THE PATH OF RENUNCIATION

7

Rain drummed on the glass. Large drops flowed down and fell dully on a short steel ebb. Gusts of wind continually threw plucked leaves out the window and blew through the poorly locked window, from which a wet path ran down to the windowsill in a thin stream.

Leah sighed. For a couple of days, while the temperature was kept, she slept so much that the sleeping pill that her brother gave her was enough for only a couple of hours. A strange weight pressed on my heart, forcing me to look again and again into the rainy twilight behind the translucent tulle and listen to the wind howling over the roof. 

Carl slept on an old mattress next to the bed. His regular breathing was sometimes interrupted by a dry, hacking cough. He also fell ill, but he was still afraid to leave her alone: ​​due to a congenital heart defect, Leah could not tolerate the temperature well. 

After lying awake for another half an hour, she could not stand it and, throwing back the covers, got up. After a warm bed, the floor was pleasantly cold on the feet. Cautiously approaching the window, Leah pushed back the curtain and looked at the slanting jets hitting the ground in the pale semicircle of the lantern. A little further on one could see the edge of the fence and puddles gleaming on the path. The lamp above the front door cast a dim ring of light on the damp wooden floor, in which sandals forgotten since the evening were white and a motionless yellow-red ball of wool lay. As if sensing her eyes on him, the sodden cat stood up and dusted himself off.

A soft sigh from the back of the room made Leah turn around warily. Having whispered something in his sleep, Carl rolled over onto his other side and mechanically straightened the slipped blanket. Soon his breathing became even and calm again. After waiting another minute, she picked up a woolen handkerchief from the floor and draped it over her shoulders. 

The corridor was dark. Holding on to the wall, Leah groped for the next door and entered Christian's room.

  “You forgot to let Bama in!” Her voice sounded unexpectedly booming and low. 

After standing for a minute in complete silence, she sighed and switched on the light. The high wrought-iron bed was neatly made, and an alarm clock was turned on its side on a wax-stained bedside table. Silver arrows showed half past six in the morning. Only now Leah remembered that her brother had warned them the day before yesterday that he would not spend the night and would return in the morning: he had some business with museum documentation. Recently, Christian often stayed late at work.

An intermittent knock on the door vibrated uneasily in the air. Startled, Leah decisively flipped the switch and ran out into the corridor. The rain on the street subsided a little, and it became better to hear how the wind was walking on the roof. Shivering involuntarily, she stopped at the door, and wrapping her kerchief more tightly around herself, asked timidly: 

  – Christian? 

There was a muffled cough outside. Without turning on the light so as not to wake Karl, Leah sighed and, turning the latch twice, stepped aside. A small red-haired shadow, hitting her leg with a wet side, quickly rushed inside. 

  “Sorry for such an early visit,” the voice of the man frozen on the threshold was unnaturally low and completely unfamiliar to her. “I'm looking for Carl Vallor. I was given your address. 

Confused, Leah nodded and, just in case, took another step back. As if sensing fear rising in her, the guest withdrew his outstretched hand to greet her. 

  “Wait, I’ll call him now,” she answered, holding her breath, not taking her eyes off him. Everything inside was numb. The sense of danger was so strong that even the air seemed to freeze.

  “It’s not worth it,” the man immediately answered and, quickly stepping over the threshold, closed the door behind him. 

  Slowly taking off his dark green cloak, from which water was dripping in thin streams, he threw it on a hanger and, after a moment, as if thinking, turned on the light.

His movements and voice were so calm and confident that Leah did not have time to react. Cold wet fingers squeezed his throat rapidly and strongly, the world suddenly turned into a continuous pulsation of pain and horror. 

  - Scream! Come on! Call him! The gripping hands parted slightly, allowing her to breathe. 

  “Let me…” she croaked in a barely audible voice, feeling that a little more – and she would not be able to keep her consciousness: bright orange radiant circles flashed menacingly before her eyes.

The man swore shortly and, turning around, pushed with his foot a massive hanger standing at a distance. With a crash that seemed to shake the whole house, it fell and rolled towards the front door. After a couple of seconds, hurried footsteps were heard from the corridor. 

Throwing Leah to the floor, the stranger shook off the torn chain with a cross from his hand and pulled out a curved dagger from his belt. 

  “You have lived in this world for so many years, hiding and watching us, in order to come here with a simple knife?” – Carl's voice rustled softly and slightly mockingly. Reflecting the dim light of the lamp, a thin stiletto gleamed menacingly in his hand. Well, I've been waiting for you.

  The stranger started, and then smiled contemptuously. Painfully thin and pale,  he looked like a black-and-white drawing, flat and lifeless.

  “I keep the law,” he said with cold assurance. - A dagger is enough for me: bastards do not deserve more, and whoever wanted this girl will get it. If only you knew how sorry I am that I didn't strangle her with diapers!

Catching a warning look from her brother, Leah began to crawl unnoticed towards the wall. 

  “Identify yourself,” Karl demanded, slowly stepping forward and reaching his free hand behind his back. - On whose orders are you acting?

  “You will know when the time comes,” the man replied boldly and, nodding towards Leah, added: “Drop your weapon, Vallor, otherwise I will fix your sister’s face.”

Carl's lips twitched slightly. Slowly moving closer, he stopped and unclenched his fingers. Falling to the floor, the stiletto clanged softly. 

Afraid to breathe, Leah leaned helplessly against the wall. She felt she had to do something, but she couldn't help herself. Thoughts randomly mixed up, not allowing to concentrate. 

For several endless seconds, the stranger looked at Karl, as if deciding what to do next, and then abruptly raised his dagger and jumped. 

Leah screamed at the same time as the shot. She did not expect to see a pistol in her brother's hands, although she knew that he had kept it in his safe for many years.

The man fell silently, like a felled tree. The bullet went right through the skull, leaving a large bloody hole. Glazed eyes - wide open and black with dilated pupils - looked somewhere through the wall, and a dark scarlet stain slowly spread across the floor around the back of the head.

Pulling back, Leah put her hands over her mouth. She almost vomited. 

  - Sorry. Lowering the gun, Carl walked around the body and, bending down, gently put his arm around her shoulders. - Don't look.

  - What was it? Clutching into him, she sighed. - What? So what's now? You did kill him! You need to call the police, you need to...

  - Hush, everything is fine. 

Easily picking her up in his arms, his brother turned and walked into the room. Leaning against his shoulder, she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears running down her cheeks. 

  - Go to sleep. After putting him to bed, Carl tucked up the covers and straightened up. - Don't be afraid, I'm here.

Leah wanted to reply that she couldn't sleep even if she wanted to, but instead burst into tears. Sitting next to her, he lightly stroked her palm and began to sing soothingly. His eyes glittered feverishly, and small drops of sweat glistened on his forehead. Frowning, his brother sang breathlessly, apparently also trying to calm down.

  “A beautiful melody...” Coughing, Leah involuntarily ran her hand over her throat and grimaced in pain. There was an unpleasant buzz in my head, as if someone had erased the terrible picture before my eyes with a wide eraser, and fear began to recede. - You sang it so rarely, and I could never understand the words ... 

  “It is the Oldest of all languages, one of the first echoes of a single language that existed before the Babylonian division.” There was a smile in Karl's voice. “In this world, it has long been forgotten, like the language of our father, which I taught you. Even I know far fewer words and formulas than I would like ... However, this is fixable, - he said thoughtfully and added a little more quietly: - I did not lie to you, although I did not tell the whole truth. Silence is not a lie, especially when it is good. I hope you understand. 

  “Understood what, Carly? 

  Her brother looked at her carefully and looked away.

  - It's time to answer all your questions, Breeze. Even those that you did not ask and would not want to ask. As much as I would like to delay, it seems that we are not left with such an opportunity. - Hearing the door slam in the corridor, Karl stumbled and hastily stood up. - Get some rest, I have to talk to Christian. I'll be back soon.

  Nodding after him in confusion, Leah sat up and straightened her pillow. His heart was still beating so hard that it nearly brushed his ribs. The familiar room seemed cut off from the rest of the world. There, outside, a thunderstorm still rumbled in the distance, the wind whipped on the roof, the quiet voices of the brothers were heard, and all around there was an impenetrable silence. A wicker screen separated the bed from the desk and the small library that the brothers had built for her over the years. To the left of the window hung in the corner an old, already darkened icon - Aunt Liz's christening gift. A small red lamp shone under the icon. Sometimes Leah lit it, and then elongated shadows scattered across the ceiling, and the walls lit up with a warm, flickering light. 

Reaching out, she picked up a heavy leather photo album from the bedside table and, placing it on her knees, opened the thick cover. 

Leah never saw her parents, and knew nothing about her mother, except for her name and the fact that she was her father's second wife. Karl could talk about him for hours, but only one black-and-white photo was kept in the family album. 

Running her fingertips over the smooth surface, Leah leaned over and pressed her lips to the cardboard that smelled of years. She did this from time to time when no one saw, not knowing how else to express either gratitude or reproach to the person she was so similar to and who disappeared from her life without leaving any trace. 

Tall and thin, with sharp, determined features, deep eyes and a strong-willed chin, her father seemed to her the embodiment of nobility and strength. Karl said that his eyes were light brown, like warm linden honey ... Leah did not know a single person before whom her brother would be so in awe. Even about his mother, Katherine Ker, he did not speak with such awe and reverence. However, Karl did not remember her: she died during childbirth, and everything that the brothers knew about her was told to them by Aunt Fox. She and Katherine were not related by blood, but grew up together and loved each other very much. 

Against the background of older brothers, Leah was completely lost: nondescript dark gray hair; pale, harsh face, the same faded thin lips... The only thing that gave color to her image were her eyes - bright blue, deep, framed by short dark eyelashes, they looked like a smear of ultramarine on a faded sheet. So Christian once said when he thought that she did not hear - his brother loved painting.

Sighing, Leah turned the page. As a child, Karl smiled as openly and warmly as Christian. In the photographs that were taken during the life of their father, the brothers looked like ordinary happy children. The trouble came unexpectedly. One night, the father woke them up, said goodbye and, having told them to call their aunt in the morning, went out into the storm. So from the age of six, the brothers remained in the care of the only person close to them - Elisavet Ker. After another six years, Leah's concerns also fell on the shoulders of a kind woman. Why this happened, Karl never explained, and Leah herself asked only once and, seeing how upset he was, she no longer dared. Of course, the attempts to find out the truth did not end there: she reviewed all the papers that were in the house, and even tried to contact the family lawyer who knew her father. But Villis only shrugged.

The year Aunt Elisabeth died of cancer, Carl entered the Medical Academy. Leah was barely four then, and the care of her fell entirely on his shoulders. However, his brother had always been by his side before that. Thanks to him, she never felt like an orphan. Unlike Christian, who always tried to stay out of the way, Karl replaced both her father and mother. There was no one in the world that Leah loved more than him.

Her own early photographs were also taken in the studio: a thin girl with two thin long braids and a wide smile. Because of her height, she always looked a little older than her age.

Leah clearly remembered the day Christian bought his first camera. The brother rejoiced like a child and endlessly blinded them with a flash, forgetting the easel and paints for almost half a year. 

The last shot was pressed against the cover forlornly. Carl never glued it, even though exactly a year has passed. On that day, succumbing to her persuasion, he called Mark and invited him to go with them to Athens. It was their little family tradition to go out somewhere with the three of them, so as not to celebrate her birthday at home. 

Peering into the face of Mark, who was standing next to Christian in front of the Tower of the Winds and smiling at her, although Karl almost shielded them from each other, Leah sighed heavily and closed the album.

A rumble from the living room made her start and listen. Hitting the ajar door, Bama entered the room imposingly. Stretching up his thick striped tail, he defiantly rubbed his still wet side against the leg of the bed, and then jumped onto the blanket and purred. 

Outside the window was gradually getting light. The endless rain washed away all the bright colors from the sky during the night, and now thin wet paths ran across the glass against the background of hopeless gray. Leah suddenly really wanted to sleep. Wrapping her head in a thin blanket, she curled up and closed her eyes. 

*   * *

While Christian opened the floor to get to the cellar hidden under the boards, Karl carefully examined the corpse. No papers, except for an air ticket and a fake passport, could be found from the attacker, and he searched more for the sake of his brother, in order to avoid unnecessary questions. He had known for a long time who this man was: Hansved had been tracking him for more than one year, and in recent days he had controlled every step. If Carl had not been sure that Leah was not in danger, he would not have taken the risk.  

  “I'm against it,” Christian's voice was clearly irritated and fearful. Why would she even know? Let him live in peace. I would be in her place...

  – Are you afraid? Raising his head, Karl looked at the twin carefully and smiled tightly, noticing how he flinched.

  Putting the crowbar aside, Christian pulled on the iron ring and lifted the plywood door with a tug.

  “I should have told everything earlier, and not dragged it out to the last,” he snapped angrily. Why should I be involved in this?

Carl remained silent. He knew his brother well enough to understand his thoughts. 

  “You probably expected this to happen, didn’t you?! Christian was clearly not going to calm down. “Paul mentioned in the summer that your premonitions did not deceive you ... I don’t know what happened to you there, but this accident was clearly not what you presented us with. What about your absences before that? Neither Vullis nor the Keeper say a half word - how much did you pay them, huh? Based on what we have now...

  These events are not connected in any way. Rising, Karl put the ticket in his pocket and looked around, wondering how far the corpse would have to be dragged. “The Order then sent an assassin to clear the path to power for their candidate. I had to eliminate him, as well as everyone who came before. - In his voice, despite the efforts, slipped a subtle note of displeasure. Squinting suspiciously, Christian immediately squared his shoulders defiantly. - As for today, I am not yet ready to say what this man needed and who was behind him. The main thing is that Leah is safe and sound. 

  “A miracle, brother, a miracle!”

  “Perhaps,” Carl agreed easily, “but given that you weren’t around at all… By the way, how is your urgent work?” Well rested? 

There was a short pause. Christian pursed his lips in displeasure and looked away. He never learned to lie, although since he took up his personal life, he did it with enviable regularity. 

  “I wanted to make sure,” he answered haltingly, as if apologizing. “Since the tables are inaccurate in your opinion…”

  - AND?

  “The cycle of the West petal has indeed gone astray: the wind has begun to sing, the Path is being formed… You were right.

  Carl nodded contentedly.

  “In that case, we have no more than four hours to make a decision. And I don't think there is any other choice. - Leaning down, he took the dead man by the legs and, backing away, dragged him to the gaping hole in the floor.

  - This is madness! What can we do? Where should she return? 

  “Unlike you,” Karl said, breathing heavily, “I have been thinking about this for almost sixteen years. And if you are finally ready to trust me, then we can do a lot. No one will dare to challenge the rights of the only legitimate heir. 

  - No one will allow her to present these rights! Christian remarked bitterly and, hearing a dull thud, slammed the hatch shut with a grimace of disgust.

  Straightening up, Carl glared at the twin.

  “My father gave an order, and I will carry it out. At any cost. You can stay here if you like.

  - Of course no! I'll follow you anywhere and you know it. Stop manipulating me!

  We need to stick together now and in the future. Carl tried to smile but couldn't. “I need your trust, not blind obedience. It's time to grow up - and preferably quickly. Everything that has happened to you up to this point is an illusion, Christian. You created it yourself, and I let you believe in it to the last, but that's it.

  The phone rang. Nodding his head at the scattered boards, Carl hurried to the kitchen. Paul made a phone call. There was no doubt that it was him: judging by the intermittent signals, the call was international. 

  “Hi, Paul,” Carl picked up the receiver, pressed it to his ear with his shoulder and put the kettle on the stove. - No, no, everything is fine. Everything as agreed. - Throwing a fleeting glance into the living room, Karl added in a barely audible voice: - Maybe we will meet, who knows: life is long. 

  Christian nailed the floor quickly - just a couple of seconds before the water boiled. Anger and annoyance gave him strength. Gradually glancing into the living room, Karl mentally smiled and deliberately asked loudly:

  - Would you like some coffee? 

  - No! Throwing down the hammer, his brother stood up and nervously brushed off his dusty trousers. It was evident that he could hardly restrain himself from responding with rudeness.

  Shrugging indifferently, Carl turned off the stove and removed the kettle. He needed to get back to Leah, so he didn't want to delay the conversation. Christian needed to speak up, but, as usual, he lacked determination. 

  - What kind of trust can we talk about if you have been lying to us all these years? Going to the sink, my brother hastily rinsed his hands and sat down at the table. “Why am I only now learning that the Order has found us?”

  Putting a cup in front of him, Karl took a basket of sliced ​​bread from the windowsill and, taking out a couple of slices, calmly replied:

  “You have to live in the present.” That's what you said ten years ago, remember? I tried to talk, but you didn't want to listen. And now I would not, if this attempt had not happened.

  Frowning, Christian turned to the window. Karl knew where to hit - the twin had nothing to object to. 

  “We won’t even be able to prove our involvement in the Family ...” he finally said gloomily. “I don’t understand what you are counting on?” Keep it for so many years to throw it into the hands of the Council yourself?

  “I expect to survive. - Sitting opposite, Karl threw two lumps of sugar into his cup and, looking up at his brother, added: - If you think that there is another way, then you are mistaken. A year earlier, a year later, but one day I will make a mistake. The kingdom has been without a king for sixteen years now, Christian. Both the Host and the people will not wait forever. If Paraman does not accept the throne, Tarem's power will be threatened, so he will go to any lengths. If we manage to get ahead of him - there is a chance to rely on the father's supporters. Unlike you, I remember a lot - for example, those names that he called us and indicated in the letter. I don't think the Council managed to kill everyone. 

  - Why now? Why not wait a couple more years for the next Path?

  Smiling mentally, Carl shook his head.

  “Because two years ago I managed to convince the initiate of the death of the heiress, and he, in turn, conveyed the good news to the Head of the Council. Very soon, he will realize that it was a lie, because no one can survive the coronation while Leah is alive. I hope you still remember this?

  Christian nodded uncertainly and, tapping his fingers on the tabletop, muttered with undisguised resentment:

  - All right, do as you please. I don't care.