The library was quiet as usual, save for the leering whispers of people who saw them come inside. Sirius, being the younger of the two, seemed wholly occupied with other things, at present it was finding the perfect seat, but one look at Faustus was all Kairo needed to tell that something was bothering the child.
For as long as Kairo had known them, Faustus was always very expressive. At first, Kairo summarized that it was simply because he was a child but the more he became acquainted with him, the more he realized that Faustus simply had a hard time concealing his emotions in general. Funnily enough, it was his ears that always gave him away, the tips of which would redden whenever he lied, exposing him right away.
Kairo nudged him gently, lowering his voice so only Faustus could hear him. "Are you okay?"
Faustus looked as though he was about to say something when he caught the eyes of someone whispering and changed his mind.
"Yeah..."
Before he even got the word out, the tips of his ears were flushed. Kairo glared at the people whispering. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were talking about, what with their judgmental gazes and all.
"Hey, you!" Kairo said firmly. The others in the library flinched at his harsh tone. "I thought only other scholars were allowed in here. I didn't know they let in sniveling rats too."
One of the many individuals participating in their quiet gossiping stood up, her face flushed in anger. "Excuse you! Who are you to speak to us that way!"
"The imperial tutor and you are?" Kairo said confidently.
A man rose his voice to match Kairo's. "We are noble scholars. Maybe you don't know because of your...lowly origins, but over here we tend to treat others with decorum."
Kairo felt his blood begin to boil. It took everything in him not to march up to the man and break his jaw right then and there. "Oh yeah? Judging from the way you were staring and whispering earlier I wouldn't have guessed. You all look more like conniving snakes rather than respected scholars.
The woman flailed her hands. "I've had enough of this! I will not be spoken to in such a way! Is this what our great empire has come to? This is all because of the late Empress! It's her fault that lowly imps like this feel like they can speak to us like this!"
The man scowled, huffing in agreement with her. "I suppose birds of a feather do flock together." His eyes travelled to Faustus and his lips curled into a bitter smirk. "After all, I expect nothing less of bastard sons who have been abandoned."
For a moment Kairo saw red. Anyone with eyes could tell what his relationship with Nikiro was like just by watching them, but to say it right to his face and to allude the same fate to an innocent child nonetheless, there were some lines that were just not meant to be crossed. Before he knew it, his feet were carrying him towards the man. His fists clenched tight. He didn't know what he was going to do to him, but he silently vowed to make it as painful as possible.
Before he could reach the man, he was just barely able to register that the fist that sent the man flying was in fact, not his own.
"It wasn't that long ago that I had to punish someone for speaking such nonsense in front of my sons. I didn't think others would be so foolish as to try it again so soon."
Dez glowered above the cowering man. He clenched his broken nose, eyes watering as he stuttered through the pain. The veins on Dez's arm pulsed as she began reeling back to land another blow, this time to the woman. A shrill scream resounded in the library as the woman fell to her knees in tears.
"Y-Your Majesty! You can't treat us this way!" Cried an onlooker.
"It may have been harsh but we only speak out of concern for the empire! How could we allow children of unknown origins to become heirs!"
With the initial shock wearing off, Kairo turned around. Faustus and Sirius, who has long since clued into the commotion were looking up at them with eyes that looked as though they were on the verge of tears.
"Am...are we not dad's kids?" Faustus' voice shook as he gasped out the question.
"Is dad gonna abandon us?" asked Sirius, this time beginning to cry.
Without a beat of hesitation, Kairo dropped to his knees and pulled them into a hug. "No. That's not going to happen."
"How do you know?" cried Faustus through sobs.
"Because your dad loves you," Kairo said soothingly, fighting back the way his own throat tightened at the realization that he recognized exactly what the boys were feeling, having been in a similar position himself.
"IT'S NOT OUR FAULT!"
Kairo briefly glanced over his shoulder to see Dez dragging someone out by the hair as they screamed.
"THAT RAT DISRESPECTED US FIRST! THAT ARUNIAN PEASANT WHO DOESN'T KNOW HIS PLACE! WHY HAVE YOU ALLOWED HIM TO STAY HERE! NOT EVEN HIS FATHER WANTS HIM HE—"
Dez dropped them mid-scream and knelt with Kairo and her sons. Gently, she pulled all of them close and covered Kairo's ears."
"Don't listen to them. You belong. You're loved," he saw her lips mouth out.
Something inside him softened that day. He was still angry.
Angry at his father, at Sin, sometimes even angry at Faustus and Sirius.
But a very small part of him thought that maybe it was time to let go of some of his anger. Dez gestured for the guards to get rid of everyone and sat with the boys for quite some time, reminding them that they were family and no amount of nonsensical rumours and speculation was going to change that.94Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqKTDAsVs6
