"What do you mean 'he wants to see his son'?" Vara asked while unrolling the scroll.
The letter was short. It informed them the king was visiting Vertalis to go over the proceedings, so Lucius needed to be present. The prince was to ride to Vertalis with the messenger bearing the letter.
Vara lowered the scroll and looked at Iason incredulously. "Is he serious?!"
"I'm afraid so," Iason said grimly.
Vara looked at Lucius and opened her mouth, but Lucius spoke before she could. "Do I have to go?"
Iason kneeled down to the boy's level. "He is your father, prince Lucius. He may be going through a hard time now, but you still owe him your respect. This could be a good thing. Perhaps he is ready now to take care of you again. You shouldn't grow up a stranger to him."
"Iason is right," Vara said gently, "it was the promise we made. You need to at least try. Make an effort to reconnect wit him. You can show him how much you have progressed in your lessons."
Lucius looked down. He loved his father. But right now, he wasn't sure if he wanted to live with his father. It had been so long.
Vara now kneeled down too. "You know Iason and I love you. That will never change. But you are still a prince, heir to the throne. At some point, you will have to return to Auros and live there. As will your father. He is making an effort. You should do the same. Boncini will always be here. You can always come back. But your place is with your father." She would have gone with him to Vertalis if she could, but in light of the situation it wouldn't be the wisest idea. Once the king had returned to Auros, she would speak with Cyrus in person. Now was not the time for that.
She waited for Lucius to give a reluctant nod before rising to her feet again. She looked at Iason. "It's late already. We can't send them out now. Let them at least wait until morning. Lucius hasn't even eaten yet."
Iason smiled sadly. "I have already arranged for the guestroom to be prepared." He didn't this development any more that she did, but in the end Lucius was not their son.
He caressed her cheek. "Go eat something." He kissed her forehead. "We'll talk later," he said softly.
Vara nodded and turned to Lucius. "Go get cleaned up. I'll ask Chloe to serve dinner in the dining room." She watched the boy go and bit her lip. She wasn't sure how to feel about this. In the time Lucius had been living with her and Iason she had gotten attached to the boy. It would be hard to let him go, but she had always known this moment would come. And he should live with his father.
Iason stood next to her and rubbed her arm comforting. "What's on your mind?" he asked quietly.
Vara shook her head sadly. "I'm just worried. About the both of them." She sighed and looked at Iason guiltily. "And how much I don't want to let him go. I know he is not our son, but I've grown attached to him. I don't want to see him get hurt."
"I feel the same," Iason admitted, "but Cyrus is his father. We need to give him that chance. It's what's best for Lucius too." The longer the two were separated, the more difficult it would become. They needed to encourage the boy now or there would only be resentment later.
Iason locked his arms around his wife and held her closely. "Everything will turn out right. You'll see."
...
Cyrus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. What a mess his life had become. He wasn't very proud of himself. He was a man grown. He should be able to handle himself better than this.
Guilt had been eating away at him ever since Ariane had died. Guilt for not being there for her, for not loving her enough, and now, for not taking care of their son.
How could he even face Lucius who looked so much like his mother? He loved the boy, but he couldn't look into those eyes without being reminded of all the things he had done wrong.
But now he had no choice. His father was coming for inspection and to discuss the future of Vertalis. He'd expect to see Lucius there. Cyrus wasn't; sure what would happen if his father didn't see his grandson here, but he wasn't about to find out.
He had sent a messenger to Boncini. Lucius would be here by nightfall. That still gave him enough time to prepare himself. He hadn't really spent time with the boy since before he went off to the war. That had been months ago. He wasn't too worried about the boy himself. Vara and Iason would have taken good care of him. Not just because Lucius was Cyrus' son, but because he was a child that needed care.
Things had changed at Vertalis. All of the staff had been thoroughly questioned and depending on the outcome, dealt with. His men had finally managed to locate the secret routes into Balor that had been used for the exchange of information. A few days ago, they had also found the mysterious rider Iolaus had seen when they had first visited here.
Now they needed to patch up the holes in their border defenses. That was part of the reason his father was visiting.
"Your Highness," one of the servants had stepped into the room and looked at him uncertain. The prince's moods were still unpredictable. "The room has been prepared for prince Lucius. Do you wish to inspect it?"
Cyrus lightly shook his head. "I trust you know how to prepare a room for the young prince."
The servant bowed hastily at the crown prince's annoyed tone and left the room.
Cyrus sighed again. What did a boy Lucius' age need? He was what? Nearly six now? Seven? Too old for toys, surely. And his father wouldn't insist on seeing the boy's room, would he? This wasn't a visit about Lucius. this was about Vertalis. His father would have no reason to be suspicious about Lucius' whereabouts.
A stable had been cleared for Lucius' horse. His teacher and wetnurse would both travel with him and stay in the servants quarters.
Yes, everything would be fine.
...
The house already seemed much emptier. Lucius had left for Vertalis early that morning. Only a small escort had accompanied the boy so they wouldn't draw attention. His teacher and wetnurse would ride the carriage with him, and his horse was led on the reigns by the messenger Cyrus had sent.
Vara just hoped everything would go well and that this would bring Cyrus and Lucius closer together again.
"Wew Wucius?"
Vara turned around at the sound of Phoebe's voice. The little girl was waggling into the room with her blanket dragging behind her.
Vara smiled at her sadly. "Lucius is on a trip," she told the girl. "He is visiting his father."
Phoebe pouted. "Phoebe wants to pway with Wucius."
"I know, sweety," Vara sighed, "but he is not here right now. Why don't you play with auntie Vara instead?"
Phoebe pouted again. "Wen Wucius come back?"
"I don't know, honey," Vara answered, "not for a while." The king would stay several days at Vertalis at least. What would happen after that, Vara wasn't sure. Cyrus might decide to return the boy to Boncini. Or, if all went well, keep him with him at Vertalis.
It was what she should hope for. But she couldn't deny that she wanted to keep the boy close.
She sighed. "Come, Phoebe." She held out her hand for the girl to take. "Let's see if momma goat has had her babies yet." She guided the child outside towards the goat pen. The girl was at that age where she was easily distracted. As soon as they entered the shed where the goats were kept during winter, Phoebe grabbed a hand of grains to feed the animals. Withing seconds they crowded around her. Phoebe only giggled.
"Morning, my lady," the stablemaster greeted when he noticed Vara, "have you come to inspect the animals?"
"Not today, Philip. I'm only here to distract a little girl. She misses her friend."
Philip nodded in understanding. "I'm sure she's not the only one ," he said kindly. Even if it was never openly spoken out, the entire staff of Boncini knew the reason the young prince had been staying at Boncini. And everyone had grown attached to the boy. Most of all Vara.
"I just don't want him to be disappointed," Vara sighed.
Philip looked at her kindly. "I'm sure his Highness the crown prince has his son's best interests at heart, my lady."
"I know," Vara said softly. She didn't doubt that Cyrus loved his son. He question was, could he remember how to show it? She looked at Philip sadly. "Have you seen Iason today?" He hadn't been in the house earlier.
"He was with the men before, my lady," Philip informed her, "he is probably in the training grounds. I'd be more than happy to watch the little troublemaker if you wish to look for him."
Vara smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you, Philip." She set out in the indicated direction and found Iason with some of the soldiers, testing their steel against one another. Even though they were not at war anymore, they still needed to keep up with their training.
For a while, she just watched Iason clash his steel against one of the soldiers. She liked watching him. She was still trying to reassure herself he was back home, safe and sound, even if it had been a while since he had returned.
When Iason noticed her, he signaled for his opponent to stop, and made his way over. "Hey," he said, "everything okay? Try not to worry about Lucius. He will be alright."
"I know," she nodded. She locked her arms around herself. "I just hope they get along. I don't want Lucius to get caught in between an argument between Cyrus and the king. They are both stubborn men. What will happen when the king finds out Lucius had been staying here all along?"
Iason sighed softly. It wasn't fair that Vara always had to bear all responsibilities. Cyrus was a man grown. He should take care of his own problems.
Though he couldn't completely fault Cyrus either. "We'll deal with that once the problem arises." He kissed her forehead. "Didn't you receive a letter from Torcan yesterday? Normally you'd be in your study writing him back."
Vara let out a sigh. "I wouldn't know what to tell him. Lucius is Darius' nephew. You know there is already strain with me and Darius. How well would it go over when he finds out Cyrus isn't taking care of his son but has the boy stay with us?"
Iason shook his head. "It is only a matter of time before he hears of it. Perhaps it would be better if he learns it from you. Besides, Lucius is back with his father now. We don't know what will happen next. I'm sure he is also anxiously waiting for news."
"You're right," Vara nodded. She was just so tired of conflict. The last thing she wanted was another pointless discussion with Darius. He would probably seize the opportunity to criticize her again. "I'll be in the study," she said, "will you join me later? We haven't had the chance yet to go over the sales and the animals yet. We've made a great profit. There will be plenty left after the deduction of taxes for the king. We can implement the improvements to the village we have talked about. And send some money to your family. Cassi is growing up. I know she is still young, but she can start saving up for when she reaches marriageable age. And hasn't Zinon found himself a girl?"
Iason smiled lovingly. Vara had always so many things going on in her head. She was always trying to think of everyone and everything all at once. Even after all these years he couldn't believe his luck that she had wanted to marry him. "We should visit them soon," he said, "once the weather lets up. It's been a while."
Vara nodded and smiled at him warmly. "We will," she promised, "as soon as our responsibilities allow it. It won't be that long until the snow will melt. We can plan a visit then. The money will have come in then too." She kissed him lightly. "I will write to them too. And to Salvire."
Iason took a strand of her hair and let it slide through his fingers. "Go write," he smiled at her warmly, "I will join you shortly. Let me finish up here first."
Vara nodded in agreement and turned back to the house. Before making her way to the study, she checked in on little Phoebe in the stables. The girl was quietly playing with the goats. Vara smiled and decided the child would be occupied for quite a while and it was safe to leave her there. There were plenty of stable hands to keep an eye on her.
Iason was right. She should distract herself with work so she wouldn't worry about Lucius. Lucius would be fine.
She entered the study and started her first letter.