It was still so odd to me that people could simply pick up where they left off. Days after the destroyed buildings were repaired and Vesperans returned to their homes, we found vendors selling food and homemade wares in the courtyard once more, their feet and carts covering the blood-blackened stones.
After much deliberation, Rohak decided to leave the courtyard as it was. No further cleanup would happen, leaving the splotches of black as a morbid reminder of the cost of war.
After Gene’s death, Art eventually returned to Vespera with a haunted look in his gaze, his normally exuberant personality substantially subdued. But I found a bit of that old glint in his eyes when I informed him that I needed something that would allow me to carry the baby and whatever Rohak needed for the day from the Academy. Days later, Art revealed his creation with a proud flourish. There was a small seat fashioned to even smaller cart wheels with a tray below for me to “carry books,” he proclaimed. Fia giggled and gurgled, clapping her pudgy hands together in delight when I placed her in the cushioned seat.
Even now, she squealed as I pushed her over the bumpy cobblestones, giggling in sheer delight as her body jiggled with the motion.
“You like that, hmm?” I teased lightly as we crossed the courtyard, teeming with new life. The scents of sizzling meat wafted in the late spring breeze, and my stomach gurgled obnoxiously.
Maybe I can convince Rohak to leave his office for a few moments. The man needs sunshine.
“What do you think? Do you think Daddy Rohak will let us have lunch out here today?” I cooed to the little girl who babbled in response, lifting one foot to shove in her surprisingly wide mouth.
I’d internally debated what to call myself and Rohak to the little girl who was not biologically ours butwasours. After days of little sleep and many tears, Rohak made the decision for me, referring to me as ‘Mama’ as he gave me a crying Fia. Despite my panic over the title, Fia instantly quieted when her head hit my chest, her little breaths coming in pants as she fought to console herself.
In that moment, I realized that I was this little girl’s mother, and the exhausted man on the bed was her father.
Ben and Asha would always be her parents—and we would remind her of them often—but we were her parents, too.
And that was okay.
In addition to caring for Fia, I’d put the knowledge I acquired from the Seeing Room in the Valley to good use. Deep within those catacombs, I was gifted the knowledge of a long-lost rune that allowed Mages to both storeanddraw their power. The well gifted from the rune was small and needed to be refilled often, but it immediately alleviated Elyria’s dependence on rare Vessels and dwindling crystals.
I was tired—a soul-deep exhaustion that was so pervasive I felt it would never lift.
But still, I persevered.
Because I was here, with the opportunity to grow old, when so many others’ futures were ripped cruelly away.
The administrative building was quiet today as we rolled into a box that moved via a rope pulley. It was another one of Art’s inventions—tasks he’d thrown himself into with little reprieve after Gene’s death. Clearly, he was as adept at dealing with his grief as Rohak.
I pulled us up to the second floor, Fia’s gurgles growing sleepier as we rolled down the hall to knock on Rohak’s door.
“Come in,” he grunted gruffly, the Bond pulsing with agitation and exhaustion.
I sighed as I pushed the door open with a loud squeak.
Rohak barely pulled his eyes from the papers littering his desk, flicking his gaze up once before returning to the missive clutched in his hand. He did a double-take, however, once he realized who was standing in his office.
A radiant smile broke out over his exhausted face, lighting his emerald eyes once more so they sparkled with happiness. His black hair was a disheveled mess, and more than a little grey dotted his temples and streaked through the top.
The stress of this position and the aftermath of Solace’s death would send him to an early grave if he didn’t find a way to relax.
A plan came to mind, a mischievous grin pulling at my mouth as I watched him pick Fia up and gently rock her to sleep in his arms. Our baby girl was absolute putty in his hands, much the way my heart was whenever he interacted with her.
Rohak sang softly to her, words I didn’t know but had heard him sing countless times on countless sleepless nights, as he gently stroked her little face.
Little Fia’s eyes fluttered closed, her long lashes fanning across her cheeks as she breathed deeply into the crook of Rohak’s elbow.
A gentle smile played at his lips as he sank into one of the armchairs by the cold fireplace.
“This is the only time I see you happy,” I said quietly.
Rohak hummed. “Children have a way of making you see what is really important in this world,” he mused, softly stroking her cheek once more. Fia chuffed in her sleep at the deep baritone that rattled through Rohak’s chest, but she didn’t wake.
I leaned against the wall, resting my head as I watched the two of them, heat growing between my thighs.
Something about my grumpy General caring for such a small, innocent, fragile life really did it for me.
