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“Is it wise to let such a small creature wander so?” Malleus inquired, watching with mild trepidation as young Silver attempted to scale a particularly unruly willow. “I was under the impression human young were not so… durable as us Fae.”
Lilia simply sighed, and shrugged over-exaggeratedly. “He’ll be fine, Malleus.” He said, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. “I was worried too at first, but too much worry will only keep Silver from the new experiences he craves. If we don’t let him wander a bit, he’ll get restless, and reckless.”
Then, his cheeks pinked in… embarrassment? And he shuffled his stance as if uncomfortable. “I learned that lesson after a rather stern talking-to from Baur’s son-in-law.”
Malleus would never say aloud that he could make a sound so undignified as a snort, but that was the only word the sound he made in response.
“Ho ho, how far our mighty General Vanrouge has fallen. To be beholden to a human, for advice on child-rearing, no less. What has the world come to? Shall I expect pigs to begin taking to the sky as well?”
The gaze Lilia leveled at him would have been enough to turn a lesser man to stone. “Oh, hush you, that’s Baur’s family you’re talking about. And you weren’t all that different from Silver when you were younger.” He huffed.
Malleus looked back and took a moment to consider the picture Silver painted; sweaty, dirty, and exhausted. Not quite the words he favoured being applied to him.
“Hmph. Well in any case, I don’t recall ever getting so…”
“Damn filthy?” Lilia finished; his tone teasing, but his gaze rested on Silver fond and soft.
“I was going to use the term ‘adventurous’.” Malleus finished, shaking his head and ridding his horns of the nesting birds. Oddly, he remembered the egg well, but his recollections of his early hatched years were tenuous at best.
“Adventurous, eh? And then some.” Lilia’s sigh was faint, as if heard through acres of mist. Seemingly indulging in a far off memory of Malleus’s childhood.
“You always seemed to want to be anywhere but the palace. Whenever I was there you always hounded me with demands. ‘Lilia I wanna see the festival. Lilia I wanna see the forest. Lilia I wanna see this place from this book. Lilia this, Lilia that!’ on and on and on about whatever adventure it was you wanted to go on on whatever particular day.” He rolled his eyes, breathing lightly, wistfully; lost in his memories.
Malleus nearly felt uncomfortable watching him, the gentleness in his eyes and the softness in his posture. He felt almost as if he was intruding.
Do you miss it? He felt tempted to ask, but quickly thought better of it.
It was hard to guess what Lilia would say; sometimes he still treated Malleus like a child, trying to say the right thing as to not send him into a ‘tantrum’, and yet he had accrued a rather nasty mean streak of honesty in his old age.
Malleus wasn’t entirely sure which was better, if either answer would alleviate this heaviness. So he did what he did best; kept his quiet, and his distance.
Before a shout abruptly pulled him back to reality.
“Daddy! Daddy! Come here!” Silver’s voice echoed from somewhere hidden amongst the hanging foliage of the ancient willow.
“Well, that’s my cue.” Lilia chuckled, blinking back the daydream. “I do hope he hasn’t gotten stuck, I warned him…” He shook his head, exasperated. Patting Malleus on the shoulder, then sauntering towards the willow.
“What is it, my little songbird?” Lilia teased, voice soft; softer than Malleus could ever recall it. “Decided to build a nest up in that tree?”
Silver carefully clambered down the tree, a tangle of arms and legs before pushing himself off and landing, wobbling, in front of Lilia. Once he’d brushed himself off he fixed his hands on his hips and wore a rather exaggerated pout at his father. “I’m not actually a bird, daddy!” He claimed defiantly.
The silver strands of his hair stuck up in odd directions from his tussle with the willows branches, enough to make Lilia laugh heartily.
“Really?” Lilia’s mock expression of shock and horror was almost enough to make Malleus snort. “Well, whatever could you be then?” He made a point of punctuating his question with three big, wondering taps on his cheek.
Silver’s glare turned even sharper, and his pout somehow even more pronounced; before he turned to Malleus and yelled: “Malleus! Daddy’s being mean again!”
Malleus could not for the life of him begin to guess why Silver felt he had to bring him into this, but it would be rude not to respond to such a clear, desperate plea for help.
(No, the smarmy grin on Lilia’s face had absolutely nothing to do with it.)
“Lilia, really, there is no need for such teasing.” He tutted, standing straight and dignified with all the regal power of someone born into divine authority and influence and who knew what to do with it. “Clearly, Silver is a squirrel. You saw how fast he ascended that tree.”
Lilia’s delighted guffaws were nearly enough to keep him from feeling guilt as Silver’s pudgy face simply fell in betrayal. “You’re both the worst!” He shouted, cheeks and ears bright pink “You know what, I’m not gonna show you! Either of you!”
His face stayed scrunched up and stern even as Lilia bent down to pinch his cheek. “Oh no!” He exclaimed. “However shall I go on if I do not solve this terrible mystery?” He snickered some more under his breath before he continued, “Silver you mustn't keep me in suspense! Wouldn’t you be so kind as to ease this strain on your poor fathers heart?”
To Silver’s credit, he put up an admirable defence against the cheek pinching, but was ultimately powerless and Lilia picked him up by his middle and spun him around, quickly devolving to giggles, intermittently begging his father to ‘stop!’ and ‘put me down!’
It was a horrifyingly domestic scene.
Malleus wondered what time he would be needed back at the castle, and if that time would be so kind as to hasten its passage. It was better a lame excuse than a lie.
He turned his eyes to the check position of the sun, and found himself temporarily blindsided as he forgot quite how bright the blasted thing was. How Diurnal Fae got a damn thing done under its infernal rays was a mystery he figured to be better left unsolved.
His momentary stumble, however minute, wasn’t quite subtle enough to bypass Lilia’s sharp hearing. He turned to Malleus with a snort.
“You alright over there?” He called. Malleus rubbed his eyes harshly, quickly turning his back to them lest they see the water building. “Perfectly fine, yes.”
“Uh-huh.” Lilia answered. Followed by a long moment of silence that Malleus was certain was Lilia giving Silver a knowing wink.
He stayed turned away for another moment, unsure of when to look back at the pair before he felt a small hand tugging gently at his cloak. He didn’t turn back.
“It’s alright, Malleus! I forget not to look at the sun sometimes too!” Silver said, and Malleus could just imagine the wide spread grin on his face as he found something in common between them.
And though Malleus did not exactly enjoy being compared in his folly to a creature over a hundred years his junior, it warmed his heart an awful lot more than he would care to admit.
And the quicker he left that feeling behind, the better. “Didn’t you have something to show Lilia?”
Silver gasped dramatically, beginning to tug much more urgently on Malleus’ cloak. “That’s right! Come on!”
Malleus turned slowly, letting himself be pulled by Silver’s grubby little fingers on his silken cloak. “Why in the Thorn Fairy’s name are you pulling me along then? Isn’t it for your father?”
Silver didn’t stop but his face scrunched up momentarily in deep thought. “It can be for both of you!” He decided, bringing Malleus to a stop next to Lilia in front of the tree.
He crouched down in front of where he’d landed minutes before, pulling up a… circle as he stood. “Do you guys like it?” Silver asked eagerly.
“It’s wonderful, sweetie,” Lilia answered for them, “But, um, what is it?” And Silver’s face scrunched up in what was only the second biggest pout of the morning.
“It’s a flower crown!” As if to prove this point he held it further aloft, shaking it harshly. Lilia nodded along sagely “I see! And what kinds of flowers would those be?”
“They’re catkins! They grow on the willow!” He pointed up to the higher branches as if for emphasis. “Sebek told me they were flowers…” He began to wilt, holding the fraying crown closer to his chest as if protecting it from further scrutiny.
Well, Malleus could certainly believe that. Sebek had a variety of interests in rather niche areas, and it would certainly be no surprise if those areas included arboriculture.
“It’s beautiful!” Lilia claimed suddenly, “The technique could use some work… but the heart put into it is undeniable! I absolutely love it!”
Silver’s face lit up like a firework at his fathers praise, his face splitting in a smile. Before he turned to Malleus, seemingly eager for his opinion.
Malleus side-eyed Lilia, asking silently for his advice; to which he simply winked. Typical.
He faced Silver once more, carefully choosing his words. “It’s clearly the work of a skilled craftsman.” He decided, and Silver’s radiant smile instantly made the lie worth it.
“Bend down and close your eyes!” He demanded of them, and Malleus would normally rain thunder and lightning down upon whoever would dare speak to him so rudely, but Silver’s eyes were pure and he could see Lilia already kneeling in his peripherals.
So he… simply did the same. And then he felt something light drop into his head, sliding around his horns, and then another one.
“Ok! Open them!” Silver called.
Malleus blinked quickly as he reopened his eyes, reacclimating them to the bright sunlight, and turning his head to look at Lilia who now proudly wore the crown of catkins on his head. He was unable to hold back a small snicker at the sight, and Lilia turned to him with a smirk.
“Silver, that’s no fair! How come Malleus gets twice as many as I do?” He put his hands on his hips, his head turned down dejectedly.
Silver’s answer was simple, “Because he’s a prince!” He announced proudly. Lilia only sighed, “Well I can't argue with that logic can I?” He grinned suddenly, “Was this why you took so long up in the tree? Were you weaving these for us?” He cooed.
“Yes! I couldn’t come down until they were perfect!”
Lilia laughed, “And perfect they certainly are!” And he scratched his chin ponderingly, “That must mean it's my turn to make you a flower crown then! I can’t simply receive such a beautiful gift and not repay it in kind!” To which Silver simply giggled.
“Yes that’s right! I’ll be back in a jiffy with the most perfect flower crown you’ve ever laid your eyes on!” Lilia claimed, turning to head deeper into the forest, “Look after Silver while I’m gone, Malleus!” He sent Malleus a conspiratory wink as he went.
Malleus only stood dumbstruck where he stood as Lilia wandered off and left him behind with Silver. Staring at the spot where Lilia last stood, before he felt, once more, a gentle tugging at his cloak.
“It wasn’t actually because you’re a prince.” Silver whispered guiltily. “The third was originally meant to be mine, but you looked sad so I gave you both. I’m sorry for lying.”
And Malleus felt himself struck dumb for already the second time that morning.
This child…
“I’m back! Sorry it took so long but I had to find the perfect flowers-” Lilia’s booming voice slowly petered out as he stepped back into the clearing, turning his gaze upon where Malleus and Silver now slept, curled up together under the willow, a beautiful crown of pink and blue flowers now adorning Silver’s head.
My little princes, he thought. These two really would be the death of him…
And as he carefully set the woven white flowers upon Silver and Malleus’ head, and curled up with them beneath the tree's canopy, he figured it wasn’t such a bad way to go.