Son of No City

Chapter 52

Something dark crossed Teshin's gaze. He helped himself to some Red Flame. His cheeks were a bit flushed.

"Maybe you should drink some water," Leithan said.

But Teshin shook his head. "I'm fine. So, anyway, that's when our family really . . . broke. And the whole clan too, at the same time. It was divided in two groups. The ones with Xefen, and the ones with the shaman and clan leader, and his yaklizi, of course, Nalia. And then . . ."

Teshin made a grim smile. "And then things got dirty. Messed up. All right, so, I'm not saying this to defend my brother, but in my honest unbiased opinion," Teshin said, raising his hand in the air, "the other side, they're the ones who went too far in the end. And I'll tell you why."

Leithan couldn't help but smile – it sounded like Teshin was getting into the story. Maybe he was a little bit tipsy. That probably had something to do with it.

"Do tell," Leithan said.

"One night, we were having a celebration, and we were—"

"High out of your minds?" Leithan wondered out loud.

"Yes," Teshin said teasingly.

Leithan laughed, as Tesh went on, "And so, what they did . . . Well, first I should tell you that we had a headquarters of sorts. The old family house. Our parents were dead, but Mik, Xef and me, we were still using it. And that's where all our stuff was, including the growing stocks of klar. That's where we prepared them, hung out, everything."

"You make it sound," Leithan mused, "like you guys' life was all about getting high, all the time."

"In a way, it was," Teshin said, grinning.

"You became your clan's dealers," Leithan said with a chuckle. "Got it. So what'd they do to you?"

Teshin's smile faded. His hand went to his shaipi, stroking the fang absently.

"They burned it. They burned our family's house," he said, and his voice sounded different, like the memories were now catching up to him.

"Shit," Leithan whispered.

Teshin nodded, frowning, eyes far away.

"We had all our things in there. All our memories. Our lives. It was all that we had left of our parents. Not to mention all the hard work. All the klar we'd prepared together – not just my family – the dried crins leaves, the carefully sliced shrix root, the neat vials of lux, the precious, rare amrin at various stages of the drying process. So, burning that house, well," Teshin said with a rueful smile, "it was personal for all of us. For half the clan. And they knew that."

"So," Leithan asked, frowning, as their eyes met, "they? The clan leader and shaman?"

Teshin nodded. "And their allies. We made them admit it, but we already knew. Who else could it be?"

"Nalia didn't know," Tesh added, "if that's what you're wondering. She cried with us. Sobbed in my arms as we watched it burn. It was the last time I ever held her. And trust me," Teshin said with a dark chuckle, "I wish the circumstances had been different."

A sudden sharp wind had Leithan tightening his coat around himself and folding his legs closer to his body. Teshin's blanket, though, had slipped from his shoulders some more. Maybe he wasn't cold.

"What happened?" Leithan asked in a low, shivering voice. "There was a fight?"

"A gruesome one," Teshin said, shaking his head, his eyes in that distant place again. "It started to rain, which, if you believe in the spirits, can make you think that they wanted to be merciful by sending sheets of water down upon us."