Page 36 of To Free a Soul
Joy radiated through Weldir’s mist when he saw Orpheus back at the salt line, sitting at it as he twisted his head one way and then the next.He understands, even if it doesn’t seem like it.His language capabilities were stilted, but he comprehended enough that he didn’t immediately ruin Lindiwe’s work.
He even brought the satchel she’d left behind inside and dumped it in front of Katerina, who sneered at it. When his back was turned, she gingerly kicked it to the side.
If Lindiwe can come to accept me, then surely this human can accept my offspring.
That had taken decades, but that was due to their inability to share real moments. They couldn’t exist long term in either realm, as she had a duty to perform in hers, and his realm wasn’t a life worth living. There was no possibility of him existing in her world, when he could not touch it, taste it, or even smell it.
He would merely haunt her, like a spirit.
She sought the light, and he belonged in the void.
Katerina looks upon Orpheus similarly to how Lindiwe once looked upon me.Seeing it again, a gaze that wasn’t narrowed on him but on someone who was just as ignorant, formed pity in his consciousness.Hopefully she learns to trust him long before he realises what that gaze means.
Although Weldir’s thoughts had turned forlorn, especially regarding his mate, he had this yearning to look upon her beauty. To know that her gaze had lost its ire and spite, and she now looked upon him fondly.
He hadn’t expected to greet her stare, or for her brown eyes, filled with flecks of mesmerising golden amber, to appear so... tender. There was a softness to her expression as her eyes flicked side to side while she regarded him.
Her shoulders relaxed. Then a small smile curled her full lips, and it made her cheeks swell, as if with mild joy. “Do you seek affection, Weldir?”
“Don’t most beings?” he asked rhetorically. “I may be a god, but I still wish to experience such things.”
“Demi-god,” she corrected, as her smile grew.
“Ugh.” Weldir rolled his eyes, not that she could tell by the lack of whites in them. “I have told you before: a god is a god, no matter their status.”
A small laugh escaped her.
The sound of her humour, so rarely shared with him, echoed in his realm. He grasped at it with his mana and tried to trap it within his mist permanently. It faded before he could find a way to do so.
“Thank you, Weldir.” She continued to hold his hand – finally hers had stilled from the anxious picking.
“For what?” he asked. “Our opinions differ on the matter of what is good and what is wrong about this situation.”
“Because even if you didn’t mean to, you made me feel better. Thank you for letting me talk to you, and for not disregarding my feelings even if you don’t agree with me.”
Weldir’s mist tightened against him as something pleasant sparked through his being.
“Of course. I’ve... always tried to be a source of comfort for you.”
He often wanted her to see things his way, not because he wanted to be right, but because it was often simpler and lacked emotional ties, or human morals and ideologies. Which in turn could alleviate her guilt or pain.
Generally, he only ever made matters worse.
“I know,” she answered softly. “I think I’ve begun to see that.”
His mist drew impossibly tighter against him, and he felt pressure across his face. He believed his own smile had formed, one that might be rather triumphant.
Only intense emotions tended to have a physical reaction that he couldn’t control.
They sat together in silence, watching Orpheus until it was late into the night and the female he had in his keeping curled up underneath her blanket to have a fitful sleep. Whether it be luck or coincidence, no Demons came to disturb them, and his offspring guarded her vehemently through the night.
“Is this how you’ve been watching us?” Lindiwe asked, gesturing to the other discs.
Weldir followed her gaze to the view of Dymphna, who ambled alongside a stream through the forest. After so many years, his third-eldest offspring was large and muscular. He’d lost many of his bones due to eating many creatures, and had long ago gained his gender and much humanity.
Nowhere near Merikh, who had dozens of human deaths on his clawed hands, but enough to be rather intelligent.
He was one of the only Mavka who knew their name clearly.
