Chapter 50: An older brother he never knew he had - 2
Raani’s face was very carefully blank. "We did our duty, Lord Karut."
"Of course you did."
Karut’s eyes moved back to Jake. "And the welcoming ceremony? I hope it was adequate."
The words hung in the air for a mont before Jake understood them.
Welcoming ceremony.
The robed attackers. The black orcs. The ambush.
Jake’s jaw tightened.
"That was you?" he said quietly.
Karut’s smile widened just slightly.
"A test," he said.
"To see what you were capable of. To see if the blood runs as strong in you as the reports suggested." He glanced at the dead orcs scattered across the road.
"It seems the reports were accurate."
The pressure increased.
It happened suddenly. One mont, Karut was standing there looking pleasant and calm. The next mont, the air around him changed. The weight of his presence doubled. Tripled. Beca sothing physical and crushing.
Jake felt it hit him like a wall.
His knees buckled.
The pressure wasn’t random. It was focused. Directed entirely at him. Like Karut had reached out with an invisible hand and was pressing down on Jake’s entire body at once. Not crushing him. Not trying to kill him. Just pushing. Testing. Seeing how much he could take.
Jake tried to resist it.
He pulled on the bloodline. Tried to push back against the pressure with his own power. The system was showing him defensive techniques. Ways to shield himself. Ways to deflect.
None of it worked.
Karut’s power was too much. Too refined. Too controlled. Jake was Class II and it ant nothing against whatever level his half-brother had reached.
Jake went down to one knee.
The pressure increased again.
It felt like being stabbed. Not with a blade. With pressure itself. Sharp points of force pressing into him from every direction. Through his clothes. Against his skin. Deep into his muscles. It didn’t break anything. Didn’t damage him. But it hurt. It hurt in a way that made it very clear that this was restrained. That Karut could make it much worse if he wanted to.
Jake’s other knee hit the ground.
He was kneeling now. Both knees in the dirt. His hands braced against his thighs. His teeth clenched. His whole body was shaking with the effort of not collapsing completely.
Karut stood above him.
Still calm. Still pleasant. Looking down at his younger brother with that sa warm smile.
"You’re strong," Karut said quietly. "Stronger than I expected for soone who only awakened a few days ago. The bloodline is powerful in you."
He paused.
"But you’re not strong enough yet."
The pressure lifted all at once.
Gone as suddenly as it had appeared. The weight vanished. The stabbing sensation stopped. The air returned to normal.
Jake gasped and almost fell forward. He caught himself with his hands. Stayed on his knees for a mont longer while his body rembered how to function without that crushing weight on it.
Karut turned away.
He walked back toward the white tiger with the sa calm, asured steps. Mounted it in one smooth motion. Settled into position.
He looked back at Jake one more ti.
"Welco ho, brother," he said. His voice was still pleasant. Still controlled.
"I look forward to getting to know you better. Clan Raikarndel has much to teach you."
He paused.
"Good luck," he added.
The words sounded sincere. They probably were sincere in whatever way Karut experienced sincerity.
But Jake heard the other aning underneath them.
You’re going to need it.
Karut turned the white tiger away. His riders fell in around him. The group moved down the road in the direction Jake’s company had co from. Moving away. Leaving.
Within a minute, they were out of sight around a curve in the road.
The pressure faded completely.
Jake stayed on his knees for another mont.
His whole body was shaking. Not from fear exactly. From the aftereffect of that much power pressing down on him. From the understanding of how far he still had to go. From the realization that his half-brother had just demonstrated very clearly and very calmly exactly where Jake stood in the hierarchy of the Raikarndel.
Nowhere near the top.
Raani appeared beside him. She offered her hand.
Jake took it and let her help him to his feet. His legs were unsteady, but they held.
"Are you all right, young master?" Raani asked quietly.
Jake looked at her. Then, at the road where Karut had disappeared.
"No," he said honestly.
"But I will be."
Maudlina was there too. Her face was still stern, but there was sothing else in it now. Concern, maybe. Or calculation.
"That was a ssage," she said.
"Karut wanted you to understand your position before you arrive in Roakan."
"I understood it," Jake said.
He looked at the Dragon Maidens. At the iron-suited soldiers. At Chelsea, who was standing by the carriage with Gran Rosalinda. Both of them looked worried.
Jake took a breath. Let it out slowly.
"We keep moving," he said.
"How far to Roakan?"
"Two days," Raani said.
"Maybe less if we push hard."
"Then we push hard," Jake said.
"I want to get there. I want to see what I’m walking into. And I want to figure out how to get strong enough that my half-brother can’t do that to
again."
He walked back toward the carriage.
His body still ached from the pressure. His mind was still processing everything that had just happened.
But he was moving forward.
Because that’s what he’d been doing for two lives now.
Moving forward, even when the road gets complicated.
He climbed into the carriage and sat down.
Chelsea and Gran Rosalinda stood on his two sides, holding him. They were completely shocked and startled at the earlier encounter. Their worried faces kept watching Jake and his movents. They helped him get in, and after they got there, he sat and leaned back, staring into the empty space before him.
The carriage started moving again.
The road to Roakan stretched ahead.
Two more days.
Then he would see House Raikarndel.
Then he would understand what it really ant to be the heir to a na that carried this much weight.
Then he would begin the work of becoming strong enough to survive what was waiting for him there.
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