novelaction Chapter 209: Everything About Lior Is...You...
Chapter 209: Everything About Lior Is...You...
"Are you finished speaking?" Kaelis asks gently, leaning down slightly to look at Ezra, whose head was still lowered.
Ezra ended up stunned seeing Kaelis smile at him.
There was no teasing in it this time.
No smug amusement.
Just a genuine, grateful smile.
And somehow that felt more dangerous than Kaelis teasing him ever had.
"Uh..." Ezra’s brain stopped working for a minute. "...yes?"
Kaelis’ smile grew slightly at Ezra’s obvious confusion.
"I accept your apology. It was long overdue." He says without any trace of a joke. "Lior is smart. He knew something you didn’t notice in all the years I’ve known you."
Now this made Ezra even more surprised.
"You...were in pain?" Ezra asks carefully, not entirely sure how to interpret that.
"Mhm. In pain is an exaggeration." Kaelis hums softly. "Rather, I was hurt. He was right, I was hurt. Not really by what you did earlier because I understood your situation, but by how much you pushed me away."
Ezra stills slightly at the honesty.
Kaelis was being very honest.
And strangely enough, Kaelis had always been honest with him.
Blunt, irritatingly straightforward, sometimes shamelessly annoying, but honest.
So it shouldn’t be too surprising.
Yet somehow, it still was.
Because Ezra wasn’t used to people admitting things like this so openly.
"But Ezra..."
Kaelis kept surprising him as he gently placed a finger beneath Ezra’s chin, carefully raising his head so they were face to face again.
Ezra’s breath catches slightly.
Kaelis was looking down at him because of their height difference, but Kaelis wasn’t looking down on him.
There was no superiority in his eyes.
No mockery.
Only sincerity.
"I hope you don’t think it’s all your fault," Kaelis says softly. "You were just...conditioned to be like that–"
"I know–"
"Let me finish," Kaelis says softly again, using the exact same tone Ezra had used earlier.
Then he even winks at him lightly.
"I want to say my piece too."
’Oh...’
Ezra’s heart jumped slightly at that, which absolutely should not have happened, but it did anyway.
Annoyingly so.
He manages to nod his head slowly, swallowing the thick lump suddenly forming in his throat.
"I have to be honest, I did resent you at some point, just a bit though...it made me a bit angry that you kept...being rude, and cold, and maybe a lot of times, you weren’t misunderstanding me, and I was actually trying to just get a reaction out of you."
Kaelis explains it with a small chuckle, though Ezra could tell he genuinely meant it.
And honestly?
That sounded exactly like Kaelis.
Petty in a very specific way.
"But in the five years you were gone, I realized that you and I were just in an unfortunate situation." Kaelis continues more quietly now. "A situation that led to a big misunderstanding, and in the end, I should’ve still taken the high road because I was the one who knew more."
Oh.
Ezra blinks slowly at that.
When Kaelis said it wasn’t just Ezra’s fault, Ezra honestly thought Kaelis would blame Helios.
Because at this point, Ezra blamed Helios too.
Helios lied.
Helios manipulated things.
Helios allowed Ezra to continue hating the wrong person for years.
But instead of shifting the blame entirely elsewhere, Kaelis was taking accountability for his own actions, too.
And somehow that hurt Ezra more.
"I’m sorry as well, for not fighting hard enough for you to have known the truth," Kaelis says softly, and God—
God, it actually makes something inside Ezra feel devastated.
Because Ezra was still lying to Kaelis.
Still keeping one thing from him.
One massive thing.
And now Ezra was starting to think Kaelis had the right to know.
Especially when Ezra didn’t even care anymore whether Helios became king or not, because at this poin,t it was about Lior.
Lior, who was looking for his father.
And his fath,er who...deserved to know Lior was his son.
The thought alone makes Ezra’s chest ache painfully.
But...
"That’s it," Kaelis says as he takes a step closer to Ezra again, the atmosphere finally lightening slightly. "I’m glad Lior was able to scold you, knowing him, he must’ve given you an earful, no?"
It was obviously a joke.
An attempt to ease the heaviness between them.
And for once, Ezra laughs.
It was small.
A little broken around the edges.
But real.
"Oh, definitely." Ezra breathes out with another quieter laugh. "Sometimes I feel like he’s too big for this world," Ezra says softly.
"He is," Kaelis agrees almost immediately. "He’s clever, he’s brave, he has qualities no child his age would have, and that’s all thanks to you I wager."
Kaelis gestures lightly toward Ezra as he says it, completely certain of his own words.
"His father’s genes might be the weakest in this whole kingdom, because I don’t see anyone else in that child but you."
Ezra tried to smile back.
He really tried.
Because it was almost as if the Gods themselves were mocking him with Kaelis’ statement.
Because if Ezra was being honest, and completely honest with himself—
’If anything, I don’t see a hint of myself in Lior.’
Ezra stares at Kaelis then.
Like actually stares at him properly for the first time in a while.
The shape of his eyes.
The way he spoke.
The confidence hidden beneath humor.
The softness Kaelis tried to bury underneath teasing and arrogance.
’Lior has my face, but everything about him...’
Everything about him was Kaelis.
The way Lior defended people even when scared.
The way he got attached too quickly despite trying to act mature.
The way he could somehow make others feel comfortable around him without trying.
Even the way Lior scolded him earlier felt painfully similar to how Kaelis spoke when he genuinely cared.
Everything Ezra loved about Lior was actually traits Kaelis had.
And realizing that now, while standing this close to Kaelis, made something inside Ezra feel strange all over again.
So what did that mean—
"I told you we have to talk...now...no one’s around, I have been walking around to wait for you–!"
Ezra froze instantly.
Kaelis also seemed to tense up beside him because suddenly a voice echoed from the other side of the hall.
Urgent.
Panicked almost.
They couldn’t see who Aurien was speaking to yet because of the turn in the corridor, but there was desperation in his voice that immediately shattered the softness of the moment between them.
And the voice was familiar.
None other than Aurien.
Ezra and Kaelis looked at each other immediately.
The atmosphere shifted so fast it almost made Ezra dizzy.
Kaelis’ expression hardened first, instincts taking over almost instantly.
Ezra couldn’t read his mind, but he was sure they both had the exact same thought.
’Let’s go check it out.’
Neither of them even needed to say it aloud.
Kaelis was already moving first, his earlier warmth disappearing beneath sharp focus as he quickly stepped toward the direction of Aurien’s voice.
Ezra followed right behind him without hesitation, his heartbeat picking up again.
Because Aurien sounded scared.