They had barely made it three steps toward the training ground when a familiar voice ca from the direction of the main entrance.
"Grandfather."
Theo stood at the far end of the courtyard.
He had clearly arrived recently, and his collar was slightly off, the way it gets when soone has been walking fast and hasn’t noticed. His eyes shifted from Rex to Diana and back to Rex, reflecting the expression of soone who was making a strong effort to appear composed but was not entirely succeeding.
Rex watched him without any particular expression.
Diana also looked at the courtyard stone.
"Theo," Therion said. "You’re late."
"I know. I had to..." Theo paused, clearly deciding not to finish that sentence. "But still, I ca as soon as I could."
He crossed the courtyard with the deliberate step of soone who had made a decision sowhere between the gate and here, and when he reached Therion, he placed a hand briefly on the older man’s arm.
"Can I speak with you? Privately."
Therion looked at him the sa way he looked at everything else: fully and for a long ti, which made most people uncomfortable.
"One mont," he said to Rex, and then he turned and walked with Theo toward the far side of the courtyard, out of easy earshot.
Rex watched them go.
"This should be interesting," he said, to no one in particular.
Rex smirked. ’I do hope that loser tells his old man to kick my ass, but nope... not going to let that happen easily.’
Diana said nothing, but she was watching the two of them.
...
At the far end of the courtyard, Theo stood closer to his grandfather than he usually did and kept his voice at the level that ant he had thought about what he was going to say.
"You have to win this," Theo said. "Please, Grandfather..."
Therion looked at him.
"I know what his terms are," Theo said. "I was at the entrance, and I heard it clearly!"
"Then you know what the contest is about," Therion said.
"Grandfather." Theo’s jaw tightened slightly. "This is... about Diana! My childhood friend that’s supposed to be with !"
"That much is clear to ," Therion said, in the tone of a man who found the obvious worth confirming.
"She and I—" Theo stopped, just to rearrange what he was about to say. "We’ve known each other since we were children, and you know that because we always played in the courtyard together!"
"You’ve always known that because you sotis play with us... And I know her... I know her better than anyone in this courtyard does."
He glanced briefly in the direction of Rex and then looked back at his grandfather.
"I haven’t said what I needed to say to her yet," Theo said. "I’m aware of that..."
"I’ll take the bla for that, but... if you lose this today—if you let him take that deal off the table—then I lose the last real reason she would have to think about it."
Therion was quiet.
"I’m not asking you to win for the household," Theo said. "I’m asking you to win for ."
The silence between them had the texture of sothing that had been sitting in this family for a long ti.
Therion’s face didn’t change, but sothing behind it did. It was the kind of change that happens to soone who has been a patriarch for decades and suddenly rembers that the people they built everything for are still living inside what they built.
"You should have spoken to her," Therion said.
"I know," Theo said.
"A long ti ago."
"I know that too."
"And yet you didn’t."
Theo t his grandfather’s gaze and didn’t argue, because there was nothing to argue about. "No. I didn’t."
Therion looked at him for another mont.
Then he glanced across the courtyard at Rex, who stood with his hands in his pockets, exuding a calm patience. He appeared not to be impatient but rather to possess an infinite capacity for waiting.
"He’s not a nobody," Therion said quietly.
It wasn’t a complint exactly. It was more like the observation of soone who had evaluated many people and was not going to pretend this one didn’t et a certain threshold.
"I don’t care about that," Theo said. "Grandfather... just please."
It was the last word that made a difference.
Therion had heard Theo say please a certain number of tis in his life, and he knew the difference between the kind that was a request and the kind that was sothing closer to a person’s floor.
This one was the second kind.
He placed a hand on Theo’s shoulder for a mont, just a brief touch. It was the gesture he used when things were decided.
"Don’t you worry, kiddo," he said. "I’ll handle this, not only for you but also for the whole family."
"Grandfather—"
"I said I’ll handle it." He gave Theo a look. "I have never lost a contest in this courtyard because I AM the STRONGEST mage in Aethelgard."
"I don’t intend to begin today."
Theo exhaled. "Thank you."
"Don’t thank yet," Therion said. "Thank when it’s done."
"And then," he said, giving Theo a look that showed he had seen people make mistakes that could have been avoided for decades, "you are going to go and say what you should have said to that girl years ago."
"Whether it works or not," he added, "is a separate matter."
"But you are going to say it."
Theo nodded.
Therion turned and walked back toward the center of the courtyard.
Rex remained still as he observed Therion walking toward him.
’So that’s how it is,’ Rex thought, interpreting the recent events as he typically did—swiftly, with precision, and without revealing his thoughts.
His expression didn’t change.
He had anticipated sothing quite like this.
...
The training ground behind the Nightwing house was designed for a specific purpose, rather than rely for aesthetics. Low walls lined three sides, providing seating, while the fourth side faced the back of the house.
The surface was hard-packed and showed signs of regular use. There were already people seated in the chairs.
Rex looked at the gathered witnesses with the keen interest of soone who had been told to expect a formal event and was now adjusting to the fact that it was happening. There were about thirty people there.
They included household staff, what looked like neighborhood leaders who acted like they were invited to represent the community, and two or three people in formal wear who worked in minor institutional positions.
"You really planned this already, huh?" Rex cracked both his fists. "Are you sure we really need this much?"
"It’s in the tradition!" Therion smiled while cracking his back. "We, Nightwings, need to show what we’re capable of!"
’So much for validation, huh.’
Rex noticed Lily was sitting at the far end of the witnesses, on the left side of the seating wall. She had a notebook open on her knee and a pen in her hand.
She was looking at Rex with an expression that conveyed multiple emotions simultaneously, most of which suggested she was struggling to behave appropriately at a formal event.
But she takes her chances just to wave while smiling at him. And Rex could see there was Elizabeth next to her.
Elizabeth looked at Rex with the sa look she used when she was really focused on sothing, which ant that she was very precise and didn’t miss anything or make a sound.
Rex saw her and put her in the part of his mind that said, "This is information that will matter later."
’I forgot there’s that Starlight I have to taste as well because she’s a great target for sure and has a lot of benefits I could use for the academy.’
And there’s Theo, sitting at the end of the right seating wall, looking like soone who had been told to be there and was there, but not making it easy for anyone to be happy about it.
Rex looked at him for just the right amount of ti to finish the test. Then he looked at Therion, who was standing in the middle of the training ground and looked like he belonged there.
"Are we ready?" Therion asked.
"Ready when you are," Rex replied.
The corner of his mouth moved, just slightly, in the direction of sothing that might have been a smile if it had decided to beco one.
’Co on, old man. Show what you’ve got.’
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