Salvation pt 2

As promised, the simple family ceremony of sitting around the table and talking out their day over several cups of tea helped to calm all four of them. Lekotae boxed Araeli's ears and threatened to cut his hair at mention of the fight, but the moment quickly gave way to Kelaen happily expounding about the new little girl in his class.
After tea, Lekotae gave his family a series of tight hugs and promised to be back in time for dinner before slipping out the door, back to his work in the Erosas music shop, situated in the middle of the capital. Caera returned to tending her precious herbs, and the boys set to working on their homework. The rest of the day passed peacefully, though the tension from before tea never quite left the house.
By the time Caera was tucking her sons in for the night, the slight tremble had returned to her hands. She leaned over Araeli's bedside and kissed his forehead. "I love you. Sleep tight."
"Night, Mum," he mumbled, turning over, the quilt pulled up over his shoulder.
Chuckling softly, she moved over to her younger son's bedside. She tucked the blankets around Kelaen and gave him a kiss, as well. "Love you, too, Kel."
"Love you, Mummy." Kelaen gave her a sleep smile and snuggled further into his pillows. "G'night."

The boys woke to a loud bang. For a long moment, they lay completely still in their beds, before Kelaen rolled over, bunching the pillow beneath his head. "Araeli?"
"What?" Araeli whispered, staring up through the darkness at the ceiling. He pulled the blankets up to his chin, heart pounding painfully in his chest.
"Did you hear that?"
Araeli swallowed hard. "It was probably just the wind."
"Oh."
They lay in silence for another moment before another bang and their father's shout made them jump. That was definitely not the wind.
The bedroom door flew open and both boys surged upright, terrified.
"Hush," Caera's voice soothed quietly as she carefully closed the door and crossed to their beds. She dropped a bag onto each bed and quickly embraced first Araeli, then Kelaen. "Do exactly as I say, boys. Stay as quiet as you can. No sound. I've packed you enough food to get you to the border, if you're careful, and some warmer clothes. Sell the jewelry when you get to Amova, if the money isn't enough. And, whatever happens, don't come back. Alright? I love you two so, so much. Araeli, make sure you look after Kelaen for me. And Kel, keep Araeli out of trouble. Now go. Out the back. Don't stop and don't wait for us. We love you."
"What's going on, Mum?" Araeli demanded in a desperate whisper, clutching at his blankets.
Caera took a deep breath, jumped at the sound of her husband shouting down the hall. Her smile was weak and desperate as she grabbed her eldest son's arm and hauled him out of bed. "The Recruiters are here. Just go, Araeli. Please. And look after your brother."
"Mummy!" Kelaen cried, reaching for her.
"I'm sorry, Kel," she whispered, prying herself up off the bed and hurrying to the door. "I've already spent too much time here. Hurry. I love you."
Araeli and Kelaen watched in utter horror as their mother left their room for the last time. They stared at each other in confusion for a moment before the sounds of a fight drawing nearer spurned them into action. Each boy grabbed the bag on his bed, slung it over his shoulder, and snuck toward the door, Araeli in front and Kelaen clinging to his brother's backpack.
Araeli peeked into the hallway before scurrying out of the room, reaching back to take his brother's hand. Part of him wanted to run into the dining room and help his parents, but he had promised to look after Kel. And looking after Kel meant doing what Mum said. He tugged his brother to the back door and froze.
Two elves in the scarlet uniform of the Recruiters stood just outside, their backs to the house. They muttered to each other so quietly that Araeli couldn't catch what they were saying.
Araeli knew enough about the way the Elluthian government worked to know that the Recruiters on your doorstep was a very, very bad thing. He swallowed hard past his pounding heart and scrambled back, dragging Kelaen with him. They couldn't go out the back and the fighting had moved closer to their bedroom. He could hear his father's almost constant stream of curses growing louder, the twang of a crossbow, his mother's panting. And then Kelaen's soft crying behind him. He turned and hugged his brother tight, trying to stifle the sobbing. His own eyes burning, Araeli began half-dragging, half-leading Kelaen down the other hallway, toward the door to the cellar.
They snuck past the kitchen, keeping low to the ground, and Araeli pulled up the section of floor that hid the cellar door. He quickly ushered his brother into the little room and jumped down after him, pulling the trapdoor closed and plunging them into nearly complete darkness.
"Kel," Araeli whispered, groping for his brother. His fingers brushed Kelaen's and he grabbed the younger elf's hand. "Kel, I need you to wish really, really hard that we don't get found, okay?"
"Wh-what about Mum and Dad?" Kelaen asked, soft voice cracking with his tears.
"Mum told us to go, so we're going to go," Araeli replied shortly.
Footsteps grew closer overhead, accompanied by a barked order: "Search the house!"
Araeli's blood went cold. "Kel, please…wish really, really, really hard. Now."
Kelaen squeezed his eyes shut tight, huddled closer to his brother.
Araeli almost sobbed out of happiness as he felt the tingle up his spine that meant his brother's half-developed Illusion majyk had taken effect. He clung to Kelaen, trembling as the boots thumped softly above them. What was going on? Why were the Recruiters here? What was going to happen to them now? What was going to happen to Mum and Dad? Questions chased themselves through his head, making his heart pound. He took a deep breath, trying to make himself calm.
Eventually, the footsteps and voices retreated.
The boys huddled together in the dark, breathing shallowly, attempting to hold back their tears. It didn't work, though, and they were soon weeping together, out of confusion and fear and an inexplicable sense of loss.
"T-Trick?" Kelaen asked after a long time, his voice trembling and cracking with his remaining tears.
Araeli sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve. "What?"
"What're we going to do now?"
"We wait until we're sure they've gone away," Araeli whispered after a long moment of hesitation. "And then we do like Mum said and go to Amova."
Kelaen gulped audibly. "Amova?"
"Yes. You know, the country to the west of here. Dad talked about it a lot." Araeli wiped at his face and sniffled again. "He always said we could start again there. And Mum said we've got everything we need."
"I don't want to go to Amova," Kelaen muttered, the edge of a whine in his voice. "I want to stay here."
"Me, too, Kel. But Mum told us to go. And do you want the Recruiters to come back and take us, too?" Despite his best effort, Araeli's voice came out harsh and snappish. He sighed and hugged his brother close again. "Mum wants us to be safe. And we can't be safe if we stay here. O-okay?"
The younger elf hesitated for a long moment before nodding slowly. "Are we going to be alone now?"
Araeli swallowed hard. "Yeah. But, Kel, whatever happens…I'm never going to leave you. Okay? I promise I'll take care of you, like Mum said."
"Araeli?" Kelaen asked after another while of sitting in darkness.
"What?" he whispered back, the tears having finally dried up.
"I'm hungry."
The older brother bit his lip thoughtfully. If he had been better at beginning practical majyks, he might have risked summoning a ball of light to see what sorts of food his mother had stored down here. As it was, though, he barely had enough control to lift a feather, which wasn't nearly enough to summon anything. He sighed. "I think Mum left some lessi down here. Try to find that, if you want."
"Raw lessi?" Kelaen asked, more than a little incredulously.
"It's either that or eat whatever she packed us and try to find something else while we head to Amova." Araeli attempted to make his voice as stern as his mother's had been, but he wasn't sure if he quite achieved it. "Eat the lessi."
Kelaen pulled a face, barely visible in the darkness, and moved away from his brother to fumble through the sparse materials in search of the large root vegetables. Raw lessi was almost unbearably sour, but once it had been cooked, it turned remarkably sweet, and was a key ingredient in Araeli's favorite dish. After a while, Kelaen returned to Araeli's side with a small bag of the lumpy vegetables. He pulled out two of the lumpy roots and handed one to his brother.
Wordlessly, Araeli accepted the lessi. He sighed softly and scrubbed the vegetable on his on his pajama pants, attempting to clean it as much as he could. Finally, he braced himself and took a bite. The juice burst over his tongue with a taste like the two sourest lemons he had ever had the displeasure of tasting, coupled with the bitterness of losing his best friend and his parents within three days of each other. It made his mouth dry up and his tears start again, but he continued eating. He had to be strong for Kelaen, and that meant eating whatever he could.
Kelaen, on the other hand, set the root down after a few bites, forcing himself to swallow the last mouthful. "Yuck."
"You're the one who said he was hungry," Araeli chastised gently, taking another hesitant bite of the lessi. He winced. "Unless we dig into what Mum packed us or find something else we can eat without cooking, we're going to be eating lessi until it's safe to go out there."
"How do we know when it's safe?" Kelaen asked, voice half a whine and half a simple question.
Araeli sighed, carefully set his own breakfast aside. "We wait, Kel. If they don't come back for a while, then we can go. Trust me, okay?"
"Okay." Kelaen scooted closer to his brother, until they were sitting side-by-side, the younger elf's head resting on the elder's shoulder. He sniffled. "I want Mummy."
"Me, too," the older brother muttered, turning his face up to frown at the dark ceiling.