Warrehn scowled. “I’m not sure how real it is,” he said, eyeing his brother. Eridan was smiling as he danced with some foreign politician, but there was something wrong about that smile. It made alarm bells sound in Warrehn’s head. “Our familial bond has become stronger, and I sense something off. His emotions don’t match his smiles.”
“You think he’s faking it?” Rohan said, his dark eyes focusing on Eridan in contemplation.
Warrehn brushed a hand through his hair in frustration. “I don’t know. I don’t know him well enough to know what his normal is.”
“You spent a month with him in a tiny safe house,” Rohan said.
“That wasn’t exactly a normal situation,” Warrehn said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his dark jacket. “How can I know that something is wrong if I don’t know what ‘right’ looks like?”
Rohan hummed. “I suppose the only person who would know is Idhron.”
Warrehn scoffed. “I can’t exactly ask him when my friends are at war with him.”
Rohan chuckled, his white teeth flashing against his brown skin. “That’s an exaggeration. Ksar and I have something of… a disagreement with Idhron, but I’m sure it will be resolved in due time. It’s a matter of negotiations. We’ll come to a compromise eventually.”
Warrehn shook his head in distaste. “I fucking hate politics.”
“It’s not really a matter of politics,” Rohan said, his gaze softening as it shifted to something else in the ballroom.
Warrehn followed his gaze and wasn’t surprised to see Prince Jamil speaking to his younger brother.
“It’s a matter of protecting what is mine,” Rohan said, his eyes full of affection and heat as he stared at his fiancé. “Idhron wants to control everything, and all I want is to make him leave me, my family, and our grand clan alone.”
Warrehn shot him a skeptical look. “I don’t think Ksar’s motives are so selfless,” he said dryly.
Rohan chuckled. “They aren’t, but you know Ksar. He doesn’t want the illusion of power. He doesn’t like the extent of the High Hronthar’s control over the Council.”
“You mean he wants a piece of the pie.”
“He does,” Rohan agreed, his gaze still on Jamil’s smiling face. “But can you blame him when the pie is so giant? You have no idea how much power Idhron actually wields. It’s bigger than Calluvia. It’s a huge network that encompasses more than a dozen Inner Core planets. Interplanetary multi-billion corporations, political organizations, industrial colonies: the Order has its fingers everywhere. If Idhron wants, he can even easily influence the Galactic Council and Chamber of Lords.”
Warrehn’s forehead wrinkled. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Rohan looked back to him. “What doesn’t?”
“I thought Idhron didn’t fight me for Eridan because he knew he had no power to keep him in the Order. But you’re saying that his power is actually close to unlimited.”
Rohan shrugged. “Idhron probably figured it was more trouble than it was worth. Who knows how that man’s mind works? I doubt he cared for the kid enough to actually fight for him to stay.”
Warrehn frowned, not sure he agreed. But Rohan must be right. What other explanation was there? “Anyway, I don’t want him anywhere near my brother. I’m still not convinced Idhron didn’t brainwash him in some way.”
Rohan sighed. “You know I checked Eridan’s mind, War. His mind is his own. It’s actually full of mind traps that would attack anyone who attempts to brainwash him.” He frowned faintly. “It must have taken Idhron years to create that kind of protection for his apprentice. I’m surprised he even bothered, because those kinds of defenses severely limited his own ability to tamper with Eridan’s mind.”
Warrehn pressed his lips together, not entirely convinced. “If he created those mind traps, maybe they don’t work against him.”
Rohan shook his head. “Mind traps don’t work like that. They would attack anything they regard as hostile interference.”
“What about the mind traps in Dalatteya’s mind? He was likely the one who created them but clearly he had no problem brainwashing her.”
Rohan shook his head again. “There are different kinds of mind traps. The ones in her mind are rudimentary compared to Eridan’s. They’re protecting the information the Order doesn’t want anyone to learn, not her. The mind traps in your brother’s mind are different. They’re specifically designed to protect Eridan’s mind from deep invasion and manipulation.” Rohan took a sip from his drink. “It’s actually quite puzzling. Either Idhron is far more short-sighted than I thought, or he didn’t expect that he would ever need to alter his apprentice’s memories. He only made things harder for himself: Idhron couldn’t even completely erase Eridan’s memories of his birth name; he could only block them. So Idhron brainwashing your brother is… extremely unlikely, to say the least.”
Warrehn scowled, not sure if he felt relieved or disappointed. “Didn’t he brainwash Jamil’s ex-husband?”
“It wasn’t Idhron, and it wasn’t really brainwashing. Mehmer just had a memory block that was lifted recently.” Rohan’s lips curled into a wry smile. “Considering that Mehmer is marrying the man who’d done it to him, he doesn’t seem traumatized.”