Chapter 16: Loyalty

“That’s sweet of you, Jasper, but I don’t belong here. My loyalty isn’t with this city,” Irin told him.

“And not with me,” Jasper added.

“No, things would perhaps be easier if they were.” Jasper nodded.

“I’m sorry, I think we could have created something amazing together,” he said.

“I know it’s not what you want to hear, but I will always be your friend.” Jasper gave her a short laugh, devoid of any humour.

“Wait and see if that's true,” Jasper told her with a sad smile. Irin looked at him; he sounded off. She was just about to ask him what was wrong when Koth walked up to them.

“Finished?” she asked him. He nodded and started to unbutton his tunic; Irin froze. Why was he stripping? She tried to look anywhere but at him.

“I’m sorry,” Jasper said; it was almost a whisper.

“For what?” Koth asked; he continued to unbutton his tunic.

“I can’t let you take it, it’s too powerful. Can you imagine what the family could do with this? You know we aren’t like Mohind, we wouldn’t misuse it. We would just keep it safe, make sure no one could use it against us. We could bring order to the city,” Jasper said; he was tapping his hand over the place where the amulet was kept in his tunic.

“Jasper.” There was a warning in Koth’s voice.

“Brother, you know we would use it for good.”

“I know you would think you were using it for good, but using something to oppress people to do things your way can never be good.”

“Not even if it brings peace and order?”

“Not even then, because forced peace is not peace. It’s like throwing a rug on the floor instead of sweeping it. It may look nice on the surface, but the dirt is still there, and if you lift a corner of the rug, it will spread. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can force this city to behave, brother. What we have done to Mohind, others will try to do to you.”

“We will protect it,” Jasper said stubbornly.

“At what cost?” Irin asked in a soft voice. “Would you use its power to protect it? Will you become paranoid and live in solitude to protect it?”

“It doesn’t have to be like that. You are not family, Irin. You don’t understand why this is needed,” Jasper suddenly shouted. Irin was taken by surprise and flinched. Koth took her by the wrist and tugged her towards him. She ended up just behind him instead of by Jasper’s side.

“Brother, give me the amulet, it has started to affect your mind,” Koth said.

“You would like that, wouldn’t you? Have you ever cared for the family? You seemed really eager to leave us, leave me,” Jasper scoffed.

“You know that isn’t the case, father…”

“Father only wanted you to become a wizard to protect the family. But what do you do? You move away at the first chance.”

“I offered to take you with me,” Koth said.

“I won’t betray the family. I’m not like you.”

“Jasper!” Irin couldn’t believe what he was saying to his brother.

“Brother, give me the amulet,” Koth said in a calm voice.

“Or what? You can’t use magic as long as I have the amulet,” Jasper told him.

“Jasper, put the amulet on the ground, please,” Irin tried.

“I’m sorry, Irin, I won’t be doing that. But my offer still stands, come with me. You will see what amazing things we can use the amulet for,” he told her. Irin just shook her head; she couldn’t believe this was happening.

“Do you think father will be proud if you bring it home? You know what he’s like; he will use it even if you wouldn’t,” Koth said.

“I know he will be. From the moment we got wind of Mohind owning this, we have been planning how to get it off him. That’s why he and Mika are away; they are doing research on this amulet. Once they get back, we will have all the information we need. And when they return, I will have the amulet. It was the gods’ will to send the two of you into my arms,” he told them.

“Koth,” Irin said.

“It’s okay, it will be okay,” he told her. It was nice to hear, but it wasn’t what she had tried to say. Irin hated doing it; she genuinely liked Jasper and at one point she had actually entertained taking him up on his offer. But she couldn’t let the amulet fall into the hands of someone who would use it to oppress an entire city. And who knew if it would stop there? She took a step to the side, making sure she had a free line of sight. Jasper and Koth were locked in a staring match, neither of them talking, moving or looking away. Irin used the opportunity and retrieved another of her throwing knives and before she could change her mind, she flung it at Jasper’s shoulder. It hit true, and Jasper gasped and looked at his shoulder. He looked surprised when he saw the steel dagger sticking out and a red stain starting to spread over the tunic. He reached up with his left hand to yank it out. Before he got a chance to do so, Koth had rushed him and torn open his tunic, grabbing the amulet and moving away.

“I’m sorry,” Irin said. She felt horrible for hurting him like that, but they had needed to distract him.

“No, no, no. Give it back. Please Koth, give it back to me,” Jasper begged.

“Go, do the binding, I will keep him here,” Irin told Koth. He looked at her and nodded.

“Be careful, I know he would never hurt you, but he is not his usual self,” Koth said. It was Irin’s turn to nod. As Jasper was focused on Koth and the amulet, Irin walked up to him and pulled out the dagger, mostly to make sure he didn’t have a weapon easily accessible. He whimpered, and she put her hand over the wound. They both watched Koth walk over to the rune circle.

“No, stop him,” Jasper said, trying to go after Koth. Irin held him back. She could feel when the block from the amulet lifted. She sent up a quick prayer and started to heal the wound she had inflicted on Jasper.

“No, please,” he continued to call. Irin had a hard time holding him back; she used the same magic she had used the first time they met, only milder, and pushed him against the wall. Keeping one eye on Jasper, she looked over at Koth. He was stepping back from the amulet on the floor. He had stopped trying to unbutton his shirt and just tore the last buttons off. As he got as far away as he needed, he put his hand on a tattoo he had on his ribcage, and that was when Irin realised the tattoos were actually spells. He had engraved them on his skin, she realised. She watched as he closed his eyes, his lips moved without making a sound, and the tattoo under his hand started to glow. Irin felt the magic shoot through the air, focusing on the amulet. As it settled around it, she could feel Jasper stop struggling, and she eased off on her own magic.

“It’s done,” Koth said, walking up to the amulet.

“Did it work?” Irin asked. Koth nodded as he picked the amulet up and walked over to them again. Irin expected to feel the blocking effect, but she never did. She sent up a thank you to the goddess as it had worked. She let go of the last of her magic, and Jasper scooted down along the wall until he was sitting on the floor.

“Feeling better?” Koth asked him.

“Not really. I have failed,” Jasper sighed.

“You can’t honestly think the amulet would have been a good thing?”

“No, well not now. Now I can see what you were trying to tell me about oppressing others. But still, the family could use it to make sure we were safe. The plan father had wasn’t that bad,” Jasper said.

“You should know better than to trust that old con artist,” Koth scoffed.

“He is our father, we should respect him,” Jasper objected.

“He is a con man who took in three orphans to use for his own schemes. I won’t say he didn’t save us from a far worse fate, but he isn’t a noble and selfless person. Stop idolising him and see him as he is; it doesn’t take anything away from what he did for us,” Koth told him. Irin could hear the emotion in his voice. The realisation Koth had been adopted and Jasper wasn’t his biological brother made sense. It explained some of the things she had learned.

“You have always had something against him,” Jasper said.

“No, I love him just as much as you do. I just don’t want him to use me anymore. He can’t help it; it’s who he is. And rather than let him do it, I chose to leave, saving both me and him in the process. Now you need to do the same, little brother. You need to be strong and turn away from something; you need to realise what father wants is not always what is best for him. Be the better and stronger man.” The words had Irin’s heart breaking; the love Koth had for his father was clear, as was the pain he had for leaving his family in order to protect them. It struck a chord in Irin, and she had to turn away for a moment, not to let them see the unshed tears in her eyes.