Yet the shape of whatever Kamila was knitting was a bit weird and what Lith assumed was the neck of the baby carrier was way too big.
“Are you learning how to knit?” He asked, aiming for a soft topic before unloading his burden.
“Yes.” Kamila nodded. “It’s a great way to spend some time with your mother and keep my mind busy while I wait for your return. Time drags when I stare at the communication amulet for updates and I’m constantly terrified of seeing your rune disappear.”
“I’m sorry for making you worry like this, but I did it for you and Elysia. If the monster hordes go unchecked, we’ll end up like Jiera and the famine will be the least of our worries.” Lith wrapped her in his arms, losing himself in her scent.
“There’s nothing I would like more than spend the next five months taking care of you two, but to give you and our daughter a better world I need to fight.”
“You don’t have to apologize.” She was actually annoyed at the idea of being smothered in affection by her overprotective husband for so long, but he was clearly upset so she just smiled. “I’ve seen the images of the aftermath. The people of the Kingdom are lucky to have you.”
“It’s not about that.” Lith shook his head. “I’ve seen countless casualties in my life. Humans or monsters make no difference to me. They are both sentient beings I don’t know nor do I care about.”
“Then what’s the issue, babe?” Kamila pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes without breaking the embrace.
“Do you have the stomach for a long and gruesome mind link?” He asked, receiving a nod in reply and then sharing with her everything that had happened after leaving Ne’sra.
Kamila was shocked to witness Lith’s meeting with the Voidfeather and discover the next hurdle that her husband needed to overcome before he could achieve the bright violet core.
The Voidfeather wasn’t violent like the Void, but it seemed to despise Lith no less than the Abomination side did at the moment of their first meeting.
Then, warm tears streaked her face as she witnessed what the children of Glemos had to endure in order to survive. The lies, the starvation, and the rites of passage.
Kamila couldn’t hold her outrage at Lith’s plan nor did she hide her reproach for the cruelty with which he had put it into action.
Lastly, he shared with her Morok’s memories of his newfound little brother along with all the intense emotions that the encounter had triggered in both Lith and the Tyrant, each seeing themselves in the young Fomor.
It aroused her compassion for Lith but it also made his actions harder to accept. She stood up, cleaning everything up in order to suppress her emotions and avoid saying something that she would later regret.
Once her mind was clear and the bedroom tidy, she sat down next to Lith again.
“I’m really angry with you.” Kamila’s eyes were locked on him, burning with orange-yellow mana. “I’m not talking about the Voidfeather Dragon caring for Solus as much as for us. That will be a whole another conversation.”
She touched her womb, trying to calm down the rage that she felt rising again.
“I’m angry because even after seeing how those poor creatures live, you didn’t hesitate to turn them into numbers and statistics. People are more than a means to an end, Lith Tiamat Verhen, and I thought you better than this.
“After everything you went through, after everything we went through together, I had hoped that you had changed. I don’t expect you to get rid of your hatred overnight, but you can’t expect me to pat your back for this either.
“You can’t control how you feel but you can control how you react to these feelings. Otherwise you’ll either pass them unto Elysia or she will grow up to be ashamed of her father.”
“I have changed.” Lith shrugged.
“How, exactly?” She crossed her arms, furrowing her brows.
“The old me wouldn’t have even suggested the plan. He would have just waited for the monsters to cull their numbers and strike when they were at their weakest.” The honesty of Lith’s reply shocked her to the bone.
“The mission was about Morok’s legacy, I had little to gain from a huge hassle. The best course of action for me would have been to call in the Council and if Zelex didn’t self-destruct, kidnap Ryla in the chaos of battle.
“She was the high priestess and the only one who seemed to believe Glemos a god. She was bound to know the way to his lab. At that point, I would have extracted the information from her by any means necessary.
“After all, success or failure, it would have been just Morok’s loss. I would have still gotten my reward from the Royals and the Council for locating the monsters’ hideout and foiling the plot of the Undead Courts.
“I did what I did for you, Elysia, Solus, Quylla, and, believe it or not, I did it also for the children of Glemos.”
“What do you mean?” Kamila’s tone and gaze softened, her arms moving to her sides.
“Think about it. This is just like the case with the warg in Maekosh two years ago. Yet this time instead of just going for the kill, I tried to understand them and I found the only possible way to save them.” Lith replied while taking her hand.
“Do you remember what you told me back then, Kami? Because I do. You said that even if the warg could be reasoned with, there were not enough resources to feed both us and them. Now the issue is the famine instead of winter but the result is the same.
“I did it for you and Elysia because I don’t want another war to take me away from you two. I knew that if I just let them perfect the Harmonizers, both the monsters and the undead would have become powerful enough to be a threat to the Kingdom.
“Between the famine and the scars left from the War of the Griffons, the forces of the army and the Association can barely keep the peace. I couldn’t risk the Undead Courts becoming more powerful while we are at our weakest.
“I did it for Solus, because I didn’t want her to be emotionally scarred like it happened with the warg.
“I did it for Quylla because I want her to be happy. To give her, Jirni, and Orion something to celebrate after what happened to Phloria. Last, but not least, I did it for the monsters because I knew what would have happened if I didn’t.
“Everyone would have suffered like Xagra and be forced to kill the people they love with their own hands. Also, no matter if the children of Glemos sealed the pact with the Undead Courts or we called the Council, most of them would have died.
“Was my plan cruel? Yes. Heartless? Yes, but thanks to it thousands of monsters are still alive, Kami. Without my plan, we wouldn’t have learned about Garrik because Ryla would have rather died than revealed his position.
