Velentham listened to his father speak to Gilean, his auditory acuity riding along the fabrics of his reality. It angered him that his father could be so blunt about his issues and he would have confronted him were it not for the fact that respect was utmost when it came to his Telfenham. Almost. Now, Gilean had refused his idea. Velentham couldn't figure out why the man sent him into rage, but he didn't care. If he could just get Gilean out of his face, get the man back where he belonged, get him to Sanria, he didn't need to worry at all. He'd never see him again anyway.
"If I aid you, you must swear to me that you will never utter a word of this to any Celestial in any time from here until perpetuity. Do I make myself perfectly clear?" Telfenham's voice rang clearly, and it alarmed Velentham deeply. If his father got involved, there would be no chance of his going along. He would never see Sanria again. He wouldn't put up with Gilean only to be deprived of what kept him from slaying the man right up front.
Velentham appeared in a flash of light. He took a moment to look over at Gilean, his contempt absolutely clear, then turned to his father. "No. Father, no."
"Velentham, this is the best way for all. We will rid ourselves of Eosos and you will not disrupt any lives."
Disrupt lives?! "Father, you cannot do this. You cannot choose him over me!"
"Velentham, you do not love her. My son, you have no true idea what love is. I am sorry, but this is how it shall be."
It would not do. It could not be. Velentham stepped back from his father, feeling incredibly wounded. Suddenly, he stepped into the elder Celestial's view. "I will find my way there. Mark my words."
"Velentham, don't. Look at me," Gilean said. And Velentham turned his burning silver eyes onto the man. Every bit of rage and contempt boiled on the edge of his mind. "All of the distaste you have for me, all of your disdain... is this what you want to be? Because it's exactly what you're heading for. Being just like me."
"I will never - never - be like you. I will not turn my back on my race, or my pride."
"Nor your arrogance," Gilean whispered.
"Watch your tongue."
"Enough," Velentham's father stood between him and the object of his hatred. "My son, you are out of line. Go to the cottage. Stay there until I call for you."
Velentham stood for a long moment, looking at the father he had loved and obeyed for so long. 'I gave you an order,' the elder spoke into his mind. Velentham sneered, "Undfamnachmedour," he whispered to his father in Celestial, and turned back to the cottage.
