Ghet and Bran

From Shattered Web

Ghet watched the others leave with shadowed eyes. The crack in her mind was widening; it was becoming a full-time job keeping control of it. She'd slept like the dead last night, grateful for the profound exhaustion that came from exercising her power. It was almost enough to make her hope they had another run-in today.

She turned her eyes to their group with a wry smile. "You notice they left all the parents behind?"

"Perhaps they think we're the ones most likely to go crazy on them," Bran said with a tinge of wry humour. He squeezed the redhead's shoulder gently. "Are you alright?" the fair-haired elf asked her softly. The shadows in her blue eyes worried him. They were going to need all their strength to get through this. The last thing they wanted was for Ghetsuhm to crack up under the strain.

"It's quite possible," Ghet said lightly, or as lightly as she could manage considering it was perfectly true. She looked at Bran assessingly, as best she could in the darkness. She'd always liked him, but things had been a little strained since he'd decided to blame Ro for the conception of Rhagi. And what could she say to change his mind? Still, under that, she trusted him, and he was one of the easier people for her to be around when things went... badly. She dropped her voice, though it wouldn't do her much good with all the pointy little ears around. "Listen, Bran, if I should... become irrational, I mean, really irrational, you must keep me away from the Blackthorns. Oh gods, Mira... you don't have the Rage, do you? It's like... a big wide open gate to me. I can hurt them so badly if I'm not in control of myself. And they can do the same to me." Then she took a deep breath and shook her head. "I'll be okay. As long as I can keep in touch with Galain, I'll be okay."

"The Rage is something I've managed to avoid up until now at least" the fair-haired elf replied quietly. "Hey, you know me. I'm the sane one in the family. Not that that's difficult when you take into account who I'm being compared to, but still." He slipped his arm around Ghet's shoulders in a companionable fashion and gave her a quick hug. "You'll be okay" he said reassuringly. "We all will. We'll get the boys back and then we can all go home."

A serious look appeared in his jade green eyes and for a second he was silent. "I know things haven't been great between us for awhile. You have to understand, regardless of how difficult she can be sometimes, she is still my little sister and its hard to watch her being hurt and be able to do nothing about it. That doesn't mean that you can't rely on me if you need me, Ghet. You, or Y'Roden for that matter. Something like this puts things in perspective a little. Not that I can say there is no anger at all, but in comparison to the problems we have now its not even on the same scale. Does that make any sense?"

Adarin watched Ghetsuhm and Bran speak, but he purposefully dampened his hearing so as not to eavesdrop. He was concerned for her, but he wasn't the one she sought help from -- if that's what she was seeking. As it was he was concerned over Tay. She had become enormously distant and it frightened him. He had wished terribly that he could go with her, not Galain, and now he stood silently to one side, staring into the murk and closing his eyes as he traced along the bond to Tay.

Ghet was silent for a moment. She actually respected Silverthorn for not having told Bran the truth. It wasn't like the woman gave a damn about Rhagi's happiness, after all. "Bran, I know. If only because I've hit that same loyalty between Ro and Thaya. I just wish there was some way I could make you believe... it wasn't Ro's fault. He'd never deliberately hurt Silverthorn. Sometimes, no matter how much you love someone, there are still... accidents. I don't like her, Bran, but I don't hate her either, not any more. And for once we both want the same thing, we want to get Fechine back." Ghet had no reason to believe that it would have bothered Silverthorn at all for Rhagi to suffer, or die, and plenty of reason to believe the contrary, so she just left that side of the equation right out of it. "What I'm trying, very badly, to say, is that I do trust you, Bran. I love Ro and it pains me to see the two of you at odds, but I do understand why you feel the way you do."

"Thank you for that," the fair-haired elf said softly. "Don't get me wrong. I don't hate him or anything like that. I suppose the anger comes as much from disappointment as anything. Which is silly I know, but when she is with him she's different, Ghet. I know the two of you don't get on so perhaps you can't see that, but she is. She had cut herself off so thoroughly from everyone else that it used to scare me sometimes. Somehow Ro managed to get through to her when nobody else could. Then to see the pain in her eyes and know that he was at least partially responsible, accident or not..." Bran shook his head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be saying this to you of all people. You were always too easy to talk to."

Ghet actually laughed, leaning on Bran's shoulder a moment while she laughed with genuine humour. "Yes, that's the problem with me: I'm too easy to talk to. Bran, she makes Ro happy, and that's more than I could do. That's good enough for me."

A quiet laugh escaped Bran's lips. "You're right." he said, hugging her slightly before looking down at her. "Hantale, Ghet... for understanding, and not thinking I was completely nuts. You're a very special lady, you know."

Ghet blushed, though fortunately it was dark. She angled her face up and kissed his cheek. "You give me too much credit. But I'm hardly going to argue. Now, we should break this up before someone gets entirely the wrong idea."