“You are very famous, Ripha.” Elina said. “I have yet to meet a Forgemaster who doesn’t daydream about meeting you and talk about their work.”
“That I can believe.” Menadion replied. “I meant that even though I’ve seen you do it countless times while I was a wandering soul, I still find it unbelievable that you are checking Lith for injuries and starvation.
“He’s a Divine Beast and we ate less than two hours ago!”
“So what? He is my baby.” Elina grabbed Lith’s face and peppered his forehead with kisses.
“Mom! Please, stop!” Lith whined as the Phoenixes standing guard to the Warp Gate covered their mouths with their hands to stifle a laughter.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that you are my miracle baby and I’m happy for your latest success.” Elina said with a beaming smile that could light a city for years.
As the guards snorted harder at the “baby” part, Lith could only grin and bear with it.
‘I hate it when Mom does that but at the same time I don’t want to spoil her good mood.’ He inwardly groaned.
“How are you feeling, Solus?” Elina asked. “Do you need to get back to the tower?”
“I’m fine, Mom. I was away only for a short while and Lith was with me. The capital is also built over a mana geyser so I barely consumed any energy.”
“That’s good to know.” Elina took their arms and walked with the pride of a mother hen parading her chicks.
‘Damn, compared to your mother I feel like a heartless monster.’ Menadion said via a mind link.
‘Welcome to the club.’ Lith replied.
“Gods-dammit, Lith, you could have warned me.” Senton said. “You’ve made my father cry!”
“Grandpa Zekell?” Leria asked with a worried look on her little face, fearing that after Valtak something bad would befall another of her grandfathers. “Why is he crying?”
“What she asked.” Lith nodded.
“I’ll let you hear it from his own voice.” Senton pressed a button on his communicator, replaying part of the conversation.
“How could he do that to me?” Zekell said amid sobs. “I could have made a fortune buying unused land and selling it for dozens of times its original price to nobles. Now it’s too late and the market is going crazy.”
“Oh, it’s about money.” Leria sighed in relief.
“Why are you sighing in relief?” Senton asked.
“Because Grandpa Zekell told me that it doesn’t count.” Leria smiled. “He always cries about money. With the big clients to make them pay more, with the suppliers to pay them less…”
As she counted on her fingers, Senton couldn’t help but find his daughter adorable and swear that he would have a talk with his father about what not to teach the children.
“I’m sorry, I have to take this.” Lith walked away and activated a Hush Zone before opening the channel with Count Jadon Lark and Countess Kelya Lark.
“Lith, you should have contacted us the moment the Royals summoned you.” They both seemed angry, which was unusual since, like their late father, they had been Lith’s patrons for over a decade. “My sister and I had every right to know it before the public announcement.”
“I’m starting to sense a pattern here.” Lith sighed. “Jadon, Kelya, you are the rulers of the entire Lustria County. What need do you have to speculate on your own land? You own it!”
“Not that, you dumbest genius alive!” Kelya cursed like a sailor. “He means about Menadion living with you. As you said, we own the land but we are also the ones who are being buried in applications and business proposals.
“Nobles can’t change their residence to another noble’s territory without their consent. We are understaffed and unprepared to deal with this kind of paperwork. Not to mention that we have to walk on eggshells while we try to understand who we can and can’t afford to offend.”
“What about the dear old switcharoo?” Lith replied. “Give the main plot of land to Brinja Distar as a gift and then claim you can’t choose her neighbors without her permission. This way the other nobles will pester her instead of you.”
“I take the dumbest part back. You are a genius.” Kelya said.
“Thanks, but I’ll be a dead one if Brinja suspects this is my idea.” Lith pointed out. “Leave me out of this.”
“We will. Unless we need a scapegoat. Jadon out.”
“Children of a-” Lith cursed.
Lith spent the rest of the afternoon with Kamila and the babies while Solus listened to Menadion’s, Lochra’s, and Baba Yaga’s stories about the past. If before the two white cores only said good things about Menadion, now that she was back, they were happy to take her down a peg or two.
“When will you stop embarrassing me and start teaching me modern magic?” Ripha grunted.
“Whenever you want.” Lochra shrugged. “By the way, since we are just goofing off, why don’t we invite Fyrwal and Tessa to join us?”
“Thanks, Lochra, but I was joking.” Menadion said. “I won’t repeat the same mistakes of the past. Ep- Solus comes first. I will start working once she has no time for me.”
“Don’t be silly, Mom. I’ll always have time for you.” Solus hugged Menadion who returned the embrace. “Let’s pick Fyrwal and Tessa up. I want you to see our moon lab.”
“I still can’t believe you can actually move off planet.” Lochra said. “Can I come too?”
“Of course you can.” Solus nodded. “Why do you find it so hard to believe?”
“Because I tried getting on the moon on my own in the past, Solus.” Silverwing replied. “It’s then that I realized that Mogar seems still only because we’re standing on it.
“The moment I left the atmosphere, I saw Mogar moving away so fast that I almost got stranded in space. Remember that without the constant stream of world energy feeding my white core, I’m not much different from a normal Awakened.
“That was the only time in over one thousand years that I got this close to dying.” Lochra shuddered at the memory.
Solus nodded and contacted Lith via their mind link.
‘I want to bring Mom to the moon but she can’t get far from you. Can you please come along?’
‘Sure. Since we are at it, I’ll bring a few people of my own, if you don’t mind.’ Lith replied.
‘Our territory is big enough for everyone.’ Solus chuckled. ‘I’ll wait for you at the tower.’
Lith brought Kamila, the babies, and the rest of his family.
No matter how many times they went to the moon, its silvery grasslands and looking at the emerald and blue sphere of Mogar in the sky was always a unique experience.
“By the gods!” Ripha, Silverwing, Tessa, and Fyrwal said in unison.
Menadion had already been there as a soul but only now that she had a body could she appreciate the pure, vibrant world energy all around her and feel the caress of the tall grass on her hands.
Only now that her mind wasn’t plagued by rage and regret any longer could she truly see the starry vault above her head and appreciate its beauty.
