Chapter Twenty-Two: The Wanted Son
Zaw Rronov had returned a day earlier, and Nilhin headed to their typical lessons after dinner since they hadn’t been scheduled for the day before. He knocked on the doors to Zaw Rronov’s personal study, and the doors opened as they usually did. Nilhin entered the room and bowed when he saw Zaw Rronov already seated. He promptly went to work making them tea to share, and poured Zaw Rronov’s cup first before he poured his own. He lingered by the table.
“Is Luc Gallus your father?” Zaw Rronov asked, the first words he had spoken to Nilhin since he had left. Nilhin’s rather honest smile, the excitement of having his kind mentor back instantly crushed with such an inquiry. Nilhin frowned instead.
“He is,” he admitted, unsure what that meant for him now.
“He spoke of you,” Zaw Rronov said. Nilhin was very surprised that Luc Gallus even remembered his name. “He told me how he wanted nothing more to defile you due to your beauty, and how your mother was unsuitable because she was too educated for his taste in women. He asked me if he could visit you, most likely to enact his foul desires upon you.” Zaw Rronov didn’t seem disturbed by any of these revelations. In fact, he spoke of them all casually, as if he were counting numbers or reciting lines from a book. There was no emotion to anything he said. It eased Nilhin more than it disturbed him, but Nilhin was still quite disturbed by this news.
“I see,” Nilhin said, because he didn’t know what else to say.
“I want to let him see you,” Zaw Rronov stated. Nilhin bit his lip. He supposed that it would be inappropriate to hold back Nilhin, practically an ordinary disciple, from one of his allies. Luc Gallus had more claim to Nilhin as his father than Zaw Rronov as well. Zaw Rronov let out a huff, grabbing Nilhin’s face and forcing him to look at him rather than down at the ground like he usually preferred. “A terrible habit of yours, always looking at the ground. You’ll need to learn confidence. I can’t have one of my sons going around acting like a servant…” Nilhin didn’t know what Zaw Rronov meant with his words. There was no way he could conceive of Zaw Rronov’s words as being anything other than a complaint about his current sons, perhaps, because nothing else made sense. “Of course I told him he could see you, but I don’t expect you to let him molest you, silly child. I’m giving you a very special opportunity.”
“An opportunity,” Nilhin repeated, thinking about what his mentor could be speaking of. “This lowly one doesn’t understand, your excellency.”
Zaw Rronov released him and leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs for his comfort. He said, “An opportunity for you to show him how much you don’t need him. How you’ve never needed him. How he isn’t fit or worthy to be your father in any way beyond biologically. There are better options, Nilhin. People who wish to raise you, guide you, and watch you flourish. All you have to do is let them.”
“I feel as though I’m privy to only half of the conversation,” Nilhin admitted. “What conclusions has his excellence come to without me? I’m at a loss for what you mean.”
“I want to adopt you,” Zaw Rronov said. He spoke with such certainty, and a blithe air that made it seem almost like a less important revelation than it truly was. Nilhin’s breath caught in his chest, his heart fluttering like a haunted butterfly trying to escape. “Into my family, the main family. You would become the third prince of Zaw, my youngest son. All I’m asking from you is what it would take to get you to agree.”
Nilhin was silent for a moment, shocked into such a state.
“My mother,” Nilhin finally said. “I… I want a proper place to remember her. A name plate, a statue, a temple, even. She deserved it.” Zaw Rronov nodded, like this wasn’t an excessive or superfluous demand at all. Nilhin waited to continue, hoping he wasn’t pushing Zaw Rronov too far with his desires.
“Is that all?” Zaw Rronov asked after a moment of silence.
“No,” Nilhin said, too quickly for comfort. “I want to keep the name my mother gave me, too. Hin, that’s my name character. Nil was my mother’s name before it was mine. And I want… I want to be in charge of tending to the needs of all the servants of Neuma. They are very hard working, and deserve to be treated well for their loyalty and dedication. I refuse to harm people who keep Neuma functioning or degrade their quality of life… and--” Nilhin had to catch his breath. He bit his lip again, looking up at Zaw Rronov, whose eyes were half lidded, almost like he either expected all of these requests, or he wasn’t surprised by them at all. Perhaps they simply weren’t the kind of extravagance he had imagined Nilhin demanding of him. “And I want to remain your pupil, if you’d still have me, of course…”
“So, really, what you want is for your mother to be given a temple and the servants to be treated well, is that what you’re saying?” Zaw Rronov asked.
“Yes,” Nilhin agreed. “That’s all that I ask, and then I’ll surrender myself as your most loyal and filial son. Forgive me if I don’t quite understand the dynamics between sons and fathers, however, it is new to me. I’ve never had one before.”
“You won’t ask for money, or the heirship, or power over the disciples or my territory?” Zaw Rronov asked.
“Did you expect that of me?” Nilhin asked.
“I had not thought you capable of such great greed, that’s true, but sometimes I misread people. If you want a temple for your mother, I will construct dozens across Tbai. She will never be forgotten, the great mother fox beast of the mighty paragon Nilhin, son of the immortal Zaw Rronov, and the servants are always most loyal to you, their friend and sympathiser. This is no hardship to me. I’m giving you time to make any host of demands. Are you sure these simple things are all that you want?”
“I would also like to remain your student, your excellency,” Nilhin reminded the man. Zaw Rronov smiled, and it wasn’t cruel, it was almost… It was almost nice, if not a little sharp at the corners.
“How could I forget? Of course, you will remain my student, Nilhin, I would have no other learn at my knee,” Zaw Rronov said, his fondness was so off putting now that Nilhin hesitantly sat down, unsure if this was truly happening or if he had somehow gotten a bit of catnip mixed into his tea again. “I already have a suitable wardrobe being made for you, and I have plans in the process. I will accept any new requests right now, but after our session ends tonight, I will consider them far more formally.”
“I don’t really want an arranged marriage, but if you think you’ve found a suitable candidate, perhaps instead of arranging it, we could discuss it instead?” Nilhin suggested, thinking of the only other thing that mattered to him about the way his life would be going. If he were a prince, he would be expected to produce children for his father’s clan. He would need to be married to make them legitimate. Zaw Awuron’s first wife had mysteriously died without providing a single grandchild for the clan leader, and Shamisa was single with no intention of marriage, and his father seemed to not care about his romantic future either. Nilhin, as the third prince, would be most likely to settle down and stay out of the way, thus needing to father children.
“I assure you I’ll discuss any proposals with you before coming to any decisions,” Zaw Rronov agreed. “Anything else.”
“Hvit Gronjas,” Nilhin said. “He saved me, but for selfish reasons, and I’ve only heard a little, but he has bad blood with Shamisa, my… my big brother. I would like to find a way to keep him here, in the dungeons, locked away, hidden from the world, at my mercy on the threat of execution.” Nilhin heard the anger in his voice, he felt it in his chest, cloudy and tense, but mostly he saw the way Zaw Rronov’s fondness transformed into a more typical smirk, particularly the one that he wore when he heard something that pleased him.
“You look so delicate, so fragile, but you’re hiding a heart full of monsters, aren’t you, Nilhin?” Zaw Rronov asked. Nilhin didn’t dare respond because they both knew it was true. Zaw Rronov was feared externally, by anyone and everyone with enough of a brain to recognise his power and threat to them, but Nilhin was often underestimated. He was weak in appearance, and so often was rendered helpless, but he burned and thrived on hatred. It kept him warm after his mother died as the only thing he had left, and it remained even when his life was more pleasant than it ever had been.
“I’m sure that can be arranged. In fact, perhaps you and Shamisa can bond over such an activity. I know how fond he has become of you, and I hope to see that you are similarly interested in him. His relationship with Awuron has always been strained, it’s good to see he has a proper younger brother to dote on,” Zaw Rronov said. He slotted his fingers together. “Now, it’s been weeks since I’ve last seen you. How has your cultivation come along, son?”
Nilhin’s lips tugged at the corners, and he finally smiled. He bowed his head and then he lifted the front of his shirt. He stepped towards Zaw Rronov so the man could feel the internal energy swirling in his apex. Zaw Rronov assessed him quickly and flicked his hand away, motioning for him to sit back down. Zaw Rronov hummed, twining his fingers together.
“When is your birthday?” Zaw Rronov asked.
“It’s in thirteen days,” Nilhin said.
“A summer child,” Zaw Rronov commented. “How curious. That’s in the month of Ama Basha, the most prominent celestial worshipped in Tbai, the heavenly fox mother. Unusual, how these things work out in such a way. You’ll be fifteen then, yes?”
“Yes… father,” Nilhin tried, testing the word out. Zaw Rronov looked down, his eyebrows softening as he smiled. Nilhin felt satisfaction from earning such a reaction from such a cool and impassive figure.
“Fox beasts require proper intercourse to feed most effectively, but you won’t begin to sexually mature until you’re seventeen according to my estimate. On your seventeenth birthday, I’ll begin arrangements to find you someone spiritually powerful from which you can feed regularly. It would be best to have more than one, but this is still a few years away. Perhaps you’ll already know who you want by then,” Zaw Rronov talked about finding him a human donor, essentially a person that Nilhin would drain of energy to replenish his own through sex, like it wasn’t a big deal. Maybe Nilhin was the odd man for feeling like such a situation was a rather big deal, and certainly something that they would definitely need to hide.
“At that time, you’ll be powerful enough to start learning the techniques unique to the fox beasts we have interrogated. Your training will be complete by that point, all your fundamental knowledge will be stored away to be used in more complex teachings… By eighteen, you will be able to assist me in the execution of long since idealised plans.”
“What plans are those, father?”
“I find myself growing tired of the other legendary dynasties, and their differences of opinions. Efficiency in the rule of Aishold would be best under one sovereign. Who better to guide the world, than me, an immortal. I only needed to find someone worthy of executing my will,” Zaw Rronov said. “You are the only person I currently trust with this information, not even your brothers know. The other two will be a challenge, but I’m sure I can find ways to entertain them while we do the hardest work. They could make excellent figureheads, if nothing else, since they definitely can’t be rulers.”
“Rulers… you wish for me to rule beneath you? A territory of my own?” Nilhin asked. Zaw Rronov shook his head.
“I want you to rule beside me, over territories of ours,” Zaw Rronov said. He tilted his head to the side. “It will require much planning, but I’ve never met someone more competent at delegating tasks than you. After all, you’ve been running the entirety of the servants’ quarters since you were promoted without almost anyone noticing, but I did, because you’ve done a phenomenal job. I’ll guide you, teach you, raise you like a father should, and I’ll help when I’m needed, but I know that when it comes to the downfall of the legendary dynasty’s rule over Aishold, you’ll do everything for me, and you’ll do it so efficiently and quietly, that they won’t even know what hit them until it’s too late.”
“Father has quite a high opinion of my skills,” Nilhin admitted with a nervous laugh. When he had all the information, he was very good at getting what he needed or wanted through various means, but this sort of praise from someone like Zaw Rronov seemed almost too good to be true. Surely it had to be fake. “This humble son will not prove his generous father’s expectations false.”
“‘Generous father’?” Zaw Rronov asked with a laugh. “I’ve never been called such a thing before.”
Nilhin thought of the way Shamisa feared his -- their -- father. Shamisa was desperate for his approval and was nowhere close to getting it. He thinks of how Zaw Awuron had gone in the opposite direction, and took up a careless attitude towards his father’s opinion of him, and Zaw Awuron’s general distaste for the world as well. Nilhin hadn’t seen the man they hated or feared at all, he had only been treated kindly. He hoped now that he was his father, such treatment didn’t suddenly change. After all, Nilhin quite enjoyed Zaw Rronov -- he was just what he needed to achieve his own greatness.
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