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Brothers	By : Koori Category: +S through Z > World of Warcraft Views: 1830 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own World of Warcraft, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter Thirteen – Nathaniel Conway, Age 10
Nathaniel listened to the soft voices of his parents; they were reading the twins a bedtime story. He knew the book by heart and recognized when it was drawing to a close, soon his parents' soft footsteps would stop at Janice's room and then theirs. The knot in his stomach grew and he played with the ring around his neck.
"Can I sleep with you tonight?" he asked Foster.
His brother stifled a yawn. "Been a long time since you asked that, little brother," he said. "There is no storm tonight … what's spooking you?"
"I …" he didn't know what to say. Foster wouldn't believe him if he said the cocoa smelled funny. This wasn't the first time his ma had given him a weird tasting nightcap and each time he had awoke the next morning with a headache and haunted from nightmares. "Please …" he pleaded as his parents moved down the hall to Janice's room.
His brother lifted up the edge of his quilt and Nathaniel hurried over slipping between Foster and the wall. "Just don't go … stealing … blankets," Foster mumbled as sleep overtook him. Feeling secure Nathaniel turned toward the wall and listened to the footfalls approach their room. Their door opened and the soft light from the candle their mother held illuminated the room.
A chuckle came from his father at their doorway. "Good night, boys," he said, and then the candle was snuffed out. Nathaniel listened to his parents walk downstairs and to their customary spot beside the fire. He could hear the quiet squeak of his mother's rocking chair. With his brother at his back, and the soft hum of noises downstairs, Nathaniel fell into a dreamless sleep.
He awoke to find himself alone in the bed; he sat up. "Watch your feet!" Nathaniel jerked his legs back and looked down. Foster was sprawled across a jumble of blankets on the floor. "Next time instead of stealing my blankets, I'm going to tell you not to steal my bed," his brother said as he stretched.
"I'm sorry," Nathaniel said sheepishly.
"Eh it's okay," Foster said sitting up. "After about a dozen kicks I just stole your blankets and pillows."
"Why didn't you move to my bed?" Nathaniel asked as he shimmied off the bed and walked over to the dresser.
"I don't remember much about last night," Foster said as he joined him, picking out clothes for the day. "However, it seemed you wanted me close, so …"
"Thank you," Nathaniel said sliding a shirt over his head.
"Anytime, baby brother," Foster replied.
That morning after a warm breakfast of oats, Nathaniel was headed off to do his chores before school when his mother called him to her. "Yes, Ma?" he said.
"I want to talk to you before you go to school," she said. "Your father will take care of your farm duties." She took his hand and led him down the hall to her bedroom. Once there she shut the door and turned to face him.
Confused but not concerned he waited to see what she had to say.
"I'm afraid I've been doing something wrong and I want to be honest with you," she said.
His bewilderment grew and he was unsure how to reply.
"Last night," she said, sitting down on her bed and motioning him to join her. "When you didn't drink your hot chocolate, may I ask why?"
Feeling his cheeks grow warm he looked down at his hands, the thought of lying to her never entered his mind. "It tasted funny," he said. "Some nights you give me tasty cocoa and other times you give me yucky. If I drink the yucky ones I have scary dreams all night and wake up with a headache. I'm sorry, Mama, I just couldn't drink it."
"Why did you join your brother in bed?" she asked.
"I was scared," he said softly.
"Of what?" she asked.
"Of … you and pa," he whispered. At his mother's deep intake of breath he clenched his hands in a fist on his lap. "Sorry …"
"Don't be," his mother replied. "You are more right than you know. I want to show you something." She handed him her dressing mirror and told him to hold it up so he could see himself in it. She pulled back his hair and her fingers lightly traced the top of his ear. "Do you see what I see?" she asked.
"What am I looking for, Ma?" he replied.
"When you were born," she said. "I noticed your ears liked to peak and to save you the embarrassment of looking like a jackrabbit I started using my knowledge as healer to round them out. So when those times arrived instead of asking you … I would put a sleep aid in your cocoa that made you fall into a deep sleep. Then I would work my magic, I thought I did so unnoticed. I am so sorry to find out otherwise. It was so very vain of me, can you forgive me?"
Nathaniel was startled by the tears on his mother's cheeks and wrapped his arms around her. "I forgive you, Mama, just glad I'm not going nuts."
She chuckled and ran a hand down the back of his head. "No more than usual, my son," she said with a smile as she wiped a hand across her damp cheeks. "Well, you best be off, don't want you late for school."
"Mama, tonight can you fix my ears before bed?" He said, "I don't want to look like a rabbit at school, the kids have enough to tease me about already."
"If you are sure," his mother said, "I'd be happy to."
"Thank you, Mama, for everything," with one last hug he dashed out the door and into the waiting wagon. Foster grabbed his arm and hauled inside as their pa urged the horse onward. He usually gave the kids a ride to school in the morning but in the afternoon they would come home as the crow flies, through the woods. It would take them an hour some days but it was preferable to taking their pa out of the field.
"Everyone have their lunches and books?" his father asked.
"Yes, Pa," was a chorus of replies.
"Remember what I said about behaving," Pa said as he turned the horse down the path toward Corin's Crossing. "Especially my boys … keep your noses out of trouble or I'm serious about you cooling your heels at home while the rest of us enjoy our weekend at the city."
"Yes, sir," Foster and Nathaniel replied.

Corin's Crossing schoolhouse was classroom for a dozen students ages six to sixteen, watched over by an older spinster named Miss Kettle. For simplicity the children were divided in smaller groups by age. Sara and Jenna sat at a table with Hazel Madison who was a year younger and Usher Lewis who was a year older. Nathaniel had moved to an elder desk of the classroom this past year. At his table were York, Vance, Janice and Bethany. Foster was seated with Kyle, Reuben, Marlene and the oldest student Wendy, Vance's sister who was sixteen. When separated from his brother Kyle, Nathaniel found York's company almost friendly but Vance was a constant source of irritation.
As Miss Kettle was going over the day's lesson, Vance knocked one of Nathaniel's books off the table, it landed with a loud thud. His teacher had missed the harassment and raised an eyebrow. "Sorry," Nathaniel said as he bent down and picked up the book putting it on the other side, between him and Bethany. Afterwards Vance entertained himself by kicking Nathaniel in the shin under the table. After he ignored the first couple of blows they got harder and with a sigh Nathaniel tucked the bruised leg under him on the chair. Though unnoticed by their teacher who was busy talking about the history of Lordaeron, the abuse was observed by Foster. Who at that point got up in a ruse to sharpen his pencil and grabbed the back of Vance's chair tilting it back hard so the other's knees slammed into the underneath of the table.
"Mr. Conway!" Miss Kettle said sharply.
"Sorry," Foster lied. "I slipped, just tried to catch myself."
The rest of the morning the only aggravation Nathaniel suffered was evil looks. At lunchtime he joined the rest of his friends under a large shady tree in front of the school. "You're limping," Marlene said, with a frown.
"I'll walk it off," Nathaniel said sitting down on the grass and taking out his lunch.
"Let me see," Janice said reaching for his leg.
He tucked it under him. "It's fine," he said, as Foster and Bethany walked over. He pleaded quietly with his sister to drop it. "Remember Stratholme," he whispered. Their little sisters ran over, giving him a welcomed reprieve.
"I can't find my lunch," Sara said.
"Did you check the coat closet really good?" Nathaniel asked.
"Uh huh," Sara answered, "Jenna helped, it's not there … I had it this morning!"
Foster and Nathaniel exchanged glances, both guessing the same thing. "Jerks," Foster mumbled under his breath.
"It's okay," Nathaniel said patting the grass beside him. "You can share mine."
The others said the same and soon lunches were divided among the friends, with no one hungry as the bell rang. Waiting a moment for the others to take the lead, Nathaniel stood his leg throbbing. Once sure he could support himself he limped toward the school there was no way he was going to be able to hide this from his brother. His mind elsewhere he didn't see the leg that suddenly appeared in front of him. Falling hard he muffed a cry, catching himself with his hands.
"Mr. Dixon, I saw that!" Miss Kettle shouted from the steps as she hurried over.
"What?" Vance said with a smirk. "The idiot didn't watch where he was walking."
"And you'll be watching the rest of the class from the corner, young man," Miss Kettle said, as she grabbed him by the arm and marched back into the school.
Foster had run back and helped Nathaniel to his feet. "You okay?" he asked, his eyes flashed with anger.
"I'm fine, Brother," Nathaniel said with a smile. "I'm just a bit clumsy."
"I'm not the schoolmarm," Foster said tensely, "don't go lying to me."
"Stratholme," Nathaniel replied as he limped toward the school. "You can kick his ass next week."
"With pleasure," Foster said.
Nathaniel spent the rest of the school day in peace. Vance spent the rest of the day standing in the corner of the classroom with a large pointed dunce cap on his head. However, Nathaniel was not looking forward to the walk home, his leg continued to ache. After the school bell rang for the last time, he found himself resting on the stairs in front of the schoolhouse while Foster walked Bethany home. Sara came over to him a puzzled look on her young face. "I can't find Jenna," she said.
"Where you playing hide-and-seek?" he asked.
"No," Sara said. "She ran out of school first, I had to get my books. She's not with Sis I don't know where she is … she said something about a secret or something."
"Well we don't want to dawdle," Nathaniel said as he stood. He gestured over to where Janice was talking to Marlene under the shade tree. "You and Sis go see if you can find her, I'll do the same. She's probably just playing a game with us."
"Okay!" Sara said as she ran off.
Putting his book bag down Nathaniel hobbled around the schoolhouse, calling for his sister. When he got no answer he headed toward general store, maybe she was trying to sweet talk the grocer out of some copper candy.
"Are you looking for your sister?"
Nathaniel glanced toward the young boy that had spoken, Usher Lewis. "Yeah, Jenna, have you seen her?"
"Is she the one with the curls?"
"No that's Sara, Jenna has the straight hair like Pa," Nathaniel replied.
"She and Hazel went to the stables," Usher said, "something about kittens."
"Ah okay, thanks," Nathaniel said adjusting his path. The Madison family not only owned the local blacksmith but was also the stable masters of Corin's Crossing. Entering the dimly lit barn he called out for his sister, "Jenna, you in here? We need to start heading home."
The door behind him closed with a crash and he spun around cursing under his breath at the pain it caused his leg. Vance stood in front of the door his arms crossed. "Finally figured out how to take down you Conway boys," he said with a sneer. "Have to separate you." Kyle and Reuben appeared on either side of him.
"Where's my sister?" Nathaniel asked.
"Jenna, you and Hazel enjoying those kittens?" Vance shouted. "Picking out which one you want when they are old enough to leave their momma?"
"I like the one with the white paws," Jenna shouted back from the loft.
"York, you keep a close eye on those girls," Vance said as he approached Nathaniel. "Wouldn't want them to get hurt," he said quietly.
"You wouldn't," Nathaniel said, as his eyes looked around for a means of escape or aid.
"Only if you play nice," Vance said.
"Just don't hurt her," Nathaniel replied.
Vance motioned to a stool. "Sit down," he said.
With little choice, Nathaniel did as he was told. Kyle moved behind him and grabbed his arms, he didn't resist. Vance approached with a wooden box in his hand. "Just going to pretty you up for your walk home, heard you ladies like that" he said with a cold sneer, "borrowed some makeup."
Nathaniel's heart raced but he tried to remain calm. Makeup wasn't anything he couldn't wash off. Vance looked lost when he first opened the box; he took out bottles of liquid setting them to the side. "Ah, this I know what to do with," he said taking out a tube of crimson lipstick. Nathaniel turned his head to the side when he approached and was rewarded by a sharp slap across the cheek by the older boy. Reuben reached over and grabbed Nathaniel's jaw and held it tight as Vance messily applied the lip color. "Looking better already," he said.
They continued to assault his face taking turns with the various cosmetics they found. Afterwards they tied bright ribbons to his hair, laughing the entire time. Nathaniel tolerated it all, praying his sister was safe and wouldn't come down to see him like this. Then Vance pulled out a dress, covered with bright flowers. "Please," Nathaniel said, "haven't you done enough?"
"Oh not nearly," Vance said with a cold look, he took out a large switch-blade and Nathaniel's fear returned. "Stand him up," Vance said, and Kyle jerked Nathaniel to his feet.
The cold blade glided beneath the buttons, cutting them off one at a time until his shirt hung open. "What do we have here?" Vance said as the knife slid under the chain around Nathanial's neck.
"Leave it be," Nathaniel said, tensely.
"The girl seems awful protective of her jewelry," Reuben said with a smirk.
"It's a gift from my parents," Nathanial pleaded. "I was told never to take it off."
With a sharp tug the chain broke and the ring dropped bouncing across the ground. The pain came unexpectedly and sudden. Nathaniel cried out as his knees buckled, he seemed unable to catch his breath. He barely felt the burn from the cut the knife gave him when he'd moved.
"What did you do?" Reuben shouted.
"Nothin," Vance retorted. "Pull him back up, I'm not done with him yet."
"Help …" Nathaniel gasped, clawing at his bare chest in a desperate attempt to find the ring that was no longer there.
At that moment there was a loud bang and the door to the stables which had been barricaded came crashing down. Nathaniel was released and he fell to the ground. All round him were the angry shouts of men and boys and the frantic cries of girls but none of it matter; he couldn't explain or reason with the pain that exploded in his chest nor the craving for … something. Strong arms picked him up and cradled him, there were pleas of his name but he was unable to reply. After what seemed like an eternity his mind could handle no more and he was given the blessed freedom of nothingness as he passed out.
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Brothers