#madas

Husband:

“… Madas.”

Lazy blue eyes sharpened. The blond jerked his head away from the campfire, and his gaze locked firmly on the young woman across from him.

“Yes, my lady?” he answered softly.

Despite beckoning his attention, Celine’s eyes were fixed on the meager meal: A few little greengills on each wooden skewer, slowly roasting away. A far cry from the daily fresh bread or pork or beef that she was certainly accustomed to.

The lady pouted, and Madas’s ears folded back. She must have been displeased with such a paltry offering.

“What do you hope to accomplish, Forge?”

Yet, as always, her words gave him pause. His mouth hung open for a moment before he returned to stoking the fire.

“What do you mean, my lady?”

“Once you graduate,” Celine clarified. “What will you do? Where will you go?”

The prospect of graduation was still quite a few years off. However, Celine did have a point. Madas was fortunate enough to be placed under her father’s care; himself and Orville. But, once all was said and done, what would come after? Had Madas even thought that far ahead? Was he supposed to have his life already planned out?

“I…” The boy hummed, absently tapping his stick over the burning pile. “I suppose I’ll be a blacksmith,” he muttered. “Maybe. I don’t know yet…”

His ears were filled with crackling. The cracks of the flames nipping and snapping the branches, the crunching of leaves on the forest floor, the light breeze whipping the bright orange warmth about. When all had hollowed his mind, her voice cut into his lungs.

“I don’t know either.”

Silas was already bound by obligation to his loved ones. From what he’d told Madas, his life was in his family’s hands. Was that to be expected for all nobility?

“Is…” He furrowed his brow. “Isn’t that a good thing, my lady?”

“I suppose. My mother and father met well into their adulthood.” The redhead huffed through her nose as she grabbed her skewer, staring down the greengills with narrowed eyes. “But their paths were already set long before then. Their families had served the great lords for generations.”

Celine closed her eyes, and for a moment, Madas could hear only her deep breathing. The moment she opened them, she took a large bite of salted fish.

“But we live in the country now,” she murmured between bites. “Father was practically chased out of the city because of me…”

It was Ilmar’s choice to leave the city, was it not? He and Orville had to help the Gerani family relocate, he was certain her father had brought that up!

“Celine—”

“What path am I to lead, then?” The girl trailed a hand up to her right cheek, and she traced her fingertips over the scarred flesh. “What plan does the white goddess have for me?”

Madas’s ears drooped upon hearing her words. He looked upon her dulled green eyes, and his heart sank.

“Celine…”