“Continue on your way to the village,” I said as the tears stuck to my cheeks, not wanting them to see me leave…again.
Darius was the first one to turn away, to start up the dirt path.
Tiberius stayed behind. “Will we see you again, Dad?”
“I—I don’t know. But I’m always with you, okay?”
He nodded before he turned around and followed his brother, making a short run to catch up to his side.
I rose to my feet and watched them go, two boys on their journey to manhood.
Riviana came to me and grabbed me by the arm.
The last thing I saw before she pulled me away was the two of them walking off together…as brothers.
After the world became a blur, we stopped once again.
We weren’t back in the Southern Isles or outside the small house I built with my own hands. Now we stood in the village in daylight, people coming and going through the market.
I turned to Riviana beside me, my eyebrows raised in confusion.
“Let’s try that again.” She moved to a pub then stepped aside so I could open the door for both of us. I entered, my eyes immediately adjusting to the darkness of the empty pub.
Riviana followed me then came to my side, staring across the room to the only occupied table.
Darius.
He sat alone with a tankard in front of him, arms crossed as he slouched in the chair like he’d just completed a long day’s work. He was clearly a man now, tall and muscular with a dark shadow around his jawline.
He looked so much like me.
“Darius is twenty-four years old now, just a few years younger than Lily. He moved to the village to be an apprentice as acarpenter. He’s in a relationship with the woman who will be his wife in the next year.”
I’d witnessed his life and knew all the details, so it wasn’t groundbreaking to me. But it helped me understand his current circumstances in life.
“Perhaps now you’ll have better luck with him.”
“I still want to see Tiberius.”
“He’ll be here in a few minutes.” She disappeared on the spot.
I stared across the room at my son again, his ankle crossed under the table, a basket of peanuts in front of him.
I crossed the room and approached him.
He didn’t look at me.
When I approached the table, he slowly turned to look at me, clearly not in the mood to talk. But then his eyes took in my features with a distinct reaction. His breaths increased and his face paled.
I pulled out the chair across from him and sat down.
He didn’t move, eyes still wide as he continued to breathe.
It’d been a little over ten years since he’d seen me, and he clearly hadn’t forgotten that interaction.
We were not quite ten years apart in age, biologically. Almost looked like brothers. “Hello, Darius.”
He finally snapped out of his surprise and straightened in the chair, his arms remaining crossed over his chest.
