Young Writers Society

Viktor hesitated.

"I don't know," he said. He should have been waiting until Evie was back to say this, but he had recognized what she was doing before Tiberius fell out of the tree. She was trying to figure out if she could trust him—and if he needed any kind of support. She had done it to him, back when they ran into each in the town square that one day after the training camp.

"Evie was trying to get you to convince her not to turn you in," he admitted. "If you hadn't tried falling down the tree and passed out, you might have already convinced her."

James faltered for a moment, and he observed Viktor. Looking him up and down, trying to read him.

He seemed sincere. If Viktor and his partner Evie were considering not turning him in, he could work with that.

"And what would it take to convince you?" James asked.

He mulled it over.

She had pitied Viktor when she had offered her home as shelter, but Viktor doubted that was what made her interested in not turning Tiberius in. It was probably how nice he had been to Felix prior to fainting. In a world where magic was outlawed, Tiberius accepting Felix's cryo was monumental.

"If you convince her," Viktor said, "you'll convince me. Evie is a better judge of character than I am. If you show her you're a good person and she believes you, I will, too."

"Yeah well," James said, leaning more heavily onto his knees with his arms crossed. "See, that's the problem. Everyone has a different definition of what makes someone a 'good person,' and even so most people don't have a clear-cut standard. But I guess I don't have a choice, now, do I? I'm stuck having to justify myself to a bunch of bounty hunters who are either going to throw me to the wolves or... well I don't even know. If I 'prove my innocence' to you, even though I don't owe you anything, will you let me go?"

Viktor knew the wording was supposed to make him feel guilty, but he also knew that, most of the time, the people they turned in for bounties had been wanted for a reason. They weren't just people that Viktor and Evie had decided to randomly capture and turn in.

Viktor nodded.

"We will," he said.

He slipped the glass bottle back into his bag, but kept his other hand hovering a few inches behind Tiberius.

"We're not from around here," Viktor admitted. He could admit some of the truth without saying all of it. "We already know that this kingdom doesn't like people like us. Their judgement on right and wrong could be questionable. If you tell us why you're wanted for treason, that would probably be enough to convince Evie."

“I was trying to help people like you,” James spat out bitterly, realizing too late that he was far from having a filter - but he slapped it back on, snapping his mouth shut.

Viktor stared.

...That would be enough to win Evie over.

"Why didn't you start with that?" he asked. Tiberius seemed like he regretted his reveal, but Viktor couldn't understand why. If they had been from this kingdom like Tiberius had originally thought they were, that would have been enough. As it was, that was even more believable seeing that they were from a place that didn't outlaw elemental abilities.

James was getting restless, and the headache radiating through his skull made him feel an irrational sense of annoyance. But his anger? Was completely rational.

“I didn’t want you to press for details,” he muttered, not realizing his words were slurring again.

Viktor couldn't help but keep staring. Tiberius was slurring again, but Viktor assumed that he was telling the truth about why he hadn't said more.

"You didn't want to tell us the one thing that would probably convince us to let you go," Viktor slowly said, "because you didn't want us to press you for details?"

“My life is none of your damned business!” James snapped back. “And no one ever believes me anyway! So why the hell would I expect you to?”

Something inside Viktor snapped.

Durin's blood—always present and always lurking—surged within him. He didn't want to become like Felix had when he had tried replacing Albedo, but it was hard to fight back against the anger when it was so present.

"Because we're different!" Viktor shouted back. He pulled his hand back from behind Tiberius. "You know we're mages. We haven't intentionally hurt you. The concussion was an accident—Evie doesn't always know her strength. Maybe other people haven't believed you before, but we took the step of asking you what the truth was."

“Do you have any idea how many nosy backstabbing people have felt entitled to my story only to spit in my face?” James shouted back. “I don’t care if you’re a mage, that doesn’t automatically make you trustworthy. I’ve - I’ve—“

James growled and brought his hands to the sides of his head, clutching it in pain and frustration. Viktor’s raised voice along with his own, and the blood likely rushing to his face made his head throb even more.

He was feeling dizzy and nauseous again.

The tension in his shoulders released as he curled into himelf holding his head with a groan.

“Never mind. I don’t care anymore. You know enough now to leave me alone. Just go. Please, just go.”

"I'm not leaving you when you're injured," Viktor said. He hadn't been planning on doing it earlier, either, but he especially wasn't going to do it now that he knew why Tiberius was wanted. It was their fault he had gotten hurt like he had—Tiberius had fallen out of the tree on his own, but he had been trying to get away from them.

And the concussion was absolutely their fault.

"Evie and Felix should be back with something to help with your injuries soon," Viktor said. "If you want us to leave you alone after that, we can. We're not leaving you before then."

James was sour that they wouldn’t just leave him after all the trouble they put him through. They didn’t realize how long it took to blend back into society, to come up withba new name and a new believable story, to be a different person. He’d have to travel far away from the Isles, somewhere no one could recognize him. Somewhere far. He’d have to change his appearance, and he’d have to get new clothes, new everything.

He couldn’t afford to not be careful. He didn’t always get “lucky” like this, being able to convince people to let him go.

He sighed deeply, still holding his head.

“Fine,” he muttered. “But after that you leave.”

Viktor nodded.

"Okay," he said. After Evie and Felix returned with the potion ingredients, there would be no reason to stay with Tiberius. It wouldn't take long for the potion's effects to kick in.