It would be a lie to say he completely regretted how much time he spent in Seothia. Despite all the connections he held in Hyasari, he felt like he was closest to the five people he knew in Seothia. Maybe it came from them being so different from what he was raised in; they didn’t really think about traditions, everything was performed much more casually, and there was no overarching standard that needed to be lived up to.

During one of the month-long visits, he was able to get him and Imre alone—with, of course, the help of Samone and Lydia for carefully playing around with the schedule. Still, there were no butterflies. Only determination, and a growing fear that the feeling wouldn’t be returned.

“I hope you weren’t waiting long,” Imre sighed as he sat beneath the old oak tree. “That last meeting lasted longer than it was supposed to. Then Mother wasn’t feeling well so I went to help her…”

Dimas smiled. “It’s fine. What I wanted to talk about probably won’t take long anyway.” He took a deep breath, giving a silent prayer before he continued. “What do you feel around me?”

“Safe, comfortable… happy.” Imre sounded genuine, and a little smile suggested that he really did mean all of it. “You’re not like Samone or Lydia, who I’ve known since we were kids. You’re not like Domenique, who I… still don’t know all that well. And you’re definitely not like Kiah, who cares but more in an if-you-die-then-I’m-screwed way. It’s not like you need to be around me, ignoring what Mother has probably told you; you’re also not using me as an excuse to avoid home, at least not for the only reason you’re here. You’re something completely different, but I feel like I can trust you… that you’ll be behind me no matter what.”

“And do I give you butterflies? Make you nervous, I mean?”

“It seems like all my worries melt away when I’m with you. That’s pretty far from nervous, don’t you think?”

“Mother told me never to associate myself with anyone who gave me butterflies. She didn’t want me to get trapped in a situation because I mistook one emotion for another. I wanted to make sure that you didn’t get stuck like that, either.” He hesitated for a minute. “I’ve still got one more thing for you, too. Now that that’s out of the way.”

Imre could barely begin to ask what before he got his answer: Dimas drew him in for a kiss, far sooner than he could actually think or question the action. He watched Imre’s face grow red and knew that he was doing the same.

“Promise me one thing,” Dimas mumbled, recalling his own upbringing. “Don’t ever let me hurt you. If I ever do something that hurts or upsets you, leave me. Don’t even give me enough time to hear why. I don’t want to end up like my father… I want to make you happy, not make life even more miserable for you. Okay?”

…

He would say that they were each readying their own horses, but in reality, Imre was doing most of it. The Seothian prince took it upon himself to prepare them, even gaining a small smile out of it. It was a welcome change from his mood earlier, at least, even if their circumstances for going out weren’t ideal.

“Casper’s got a hell of a lot of explaining to do,” Kiah grumbled impatiently. She kept pacing from one side of the stable to the other, likely taking advantage of the prince’s distraction. “I get sending me—I can handle myself in a fight, no problem. But the rest of you? Whether you know your way around your weapon of choice or not, none of you are fighters.”

“Look at you, caring about our well-being,” Samone teased, though a bit absent. She seemed more interested in her makeshift mirror, showing off her magic with a floating piece of water. While she was now fixing the bow on the collar of her dress, she’d used it when she put her hair up a few minutes earlier. “Realize some people are worth more than your paycheck, hmm?”

Kiah snorted. “You wish.” She stopped moving once she noticed Imre was almost finished, and sighed. “Just think about it. He’s sending the only heir to the Seothian throne, the brother to the queen of Qizar, and the Court Magister to figure out what’s going on. There’d technically also be an influential noble’s daughter if Lydia hadn’t gotten herself into a scandal.”

Dimas shrugged. “I know better than to question him at this point.” Casper wasn’t the kind of person you ever thought of questioning. Not in the same way Nigel was—not by fear—but by respect. The only one who ever dared to do so was Kiah, though perhaps that came with being more familiar with the king and queen than most.

“Father has a plan,” Imre remarked as he walked over. “It’s just what it is that he didn’t tell me. Mother didn’t seem very happy about whatever it was, though…”

“It’s Minne,” Samone pointed out. “That could mean anything. There’s really no point in worrying about it.”

…

He had simply intended to go to bed. If, of course, his partner would actually relax for that long.

“Will you calm down if I kiss you..?” was Dimas’s half-asleep negotiation. “You don’t want to see me when I don’t sleep well. I’ll knock over everything.”

“Sorry.” Imre got up, carefully readjusting all of the blankets. “I… I’m going to go for a walk. Clear my head a little…”

“You want some company? I’m presentable. Kinda.” He looks down at his blankets as if he could truly see the clothes he had on. In truth, he was too comfortable to move. It was nearing the beginning of Dorake and was getting too cold to sleep without a heavy blanket, let alone go outside in the middle of the night.

Imre shook his head. “I’d rather be alone. Just… try to go back to sleep.” With that, he grabbed his fur coat and walked out.

As much as Dimas would’ve almost preferred to spend this time trying to sleep, he couldn’t help but be worried. Simply out of curiosity, he flipped over the hourglass on the bedside table; he resolved that, if Imre wasn’t back by the time it ran out, he’d go find him.

He barely even felt tired, growing more awake still as the sand kept flowing. The only sound to be heard was the wind outside, even the servants retreating to their own rooms or using the less-frequented passages. Imre still hadn’t come back by the time all the sand reached the bottom.

Dimas willed himself up and out of bed, cursing the cold air that awaited him. He didn’t have any coats or anything in here; this was, after all, technically not his room. Already he was going to need to make a trip back to his own room, so he might as well search the entire castle while he was at it. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to be sleeping tonight anyway.

Among the minimal servants he passed and questioned, none of them had seen where the Seothian prince had gone or that he even left his room at all. It made sense—Imre was, as odd as it was, good at slipping by people without their noticing. It was something hardly considered until someone needed him.

“Are you looking for Imre?” The sudden voice startled him, and he turned around to face her. Minne didn’t bother to smile this late at night, honestly looking a bit worried in the dim candlelight.

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He nodded.

“Don’t worry about him,” she said reassuringly. “There’s more guards than you’d think wandering around Lelishara. At least one of them’s trailing him by now.” She paused for a moment. “I… suppose you haven’t been caught up in all the details since you came back from Qizar. If you were, you would’ve expected it to take him a while…”

With the idea of being in the dark about something, he got curious and a little worried. It couldn’t have been a good thing if she was so hesitant to talk about it.

“You at least know that Casper’s been sick for a while, right? We found out right before you came back that he’s not going to be around for much longer… it’s honestly a miracle he’s pulled through this long. Imre’s been in a rough spot since he heard the news. He expected for his son to take the throne, after all, and you know what he thinks of himself…” She sighed and shook her head sadly. “He has a lot to think over before he’s ready for that position. Best to let him sort it all out on his own.”

…

Dozens of hawks were let out that day, each carrying a message for a noble house. Dimas had offered to help if only to give himself something to do, unable to find the words or courage that the situation called for. He knew Kiah, attaching the messages to the hawks with an unreadable expression, was facing a similar mental battle. It was a battle to stay emotionless, to appear strong and reliable—a battle that they were probably both losing.

“Have you talked to Imre since this morning?” It was hard to hear her and there was a kind of solemnity in her tone that she only had during the Lantern Festival.

“I couldn’t find him,” Dimas replied softly. “Someone must’ve woken him up so he could be there, then left after it happened. Minne couldn’t find him, either. We don’t know for sure if a guard saw him leave or not.”

“The kid’s got a lot he still hasn’t sorted out,” she mumbled. “He’s already fighting off demons, now he’s faced with this screwed up mess. He’s been able to bounce back before… let’s just hope he can do it again.”

…

“I feel bad that you’re here,” Zofie remarked with a frown. “Are you sure about staying for the whole month..?”

“Don’t act all strong about it. I know you’ve been in bed for the past two days.” He didn’t spare any kind of gentleness for her, instead getting straight to the point. “And you don’t need to feel bad about anything. That’s a whole different situation that I’m not really supposed to be a part of.”

Suffice to say, his twin did not buy it at all. “I don’t know how love works, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t involve going back home for a month. Especially not when this month also happens to be the Lantern Festival. The man’s going to either have a complete mental shut down or commit suicide.” She thought about it for a moment, and then added, “Or both.”

“What if I’m here to spend time with you?” He shouldn’t have even started this conversation. He’d set himself up to lose the moment he mentioned it to her.

“Why are you even trying to lie? You know I can see right through you.” Never taking her eyes off him, she reached for her water glass. It seemed she really could see right through him as she took a sip from it before putting it back. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Brother, but you have a thing for avoiding unfavorable situations. And by that I mean you run away from anything you don’t want to deal with, whether or not you’d actually help the situation. So I wonder which one this is?”

Thero, however, stripped that all down to a much blunter question. “Did you break up?”

That was coming from someone with absolutely no experience in love at all. It probably influenced his reaction; the way he let out several subsequent “no”s likely only made it look more suspicious.

“Oh, good. I thought I was going to need to yell at you for letting him go” Zofie, at that point, only saw Imre as a conveniently-placed lover. It wasn’t that she was against the idea in general, but she was more interested in what could be gained politically. After all, if the two princes (well, one now king) really did stick together that long and stayed together, the two kingdoms would also need to work together. There were a lot of ifs in that plan, though; suffice to say she wasn’t too convinced it would make it that long from the start.

“The amount of faith you have in me is astounding,” Dimas retorted sarcastically. “I’ve gotten him to smile a couple of times.”

“I don’t know how you can find appeal in someone with such a dull glare. There’s hardly any life in him at all.”

“If I had to guess, Sis, there’s hardly any life left in you either.”

…

Dimas couldn’t help but feel nervous, fidgeting with the ring he was holding. There were some things he learned in Seothia, some things he retained from his heritage, and some things that he combined from the two. He wouldn’t know as much as he did without Imre. They did so much together, learned so many things… It was a kind of experience that he couldn’t have done in Qizar.

Minne noticed him almost immediately. Then again, when she was sitting right in front of the entrance, it would’ve been hard to miss him. She immediately put on a smile, gesturing to the empty chair. “Here for a talk? I’m sure a servant can get you some tea if you want it.”

“I want to marry your son.” He blurted it out so quickly he hardly even knew what he was saying.

Luckily, though, she understood it well enough that he didn’t need to repeat it. “You don’t need to look so worried, I’m not going to say no. You’re one of the best things that have ever happened to him. Why would I deny a chance to make him happier?”

He debated, for a moment, going through the list of everything he had thought of. Most of them were subjective anyway; some were only bad because he was determined to overthink them to the point that they were.

He’d never felt nervous talking about or to Imre until now. He wasn’t sure how anyone could’ve lived like this at the very sight or thought of their lover. It was gnawing at the back of his mind, whispering things about what his answer would be.

After that, he never felt nervous or anxious around Imre ever again.

…

“A kid.” Dimas continued to stare at her. “Imre still spends ten minutes staring at his wedding ring every morning! Do you really think he’s ready to adopt a kid?”

“I never said he was ready,” Zofie replied breezily. “At this point of the child’s life you shouldn’t be a part of it at all. That’s what nurses are for. Minne’s raised a child before, and she’s still young enough to match its vigor. I’m sure she’ll do it.”

“I came here thinking you needed my help,” he pointed out. “Given the fact you’re still recovering from losing your magic, I thought a summons would be important. Not that the scouts found a kid that definitely is not human.”

She ignored everything up until the last sentence. Gesturing to the baby in Thero’s arms, she deadpanned, “Look into its dark, soulless eyes and tell me you don’t want to adopt it.”

“I need a minute,” Dimas decided. “If there’s even a chance he’s a dreamer… Imre’s going to want to know. Give me a couple of days to talk it over in letters.”

…

He’d fought literal demons before. He’d braved the Anysia Caverns, dared to stand against the mighty Minotaur! But this was not fighting, nor adventuring, nor turning legends into concrete truth. This was trying to tame a seven-year-old with all the power of a Skiá, while still keeping everyone else safe.

It took them months before they found their solution; it took them even longer to actually obtain a piece of it and use it. But they finally had it. All they had to do was make sure it worked.

Natheniel eagerly awaited his present, nowhere close to hiding his excitement. “What’s it for, what’s it for? It’s not my birthday. That was two months ago. It’s not a holiday… is it? Is it a new holiday? Did you create a holiday just for me?”

“Maybe,” Dimas laughed. He could at least say he knew one thing after growing up with Zofie: how to put on a fake smile, and how to appear more reassuring and happy than he felt. “What do you think we should call it?”

The kid thought long and hard before giving his bright answer. “Natheniel Gets a Present Day! Every kid gets a present. Except for Tavin. He doesn’t need a present.”

“Don’t talk about your brother like that.” Imre’s tone remained cold and a little distant. He wasn’t bothering to offer the present; he was likely too worried about everyone that wasn’t here. “This is something very important and special. It means more than you know.”

Natheniel’s eyes sparkled as the fateful moment drew closer. He watched in awe as Dimas pulled out the necklace and put it on him.

“It’s a little big for now, but it won’t seem like that when you get older,” Dimas explained. “It’s going to help keep us safe. It only works if you have it on, though, so never take it off unless you absolutely have to. Okay?”

He stared at his gift, nodding fervently. “I’ll never take it off, promise!”