and some by virtue fall; Namaah/any

[Kushiel]

Kushiel was not sure if it was an act of god or insanity that spurred Gallows to allow him to babysit. Regardless, he knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth, the gift horse being his sister of course. The large stallion watched her expression as they crossed from the Valley and into the Chamber. One day she would be able to fly, making this journey a lot faster. It would, however, leave him to run on the ground below her, sputtering and wheezing the whole way.

He needed to start jogging, otherwise he would never be able to keep up.

The thought that there would be a time Kushiel would be unable to catch is little sister (wings or no) made him feel old and the thought was instantly discarded. He instead watched the curiosity on her face, and felt smug in the knowledge that he was influencing the youth of the world. It was, perhaps, a thought that would scare some. He felt nothing but deep satisfaction. When they stopped at the Chamber’s tree Kushiel was watching Namaah, rather than the flames. She grinned up at him and for a brief, flicking moment he recognized their mother in that grin. Kushiel’s expression grew quizzical. Dear lord, did he look like that? When he smirked? It was a thought that had never occurred to him. Smirky smiles and devilish grins were certainly a family trait, but he never considered that they might all share the same smile. Kushiel shook it off and answered his sister, doing so with a bit of a sheepish shrug.

“As usual, our Ma is correct. Melodramatic, but correct.” He thought about this for a moment, realized how she would take it, and rushed to correct himself.

“Not about the tree being my girlfriend. It most certainly is not, that would be weird.” A frown furrowed between his eyes. This was a rumor he needed to squash. He was fine with most of the other rumors that may have been flying around about him. Kushiel was a firm believer that negative attention was better than no attention, but he didn’t need people thinking he was into plants. Weed might show up and get the wrong idea. Kushiel realized he’d lapsed into contemplation. He smiled apologetically down at his sister, and imparted a rare kernel of wisdom.  

“The tree represents power, Peanut. A few people may love for the sake of love, but everyone loves power.” It would probably surprise no one that Kushiel thought power was more important than love. There were a few notable exceptions. One of those exceptions was miniature and standing right next to him, the other one was dastardly, back in the Valley, and enjoyed spreading rumors about him. He would need to give her a piece of his mind when he returned Namaah. Not that she wouldn’t already know what he was going to say before he said it.