“I have some herbs I managed to oppress out of the various nobles and merchants in Arisa, and although I’m not entirely sure of the entire situation, I’m sure I’ll be able to make some kind of potion to assist you, Malika,” Adam said.
“Isn’t it rather rude to speak of something like that?”
“It is?”
“Are we so close?”
“Aren’t you the one who is trying to spoil my children as their aila, since you are friends with Entalia?” Adam replied, and with a sudden clarity within his eyes, the half elf continued to smile. “Perhaps, instead, you’re trying to grow closer so you don’t have to worry about your daughter, since I am the kind of fellow who has defeated at least a Fariq from Aldland, Floria, and Aswadasad, and have even defeated your friend twice, and so you think I would make a decent sword?”
“You speak of such dangerous matters so casually,” Anastasha stated, her tone full of a gentle disparagement, as a mother would tell off her child.
“After my recent clashes, I suppose I have become a little arrogant, but you have to forgive me, for after revealing myself a fool before my children, I feel the need to speak so arrogantly as to save face.”
Anastasha smiled, for how refreshing it was that a fool could speak so openly, and with the courtly affairs remaining elsewhere, she waved her hand casually, and with a smirk upon her lips she dismissed the conversation. “The potions I consume are more than enough.”
“Well…” Adam continued, and as he held the woman’s gaze, his eyes narrowed, in a way that suggested perhaps he wasn’t the fool he had revealed himself. “Perhaps my potions will be better?”
The half elf’s smile was innocent.
So innocent.
Too innocent.
“I do not wish to distract you from your family,” Anastasha replied, holding a playful smile upon her lips, although her eyes were a touch less.
“We’ll be spending a few weeks here, and I am certain I can spend a week to craft a potion or two to assist the Malika of Aswadasad, the figure who holds the greatest power across all the land.”
“If you believe I hold the greatest power, you truly are a fool.”
“Well, I may be as strong as I am, but the strongest here certainly holds the title of Ray.”
Anastasha’s lips twitched slightly, and she reached up her fingers to hide her smile, her eyes slowly trailing towards the Ray. “It seems your husband intends for you to continue to work hard.”
“It is my lot in life,” Vonda joked in return.
“He is the kind who will find great pleasure in such words,” Anastasha said, causing the half elf to almost choke on his breath, the half elf’s lips forming a tiny circle, his lips forming a guilty smile, his cheeks turning scarlet, and even Vonda reached up to hide her lips, trying not to reveal an embarrassed smile.
“I can’t believe you’ve done this,” the half elf said in a peculiar tone, though he was a peculiar fellow, so no one thought twice of it. “Anyway, I apologise, I mean, I’m sorry, because… I wasn’t able to… the magical item I had in mind for you, what with all the Reavers about, the business is currently focused on weaponry, so… I hope you’ll accept the potion to make it up to you, or if there is something else I can assist with…”
“I will think on it, though there is the matter of you beating my friend…” Anastasha said, narrowing her eyes as the half elf chuckled in response, revealing another guilty smile. “Was it so fun?”
“I wouldn’t say it was fun, but it was vengeance,” the half elf replied.
“Vengeance? What did she do?” Anastasha asked, as though she hadn’t known the Radiant Blade almost her entire life.
“I mean, the Amira brought us here, within such a beautiful place, to try to ease my children’s heart, and then she brought someone who didn’t know her place, and she glared at my children with such a vicious glare, perhaps I took it a little personally, or perhaps I was disappointed in someone who I considered wise to behave so foolishly, or perhaps it was done on purpose to see how strong I was, and now that I beat her twice, and my grandmother asked me to step back so I did not beat her thrice, I’m sure you understand the weight that my axe possesses.” Adam’s tone was a dangerous balance of half light and half dark.
“A fine axe, it is. Shall I assume it was enchanted instead of the gift you promised to me?” Anastasha asked, easily dismissing the half elf’s accusations.
Adam cleared his throat. “Yes. It isn’t just my axe, it’s the axe of my brother, the swords of my cousins, and a few more. In fact, many of them were designed by my son, Karot. Karot, go ahead and show the Malika the swords you designed!”
Anastasha couldn’t believe the shamelessness of the half elf, but since the situation calmed, she smiled, and waited for the boy to approach her, busying herself with accompanying the children.
‘First it was Kal Zahid, then it is my own mother,’ the Amira thought, having tried to slip her way into trying to meet with the children to keep them company. She had remained a silent statue, even as the half elf accused her of something, though she assumed, she prayed, it was just him joking, though would need to speak more openly.
As the Malika and the Amira greeted the group properly, and as Kal Zahid pulled up his visor to greet the children a moment, apologising to them for he was on duty, the half elf waited, and as the desserts slipped out, Adam waited.
“It is of such a lovely design,” Anastasha said, noting the blade. It was a beautiful blade, formed of silversteel, and all could see the guard was formed in the shape of the sun, and upon the pommel, an etching of a rose.
Karot flushed lightly, his tail swaying behind him, with a heaviness that betrayed he was not one who held the blood of the Gaks.
As the half elf’s heart eased, with every passing minute, he let out a sigh, relieving himself of his stress, until, finally, he caught the Amira’s eyes.
“Amira Miriam, President, and…” Adam thought to call his wife various titles, but each time he thought to call her such, his heart ached. “Darling. I would like us to, perchance, have a conversation, a discussion, of significant matters.”
Vonda held her husband’s gaze.
“…”
“…”
“It was really funny though,” Adam whispered, his cheeks turning red with playful embarrassment.
Vonda sighed.
As the four gathered in the corner, the half elf poured them each tea, glad Vonda had been able to slip away without issue. Jirot had almost followed, but her greatfather had called for her, and though she had the perfect chance to bully him, she decided to show him mercy, just this once, and so surrendered herself to his arms.
“I am sorry about the Radiant Blade,” Miriam finally said, sipping her tea lightly. “She is… zealous in her role.”
“Amira, are we friends?” Adam replied, his voice not quite stern, but it held a heaviness, one which caused his Aunt and wife to glance his way.
“I would like to be friends with you,” Miriam replied.
Adam held his cup of tea out towards her. “Should we consider this our first drink of friendship?”
“I would like to do so.”
“Amira, if you speak like a noble, I won’t consider you my friend,” the half elf stated firmly.
“It means yes.”
“It means you would like to do so, not a yes, not a no, but something vague you can run away from,” Adam stated once more, for he may have been a fool, but he was no idiot. Did she think he didn’t know how those of civility spoke? They spoke once, and said two things, one for each ear.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to speak in such a manner,” Miriam replied, sitting up a little taller. “I would like this to be our first drink, so let us consider this as our first drink of friendship, Mo.”
“If we’re friends, do we have to call each other by our titles?”
“If we are in private, we can drop such formalities.”
The half elf glanced aside to his wife, motioning the tea cup towards her too, and the half elf brought the tea to his lips, feeling the warmth tickle his lips. “Consider this our first drink as friends then, Amira.”
The Amira, the Ray, and the Mo drank their first drink of friendship, tea, as one might have expected, while the older woman sat back, allowing them their dalliance.
“That does make the next topic of conversation a little awkward,” Adam admitted, sipping his tea.