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He needed a moment of peace, just a few hours, just a little bit of quiet and for nothing to disturb him.
“Silver.”
Said man turned his head towards him slowly, as if he had all the time in the world, and blinked at him twice before speaking.
“Malleus?”
He rarely addressed him by any title or other names and that alone eased the strain on his whole being, softened the edge of his shoulder blade and uncoiled the tension in his muscles. With a deep breath, a second to center himself in the reality of Silver’s presence at his side, Malleus smiled at his personal guard.
“Would you accompany me into the woods today?”
A polite tilt of his head and two more blinks before Silver decided that he did not need to know more.
“Of course.”
It almost made him laugh, so easily Silver accepted his commands and changes of mood at times, following him without questioning his intentions too much, marching one step behind Malleus as they made their way through the castle’s hallways, his gaze straight with a hand on the pommel of his sword but his pace was slow and relaxed, almost mellow. Deceiving, perhaps not by conscious choice, but most often present in the way he carried himself. It always served him well, when opponents underestimated him, and Malleus was forever grateful for just one additional layer of protection the other one had.
Malleus knew all too well that many did not approve fully of Silver’s elevated place at his side for various reasons. Human, young, Vanrouge’s son, uncaring of proper etiquette and falling asleep on the job, among many other reasons. He doubted Silver wasn’t aware of at least half of those accusations, yet he knew that the man did not care enough to let them bother him.
If anything, he sometimes looked at a lord or two, even in the presence of the forever bothersome Senate members, then called Malleus by name, or stepped too close to him, sometimes he even place a hand on Malleus’ shoulder and bend over to whisper a word of advice in his ear and the tension around them would grow to boiling heights of displeasure and distaste. Yet, Malleus’ worries during those moments were merely directed to how to better stop himself from laughing and smirking, which Silver was very much aware of.
It made his life so much happier.
“Your Majesty!” the serving girl squawked, her eyes wide open as she stared at Malleus’ form merely one step into the castle’s kitchen. “I–I…welcome?” She stammered, wiping her hands clean of flour on her apron before bowing her head to him.
The entire kitchen came to a stall as they watched the events unfold, some too shocked to even blink, others already twitching, caught between the urge to continue with their work or rush to his assistance. The poor girl too seemed to be in an equal predicament, blinking fast as she raised her head and then decided that he also needed a courtesy from her.
Which he did not.
“There’s no need,” he reassured her, already moving forward to catch her by the elbow as her knees seemed to betray her nervousness, almost giving up on her. “We’re here to beg for some food from you,” he added as he steadied her, trying to ignore the shadow of pain slithering around his ribs at her shaking.
He did not want her, or anyone in those rooms for the matter, to look at him like that. Yet, he could not so easily dismiss their fear and apprehension, even their embarrassment and awe, so easily. He was trying, by the Seven he was really trying now that he had the means, to look more humane and approachable to them, but it was a slow process and sometimes it seemed to only sadden him more than anything else.
“Food?” she whispered, her hand trembling around his forearm as she still clung to him. If some of the kitchen staff in the back were looking a little green as they noticed it, Malleus tried his best to ignore them.
Instead, he nodded his head, smiling just so at the girl as he squeezed her elbow slowly.
Gently.
Reassuring.
“For a picnic.”
More silence.
Until someone in the back cursed rather colourfully as the smell of burning food started drifting through the room, a sound accompanied by a very loud and long yawn coming from behind him.
“And coffee, please. Black and lots of it,” he added, gazing over his shoulder at Silver still covering his mouth with the back of his hand.
“It’s very warm in here,” he said with a shrug, tears caught in his eyelashes as he yawned again and Malleus only huffed a laugh.
Bringing his attention back to the girl, he found her eyeing Silver with a slight blush on her cheeks and Malleus could only find himself growing more amused. Turns out that all it took to calm her frightened demeanor was to have her attention directed to another prince.
Which was a running joke among them, that for every person Malleus frightened, there was another that Silver thawed. Sebek always took those jokes with a grimace on his face, caught between the genuine urge to reassure Malleus that he did deserve the respect and admiration — in any way or form it came — of his people, and the besotted urge to puff his chest and agree that his beloved was of course so magnificent and charming that everyone was taken with him right away.
Lilia, he just laughed, calling them his perfect, complementary ultra secret weapon.
“I, of course, sure, I’m…would you want something else? Specific, I mean?” she finally said, addressing Malleus once again with a deepening blush, be it due to the fact that she seemed to realise what position they were in, or that she caught Malleus grinning at her after she so blatantly checked Silver out, he did not know.
“Nothing specific, just something light.”
“Of course, my Lord,” she said with another bow of her head, which took some time, before she looked up at him with a tentative smile. “I…I–I’m fine, thank you for your assistance.”
So he let go of her with another squeeze of her elbow, a gamble in his opinion, which paid off as she looked at him with naked curiosity in her eyes which soon turned into something akin to understanding.
She had a lovely smile, he had to admit, when she wasn’t trembling and straining to show him respect..
Now that he was no longer the center of attention, he could admit that the people working in the kitchen were lovely in their own way. The young man stirring a pot of stew, the hearty fragrance coming from it rich and delicious. The middle aged woman kneading dough, her arm muscles bulging as she shaped it after her will. The pair of siblings peeling off vegetables at the end of a table, their cheeks and foreheads smeared with dirt here and there.
So many people, working with or without magic, dancing around each other as they did their tasks with such ease, with a touch of pleasure and joy in their craft.
His people.
“A picnic, huh?” Silver pulled him out from his trance, leaning against his shoulder so heavily that Malleus knew he was mere moments away from falling asleep.
If a person or two tensed at the way Silver used him like a wall, they soon relaxed when Malleus’ hand went behind Silver’s back to better support him and catch him in case he really fell asleep and lost his balance.
“I needed a moment out,” was all he said, not yet ready to share more of his inner turmoil in such an environment.
Although, perhaps one day…
Silver only nodded his head, his hair brushing Malleus’ jaw, and that alone seemed to be what broke the tension in the kitchen once and for all.
Nobody paid them attention anymore, so Malleus allowed his eyelids to grow heavy and his body to melt into Silver’s as they supported each other. He had been right, the kitchen was warm and the mingling scents in the air a balm to the soul, and Malleus didn’t need the remnants of a curse to almost fall asleep too by merely standing there.
Just when he was starting to worry a little bit that his alertness was truly fading into a sweet, honey thick slumber, the serving girl came back.
She was a type of feline fae, he realised when he took the picnic basket from her hands. Sharp nails, slit pupils and a broader smile than before, showing pointy fangs.
“Thank you very much,” he said loud enough for everyone around to hear and he could hear the people’s murmurs of no need , our pleasure my lord , feel them nodding and moving on with their tasks.
The girl bowed her head again as Malleus shook his shoulder a little, rousing Silver from his doze.
Those sharp fangs worried at her bottom lip a little, her hair covering her face as if she was trying to hide before hazel eyes pinned him into place with such certainty that it almost knocked the breath out of him. “Always.” She said, equally loud and sure. “Stop by whenever you fancy a snack.” She went on, before adding a my lord , deliberately late enough for it to be noticeable.
A second of stillness was all the kitchen deemed the interaction worth it, which was broken once again by Silver chuckling at his side.
“That I shall,” he promised her and with another bow of her head and a smile from him, they parted ways.
Back in the hallways, Silver extended his hand, palm up, towards him and Malleus switched the basket to hang on his other arm lest Silver took it by force.
“Suit yourself,” the other man said before taking his hand back.
A couple of steps more and a corner later, Malleus stopped a guard patrolling the hallway and instructed him to inform the Queen that he’d be out for the rest of the day alongside Silver. The guard, a rather young fae, looked at him for a moment too long before saluting, turning on his heels to make his way further into the castle.
“So,” Silver drawled once they were alone once more and Malleus turned to smile at him.
This time it was his hand up between the two of them, palm up, and Silver took it without even the slightest bit of hesitation.
Slowly but surely, the aged and cold stone gave way to the openness of the forest, the even floor under their feet turning into lush grass and the flickering flames of torches and magic powered lights bleed under the raw, tender sunlight. The breeze was fresh and sweet with the fragrance of wildflowers and Silver’s fingers went slack in his grip, his eyes closed as he swayed where he stood.
“Go rest some,” Malleus whispered as he gripped Silver’s hand tighter, already pulling him towards an old oak tree at the edge of the lake. “I’ll settle the blanket and basket in the meantime.”
Silver followed his lead slowly, as if walking through honey, and a grimace graced his lips as he squeezed Malleus’ hand back.
“Sleeping on the job,” he said, barely a whisper as he almost fell face first into the tree.
“Do not worry, I’m perfectly able to protect myself from evil deer and bothersome rabbits.”
That awoke Silver enough to open his eyes and snort at him as he lowered himself down onto the ground, his eyes falling back close as Malleus waved his hand to conjure a tiny, embroidered pillow between the harsh bark of the tree and the back of Silver’s head.
And just like that, his brother was out cold.
Which served Malleus just as well as he took a few steps back to spread the picnic blanket on the ground and place a couple of spells on the food to keep it warm, or cold, as he waited.
The relative quietness of the wilderness, broken by the chirping of birds or the hurried paws of animals running around dispelled the very last dregs of tension from his mind and body and Malleus spread his legs wide before him, leaning back on his hands to stare at the lake. It was beautiful, a place he had found out on a stroll some years ago while trying to reign in his emotions.
Back then he had frozen the lake over, the slip on his composure a crack running through his very being, and he had almost drifted into deeper despair, the fissure threatening to spread out until it tore the very earth under his feet asunder, until he noticed the very frightened doe not so far away from him. Her head was bowed over the glittering ice, interrupted in quenching her thirst by his outburst, her eyes big with fear and wonder alike.
He remembers his breath shaking, lips twisted into half a snare as he tried to control himself enough to kneel by the edge of the lake, slowly and oh so fearfully, until his knees dug into the still wet soil. Then, with a careful touch, with a controlled thought and a whisper of his magic, he thawed the ice bit by bit.
The doe watched him do so, her body coiled with tension even after the water was once again clear and lapping at the shore, over her hooves and his drenched knees. Still, Malleus did not move, nor did she.
Until, after an eternity, she raised her head.
Bent a leg and moved it.
Towards him.
Were he someone else, he would have cried when her warm, moist muzzle rubbed against the apex of his cheek. He wanted to cry, so desperately it hurt, but he did not dare do so with her so close to him.
It was pure agony, yet sweet joy, to kneel by the shore of the lake deep into the evening while the doe lowered herself down oh so gently, her legs bent under her body, her head resting on the top of his thigh. He could still remember, so many years later, how soft her fur had been under his fingers, how warm her breath was against the palm of his head, how her ears flickered when he touched her in a manner she did not like.
Ever since then, he tried to come back here whenever possible, knowing that even if the doe from back then was long gone, the place seemed to still welcome him back all the same.
It was as if this small corner of the world just knew him, its little rodents always stopping in their mad dash through the grass and twigs to throw him a glance, whiskers twitching before being on their way. The deer with their foals, the foxes and the wolves coming to drink from the lake all looked at him as if they knew of him, saluted his presence, and moved on.
The birds often plunged so low over his head that their tiny, fragile feet brushed the tops of his horns and some, most of the time the robins, dared to perch on his extended hands, tilting their heads at him before gifting him with a whole symphony, then flying off to continue their existence. It was magical in a way magic had nothing to do with it, and Malleus loved it.
Tilting his head to the side, he looked at Silver and at the pair of young foxes nestled against his legs, joining him in his slumber. And there, right on top of his head, a robin was also dozing off.
The smile that tugged at his lips made his eyes sting with tears he could freely shed now.
Although the period after his overblot had been a challenging one, it brought its rewards too, one of them being the very young man accompanying him. Silver declared himself Malleus’ brother with such a confidence and lack of ceremony that some, Sebek, were still unable to fully comprehend it. Although Lilia was overjoyed and cried of happiness himself, Malleus knew that nobody was as affected by it as he himself was.
He loved, and was loved in return, but he had never known just how much he needed someone like Silver in his life.
Honest and direct, a little bit slow in certain aspects but always reliable, never one to give up. A constant presence at his side even when he was gone, a gentle caress in his dreams and a guiding hand towards happier times. Silver challenged him, respected him and teased him, trained with him and at times, knocked swords out of Malleus’ hands as if they were twigs. Silver never made him forget what had happened that day, but didn’t hold it against him either.
Silver invited him into his home and life, and slotted himself so surely into Malleus’ that not even his grandmother could brush him aside, much to the dislike of the Senate, and to Lilia’s deranged glee.
It was a blessing, a true one, which he couldn’t appreciate enough.
Time passed by, and the animals came and went while Malleus enjoyed life in a simpler, more fulfilling way.
Then, Silver woke up slowly, blinking the last dregs of sleep away before crawling his way towards the blanket, all heavy limbs and yawns and Malleus laughed out loud as he took the bottle of coffee from the basket and poured it into two cups. It still steamed, kept warm by his magic, and Silver sipped at it with a groan of appreciation, the shadows of sleep bleeding out of him at last.
“How have you been lately, Silver?” He asked as he took a sip himself, enjoying the strong and rich taste.
“How have you been,” Silver shot back at him, those mesmerising eyes of his boring into Malleus over the rim of his cup, sharp and all too knowingly.
He knew, and perhaps that was why he caved in and took Silver away, that the other one would accept his refusal to answer the question. Once, perhaps twice if he were benevolent enough.
The third time, Silver would wrestle the answer out of him with a steel determination fit for a knight. The fact that he was employing said determination against his prince? That did not matter to Silver in the slightest and Malleus could have cried at the sheer amount of gratefulness he felt at the other’s presence in his life.
Still…
“I asked first.”
Silver's eyes narrowed at him and Malleus smiled.
“I am mad at Sebek.”
Ah, the trials of love.
“What did he do this time?”
Silver's snort at Malleus’ immediately jumping to conclusions only made him smile more. He knew he was right in his assumption though, for if Silver was the one at fault in their argument, Malleus would have found out about it already straight from Sebek's mouth.
Some things never changed, such as Sebek's full devotion and admiration for him, but the younger one had somehow found himself confiding in Malleus when it came to matters of the heart. Why and how, he could not tell but he was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. After all, he enjoyed being of help, knowing that Sebek trusted and sought his counsel in personal matters. The fact that he was Silver's brother and could tip the scale in Sebek's favour might be a reason too, but Malleus found that option amusing more than anything else. As if Silver would do as Malleus said without challenging him, if he so deemed fit.
“He got upset when I refused to partake in certain activities on the couch.”
Malleus blinked as Silver took another sip of coffee. Well, he couldn't say he understood, but he could listen.
“He forgets, when lost in the moment, that we have a portrait of you hanging on the wall opposite to the couch.”
Ah.
“Then he got so embarrassed he didn't speak to me until the next day.”
Really now, what can he even say to something like that?
“I apologise for…the inconvenience?”
Silver looked at him for a long moment, his stare blank as if he was trying to decide what emotions to show, before he started laughing.
“It's not your fault,” he shrugged, shaking his head with a fond smile on his face. “He’s only stressing over the portrait now and wondering if he should relocate it, which sent him into a breakdown thinking about where exactly in the house it'd be a safe place for it.”
“Perhaps in the hallway?” he suggested, picturing the little house he had forced on the two of them in order to prevent his two most trusted retainers from overworking themselves. Turns out that living in close quarters with your supposed master made the two of them forget that they were very much employed and not a day and night fixture in his life.
Silver’s grimace was all Malleus needed to know a little bit too much about his little brother's intimate life.
“Father suggested the bathroom.” Silver's long suffering sigh made something in Malleus ache with a bone deep love and fondness. “And I suggested it remains where it is now, but Sebek is dead set on moving it, so we're not talking until he settles down.”
If only his own troubles could be so simple, he thought as he started taking out the food to spread it between him and Silver. Yet, even if their domestic squabbles seemed mundane and insignificant in comparison to his problems from an outside perspective, Malleus knew all the challenges and hardships they had to endure in their love. A relationship meant to last wasn't an easy thing to achieve and the matters of the heart were just as important and confusing as those of the mind and soul. After all, he did not really envy them.
“Now you,” Silver urged him while taking a bite of an apple pie.
“Me,” he said, staring at the spread of cold meat and cheese in front of him, picking up a slice of cured ham before looking up at Silver. “I was merely tired, or perhaps, under pressure would fit my mood better.”
“What is troubling you?”
For a moment, a single second frozen in the eternal flow of time, Malleus wished to remain silent.
It wouldn’t work out, not anymore, for as much as he loved Silver for his lack of pretense and his casual behaviour around him, he also adored Silver for refusing to leave Malleus alone anymore. Ever since that day, Silver slowly wormed his way into Malleus’ very being in a way nobody ever did before.
Even if Lilia and Sebek tried to do so too, they never managed to reach out so wholly as Silver did. That did not mean the two of them were anything less than loving and supporting, but the connection he had with Silver was too layered, too unbreakable by countless parallels and differences that never mattered that much when all was said and done.
He had gained a brother and freedom in the wake of his overblot, courage to exist in ways he always envied but never dared to attain, and he would be mad to turn his back to any of the facets of their relationship.
“Nothing in particular, and everything at the same time,” admitting that around a bite of cheese felt somehow childish but also liberating. “I simply realised I haven’t taken a break in days, and it felt like the entire sky started resting on my shoulders.”
Silver’s eyes glimmered in the soft light of late afternoon, the sunlight gliding across the surface of the lake casting embers over the auroral spectrum of his gaze. It was no wonder people often got lost in his eyes, and Malleus almost smiled as he remembered Sebek himself falling in a daze often enough whenever the light hit Silver’s eyes just right.
In fact, he still did it, which warmed Malleus’ heart.
Love that only bloomed brighter and fresher with each passing day of someone’s life was a rare treasure, and the fact that his dear brother was bestowed such grace by fate was something he very much appreciated.
That gaze, burning pastels and endless understanding, left him after a moment, directed at the glittering waters in front of them where a family of ducks was making its way slowly across the vast expanse of the lake.
“Do you want me to stay over tonight?”
Silver asked it so softly, not to spare him any heartache but to show him that he understood what it would imply.
“Do you not wish to go back home? You’ve been working all day, and you’re meant to turn in tomorrow in the morning again.”
The way Silver snorted at that made Malleus raise an eyebrow at him.
“Thank you, but I’ll be fine. Maybe that will give Sebek enough time to settle the matter of your portrait.”
“Still,” he mused out loud, taking a slice of apple pie for himself. “Only if you wish.”
To say that he felt small and chastised when Silver’s piercing gaze pinned him in place would be an understatement. Despite having grown softer and extremely cheerful in his old age, Lilia still had a way to look down on you that made you aware of the power shimmering in the depths of his small frame. The fact that Silver had inherited that same talent of putting someone on the spot with just a stare was truly remarkable, but not surprising.
Malleus liked to think that he was at the end of such a glare less often than Sebek at least, or so he hoped.
“I will be resting regardless,” Silver pointed out as he always did when the argument came around. “And it’s not like you’re the only one missing her.”
“Yet, you will barely remember the encounter.”
A shrug and a sip of coffee before Silver stole the slice of bread Malleus was reaching for.
“But I’m getting better at it, which is mostly thanks to you being in the dream too, so it works out well for all of us.”
Trial and error had proved it right, and honestly, this back and forth between them was more perfunctory than anything else. “Then, yes. Please.”
Silver nodded, a smile on his lips, tiny but full of meaning and intent as he reached out for a bun filled with minced meat and vegetables.
“Say, do you have any arrangements for the end of the month?"
Malleus didn't ask why Silver was acting as if he didn’t have most of his schedule already memorised — perhaps it was because Silver always chided Sebek whenever his partner proved that he knew more about Malleus’ day than he himself did, or it was an attempt to prove that despite having a fixed schedule, Malleus still had a choice in it — he couldn’t tell. So he played along, curious.
“Not that I remember, why?”
Silver reached out for yet another slice of apple pie and Malleus batted his hand away, redirecting it to the bowl of vegetables on the side. Silver grimaced, but reached for a piece of crisp carrot.
“Riddle has invited me and Sebek to an equestrian event in the Queendom of Roses.”
That was very unexpected, truth be told. The mention of Rosehearts, so casually.
“And?”
Silver looked at him for a moment, as if contemplating how to approach the matter at hand, before his gaze hardened and Malleus knew that he was in for a moment of pure honesty.
“Would you like to come?”
Simple as that.
“Rosehearts did not invite me now, did he?”
Silver shrugged, pushing the bowl of vegetables towards Malleus with a pointed stare.
“No. I did. So? Are you coming or not?”
Truth be told, he wasn’t one that interested in horses, but if Silver asked…it meant that he did not find Malleus’ presence there to be a hindrance, and Sebek would be happy to have him there anyway. Rosehearts though, he was trickier.
Still, Malleus admired him enough to wish to at least know how he’s been doing all this time, so if the opportunity was there, why not? Out of most of his former classmates, Riddle Rosehearts was one of the most memorable ones, and Malleus would lie if he said he didn’t enjoy the man’s presence at times.
“Alright. You can inform him that I wish to come,” he started, a finger pointing at Silver to stop him from speaking. “But, if he is against it, then I will not accompany you two.”
Silver shook his head in that way of his that meant you’re being unreasonable, it will not come to that but Malleus decided to let the matter go, at least for the moment. It was a known fact already, that whenever the two of them argued on something, it never ended up with a winner.
So, they spent the rest of the evening chatting, about mere castle gossip or personal matters. Lilia’s latest cooking disaster, the latest romance novel Sebek read, his grandmother’s slip of the tongue as she called the Senate a rather colorful and damning term, Kalim Al-Asim’s latest escapade and Viper’s ever present, yet never to happen, letter of resignation. Malleus talked a little bit about some state matters, wishes he had and projects he wanted to work on, and Silver offered his advice and guidance and whenever he had nothing to say, he just shrugged, taking a sip of his still hot coffee before offering his sword and magic instead, if need arose.
Sooner than he would have wanted, Malleus had to brush away the crumbs from his trousers and help Silver pack the empty dishes away.
Once again, his hand hovered between them, palm up for Silver to take without even a second of hesitation, the picnic basket hanging off his little brother’s arm this time around.
Later that day, after informing his grandmother that he was back and that he would retreat for the night already, Malleus found himself back in his bedroom, freshly out of a bath and still drying his hair as Silver opened the door to his room, entered, closed and locked it behind him, then made his way to Malleus’ bed to fall face first into it. He was asleep before Malleus could even begin to smile at the entire course of events.
Trial and error taught them that this would work better if they were close by, at least in the aspect that Silver would no longer wake up without remembering the content of the dreams he had visited. Even if he tried to reassure Malleus time and time again that he did not mind it, the fact that he would simply forget about it made something in his stomach churr with unease and bitterness.
So, they were working on it, and so far Silver was able to remember a dream under the influence of his unique magic much in the ways one would remember a normal dream. Malleus, after experimenting enough to bend the laws of his unique magic just so, would remember almost each and every detail of it.
Sometimes, it felt eerily similar to his experience during and after the overblot, but the sour taste at the back of his mouth was worth it.
That night, after sleep cradled him too in its sweet embrace, Malleus opened his eyes to verdant grass and swaying willows, the cobblestone of a park trail under his feet as his eyes found what his heart desired.
Sitting atop a picnic blanket and reading a book at the edge of a lake in a park, surrounded by ducklings and their mothers among various other birds, there she was.
As if knowing, feeling the change in her dream, Yuu looked over her shoulder, her lips parting with a gasp as the book fell from her hands while she wobbled up to her feet. Knowing already what was to come, Malleus opened his arms, taking a few steps towards her to stop her mad dash towards him, the embrace hard enough to almost knock the air out of his chest.
With her arms squeezing him so tightly, her face pressed into his chest, he found blissful pace once more as she started talking, her words tripping over each other in her enthusiasm to tell him all that he had missed in their time apart and, while doing so, he could feel one of her arms unwinding from around him, reaching behind Malleus to grab Silver and pull him into her embrace too.
Soon enough, all three of them were seated on her picnic blanket, cupcakes and cookies and ice-cream sprouting of thin air as her book lay forgotten somewhere in the grass. At some point, an army of ducklings decided that leaving their mothers in favor of gathering around Silver was the natural course of action, and Yuu’s laughter at it managed to light up the entire dream like sunlight spearing the bleakest of skies.
Leaving her was never that easy, but it always provided the promise of more, solidified the certainty that he could bring her back with him, then send her back to her own world, soon enough. For the moment, they had to do with what they had: Silver’s hands on her shoulders as he smiled at her, Malleus’ farewell embrace as she rushed to tell him all the things she wished for him to recount to the others.
“You, take care of yourself, and always reach out to Silver, or to Lilia and Sebek!”
“And you Silver, thank you, and never change. And, in my humble opinion, you should prank Sebek with at least one portrait in each room!”
“Tell Lilia and Sebek I say hi, and that they should spend more time with the two of you, no rank and funny stuff like that in between!”
“Please, tell Deuce and Ace that I miss them very much, and that I hope they’re not overexerting themselves with those new jobs of theirs!”
“Can you please tell Riddle I wish him well, and that I hope he’s more sure of his heart now? If he grimaces, or turns red, or yells, tell him sometimes you just need to fuck around and find out, no further explanation needed!”
“Oh and, I’m running out of time! You again then, don’t forget to take a break now and then Horton, and to get in contact with people, it’s never too late to make friends okay?”
“And…please, tell Grim I miss him so very much.”
If, when the two of them opened their eyes at the same time, Silver’s hand found Malleus’ on top of the blankets and squeezed it tightly as they let the morning sunlight wake them up properly, that was simply routine at that point. Slowly, they got out of bed and went on with their morning routine, Silver almost walking into a wall as he tried to reach Malleus’ bathroom to splash his face with cold water.
“Breakfast?” Silver asked, voice still rough with sleep as he tried, and failed, to straighten his uniform.
“Yes,” Malleus agreed, using his very own hands to fix his brother’s clothes before stepping out through the door.
If they both ended up walking towards the castle kitchen without actually planning it out loud, oh well.
At least the serving girl from the previous day wasn’t shaking so hard anymore as she brought them coffee and a plate of pancakes, wild berry jam and toasted bread, vegetable stuffed buns with cheese and roasted sausages on the side. If she grinned rather openly when they took their leave, both of them carrying their plates to the sinks for Malleus to wave his hand around so they could clean themselves, he decided to ignore it.
“See you again, my lord,” she said with a perfect curtsy this time, the spark in her eyes and the way Silver hummed in confirmation feeling like an unbreakable vow between them.
So that was how he ended up visiting the castle kitchen so often that everyone knew him . How he ended up chopping parsley and peeling apples and waving his hand to swipe all the flour off the countertops. He learned the names of each and every person, and some days, he was the one to spread soft butter and sweet jam on still warm scones for the staff’s children to eat with their morning tea.
He did accompany Silver and Sebek to the Queendom of Roses, where Rosehearts sat him down for a lecture in equestrian history and etiquette, then proclaimed himself their local guide and managed to offer Malleus a weekend of sightseeing as they discovered the local culture under the very precise and vast knowledge of the younger man. Contrary to his expectations, Rosehearts seemed calmer and livelier than ever before, bold in a way that fascinated Malleus and he realised, late at night, while the two of them were drinking tea together while Silver and Sebek were having a romantic dinner on their own, that people simply change like that.
Life offers you plenty of opportunities for growth and change, you only have to reach out and take them, accept it.
“I would appreciate it if you informed her that I am well, and that…” the man grimaced, coloring red in a way that promised yelling and magic burning in the air surrounding them. “Ugh,” Rosehearts groaned, his face still red as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Tell her she won her bet with Jade, she’ll be overjoyed to hear it.”
“Oh?”
Perhaps it was the light playing tricks, for Malleus’ memory was as good as ever, but the shade of red taking over Rosehearts’ face was rather different from the usual shade of anger and rage from back in the day. Curious, very curious indeed.
“If you so want to know, ask her then!”
Malleus smiled, much to Rosehearts’ displeasure. “Don’t mind me if I do.”
He did find out what that was all about, a long tale shared between giggles and accompanied by Silver’s revelations at events that had always puzzled him.
In the end, that one seemingly normal day turned out to be a crossroads of sorts for him.
The castle staff no longer shied away from him, some of them being as bold as to become something he could only name as friends. And they were not the only ones.
Rosehearts, Al-Asim and to his surprise, even Spade and Trappola, grew closer to him as time went on.
“See,” Silver said from where he was sprawled on the shore of the lake, sun drying after a dip in the water. “You were being unreasonable.”
His offended yell when Malleus threw half a biscuit at his head was accompanied by Yuu’s chuckling at his side.
And if a squirrel ran over Silver’s naked chest to catch the sweet treat before it plunged into the water, that simply made all three of them laugh.