Page 104 of Blinding Light

“Ms Fandi has been with us for a long time. Even longer than your mother, Imperial Moargan.”

“What?” Cyprian stared up at him with wide eyes. “Your mother is here too?”

Moargan waved him off. “Later. First you. This is your moment.” Dismissing the doctor, Moargan grabbed Cyprian’s palm and pressed a kiss on it. “I’m right behind you.”

“Thank you.” His lover hesitated then cleared his throat and straightened his posture. Then he pressed through the door and walked inside.

By the window stood the bed. A small frame shaped the white blankets, and black hair, a sharp contrast to the whiteness around them.

“You have her hair,” Moargan mused.

Cyprian looked up at him, eyeing him with wet, yellow eyes. He looked vulnerable and strong at the same time. Afraid, yet determined. He looked perfect.

He looked…like he was Moargan’s.

“I hope so.”

The woman in the bed seemed to be asleep, but when Moargan peeked over Cyprian’s shoulder, he caught the exact moment her eyes squinted, before they slowly opened and blinked.

Celia Fandi looked at Cyprian, and Moargan held his breath. “Who are you?” She asked. Her voice was a rasp as if it wasn’t used much.

“My name is Cyprian,” he whispered. “I’ve been looking for you.” His voice broke and Moargan felt his lover’s heartbeat accelerate. His hand wanted to reach out and comfort him, but he didn’t. Hisaeonhad traveled the galaxy for this very moment.

“Cyprian,” Celia murmured thoughtfully. “I know you.” Herblue eyes stared into his for a long time. Then she started crying. Long, deep sobs erupted from her chest. She trembled and fell apart, wave after wave of sorrow that burst toward the surface.

“Mama,” Cyprian choked, and he leaned in and put his arms around her. They cried, together, shaking and whispering and letting more emotion leak, until a careful giggle escaped Celia. There was another one, then Cyprian let out a laugh, one of such happiness Moargan wasn’t sure he’d ever heard it before.

It was beautiful.

“I’ll leave you to it,” he whispered, but they didn’t notice, enraptured as they were in each other’s discovery. Outside the room, Moargan caught the doctor who was already waiting for him. “What’s wrong with her?”

“She has suffered severe brain trauma caused by domestic violence. The damage in her frontal lobe has prevented her from mentally aging. Over the years, she has developed behavioral changes that have led to her being a permanent resident here.”

“Behavioural changes?” Moargan peeked through the crack of the door, where Cyprian was still hugging his mother. “What do you mean by that?”

“She behaves like an adolescent,” the doctor explained. “And can’t live independently in our society.”

“Who pays for her treatment? A place like this has its price.” Moargan thought of that piece of trash Ludo Fandi, who was now rotting in a Luminary cell, awaiting to meet his death.

“Your family does.”

“What?”.

“Your mother met Celia Fandi, before she was admitted to the hospital, through a charity program she had set up for abused women on Helion. She was—is—a remarkable woman. Celia confided in her and told her how her husband ruthlessly took her children from her. How she begged him to let her keepthem. Her husband was an abusive animal, but since Celia wouldn’t press charges, her situation didn’t change.”

“What made her become a patient here?”

“Her final pregnancy. By then, she already knew your mother, and they’d become friends. There were medical complications during the delivery. The baby was born and sold, while Celia was left empty and broken. It was only later that your mother understood where Celia’s babies had ended up. In the royal laboratories. By then, it was too late. They’d already been sent off-planet. Celia became…troubled. Your mother took it upon herself to take care of her. Ironically, she brought her here years ago. I was there myself when she came through those doors.”

Moargan took a deep breath. He had been six years old when his mother had been admitted here. And while he didn’t remember much of that day, the raw feelings that had blanketed him were still etched in his memory.

A heartache. A loneliness so deep it made his heart rattle and his eyes leak.

Moargan didn’t cry. Hadn’t for a long time. But right now, he felt like crying. Because of Cyprian, with his golden eyes and bashful smile. With his iron determination and need for the truth. Cyprian, his virgin boy whom he had baptized into the world of desire.

Cyprian, who had traveled all the way from Tulniri to find Celia Fandi.

Celia, who had been a friend of Moargan’s mother.

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