Tangled Hearts

Rhett knew the adorable floof would attract women like a magnet. The Lumina, however, were not the women he’d hoped it would attract. He had been watching and listening to Naia, Anya, and Gina coo and cuddle as the played with Gus, who just chirped and rolled around the girls playfully. It was a surprisingly low-maintenance pet. It didn’t eat, so it didn’t make messes, either. Rhett liked to think it fed off of energy radiating from other living creatures. Right now, the energy radiating from the girls must’ve been a five-course meal.

Anya shrieked and giggled as Gus bounced off her head. They were sitting on the marble steps outside the temple, which sparkled like the sun in marble and gold. Rhett had come in for morning prayer and forgotten to leave Gus at home. Thus, the girls wouldn’t let him leave. It had been a month since he’d returned from war, he'd kept to himself, going back and forth between home and the temple. Every now and then he'd visit Belle and the children, but that was it. No one called upon him in the military, luckily. They had him there for strategy, and when there was no war to fight, Rhett wasn't much use there.

“Ladies!”

The three gasped and sat still as Rhett caught Gus mid-bounce, all staring at the figure standing before them. Sister Katia held one of the higher positions in the temple, and for the most part, was a caretaker for the girls. Like Naia, she had a circlet in addition to the long golden robes and jewelry, but hers had several gems in it. She also wore gold beads in her long, greying hair to show her status. She was a rather stiff woman who liked order, but there was no doubt that she cared deeply about everyone she encountered. Rhett owed his life to her. He really could have become a piece of worthless shit if she hadn't turned him towards the Light and given him some form of purpose and self worth.

“In front of the temple?” she asked. “Sitting on the stairway to the sun? You three girls should know better. Especially you, Naia. We didn't give you that circlet so you could continue acting like a child. You must act like a role model. And Rhett… Oh, Rhett, this is your doing, isn't it?”

“Guilty as charged,” he said, holding on tightly to Gus. “Sorry. They wanted to see Gus and he got excited.”

Katia looked at Gus and wrinkled her nose, bending down to get a better look. A sly grin crept on Rhett’s face as he let Gus go, and the little floof chirped and bounced right off his hand and hit Katia in the face, making her draw back in surprise. Naia, Anya, and Gina giggled from their spot, silencing when Katia gave them a look.

“Rhett, you will be the death of me,” she sighed. “You're a grown man, already. You must act like one.”

“I'm only fifteen years old,” Rhett frowned. “How old did you think I was?”

Katia ignored the comment, continuing her first comment. “See how one by one, your friends are settling down? Starting families? Don't you want that?”

“You mean constantly sniffing children’s butts to see if they took a shit so I can change it?” Rhett asked. “No thank you. I'll take them when they're Gina’s age.”

“You know I don't like it when you-”

“We've been over this,” Rhett said, reading her mind. “There is no rule against sleeping around, as long as I don't hurt her feelings. I'm a perfect angel in the eyes of Light, I'd say.”

“Fine,” Katia sighed. “Get off the steps. Rhett, be a role model. Please.”

“Yes ma'am,” he said, giving her a salute and a respectful nod of the head before ushering the girls somewhere else. Naia and Anya went on home to the Abbey, but Gina lingered behind by Rhett.

“You need something?” he asked the younger girl.

“Can I ask you a favor?” she squeaked, nervously wringing her hands.

“Of course.”

“Every year Elbians have a big event to celebrate their independence from Latker,” she started. “Ever since they united with Aegaera, they've had them here, too.”

“You want to go to the peacock parade?” Rhett asked, wrinkling his nose.

“Please, can you take me?” she begged. “Sister Katia would never let me go, and none of my sisters will take me. And today is the celebration. Please, Rhett?”

“There really isn't much going on,” he said. “It's just a bunch of Elbians dancing around in bright colors. And confetti. Lots of confetti. The only reason to go is to get drunk and find a pretty girl who wants to warm the bed up for you. And I'm really not interested in that right now.”

“Please, Rhett?” she asked again.

“Fine,” he sighed. “Go change out of the robes. They'll bother you if they know what you are.”

Gina grinned and nodded, kissing Rhett on the cheek before running off to change. With religion dying in Aegaera, so was respect for the Lumina. The golden-robed women were beautiful and shined, but despite their vow to remain pure, were constantly harassed by people attracted to them rather than being left to stick to their studies, like they had in the old days. Rhett wanted Gina to be proud of her religion and devotion to Light, but he feared what people might do to harass her at the celebration, especially if they'd been drinking. Gina returned in a simple yellow dress and no jewelry, though she kept the nine-pointed star that was painted on her wrist in gold. She wasn't going to completely denounce her faith for one parade, and Rhett didn't want her to.

The Elbian Independence Day was a day full of music, color, and dancing. The kingdom prided itself in its beauty, and flaunted it in every way they could. Rhett kept one hand firmly on Gina’s shoulder so he wouldn't lose her in the thick crowds of celebrating people. Her green eyes were wide as she looked around at everyone and everything, and she looked like she was seeing the world for the first time. Both royal families were in attendance, up on a higher balcony to see it all. King Hamilton and Queen Gloria stood by Joshua, and Alec and Lily were holding Lucian up so he could get a good view of everything from above.

“King Alec is handsome, don't you think?” Gina asked dreamily.

“He's a moron,” Rhett smirked. “I'm better looking. Don't you think?”

“You're not handsome, you're my brother.”

“Point made.”

Rhett spotted Holden in the crowd with Annemarie and a few other men that Rhett sort of recognized. Annemarie was happily enjoying the festivities from the point of view of everyone else, though she clung tightly to Holden out of fear that someone might touch her.

“Can you see?” Rhett asked Gina.

“A little bit,” she said. “I can see enough- Hey!”

She yelled in surprise when Rhett easily lifted her up and perched her on his shoulder. Her eyes widened at the scene before her, smile growing bigger. Rhett knew he'd be in huge trouble for doing this, but seeing Gina see a culture outside of the temple was worth it. Holden and his friends approached Rhett, eyeing Gina on his shoulder.

“I thought you hate crowded, cramped places,” he said.

“I do,” Rhett admitted. “I'm making a sacrifice for the kid.”

“You've met John and Darren,” he said, gesturing to two of his friends that recognized, and then two the other three. “This is Edgar, Sven, and his friend Greyson. Boys, this is my good friend Rhett Howard.”

“Pleasure,” he replied, with a nod.

“Rhett Howard?” the one called Greyson asked, raising a brow. “The con man?”

“General of the Aegaeran army,” Rhett corrected, a harsh tone in his voice as he noticed Gina looking at him funny. She hadn't been told about Rhett’s somewhat illegal hobbies in the past.

“Right, right, you're past that,” Greyson chuckled.

There was something off about Greyson that Rhett immediately disliked. For one, he clearly spent a lot of time in front of a mirror. He looked like the rich sort, considering his expensive taste in clothes. However, Rhett wasn't one to judge by appearance. He was pretty disheveled looking at all times himself, after all. Rhett just hated the over-confident look on Greyson’s face.

“And who are you?” he asked Gina as Rhett put her back down.

“Gina,” she said softly.

“You have some pretty blonde hair there, Gina,” Greyson said.

“Thank you,” she said, beaming at the compliment.

Greyson reached out as if to touch her hair, but Rhett jerked her back, surprising her. No one else seemed to notice, too distracted by the celebration. Gina gave him an annoyed look, then glanced back at the vendors nearby.

“Rhett, can I have money for candy?” she pleaded. “I haven't been allowed to have candy in four years. Please?”

“I'll get in trouble,” he told her.

“Oh, let the girl have a little fun,” Greyson chuckled. “What, you're not going to let her have some candy at a celebration like this?”

“He's right,” John said. “She's young, she can have candy.”

“I'll buy it for her, if she likes,” Holden suggested.

Gina was glowing, the way everyone suddenly sided with her on the subject.

“No, I'll buy it,” Rhett said quickly, glaring at Greyson for bringing it up in the first place.

Holden gave Rhett a weird look, and he just shrugged, keeping Gina in the corner of his eye. He was only half listening to the conversation, which mostly consisted of Greyson talking about his successful life as a merchant. He was surprised and almost grateful when someone bumped into him in the crowd, and even more shocked when he saw that it was Lara. When she was singing and dancing with everyone else, and wearing a bright red dress, she was practically unrecognizable. Rhett kind of liked it. He caught her before she fell over, but she was quick to shove him off her.

“You're the one who bumped into me, I should've just let you fall,” Rhett smirked.

“Why are you everywhere?” she scowled.

“It's not my fault you dream about me,” Rhett said.

The mood shifted when Lara came by. Everyone got sort of goofy smiles on their faces because of how good she looked in that red dress, but Greyson was the only one to say anything. He dipped into a bow and introduced himself with a charming smile on his face that could have made any woman swoon. But Lara wasn't just any woman. She just gave him her own name, cold tone in her voice.

“Miss Everhart, we've already met,” Greyson said. “In my dreams, of course.”

“Yeah, he already did the dream thing,” Lara said, nodding towards Rhett. “I hated it the first time. The second time isn't much better.”

“She's with me,” Rhett said bluntly.

Lara gave him a harsh glare, but said nothing. Rhett was stupid, but Greyson just may have been worse. He couldn't help but feel a hint of satisfaction when she let him make that claim, especially when Greyson stepped out of her personal space. He was about to say something else when Gina shrieked from nearby, making everyone turn. Some drunks had noticed the star on her wrist, and were laughing and pushing her around, making fun of her for being a Lumina.

“Hey, get off her!” Rhett barked, surprising everyone.

They let go and shoved her away, and she stumbled back into a fountain behind her. One of them laughed as she slipped, trying to get out of the water, but he wasn't laughing for long. Rhett grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, yanking him forward.

“Do you have a problem with followers of the light?” he asked quietly.

“No, sir,” he mumbled, eyes wide.

Rhett’s fist was balled as if he were going to hit the man, and everyone thought he was going to hit him, but then he let the man go and loosened his shoulders. In the blink of an eye, Rhett went from an angry wolf to his usual laid back self. The man was quick to slip away and disappear. He turned to find Holden helping a shivering Gina out of the fountain, while Annemarie wrapped her in her cloak.

“H-he said I was f-fighting for a l-lost cause,” she trembled.

“Let him say whatever he wants,” Rhett told her, putting an arm around her. “It doesn't mean it's true.”

“Oh my, this isn't good,” Greyson frowned. “My home is right around the corner. I could help you get Gina dried up before she catches a cold.”

“I'll just take her home,” Rhett said.

“I c-can't go back to S-Sister Katia like this,” Gina told him. “She’ll k-kill us b-both.”

“You should probably take her back to Greyson’s home until she dries up,” Sven said.

“I really don't think it's a good idea,” Rhett said, trying to keep his tone flat. “We don't want to be a bother.”

“No, not at all!” Greyson grinned, patting Rhett on the back a little harder than anticipated. “We’ll have a drink or two while we’re at it.”

“Fine,” Rhett sighed.

He kept an arm around Gina as they started following Greyson, until Greyson turned around and whistled to get Lara's attention. She looked up, brow furrowed in annoyance.

“Aren't you coming, Lara?” he asked her.

“What? No?” she frowned.

“I thought you were with him,” Greyson said, punching Rhett’s arm and giving him a sly grin.

Her gaze flit to Rhett, and he just shrugged. She scowled and started to come with them, bumping Rhett on her way.

“Just for the free drink.”

“Whatever it takes,” Greyson laughed. “Onward, ladies. And Rhett.”

Rhett rolled his eyes, starting to walk again. Greyson lived just a few minutes away, but he quickly managed to entertain Gina with stories of his many travels. She was fully immersed in every word, listening to him in fascination. Rhett lingered back with Lara, who seemed equally uninterested.

“You've been everywhere,” Gina said, awestruck.

“Well, that's the life of a traveling merchant,” he chuckled. “Your brother knows a thing or two about being a merchant, legal or not. Isn't that right, Rhett?”

Rhett just grunted, ignoring Greyson's amused look. He let the two get a little further ahead, so he didn't have to listen to the bragging anymore. Lara looked back up at him, nudging him with her elbow.

“What was he talking about?” she asked. “Legal or not?”

“Don't worry about it,” Rhett said simply. “It's not that interesting.”

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

“You're going to ask me anyways,” Rhett said. “I may or may not answer.”

“How come you didn't hit that man earlier?” she asked.

Rhett went silent, just shrugging. He reached into his shirt and took out the small gold nine-pointed-star he wore on a chain around his neck every day, not keeping it out for too long before tucking it back in.

“The Light?” she smirked, raising a brow. “Come on. You're kidding.”

He just looked at her, expression stagnant. She stared back at him in genuine surprise.

“You're serious.”

“Serious as the plague.”

“I never would have guessed,” she said.

“I'm full of surprises.”