ARD
It was Ard who reacted first.
Despite his standoffish demeanor and gruff ways, the moment that those narrowed honeyed eyes focused on him, the younger twin was lost. No longer was he in Novus, in the Eleutheria Plain, standing within the clearing of tall grasses amidst a golden pool and his beloved brother. Immediately he was thrust back in Luminous, the sole recipient of a hostile, dangerous black glare that promised pain, so much pain, if he did not obey.
’Sing for me, little bird.’ Even a year later on a whole different world, free from the clutches of a tyrannical madman, Ard suffered. Vreis’ words echoed in the back of his head, and he winced, breaking his wide eyed stare from molten gold. No, no. It wasn’t their fault. It wasn’t their fault.
The woman of crimson and gold slowly heaved herself upright, and it was the words that escaped her lips, heavy like a caress that would ultimately be followed with a heavy smack across the cheek, that caused him to physically recoil. He winced as though struck, ears flat back and lost amidst taupe and grey curls, and did not dare to meet this strangers’ unrelenting glare. Head down. Submissive. Wings lowered. Waiting. Instinctively his lips parted as though to answer, but no sound came out save a wheezing gasp, almost inaudible to the ear.
Erd would hear it. Erd would know. Erd always knew.
Breath left him. He was choking, drowning, lost in a spiraling pit that all of a sudden seemed to swallow him whole, yet he remained frozen in place. He couldn’t move. A claw seemed to grasp his lungs, his throat closing as panic set in. His mind thrust itself back into that safe place of obeying without question, that familiar disassociation setting in.
’Follow along.’ The order was given, and Ard had to obey. To not obey, to not listen, would mean pain and punishment. He wasn’t ready. It had been far too long since his last punishment, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stay quiet through it all. Vreis had always loved the sound of his voice… Without thinking, as though a mechanical toy soldier, Ard moved. His hooves lurched into motion, guiding him forward and after the taller female emblazoned with the colors of the dying sun.
He was vaguely aware of the sound of his brother’s voice echoing in his ear from somewhere far closer than it should have been, the feel of familiar, identical curves pressing into his side, but it seemed so very far away.
