Vincent walked through the village, a smile on his face for the first time in years. His brother’s wife had just given birth to a baby girl. He was an uncle! He couldn’t wait to show his niece how to harness the power that was surely inside of her. After all, she was a Silvan, and even though Gregory refused to use his magic, Vincent was sure his brother would allow him to teach her at least some of what he knew.
Especially since he would never have children of his own. A wave of darkness over the things he had done in his past washed over him. He couldn’t think on that now, though, not when life was finally starting to turn around!
An uncle! He couldn’t believe it. He was so excited to hold the little one in his arms. Would she have his brother’s blue eyes? Or maybe Annabelle’s smile? He approached his brother’s cottage with thoughts of the infant still in his mind, and a grin still on his face. By the second knock, his brother had pulled the door open.
“Gregory!” Vincent pulled him in for a hug. He was far too excited to realize that Gregory did not welcome the intrusion.
“What are you doing here, Vincent?” he asked, his voice harsher than normal. Vincent assumed it was due to the lack of sleep that surely came when a new child was brought into the world.
“Why do you think I’m here? I came to see my niece.”
Gregory sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “You are not welcome here, Vincent.”
All of the happiness and excitement Vincent had been feeling drained away in an instant. “What do you mean I’m not welcome here? I’m your brother.”
“I cannot help clean up your messes anymore, Vincent. I don’t want you near my family.”
“I don’t understand.” Fear gripped him. Gregory was the only family he had left. What would he do if his only brother turned his back on him?
“I have a child to think about now.”
“I can help!”
“Help with what?”
“I can teach her magic.”
“I don’t even know that she has magic. And even if she does, I will be teaching her like our mother taught us.”
“You cannot possibly think teaching her to fear herself is a good idea!” Vincent’s voice took on a dangerous edge. Their mother had convinced them that their magic was a curse, and it was years before Vincent realized she had been wrong. Gregory, always the rule follower, never did.
“She will understand the dangers of using her magic.”
“Don’t be a fool, Gregory!” he insisted, his pride and sadness fighting for control over him.
“I am not a fool!”
Anyone watching the exchange would have known them as brothers just by looking at them. They had the same dark hair, the same sharp nose and square jaw, but that was where the similarities ended. They were nothing alike on the inside. Maybe they never were.
“You will be if you teach your child to fear herself.”
“You know nothing of my family.”
“I am your family!”
Gregory stared at him. “Not anymore,” he said sadly, and shut the door.
He had no idea how much he would come to regret that decision.
Vincent closed his eyes and before he did something he would regret and level the house with his brother, wife, and new child inside, he turned and left. How dare Gregory turn his back on him?! He had been the one who stepped up and kept them safe when their father had died. Certainly not their weak-minded mother who jumped at her own shadow.
And to teach the child to not know her magic! What an abomination! Might as well kill her now if she was going to be forced to live a life of not being allowed to truly be herself. Vincent had tried too hard to get Gregory to use the magic inside of him. Even when the village kids were taunting his little brother, calling him names, and sometimes even physically hurting him, Gregory refused to harness his power to make them stop.
Vincent had taken it upon himself to force Gregory into using it. He looked down at his hands. All these years later and he could still feel his brother’s blood on his hands as he forced himself to hit him until he finally fought back.
Gregory still didn’t know that afterwards, Vincent had spent the afternoon throwing up from what he had done. But his little brother had to know how to protect himself.
Now as an adult, Gregory still refused it. Somehow, Vincent knew simply challenging his brother to a fight wouldn’t do the trick. If he wanted his brother to face the magic inside him, he was going to have to go bigger.
A plan formed in his mind as he made his way back home. It would be hard, but in the end, Vincent knew Gregory would be thanking him for it.
* * *
“What if he’s right? What if she does have magic?” Annabelle asked when Gregory shut the door.
“Then we’ll deal with it. There’s no reason to worry about it now.” He smiled at her. “I have magic, and I’m doing just fine. We can teach her to control it.”
“Should we?”
“Annabelle, you remember the stories, you know what happened to your father. How can we condemn her by allowing her to use the magic that might ruin her? Why are we even talking about this? We don’t even know if she has power.”
“We could find out,” Annabelle suggested.
Gregory thought about it for a moment. That might not be such a bad idea. If they discovered she had no magic, Vincent would have no reason to come back. Gregory wasn’t foolish enough to believe his brother was gone for good. Vincent would never stop coming for them, especially if their daughter carried on the Silvan magical bloodline. “Let’s go see her.”