They love you. Oh, he knew they did… and he loved them too. Endless was the love for his children. He always wept as he remembered them. Zevulun was a stallion grown now – enough time had passed – but Nephilim pictured his son as he remembered him last, as a lanky, awkward six-month-old with wispy hair and big, bright blue eyes. Mariael, strong as always, was only further cementing her roots into the Bay’s soil and keeping their family safe and alive, utilizing all he taught her and then what she’s learned on her own. And Maziel… his sweet, darling Maziel, whose love and kindness could warm Tinuvel so strongly it’d melt away all the snow a blizzard could leave behind. He missed them so badly it made him physically ill.
Every word Vita Nova spoke was absolute truth and try as he might, Nephilim could find no argument. He wanted to. He wanted to tell her she was wrong, even if it was a lie. He wanted to further dig the hole he’d buried his head in and keep it pressed there, ear shut out to the world around him and eye closed on what could be. He’s had years (three, in fact) of loneliness and self-imposed segregation in this valley and at any point his will to live could have snapped entirely. He kept himself going for tidbits of news of his children, but what was the point? Oswin was moving to bigger things and their relationship was always strained at best (on Nephilim’s end, at least).
You could get better.
Nephilim blew a small sigh of air in disbelief, rolling his eye and shaking his head. He’d have furthered his retort, but what she said next stunned him completely.
If not the Bay, then in the Prairie... with me.
His head turned so his remaining gold eye could fully soak in her expression, her body language, her everything. The world itself felt as if it stalled in that moment. Even the birds, whose constant chirping as they fluttered from branch to branch of the pine trees, fell silent. The universe held its breath. Silence fell hard between them as Nephilim watched her graze, his one ear twitching… he’d heard right, he knew he’d had… but…
The Prairie. Luthien itself was a host of bad memories for Nephilim, but what piece of the islands weren’t? Shamwari led there now, and Shamwari was one of very, very few Nephilim could call friend. No longer was the pale mare there. No longer was the spotted stallion who’d charged him down (Vita Nova’s father, in fact). The Prairie was lush… the winters were not nearly as hard as Tinuvel’s…
And Vita Nova was there.
“Nova… I…” His words were heavy. A sigh broke off what he was going to say as he visibly struggled to deny her. He knew he should tell her no, that these were just dreams that would never work and she should never ask him to be near her again… but his arguments were failing him and his heart was beating hard and fast in his chest, just thinking of seeing her every day. Even if they never loved again the way they had before, even if their closeness was never the same… life would be a dream if every day he could glance over and see her near him…
The thought warmed his heart and that warmth flooded him fast and true, tingling over his speckled skin.
“Okay.”
He agreed before he’d realized he had.
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