LAVEN HEPHAESTUS ARVENALDI, II
C an he be trusted?” Morano asks as we wait in the courtyard for Amias to return home from taking Greyce to Ramana with Phyv. “And where has Roaner gone to?”
“I am unsure of both. Roaner will appear, he is in shock, we all are. As for Phyv, time will tell.”
“And if time tells us that he is untrustworthy?”
“I would like to say we would kill him,” I ponder the thought. “But he means too much to Vora to commit to that. So, we shall see.”
“Where are you?” I ask Roaner down the bond.
“My mother needed me immediately; I will return home shortly.”
“Is she all right?”
“Yes,” he calmly states. “I will inform you of everything later.”
“Roaner is with his mother. She called on him during Levora’s arrival.”
Morano’s eyebrows knit together. “What is the matter with Ma Kansyna?”
“He said he will inform me when he returns home and that she is all right.”
Morano slouches back into his chair and his knee begins to bounce. “I did not sense anything wrong with him upon arrival.” He says in reference to Phyv.
“Neither did I.” But there is something about him that I cannot quite understand.
“And he kept my sister alive and well.” Morano adds.
I smile. “He did indeed.”
Morano sits up straighter and looks me over. “How have you been?”
“I spoke with Levora for–”
“No,” he interrupts. “How have you been?”
He means Ivella.
Slowly, I shrug. “There is nothing else for me to be but fine. If she is choosing to not speak to me, there is nothing I can do. Their wedding may have been called off but that means nothing if she does not speak with me.”
“Laven,” Morano leans forward and shakes his head. “You are everything she could ever want and more. She will come home. In the meantime, I want you to stop being so sexually available for women you do not know. This is not you and I know you do not enjoy it; you are just participating in sexual acts with others because the tiny sliver of you that gave up hope is trying to take over when Ivella still exists. You have been patient for years, just wait a little longer for her. Her life has been flipped upside down and she is readjusting to her life as a royal and it is easy to get lost in that process, you, and I both know this well enough. Be the patient man you are and continue to give her time. She called off the wedding, I am certain that she is coming to her senses.”
In the distance we both can hear footsteps approaching.
Amias and Phyv appear before us and Phyv stops as Amias walks to the table and sits down.
“She is home safely?” I ask.
“Yes, but it took time. They are royals in Ramana. Greyce is the daughter of a General and her mother was not easy to access, even with word that her daughter had returned.”
“Thank you,” Phyv says to Amias.
I look at both Amias and Morano and nod for them to leave, they both stand and ascend.
“Do you drink alcohol Phyv?” I ask as I pour myself a fingertip amount into a short glass.
“I do.”
I pour him one as well.
“Do you have a last name?” I hand him his glass and I motion for him to sit.
“In the Mortal Lands Levora and Greyce gave me their last names. Here, no, I do not have one.”
“Just Phyv?”
“Just Phyv.”
“Well, just Phyv, I want to thank you again, but personally. My sister spoke very highly of you, and I do not know what I would do if I found out she had any fate other than the one she had with you and Greyce.”
Phyv beams. “She spoke of you when we first met in the woods where we were left. She told me if I touched her you would kill me, and I had no doubt about it.”
Remembering that day and scavenging through the woods to find her nearly sent me back to the person I had just recovered from being.
“She is not wrong.” I smile as I take a sip from the glass. “And she is still not wrong.”
He nods, understanding where the conversation will go if he disagrees. “And I too still have no doubt about it.”
“She also spoke with me of your struggles while on human territory and I do commend you for what you went through. You are better than myself, I would have revealed myself all too quickly handling their kind.”
Phyv takes a small drink from his glass and sets it down. “It was a culture shock, yes, but I would go through it all again for both Greyce and Levora.”
“You have a strong mind, Phyv. Some cannot call themselves so lucky.”
He is slow to speak but says what is on his mind. “I can say the same of you.”
“No,” I lean on the table. “I had my brothers, I had Levora, our mother, and Axynth. I made it through because of them.”
“Just as I made it through because of Levora and Greyce. We are one and the same.”
“We seem to be.”
Phyv drinks the last of the alcohol in his glass before standing. “Please tell Levora I will come find her tomorrow.”
I do not respond to him, and he begins to walk away.
“Phyv.”
He turns to me.
“Where are you going?”
He faintly smiles. “Home.”
“Where is home?”
He does not have an answer.
“You will house here, there are plenty of chambers for you to reside in and I am positive my sister would lay her hands on me if I allowed you to leave knowing you do not have a home to return to.”
“That is not necessary, I can assure you.”
“I told you that I am indebted to you for the care of Levora, and I mean that. You have a home here for however long you wish for it to be.”
“Thank you.” He bows.
“And Phyv,” I add. “Please go and claim your hybrid wolf-dog,” they cannot believe me to be so dense about the animals of the human world. “He has shit in my study and I was not too fond of cleaning it.”
