They’ve made camp for a few hours when Callum beckons him over and Soren follows with a raised brow. They’ve gotten closer in the past two years, of course, now that they don’t have a father’s sized disapproval creating a wedge between them and Soren’s old ego, but it’s still not like Callum to seek him out. Let alone when the kid looks worried.
Soren had tried to be there for him the way Ez was, after Rayla… But Callum hadn’t let him. Callum had barely let anyone, even his brother.
But now Rayla is back and more than that, Callum’s embraced her, and maybe his walls are finally coming down, too. Maybe he and Callum can be good friends, peers, not just protectors bound by history and a brother and a common goal.
“So,” Soren says, overcompensatingly brightly, hands on his hips once they have some privacy near the trees. He tries not to think about how familiar this felt to Rayla pulling him aside at the Moon Nexus years ago to ask after her assassin leader. “What’s this about?”
“I need you to do something for me,” Callum says, so seriously Soren’s smile melts off his face. “I already asked — I wanted Rayla, to, but…” Callum breaks off in a sigh and there’s a sinking feeling that this is something awful, but Soren wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t attempt to lighten the mood.
“Hey man, you’re nice and all, but I’m not gonna kiss you—”
“No!” Callum says ruefully, snappish. “No, I—“ He takes a deep breath, his eyes hard when they reopen. “You saw what Aaravos did to me. At the Storm Spire.”
“Yeah?” Soren affirms, that sinking feeling becoming a pit in his stomach. Callum, I-I know you love magic, but… I hope you’re careful, ‘cause it can change people.
“I asked Rayla, while you were gone, but she refused. But I know you’ll do it. Which means—” Callum met his eyes. “If Aaravos takes control of me again, I need you to kill me.”
“What if he sends me after Rayla? She’s already made it clear she won’t do what needs to be done.” Callum hedges his feet and his bets, goes straight for the jugular. “What if he sends me after Ezran, Soren? It’s your duty to protect the Crown. And I know you won’t let your care for me get in the way.”
Soren turns away. “Callum—”
Oh, you’ll know the right thing to do.
“Please, Soren?” Callum’s steadiness crumbles, looking as torn up as Soren feels when he turns back to face him. “I-I need to know I won’t hurt them. Or you.”
Little late for that, but Soren sticks out his arm for a traditional clasp, hands wrapped around each other’s forearms, and hopes he won’t hate himself too much for it as he says, “Alright. I promise.”
And if there’s any luck left in this world, it won’t come to that.
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