Accords Corrompus, Tome 4.6 : Olandon

“Orita stares at you often, Landon,” his mother remarked over her raised goblet. Olandon didn’t turn his head to where she sat two seats to his left. “Yes, it is most unwelcome.” “Then your instincts are in tune,” she replied, a hint of humor entering her voice. “For that is one who will claw her way past anything to get to the top. Even you.” Olandon leaned back to allow the servant to take away his empty plate. “You rather sound like you admire her, Mother.” “I could hardly hate my own reflection.” He turned and saw her lips curve into some semblance of a smile. She studied him as a different servant refilled her goblet. “You are ready to begin your training, my son.” He was? Olandon didn’t answer—his mother didn’t require one—but his breath attempted to hitch in his throat as she continued to watch him. Olandon was the second child of the Tatum. When his elder sister became Tatum, he would become her Head of Guard. He hadn’t expected to begin training so soon, being just shy of his seventeenth birthday. “Yes,” Avanna purred. “You are ready. I will instruct your uncle it is to be so.” There was no one he hated more than Cassius, but the man was a necessary evil if Olandon wanted to commence training. “Thank you, Mother.” Olandon smiled at Avanna, and she returned the gesture. The murmured conversation in the dining ring dimmed and Olandon didn’t need to glance over to confirm his sister had entered the room. Veiled as she was, and hated by their mother, her arrival was always cause for vicious talk, though you would not guess it from how she carried herself. Olandon kept his proud smile in check, knowing there was a direct correlation between how much love he displayed for Olina and how much she was tortured by his mother’s guards. His sister sat between him and the Tatum, not saying a word, though as soon as Avanna turned her attention elsewhere, Olina reached under the table and held his hand. They did so through every meal because she hated coming into the dining ring. Many things had changed in their relationship over the last few years, but that habit never diminished. Her hand tightened as Avanna spoke. “I have just been telling your brother he is ready to begin his training.” Olina gripped Olandon’s hand tighter again, and he had the dreadful realization that he’d been used to land a cruel blow on his sister. She was nearly eighteen and hadn’t started training under their mother yet. For him to be training already was a direct insult to Olina. Why hadn’t he seen it immediately?