296 RTYY 295 - Not a Second Longer than Necessary

Snow sat on the edge of the bed, staring fixedly at the small golden hourglass. It was getting late, but there was no way he was going to leave that room until the thin sand-like crystals had completely fallen into the lower compartment.

Just like RimJan had promised, ZaiWin was fast asleep. Of course he hadn't outright trusted her word that giving him that white powder was safe. In fact, he had spent all his free time secretly purifying the small packet of any poison it might contain. Of course, doing so could also diminish its efficacy, but that was a risk he was more than willing to take. Better that than harming ZaiWin in any way. Thankfully, it's soporific capabilities seemed to still be working. He had tried waking him up a few times, he had even shaken him a bit, but all he'd gotten was an annoyed grumble, as ZaiWin turned away from his pestering hands.

Snow squeezed his hands nervously.

Was he doing the right thing …? ZaiWin would probably kill him, if he ever found out that he had drugged him so he could secretly go out for a couple of hours. And yet … there was so much he wanted to know, that he needed to know. He'd spent the entire day thinking about it, and the more he turned the whole thing inside his head, the more he felt that this was an opportunity that he could not miss.

Even though it was clear that VinWei knew a lot about the Tien'Elhar, Snow had come to conclude that her knowledge was limited to what the Temple knew, to what was written in books and old parchments. But, although he trusted VinWei to be as honest as possible in her teachings, the more he learned about the Temple and the Imperial family, the less trustworthy those sources sounded, and the easier it was to believe that a lot of things must have been conveniently omitted from such important documents. And once they left Seven Waters they would probably head to Weiin, so that they could follow VinWei's plan to public introduce him as ZaiWin's Tien'Elhar. If all that went well, they would then have to finally present themselves to the Palace. Who knew what would happen next? There was no way he'd be able to meet with RyuXin and the others then. And he had the feeling that knowing more about what the Tien'Elhar were really meant to be, about what he was meant to be, could only pose as an advantage when he was forced to deal with those dangerous, important people.

Anyways, this was all ZaiWin's fault!, Snow thought with a frown, peering back over his shoulder at ZaiWin's peaceful sleeping face. If only he wasn't so annoyingly arrogant, thick-headed and overbearing! If only he would actually listen to what Snow had to say and … trust him a bit. Maybe they could have talked peacefully about these things and then gone to meet the other Tien'Elhar together, to meet the others that were actually like him … He would have liked that, Snow sighed, turning to look at the hourglass again. But by now he had come to know ZaiWin more than enough to be able to see that that would never happen. If he knew about what he was intending to do, he would never allow him to go. He would probably lock him inside that bedroom, maybe even tie him up or knock him out. And then he would go to meet them on his own, and he would probably kill them all.

Snow sighed again and stood up the moment the last fleck of crystal fell.

Turning to the bed he watched as darkness slowly seeped from his body, forming a dark, impenetrable mass that quickly hid his surprisingly young features from his sight. It was just like ZaiWin had told him, Snow concluded with a heavy heart. The things those people had done to him were just … unforgivable!

Taking a deep breath to help dissipate his anger, Snow carefully put back on his delicate crystal bracelet and, true enough, the darkness was immediately gone.

Walking closer to the bed, he couldn't help smiling. ZaiWin looked so peaceful and content that it was almost hard to believe that this was a cold and fierce man. His loose hair spilled over the bed looked like a pool of deep-black silk. And he looked really young, innocent almost.

Looking at him like this, Snow could easily identify him as the boy he'd seen in that dark cave, fighting for his life. Now that he thought about that, he hadn't changed much on the outside. Sure, he was a lot taller now, his shoulders broader, his arms and legs longer. But his face still held that same delicate beauty. And yet the deep changes that had occurred inside him would immediately supplant all that, the minute he opened his cold, blue eyes.

Touching his cheek, Snow smiled. Warm. He was always warm. The perfect match for him, who was always cold.

Heat crept onto Snow's cheeks the moment he realized his own thoughts, and he quickly retrieved his hand.

He wouldn't be gone for long, he immediately decided. Just time enough to make sure he told the others that he was okay now, that they didn't need to worry about him anymore, that they didn't need to follow him across the Empire looking for an opportunity to rescue him. Maybe then they could try to come up with some way to maintain communication even from afar, like ZenTar did, sending messages back and forth so that he always knew where his younger brothers were. That would be perfect, Snow thought hopefully. If they could arrange a way to communicate like that, Snow could return to ZaiWin's side even sooner. There would be plenty of time to ask questions later.

Making up his mind, Snow took a deep breath and unfroze the door. Stepping outside onto the narrow corridor, he closed the door and froze it again, just to be safe. Sure, ZaiWin had his inner energy back, but he still couldn't help feeling worried about the duration of the drug that RimJan had given him. He didn't look completely knock out, since he could freely move, even complain in his sleep. But would he be able to wake up if someone were to attack him? Well, even if he didn't wake up, from what Snow had come to know about him, his daitai would most likely automatically act in his defense, Snow considered. He just wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. Anyways, all the more reason to quickly hurry up. He didn't want to stay away from that bedroom one second longer than strictly necessary.

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It's not like I don't understand Snow's motivations but I guess he's just being too trusting and naive ... which also can't be helped, since his interactions with other people have always been limited, to say the least 😔