and I sat down, realizing that I was really hungry as my stomach rumbled.

For a few blissful moments, we simply ate in silence. Although, I was extremely aware of the duplicate Aster stealing glances at me. Why did he keep staring? What exactly had my dad told him about me?

"I suppose it is time to make formal introduction," my dad said. "Aster, this is Kai. He is the gifted Lightwielder who is to take your place at the Carnival."

"Hm?" I turned to look at him before smirking at my dad, "Does that mean he'll be the one you'll be emotionally torturing that day?"

He seemed to grit his teeth as I leaned back in satisfaction. If he was going through with this atrocious plan, I was going to make use of every opportunity to piss him off.

"Bit of an exaggeration Aster. I can be firm, but I would not equate my strictness to emotional abuse."

I scoffed. "You're fucking delusional then aren't you?"

"Aster!" my dad thundered, glaring at me. "Can you be civilized in front of guests for once? Or do you have to make me regret everything about you every single time?"

I shrugged, taking another bite of the chicken. Through the corner of my eye, I could see Kai staring at us open mouthed, a spoonful of food suspended mid air in front of him as he sat frozen in place. I derived some sadistic satisfaction out of making my dad angry in front of some random stranger. 

My dad took a deep breath, shutting his eyes as he tried to compose himself. "Since this is the best way to go about things, I merely thought you might feel more kindly towards this if you got acquainted with Kai. But clearly, it was wrong of me to assume you would ever be cooperative." 

"Does it matter if I feel kindly towards this or not?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "You're going to do this anyway. So this is just a formality."

"It is not something I am thrilled about either, Aster," he said. "Do you realize the massive risk I am taking?"

"You could completely avoid it by not being a lying douchebag," I said, knowing that I was way past the line. A masochistic part of me wanted to see how far I could push him before he broke.