Chapter 97: 97-Spoilt beasts
"It sounds good. Let me listen for a while. You don’t mind, do you?"
How could Nytherael mind, he very much adored Sseraphis and enjoyed every waking moment when they were together, happy and without the bitterness of the past getting in the way of their love.
He leaned his body against the tree for support so that Sseraphis could lean on him for however long the snake wanted. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.
The air felt fresh. Fresher than it had been in weeks, and he was rather pleased. It took a lot of bumps and huddles, but he got to where he wanted to be. Things weren’t perfect, and it wasn’t the happy family he expected to return to, but it was a start.
Yes, Sseraphis hadn’t said that he forgave him for the past, but he expressed understanding for what happened and that alone was a milestone for him.
"Your heart is beating faster than normal," Sseraphis said, cuddling closer to the fox. The warmth from the furry beast was like a thousand butterfly kisses against his naturally cold skin.
Ordinarily, he would detest heat, but with Nytherael and Aeltharion, he felt rather drawn to it. Like their warmth was the missing pieces of him, the other halves of his soul.
"I would be worried if it wasn’t beating faster when you are so close to me," he whispered.
His heart was at peace. Aeltharion and Sseraphis no longer hated him, with Fairy Zarathia’s appearance, he was able to know that his past betrayal was due to manipulation by a third party and his closest friends and family no longer looked unto him with hate and blame.
A huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He was free from the shackles of past sins that once weighed him down. And he could sit under a tree, enjoy fresh air and the beauty of the garden without feeling undeserving of such peace. Not that he noticed the garden with the gorgeous beauty in his arms.
"I wish lightning were here to enjoy this moment with us," he thought out loud.
Sseraphis opened his eyes, pulled back, and stared him in confusion. ’Lightning?’ The nickname sounded familiar like he’d heard it a thousand times, but he couldn’t place who Nytherael was referring to.
"Who’s lightning?"
Nytherael snapped his eyes open. Meeting Sseraphis’ gaze, he didn’t act surprised or shocked that Sseraphis had no clue about who he was talking about. Understanding Sseraphis’ current condition, he explained, "Aeltharion. I don’t usually call him by name, so I call him lightning."
Sseraphis nodded. "Is there a beast you like to call by name?" He found himself asking. The fox called him little truth despite having a name, and then he called Aeltharion lightning.
He understood the reason Nytherael called him that since the memory of the day, Nytherael explained the meaning behind it was still fresh in his mind. However, it made no sense why he called Aeltharion lightning. The dragon wasn’t a lightning dragon, nor was any part of him related to lightning.
"Why do you call him that?"
Nytherael blinked, his eyes lowering to the ground. The reason he called Aeltharion lightning flashed in his mind, and a smile instantly appeared on his face.
He remembered it like it was yesterday, the day that he started associating Ae1ltharion to lightning.
~
It was the day of hearts. Couples filled every corner of the city. Different vendors were selling all kinds of items meant to express love.
Red balloons, red clothes, and sweet delicacies were everywhere. It was Nytherael’s first day of hearts after marrying Aeltharion and Sseraphis. Marriage and love were still new between the three of them.
That day, Aeltharion suggested that they visit the market so he could buy them their first day of hearts as a memory of the occasion.
When they arrived at the market, they could barely hold a conversation because of the overwhelming noise. People came and went constantly, and everything moved at a frantic pace. Sseraphis and Nytherael had never visited a local market like this in their lives. They found themselves standing frozen in place like two statues.
"Come on, let’s go!" Aeltharion told them.
"Are you in your right mind, dragon?" Sseraphis asked, wrinkling his nose because of the countless beast scents lingering in the air. "When you said you were taking us to a market, not for a single moment did I imagine you meant somewhere like this."
"What’s wrong with this market? Most of the beasts living in Lioris come here to buy their things."
"Have you run out of money, or did you lose your taste somewhere?" Nytherael joined Sseraphis in questioning him. His blood disagreed with that place just as much.
A place like this was the sort of market his servant like Yiwa should visit to buy supplies, not him. He was Nytherael Auryn, the second son of a great Auryn family, born into immense wealth and prestige throughout the beastworld. For him to come to a place like this and buy anything felt almost insulting to both himself and his family.
"Why would you say that?" Aeltharion asked gently. "A market is a market."
"A market is not just a market!" Both Nytherael and Sseraphis snapped simultaneously.
The markets they were accustomed to had attendants who brought them whatever they desired, carried their purchases, and were housed inside magnificent golden buildings where simply entering felt like a pleasure.
Not places like this, where any beast could come and go freely, where crowds bumped into one another while walking, where noise filled every corner, and where customers had to move from shop to shop searching for what they wanted. They did not enjoy it in the slightest.
"The first time I came to a market like this, I also had some negative thoughts about..."
"Let me stop you right there. You will never convince me that buying anything here is acceptable. Please, let’s go somewhere else," Sseraphis interrupted irritably.
"This isn’t where I want to celebrate the day of hearts, a day meant for lovers, Aeltharion. Please take me somewhere else," Nytherael added.
"Alright."
Aeltharion reached into his pocket and pulled out a pouch containing uncountable gold shards, enough to buy a city.
"Go wherever you want and buy whatever you desire. Take these shards as my gift to both of you," he said quietly, pain evident in his voice.
After placing the pouch into Nytherael’s hand, he turned around and left, disappearing into the crowd in no time.
Nytherael stared at the pouch before looking at Sseraphis, only to find the serpent staring back at him. For a long moment, neither of them moved. Neither knew where to go or what to do.
"Nytherael," Sseraphis spoke first. "Do you think that in a marriage, a beast should do what they want, or what their mate wants, even when it doesn’t make them happy?" he asked.
Nytherael didn’t know the answer. This was his first marriage. He was still learning how to live with both the dragon and the serpent. He had not been married long enough to know how one should behave, what compromises were worth making, or what the right choice was in situations like this. Everything was still new to him.
"Even though Aeltharion gave us permission to do whatever we want, why do I feel like I’ve done something wrong?"
"I feel the same way. I don’t feel good about this anymore. I’ve even lost the desire to go somewhere else."
"Me too," Nytherael admitted. "Let’s go find Aeltharion and see what he wants to do. Whatever he suggests, I think we should do it without complaining. Afterwards, we can do whatever we want ourselves."
Sseraphis nodded in agreement. With that, they manoeuvred the busy streets in search of their brooding dragon.
As they searched, Sseraphis looked at Nytherael and asked, "What do you think we should do when we find him? How do we make up to him for being spoilt beasts?"
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