Once We Were Kings (Young Adult Fantasy) (The Sojourner Saga) by Ian Alexander, Joshua Graham Page A

of him.  "You are a child!"
    "You're...not...my father!" For the first time in his life, he felt such anger towards Kaine he actually did something about it.  Render kicked him in the shin.  "And you're certainly not my mother!"
    With a furious grunt, Kaine wrestled him to the ground.  They thrashed about, each trying to pin the other down or land a solid blow.  But all they accomplished was kicking up clouds of dust and tiring themselves out.
    Kaine pushed away and held up his hands.  "What is the matter with you!"
    "What's the matter with you?"
    "I asked you first!"
    Huffing and coughing, Render wiped the caked dirt from his mouth.  "You're only a couple of years older than me.  Why do you always have to treat me like you're my parent?  I'm sick to death of it!"
    "You want to know why?  Really?  Well, fine then.  I'll tell you why!"  Catching his breath, Kaine approached, despite his brother's defensive posture.  His features softened and he stooped over, hands on his thighs like Render, and looked him in the eye.  "Mother put me in charge of your safety when you were just a baby.  I promised to look after you."
    "But why are you so angry whenever I ask about her?"
    His eyes became distant, as if foreseeing an impending disaster, but not being able to avert it.  "Because…."
    "Because what?"
    The transformation of his demeanor came about so gradually, Render didn't recall when the tears actually began to fall from his brother's eyes.  All that anger melted away like the wax of a candle, leaving behind an extinguished wick of sorrow.
    "Because she left us."
    Whatever it was that hit Render, it carried the weight of seventeen years of waiting and wondering, longing to know the truth of his origins.  "No.  You're lying!  She wouldn't do that to us!"
    Kaine sniffed sharply and wiped his face.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't want to tell you because….well… I was protecting you."
    "I don't need your blasted protection!"  Forgetting the trouble he had just caused by doing so, Render shoved his brother.  "I'm not a child!"
    But Kaine did not retaliate.  Instead of anger or insult, only pity appeared in his eyes.  "All these years you wanted to know about her, wanted to believe that one day we'd see her again.  I'm sorry, I just couldn't— "
    "You lied to me!"  Now he was punching Kaine in the arm.  But Kaine did not fight back.
    "I wasn't lying, I just couldn't tell you the truth.  For your own good."
    "Don't ever protect me again!  You will never again determine what is for my own good!  Curse you, Kaine!  Why didn't you just tell me the truth from the beginning?"
    Kaine only blinked.
    "Why!"
    "I don't know.   Maybe deep down, I wanted to believe what you did.  That we might see her again one day.  That once we were loved."
    Render sniffed away bitter tears. "How could she love us if she just left us like that?  Defenseless children, to be raised as slaves?"
    "That can't have been her intention."
    "I hate her!"
    "No, Render.  Don't say that.  This is precisely why I didn't want to tell you.  You mustn't hate her."
    "But you do!"
    "I'm angry at her for leaving us.  But…well, that doesn't mean I hate her."
    They stood, staring at each other's bloodshot eyes, trying to look tough, not like pathetic children.  Finally, not knowing what else to say to his brother, Render turned his back and whispered bitterly, "Just leave me alone."
    "Come on, Rend–"
    "Don't!"  He held up a finger.  "I said, Leave me alone!"
    Kaine's feet dragged across the dirt until he was gone and all that could be heard was the busy goings about of the people in the square, getting ready to go home and eat dinner with their families.  Children laughed and skipped down the streets, calling out, "Mother," or "Father."  This dragged Render to the ground with his back against the wall.  He lowered his face into his knees and wept.
    "I don't hate you, Mother."  In fact, more than ever, he wished he could see his