“This is preposterous,” Celestonia seethed. “Humans would never love tythwig without some ulterior motive at the helm. Galand, surely you aren’t buying this…charade.” Her emphasis on the final word could have been an evil hex and I would have believed it. It was clear to me that Celestonia didn’t believe that we cared for each other in the slightest.
“Please, your xylem.” Arze begged, squeezing our conjoined hands. “Krueger has nothing to gain by filling my mind with falsehoods or manipulation. What exists between us is pure.”
“Pure?” Galand chuckled, scratching his chin. “Oh, dear boy, there is nothingpureabout humans. There are centuries of evidence proving that they are nothing but opportunistic, selfish things that will never accept anything out of the ordinary.”
“But they have.” I interjected myself, against all the fear pumping through my veins. “All creatures were accepted into society years after the world found out about them. There’s human laws protecting them for a reason.”
“Never mistake laws as acceptance, Krueger of the Flesh.” Galand warned me, his eyes burrowing into my soul. God, he was fucking daunting to go up against. “Need we remind you of the horrible acts plaguing all creatures not too far from here. Sangamar being attacked at blood centers meant to provide them consumption, petrylle going missing for the purpose of extracting their luster to prolong human life? Are these the very things that portrayacceptanceto you?”
They knew about the horrible attacks on the east coast under the helm of the Rhodes family and their stupid ‘patriotic’ Hellgrammite hate group. The riots on the blood centers as well as the petrylle incident in D.C. were horrible acts of betrayal to the laws in place to protect Orbs. I had to admit, the timing ofthese events and us begging to be allowed to love each other weren’t exactly pairing well.
“The acts of some do no speak for the acts of all.” Arze countered, and the gravity of his speech rattled my chest. God, he was amazing. I just hoped the Triad thought so as well when he was finished. “I am not asking for an altogether overturn of the tythwig decree concerning romantic interests between us and humans. I am realistic in that my simple plea is not enough to calm centuries of bad blood between humans and tythwig.” He squeezed my hand again, and I squeezed back in loving support. “I am simply asking for an exception or a pardon that Krueger and I be allowed to love without fear of the Triad interfering. That all outside tythwig communication that gets back to the Triad about us are deemed null and void and not punishable by the fine print of the decree.”
Silence grew amongst us, both humans and Orbs. Every so often, the Triad would look between each other, seemingly gathering intel on what each member thought about what Arze was saying. About what I was saying. About everything that had transpired here today. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but we’d done enough explaining. If the Triad didn’t accept us trying to be together…
“I, for one, am humbled by your tenacity, Arze of the Forest.” Pruse chuckled, his voice stern but also inviting. Obviously, he was by far my favorite of the three. “As I am by you, Krueger of the Flesh.” His eyes connected with mine, and I simply gave him a curt nod. He smiled wider at that before continuing. “I believe you should be permitted to pursue your romance without persecution.”
Celestonia openly gawked, her mouth slack and falling open in disgust. “You can’t mean that, Pruse.”
“I do.” Pruse preened, looking like he was glad he’d rattled her. “Who am I to meddle in the meetings of love?”
“You are a member of the Triad,” Celestonia reminded him. “Which means you have a say in tythwig matters for this region and it would behoove you to remember the weight of your title.”
“Do not think me naive of my ruling, Celestonia.” Pruse advised with a squinted glare. “I am far older, and therefore, far wiser.” He replaced his angered stare for a softer one as he looked down at both of us. “I am not blinded by the history of humans, but I believe anyone, even humans as a whole, are susceptible to change.”
I gave him a small smile, hoping that it wasn’t out of place or disrespectful. Pruse gave me a nod before returning his gaze to the rest of the Triad.
“I am vehemently against this union.” Celestonia barked, crossing her arms over her chest. “The tythwig decrees were not made in haste. Nor is it our place to challenge them.”
So we were one member of the Triad for us and one member of the Triad against us. That meant that the future of my relationship with Arze rested on the shoulders of the maple tythwig. Galand hadn’t been too keen on our relationship, judging by his earlier words. But I refused to give up. We had to have a favorable outcome. We just had to. I wasn’t giving up Arze without a fight.
“You seem…decent, Krueger of the Flesh.” Galand stated, an indifferent glaze over his features. His words sounded like he was on alert, but I wasn’t getting anything else from them. “But I happen to agree with Celestonia. The tythwig decree stands. You both will be severely punished by every line of the decree should you not cease your union at once.” He rolled his shoulders and closed his eyes. “This meeting is adjourned.” Galand was already started to shift back into his maple form.
“Wait!” I flung myself forward, letting go of the hand wrapping around Arze’s. I didn’t even look back at him, but I could feel his surprise at my outburst. But I didn’t care. Theycouldn’t do this to us. I wouldn’t let them. “There has to be something I can do. I’ll do anything. Please. Don’t make me give up the man I love. I beg you, your xylem.” Pruse and Celestonia hadn’t started shifting yet, but Galand halted his transformation and opened his eyes to glare at me. “There has to be another way.”
Wordless exchanges appeared between the Triad, and I hadn’t expected for my reaction to warrant theres. Were they really mulling this over? Were they really going to consider another avenue that would be in our favor?
“I am sorry, Krueger of the Flesh.” Galand offered. “Our ways are not for you to understand.”
“Perhaps,” Pruse said, eyeing me quickly and then eyeing his fellow members evenly. “There is another way.”
“Anything.” Arze joined my side once again, wrapping his arm around my back, his hand settling on my waist. “Anything.” He repeated.
“Do you have a suggestion, Pruse?” Galand might have been playing along, but Celestonia looked appalled. At least she was keeping quiet, which was a win in my book.
“What if Arze of the Forest were to be stripped of his title?” What? What the hell did titles have to do with any of this? Pruse nodded, as if his words made perfect sense. “He will never be able to call upon the Triad for any matter for as long as he lives, will never be allowed to participate in our rich and historical customs in the future. And in exchange, he will be a citizen of the human world, free to live as they do.”
Now it was my turn to looked appalled at Pruse. How could I ever expect Arze to give up who he was as an Orb to be with me? Granted, he had admitted to me that he lived mostly as humans did anyway, but to never be able to embrace his tythwig side by having to abandon everything that celebrated that part of him? I could never ask him to do that.
“I accept.”
My neck twinged with pain at the speed it took to look at him. “Arze, wait.”
“I said I accept.” His words weren’t for me, nor was he even looking at me. He was nodding at the Triad. “I accept the terms, your xylem, should you decide to honor them.”
“You understand what this would mean?” Galand questioned, shaking his head at Arze. “You would never be allowed to call upon the Triad for help, no matter the circumstances. You would never be accepted into a tythwig communal, should you ever need the safety of living in one. You would never have anything to rely on related to the tythwig world, only the human ones.” Galand squinted his eyes. “You understand this?”
“I do.” Arze nodded, pulling me closer to his side. I remained shocked and speechless, unable to defy what was being laid out in front of us. “I accept.”
