“Salaark’s palace is the most beautiful place I have ever seen, but I can’t stand the thought of living here. Lutia is the place where I was born, where I met your mother, and where I hope that in a very distant future I’ll die surrounded by the love of my grandkids.” Raaz said.
“Don’t worry, Dad.” Lith returned the embrace. “Rena gave you four grandkids and I’m certain that with a bit of effort Tista can give you just as many.”
“Don’t get smart with me, son, or the next time your mother gives you the speech I’ll side with her instead of you.” Raaz said with an amiable tone while patting Lith’s back.
“You wouldn’t dare.” Lith looked him in the eyes while swallowing a lump of saliva.
“Welcome back, Solus. We all missed you a lot.” Raaz dodged the question, sending a cold shiver down his son’s back.
“Thanks, Dad. I missed you, too.” She would have liked to come out of the stone ring and greet him properly, but she couldn’t.
“Son, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go back to Lutia to instruct my farmhands about the sowing. With the ongoing famine, I’m thinking about focusing on strong crops that might sell for less but ensure a bountiful harvest in case of bad weather.” Raaz didn’t ask her questions, but he worried for her nonetheless.
After living with Lith and his lies for so long, Raaz knew that something was probably wrong with Solus and for some reason, she was hiding it from him.
“Quantity over quality. It’s a good idea.” Lith nodded. “Do you mind if I come with you? I miss our village and I’m eager to check if everything is alright.”
“Of course you can be my bodyguard.” Raaz laughed. “Now stop wasting time with your old man and go clean yourself up. We’ll continue this talk after dinner.”
Lith Warped to the mana geyser inside Salaark’s palace, allowing Solus to assume her tower form.
“Fuck me sideways.” He said once the transformation was over.
The building was full of cracks and some of the windows were broken. The magical aura that usually gave the tower a majestic appearance despite its incomplete form was gone as well, making it look like just a bunch of ruins.
“What’s wrong with the tower?” Lith’s question received no answer. “Solus, are you okay?”
He rushed inside, going straight to her room. The door was locked, making him sigh with relief and worry to death at the same time. Only Solus’s will could keep him out so she had to still have her body but there had to be a good reason if she didn’t want to let him see her.
“Do you need help? Is there anything I can do for you or do you want me to leave?” He asked while knocking on the door.
“Please, come in.” She said with a deep sigh.
The door opened, revealing Solus wearing a knee-length sleeveless summer dress. Usually Solus looked great in sky-blue, but now all Lith could see were the bruises on her arms and the deep wounds on her legs bleeding on the carpet.
Even her face was black and blue.
“It seems that the damage on my human body reflects on the tower.” She said with an apologetic tone as if it was her fault.
Lith hugged her tightly, trying to use light magic first and then Invigoration to heal her, yet nothing worked.
“How can you still be this hurt? We fought Quaron and Syrook days ago. You were supposed to have fully recovered. This has never happened before.” Lith said.
“Because I never fought in my human body before.” She returned the embrace, feeling his warmth soothing her spirit while the direct contact accelerated her healing.
“During our walks in the Desert I started to fade when I lacked energy, not because of the damage I took. After Zeska, I discovered that even though I can recover my magical power once I return in my ring, the same doesn’t happen to my body.”
Lith gently caressed her long hair, trying to make heads or tails of that situation. He could feel her wounds due to their bond, but what hurt him the most was the fact that she had dealt with such pain alone for so long.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want you to worry.” Solus replied. “I guessed that only a mana geyser could heal me and I was certain that if you knew, you would have freaked out until you got me on one.”
“Can you blame me for that?” Lith’s voice would have cracked if not for the joy of seeing her injuries heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The bleedings had stopped while the violet of the bruises was turning into a healthy pink.
“I can’t, but the fate of your family depended on your success. I wanted you focused on the mission, not on a problem you couldn’t do anything about.” She shook her head.
“You are family, dummy, not a problem.”
Solus just smiled as they remained like that in silence, even after all of her wounds were gone. The tower had recovered along with her and now there was no trace left of the damages.
“I don’t mind getting a bit hurt if it means that I get you to spoil me instead of working me to the bone like usual.” Solus rubbed her face on his chest, appreciating Lith’s good smell.
“If you want a break, just ask. I don’t want to see you hurt ever again.” Lith replied with a snarl. “The only silver lining is that we learned something new about your condition and that you slimmed down a bit.”
He pinched Solus’s side to emphasize the point.
“What?” The memories of the people of Zeska assuming she was pregnant made her blush.
“Well, now that you have a real body you also need nutrients to heal. Why do you think I’m so fit? Between training and sparring, I burn a lot of calories.”
“Yeah, and “luckily” I have stored a lot of nutrients.” She said after pushing him away.
Lith had ruined the moment for her and Solus’s voice oozed so much sarcasm that he could almost hear the air quotes.
“Indeed. Chubby Solus best Solus.” Lith ignored her outrage and held her again.
“I’m not chubby! I-” Between the honest joy in his voice and the pleasant feelings that she experienced, Solus’s rage disappeared. “I’m hungry.”
Her grumbling stomach matched her words.
“Of course you are hungry. As we always say to our patients, healing requires a lot of energy.” Lith let her go, giving Solus a chocolate chips muffin that she wolfed down.
“You don’t understand. I’ve never been hungry before.” She said with a big smile and more crumbs on her face than on her dress.
“It means that either you really need to exercise more or that you got one step closer to a normal human body!” Lith opened his arms, but this time she punched his shoulder.
“Enough teasing me, you jerk!” She got up from her bed and walked briskly out of the tower.
She wasn’t actually mad at him, just worried about a recurring feminine problem that she had perfect theoretical knowledge about but no practical memory.
