Velentham hadn't been paying attention to the time that passed since Gilean ordered him back into the cottage. He hadn't been paying attention to much at all. His mind was on Sanria as it often was. When he sat in his calmer moments, he wasn't sure what he was going to do to win back her trust. The hatred and fear that she had for him broke his heart. All he wanted was to get her back, but everything had fallen apart. Completely. He didn't know if the right thing was to leave her alone, or try to talk to her, or simply just take her away until she saw the truth of the situation. He did love her, but Velentham's pride was its own beast, and he couldn't handle losing.
He had been staring at the same page in his book when Gilean burst into the room. "You are going to fix what you have done," Gilean said, and Velentham turned to look at the lesser Celestial. He had a note clenched in his hand and looked highly upset, but no one talked to Velentham this way.
"Fix what?" Velentham asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Colin. I am going to bring him here. You are going to restore his memories. And then you are going to go. I don't give a damn where but it will be away from here."
"You come in here making demands of me? What has gotten into you? And what's that paper?"
"You come here and in the span of just a few days you manage to ruin not one but two pairs of lives. It's unbelievable. But you are going to fix at least one of them."
The argument was brutal and accusations flew. According to Gilean, everything that had transpired was Velentham's fault. Any prior thoughts Velentham had about doing the right thing went out the window. "Listen, cousin. If you think I'm sorry for what I've done - you don't know me at all. I might have considered undoing what I did for her, but with you coming in to give me hell? No. If anything, you've motivated me to go and do what I intended to do in the first place. I'll just take her and leave."
"You want to get back at me, prove me wrong. You show me that you can be better than what I think you can be. You prove to me that the things I've said about our people are not true."
"I don't have to prove anything to you, Gilean. You've shown me that. I don't look up to you, cousin. You're just not that important to me."
Velentham headed for the door. If Gilean wanted him out, he'd leave. He didn't know where he would go yet, but he would eventually go back and fix things with Sanria and win her over. He opened the door when Gilean's voice called out to him, "Velentham, you fix this or I will contact the tribunal."
Velentham hated Gilean deeper than he ever had at that moment. He stopped and turned back, grinning. "Now isn't that something. You proclaim you're such a good guy. My father died to get you back and buy your silence. You are willing to break an oath you gave to him. Some role model you are. Is that your policy? To go back on what you say?"
"Oh, and what you have done falls within that agreement?"
Velentham slowly closed the door behind him. He had to take slow breaths to keep himself calm as he walked toward Gilean. "Let me ask you then - what is to stop me from killing you? If we're not honoring oaths?"
"And what do you think is the first thing I will do upon my return to Elysium?"
"Does it matter?" Velentham asked, pulling his swords from thin air. "See, if you're running to tattle regardless, I've got no reason to honor my side of the bargain either."
"You are a disgrace, even among our people. Look at what became of me for simply speaking out against them. Oh, I'm sure you'll be outcast alright. And I'm sure you'll be relieved of your memories as well."
"I tell you what. Let me go pick up Sanria and you can lead us back. If I knew you already knew how to get back, why, I would have done this sooner."
Velentham could see his desire to slay no longer inspired any kind of feeling in Gilean. With Claire leaving, it appeared that his cousin was unable to be moved. He turned and headed back to the door. "Velentham, just stop and look and what you have done," Gilean said.
"No. I'll not be baited. You wanted me out. I'm leaving. I think our conversation is at an end. Forever."
"I showed her how to protect herself. You just take a moment and think about what that means. You are a threat to her. She needs protection from you. She had to come to me asking for help, I didn't go to her."
It was the peal of truth that rang out over Velentham's mind. Had he not seen first hand what Sanria thought of him, he wouldn't have believed it. But he knew that Gilean spoke the truth. "I fix his memories," he said, "and you don't go to the tribunal? You honor what you already promised my father?"
"Yes," Gilean answered wearily.
Defeated, Velentham let out a long sigh. He would fix Colin then figure out how to fix things between himself and Sanria. He would make a deal, but that deal said nothing of his staying away from Sanria. For now, he would make his cousin feel safe, he would go away, he would plan. "Go get him."
