Private Tales Old Scars, Old Scores

[Asher]

The world lurched as Asher stepped into the leyline.

For a brief moment, he felt weightless, untethered, his body stretching and condensing all at once, his vision swallowed by streaks of glowing light. The familiar rush of energy pulled him forward, yanking him through space, through distance—until, with a final snap, the world righted itself again.

His boots hit solid ground.

Warmth. That was the first thing he felt. The air here was thick with heat, the golden glow of the Day Court stretching in every direction, painting the sky in hues of amber and flame. Unlike the Elderglen, where the trees stretched tall and the light filtered gently through the leaves, the sun reigned here. It was oppressive, blinding, an unrelenting force that washed over the marble structures and golden spires in the distance.

But Asher barely noticed. His pulse thrummed with purpose. He took one step forward— And immediately, two large figures moved into his path.

Towering fae males, clad in full golden armor, their crested helms gleaming beneath the relentless sunlight. Their stance was rigid, unmoving, barring his way before he could so much as breathe the same air as the nobles behind them.

"Halt." One of them growled, his voice firm, unyielding.

Asher clenched his jaw.

"State your business."

Green eyes flicked between the two of them, sharp, assessing. He could tell, immediately, that they had no intention of letting him pass. Their shoulders squared, their hands resting casually on the hilts of their weapons—ready. Waiting.

He exhaled slowly, controlled. "I'm here to see my brother. Fionn." No labels, no titles. Just his brother.

A beat of silence. Neither guard moved.

"Now."

His gaze darkened, narrowing as his stance shifted slightly, his muscles coiled tight, warning. "Deny me, and I'll cause a fucking scene."

The threat hung thick in the air between them, tangible, crackling like the distant hum of a brewing storm. The guards glanced at each other, something unspoken passing between them, and Asher felt his fingers twitch at his sides.

They could make this easy.

Or they could make this messy.

It was their fucking choice.

Fionn Vespera

 

[Fionn]

"Can you not see the resemblance?"

His drawling voice called from behind the Nexus Guards. They both stood to attention, stiffening as they turned to face him and bowed at the hips. Fionn was not dressed in his Commander's armour. He looked as if he had been tousled in a fight with the way his shirt hung loose on him, the lacing at his chest not tightened and showing off some of the chiseled muscles on his torso. His pale, flaxen hair certainly had fingers run through it, but Fionn took no effort in smoothing it.

"My younger brother has the same eye shape as me. The same mouth." But not the same smile. No, Fionn rarely exercised the muscles to smile, but honed the ability of smiling to bare his teeth in a threat. Except the smile he gave now. It was predatory, powerful, and Fionn stalked closer. "Dismissed."

The two Guards obeyed, leaving the brothers alone together.

"Did I know you were coming to visit?" He asked, unsure if somewhere in the past Asher had extended correspondence for such a visit.

 

[Asher]

Asher wasn’t in the mood for whatever this was—this arrogant, golden-lit performance.

"Apologies, Commander." The title dripped with mockery as Asher tilted his head, voice as smooth as it was venomous. "I'm a bit rusty in Court etiquette. I should have written a letter to warn you of my visit. And it's lovely to see you too."

His eyes flicked up and down his brother’s frame, taking in the state of him. "You look like shit, by the way."

Asher was one to talk. He had slept under a fucking tree for weeks, his hair longer, scruffier, shadows hollowing out his sharp features. He hadn’t even bothered to wash Vespera’s blood from his hands or his clothes, the dried crimson a stark reminder of why he was here.

His fingers twitched. The air shifted. Shadows slithered over his skin, curling up his arms, flickering at his shoulders like something alive.

He took a step forward. "This is a conversation I'd far rather have in person, so let's get to it."

Another step. The easy, sharp-edged drawl in his voice remained, but his eyes burned with something darker. "You're going to tell me how the fuck your name spilled from her mouth when I asked her about that word that's carved into her back."

A pause. The kind that stretched, taut and seething. Then, quieter. More dangerous. "Then you're going to tell me where I can find those old friends of yours, so that I can repay each and every one of them."

The shadows around him pulsed. His breath was slow. Measured. Controlled—barely.

 

[Fionn]

"This is a conversation I'd far rather have in person, so let's get to it."

It had seemed an age since he last saw his brother. Fionn stretched his mouth into a wry smile, intrigued to see the restraint in which Asher was keeping. "Oh? And whom are you referring to?" He most definitely had not ever spoken of females with either of his brothers, but the threat still lingered with every breath Asher slowed to a control that he could leash.

The shadows, however, gave away his brother's intentions. Icy eyes stared at them, almost fascinated that something of it's darkness could bear to stretch in the sun's unrelenting rays.

"Ah." Fionn met the eyes of his brother. Same eye shape, different colour in irises. "You speak of the halfling."

 

[Asher]

"You know exactly whom I speak of, Fionn." Asher's voice was razor-edged.

"Vespera," he corrected, voice low and brimming with warning, as though the very name itself was a challenge. His fingers twitched at his sides, betraying the restraint he fought to maintain. The shadows at his feet curled and coiled in response, a restless thing barely held in check beneath the weight of the sun’s gaze.

He studied his brother, searching for any flicker of recognition, any sign that he understood the gravity of the name he had so carelessly reduced to halfling.

Asher's jaw clenched. “I'm not in the mood for long stories. Your friends tortured her - I want to know who. And I want to know if you had any part in it.”

 

[Fionn]

Fionn's smile turned feral, as if a predator scented wounded prey.

"My, my. Where are your manners, little brother?"

To come here to his Court, for he swore allegiance and bled for the Crown, and demand answers from the Commander of the Nexus, it showed the lack of control and respect Asher possessed. Fionn took a step closer, taller than her brother.

"You're in my Court. My home. If you came to seek answers, I deserve the right to give them to you however I please." Something flashed in his pale, striking eyes. "Come with me."

And Fionn turned on his heels, stalking towards the castle in which he had called home for centuries. If he wanted to traipse down memory lane, then Fionn will have that conversation in his quarters.

 

[Asher]

Asher’s patience was razor-thin, fraying with every smug word that dripped from Fionn’s mouth. His body was taut with barely restrained fury, his jaw clenched so tightly it ached. He did not have time for his brother’s games.

So when Fionn turned his back on him, as if this was all some leisurely affair, as if Asher would simply follow like a dog at his heel, something inside him snapped.

His hand shot out, fingers curling around Fionn’s arm in a vice grip.

"You don’t get to waste my time, brother," Asher snarled, dragging Fionn back a step, his own chest heaving with the effort of restraint. "You know exactly why I’m here, and I will not stand here listening to you preen about your title while she—" His voice caught, but he forced the words through clenched teeth. "—while Vespera may still be in danger."

His nails dug in, his entire frame shaking with fury. "If you have answers, then give them to me. Now. Or so help me, Fionn, I will tear this entire godsdamned Court apart until I find them myself."

 

[Fionn]

Fionn dared to smile, to show just how amused he was to see his brother so riled up.

"Going to such lengths for a half-breed, brother? Whatever for?" Oh, he was certainly flirting with the line of restraint Asher was desperately trying to cling to. Fionn remembered how hot headed his brother could be, and how it amused him to taunt him into ripping apart any idea of keeping calm.

"Do you have feelings for her?"

As he once had? But those feelings meant nothing to Fionn now. Vespera had always been a young, pretty thing, but it had been her innocence and lack of experience that made his feelings for her develop. The moment the King of the Day Court found him, had wanted to make Fionn his ward because of the amount of power he possessed, he knew he was always destined for more.

A half breed without power was wasted on him.

 

[Asher]

Asher’s breath left him in a sharp exhale, his body shaking with the effort it took to keep from slamming his fist into Fionn’s smug face. His brother always did love to twist the knife, to find the cracks in his composure and pry them open just to watch him bleed. But this wasn’t about Asher. This wasn’t about them. This was about her.

And still, Fionn had the gall to smirk and speak of Vespera as if she were some insignificant thing. Asher’s voice was a growl, low and edged with danger. “That is none of your business.”

His fingers twitched at his sides, aching to wrap around his brother’s throat, the dark wisps of shadow curled in his mind, urging him on to do just that.. “What is my business is how those old friends of yours think they can do whatever they want with her. With one of our own.” His voice sharpened. “You think I’ll stand by and let it happen like you did?”

'Do you have feelings for her?'

And that was the last straw.

With a swift, calculated movement, Asher hooked his ankle around Fionn’s, yanking it out from beneath him as he shoved forward. The force sent Fionn crashing to the ground, but Asher was already on him, hands fisting into his brother’s collar as he pinned him down with his full weight. His breath came in ragged pants, his vision narrowed with pure, unrelenting fury.

"Ask me again," Asher hissed, his face inches from Fionn’s. "Ask me again, and see if I don’t break your fucking jaw for it."

 

[Fionn]

Asher's anger took over any common sense or memory. His threats of violence only spurred Fionn to let his brother do as he threatened, only so that he never had to reveal the names Asher desperately wanted. Fionn smile despite the shock of pain, but pain was something he thrived on.

He was a brute too. Trained to be an elite, by an ex-elite warrior of the Sun Court that sought to retire in this Court.

Fionn would let Asher beat him to death if it meant winning the game.

"Vespera is not one of our own. Powerless half breed. What my old friends did, she deserved it."

Come on now, brother. Break me.