The Twin Who Out-darkened Heaven
Copyright© 2026 by A. K. Veyron
Chapter 4: A Deal Without Trust
For a long moment, Maltherion said nothing.
Outside, the wind dropped. The shutters stopped rattling, and the east wing seemed unnaturally still.
You ask good questions, * Maltherion said at last. Most people only ask the ones they want answered.
“That is not an answer.”
No. But here is one. The presence settled, like a man leaning back in a chair. Revenge needs strength. I have none. I have no body, no army, and barely enough power to push against a boy’s mind. If I killed you, I would be back in the dark with nothing but my own hatred for company.
“So I am useful.”
Your body may become useful. That is different.
Kael raised an eyebrow. “Explain.”
A weak soul can still be housed in a strong body. Cultivation changes flesh. It hardens bones, widens the channels that carry power, and makes the frame a better home for whatever lives inside. A pause. Yours is unfinished. Nobody has trained it. That is a waste, and also an opportunity.
“An opportunity for you.”
For both of us. You wanted strength. I can give you a path to it.
Kael noticed the careful wording. May become useful. Not will. Maltherion was leaving doors open for himself.
“What path?”
Cultivation. The real kind. Not the polished tricks your family buys for your brother.
Kael knew how cultivation worked in the Voryn house. A child was tested at seven, given a method at ten, and trained by hired masters until sixteen. Lys had been tested first, with the whole family watching, and the stone had shone bright gold. Kael’s stone had given a dull glow, and the servants had looked at their shoes.
Since then he had been given the same books as everyone else and none of the attention.
“Teach me, then,” he said. “But I want something in return.”
You already have my agreement.
“I have your word that you will teach. I want more.” Kael counted on his fingers. “I want to know how the world works. Who rules it, who fights whom, and why. I want to know what the church really is. I want to know what demons are, and where they come from. And I want to know about the goddess.”
That is a great deal to ask.
“You have had a thousand years to collect answers. I doubt you are running out of them now.”
Maltherion laughed, low and short.
Very well. You will have your knowledge, piece by piece, as you earn it.
“As I ask for it,” Kael said.
As you are ready for it.
“You do not get to decide that.”
A cold ripple of irritation passed through Kael’s mind, like a stone dropped in a pond. Then it faded.
Fine. When you ask, I will answer. But I will choose how much, and in what order. A teacher decides where a lesson begins.*
Kael thought it over. It was not what he wanted. It was also not nothing.
“Agreed. As long as the answers are true.”
They will be true.
True, Kael thought. But not whole.
He had grown up in a house where people said one thing and meant another. His father praised Lys while looking at the ledger. His mother asked if Kael had eaten and never asked how he felt. Even the servants smiled one way when a lord was present and another way when he left.
He knew the sound of a half-truth. It was smooth, like a stone carried in a river.
Maltherion’s voice was very smooth.
He wants something from me, Kael thought. And he wants me to believe it is only strength.
Kael did not push. He let the demon believe it had won.
“One more thing,” he said. “I do not want everything at once. Give me the basics. A breathing method, a way to gather power, and nothing that could hurt me if I make a mistake. When I am ready, I will ask for more.”
Cautious.
“I have a sensible fear of voices that live in my head.”
You do not trust me.
“Should I?”
No.
It was said so simply that Kael almost laughed.
You are wise, Maltherion added. Trust is a luxury for people who are not at war.
“I am not at war.”
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.