At Elderwood, Anit stood in the middle of Tani’s bedroom, taking in his personal space. The large bed in the middle of the room was neat. The closet was open, so she moved closer to find the room filled with tall racks. Tani’s clothes hanging on the racks, and a collection of the same type of shoes in different colors. Anit touched a black pair of Vans and smiled at her son’s little quirks.
“Your presence here kicks him out of his home,” Cale, the god of calamities, said behind her.
She pulled away her hand from Tani’s shoe with a sigh.
“Which puts you in a bad mood,” Anit stated. “You enjoy filling yourself up with his sadness, don’t you?”
“If that’s how you want to judge it, then I gain more with your presence here. Your pain is far more infinite than his,” Cale said, giving a satisfied sigh. “I don’t agree with you punishing Tani this way. You’re his sore spot. Stop giving him unnecessary pain.”
“Cale, I don’t want to hear a lecture on how to treat my son from you,” Anit said, stepping away from her son’s peculiar shoe collection. “When is his calamity ending?”
“The mortal is almost thirty-six years old,” Cale said, shaking his head. “Tani stayed away too long this time.”
“A broken heart will do that to you,” Anit said. “It would be insane to expect him to carry the same feelings after so much pain. Whatever the outcome, you pull Tani out of the mortal realm before the Septum gets to him. I will lock him away in our lands. The next Fox Lord will not be a pawn for the Immortal Clan anymore.”
Cale sighed.
“What?”
“Sunu has asked Tani be returned to the Immortal Clan.”
Anit scoffed.
“My son will take on his rightful title. He is the Fox Lord, the only one in millenniums past. I will not hand him over to the Immortal Clan.”
“He is also the son of the Immortal Lord,” Cale said.
“Your people forgot that part when they chained him to the mortal realm for a thousand years,” Anit said, her green eyes filled with anger. “You tell Sunu I don’t care what he wants. He watched me leave the Citadel when Tani was five hundred and did nothing to stop us. He shall endure his choices for as long as I draw breath.”
Cale studied her for a moment, and then scoffed.
“Meanwhile, Tani suffers between you and Sunu,” Cale said. “You think Tani is enduring his sentence for love because of a human in the mortal realm. You’re wrong. It is because of the lack of love forced on him by you, and Sunu. Don’t ever forget that truth. You should have afforded him more care. Amu and Eren are ready downstairs.”
Cale left the room and Anit fought the urge to fling Tani’s shoes after him.
What did the god of calamities know? Sunu betrayed her first. He abandoned her and Tani first.
Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath and let it out slow. Sunu would not get Tani to enter the Citadel.
Tani belonged to the Fox Clan.
Anit did not bother to go down the stairs. She shimmered out of Tani’s room and appeared in the living room where she had met Tani face to face for the first time in two and a half millenniums. She knew there were mistakes made, but Cale did not have to rub it in.
Still, she would never forget how beautiful Tani’s amber eyes looked.
Anit glared at Eren in the living room, and then sank into an armchair nearest the fireplace. She arranged her frock and rested her hands on the armrests.
“What does the Septum want with my Fox Clan?” Anit asked of Eren.
“Goddess Anit, Eren greats you. I heal the soils of our Immortal Clan lands. I would ask the Fox Goddess a question on the amount of Kara ot in your lands.”
“The black weed is forbidden in my court,” Anit said. “I obliterate it as fast as it is detected. The weed is dangerous for the fox children born between mortals and those of our clan. Black weed infects them, bringing them unimaginable pain as it works to rob them of their abilities. We do not tolerate its presence in our lands.”
“Are you saying you have allowed hybrid children to live in the fox clan lands? How is that possible?” Eren asked her eyes wide with shock.
“We are not purists. It is not impossible in our lands to find children from the mortal realm,” Anit said. “Our fox clan does not punish our people for loving mortals when they visit the mortal realm. Our traits are strong. Children are natural consequences of a mating. When one of ours sires a child with traits leaning to our clan, we bring them back to our lands. It is acceptable to pull them out of the mortal realm in order to protect our Ekho Realm secrets. My council and I have worked hard to create guidelines on the matter. The Palladium Gatekeeper has the guidelines on our rules. She allows passage as needed.”
“So, the foxes are visiting the Mortal Realm often,” Eren said, with a knowing nod.
“You suspect one of our people of bringing the black weed to the mortal realm?” Amu asked, his gaze wide at Eren’s comment.
“We can’t rule them out,” Eren said.
“How bold of you,” Anit said, her voice heavy with annoyance at the audacity in the Immortal Clan. “My people are very careful. I just laid out to you how deadly the weed is to our children. Which of us would then dare to carry it around? How dare you look down on my people?”
“Fox Goddess, I do not mean to disrespect you or your people. I am only pointing out that there is a break in the chain. This problem needs both our clans to find a resolution. The Immortal Clan is willing to help—”
“Eren of the Earth. Our Fox Clan manages to solve problems without your help,” Anit said, slapping her right palm on her arm of her chair. “I have personally cleansed Kara ot from vast swaths of land not only in our Fox Clan but even in the Dragon Clan’s lands and the lesser clans’ provinces. How dare you imply we do less than your Immortal Clan?”
Eren sighed and sat back in her chair. She had no words to use with this Fox Goddess. The woman somehow twisted her words no matter what she said. They seemed to have used up all their good fortune with her.
“Eren,” Amu said. “What do you need from us?”
“Access to the Inter Clan Court. Being one in the Septum, I do not know the members. I only know that the Fox Goddess has a large influence with the court,” Eren said.
“I refuse to carry on the Immortal Clan’s chores,” Anit said, getting up. “Amu, don’t bring me out to handle such a small problem. I’ll go back to my planting now.”
“Can’t you think of your son?” Eren asked.
The Fox Goddess did not like her or the Immortal Clan so she was going to walk away without giving Eren a chance. Eren gave up on diplomacy and decided to sting the woman with words.
“Every time there is an outbreak of Kara ot in the Mortal Realm Lord Tani is the first to know. He is the one to cleanse it, as his power demands it, unlike that of Cale. To cleanse black weed, the cuffs on his wrists have to come off. Surely, no one would wish such pain on their child.”
Anit stopped her departure and her gaze fixed on Eren.
Cale got up fast and stood in front of Eren.
Eren frowned at his clear worry, and then felt the air pressure rise in the room and understood his concern. Cale started to shield Eren, but Anit waved her hand and pushed him away as though he were nothing, sending him to the living room entrance.
At the same time, vines as thick as a hand pierced through the wood floors and wrapped around Eren in tight bands, giving her no chance to escape. Bright green leaves with sharp and deadly edges cut Eren’s skin on her arms and up to her neck.
Anit used the vines to drag Eren closer so that she could look into her eyes.
“You would dare poke at my weak point to get your way,” Anit said, her green eyes as turbulent as a storm in the deepest ocean. “Eren of the Earth, have you forgotten who placed those cuffs on my son’s wrists? Who voted to keep him here for loving a mortal? For daring to follow his Fox Lord heart, all because, he has Immortal Clan blood. You punished him for sharing his soul with a mortal and did not even care to ask me about it!”
“Fox Goddess,” Eren started to say, and the vines around her tightened to the point of drawing a whimper of pain from her.
“I loved your Immortal Lord with all my heart,” Anit said, the sneer on her beautiful face seemed to add to her power. She scoffed. “Your Septum conspired to pull us apart, saying a fox and the Immortal Lord cannot live in the Citadel. It will somehow make our clans imbalanced. Your Septum made it that I could not fight back. So, I left the Immortal Lord and took our son. The loss was difficult, and I dared to blink in order to mourn my sorrows, only to discover that you lot put my young son in a bind. Now, you, Eren of the Earth, dare poke at my inability to protect him after the criminal decisions you’ve placed on our shoulders. Do you not like living?”
“You can’t kill me,” Eren said, straining against the vines wrapped tight around her.
Anit laughed long and hard.
“Oh, I know I can’t, but you are in the Mortal Realm. I can make you bleed so much that you will only be able to crawl to the Palladium Gates in order to heal. Don’t test me,” Anit said. “You’re the one who came to me to ask for help. I refused to help. You dared bring up my child. I retaliated. Don’t get the story wrong when you meet the Septum. I do hold deep grudges.”
The vines disappeared as fast as they wrapped around Eren.
The wood floors restored, Anit made sure to add her stamp in Tani’s living room.
Anit then met Amu’s gaze for a full minute before she shimmered out of Tani’s sanctuary, her heart breaking at the thought of her son having to endure pain again.
She left an Inter Clan Court badge on the coffee table next to Amu.
Eren sank down into her chair and let out a long sigh after Anit’s departure. She reached up to touch the stinging cut on her neck and grimaced when her fingers came back with red blood.
“She must be in a good mood today,” Cale said, coming back into the room. He sat in the armchair Anit had used. “Uncle Amu, should we thank you that she did not give Eren a thousand cuts?”
“Eren, why did you mention Tani?” Amu asked, picking up the fox clan badge allowing entrance into the Inter Clan Court. “You should have given her a moment. We could have talked it out and gotten her to see your side. Anit does not take kindly to one who mocks her failures.”
“Do you really think she was going to give us that badge out of kindness?” Eren asked, sitting back, her heart still beating too fast. “She hates the Immortal Clan. I should have realized it was incurable. When does one find Anit, and her son, Tani, in a good mood?”
“It depends on who you are,” Cale said on a chuckle.
“Cale.” Amu chastised.
“Okay, I won’t tease Eren anymore. We should make use of the badge quickly and go to the Clan Court.”
“Is this what you’ve been waiting for?” Amu asked.
Cale nodded, getting up.
“I have business in that court and we can only enter with her permission. Amu, sometimes you forget I’m also from the Immortal Clan.”
“I truly do,” Amu said, narrowing his gaze at Cale. “What are you looking for in the Inter Clan Court?”
“The same culprit you’re looking for,” Cale said. “We should go now.”
Amu sighed and looked at Eren.
“Cale is right. We should leave, otherwise Tani will never return home if you stay longer,” Amu said.
Eren stood slowly, touching the cut on her neck once again with a hiss.
“Why won’t it stop bleeding?” Eren asked.
“Anit’s special power is nullifying our Ekho gifts in the mortal realm,” Cale said. “You won’t be able to heal that cut until you enter the Palladium Gates again. So, we should go.”
“She’s so unreasonable,” Eren hissed, as they all left Elderwood and appeared in front of the Palladium Gates.
****
At Artri House, Tani shifted on the large comfortable couch with the huge pillows facing the beautiful windows. He and Dante were watching the sun fade in the horizon. The sunset was especially beautiful this evening. He sipped his wine and returned his attention to Dante who sat next to him.
Dante had changed out of his day clothes, and released his hair from the tight ponytail. He was now in a black t-shirt and matching sweatpants. His feet stretched out before him. He was the picture of relaxation.
“Why did you study World History?” Tani asked, loving that Dante answered his many questions without hesitation.
“I like learning about the past,” Dante said. “As you know our Artri House takes the education of its Ekho-blessed children seriously. Grandmaster Landi runs a successful institute in New York that trains those like us. Which also means he expects too much of the children coming from his house. The only outlet I had from the pressure was learning history. I liked discovering the rhythms of growing nations, people, cultures and languages.”
“So what do you do all day when you’re not at Artri House entertaining a deviant Ekho?” Tani asked.
“Hmm, not so deviant if you ask me. I was teaching the students you met today until two weeks ago,” Dante said. “My sessions with them are over. So, I’ve returned to my research work. We’re documenting an underground city discovered in Asikli. The dig is dated back to the Neolithic age. It’s an ongoing dig site. So far, we’ve uncovered painted churches and houses rebuild over time. It is slow tedious work, but I enjoy it.”
Tani smiled at Dante’s clear infatuation with his day job. He could watch him talk about excavating dead cities forever. Sitting on a couch as the sun set and they shared a bottle of wine. This small pleasure was all he lived for when he could have Dante in his life.
Why couldn’t life be this simple all the time?
His heart squeezed tight and the familiar sting of tears at the back of his eyes had him blinking.
“Tani?”
Tani found Dante watching him.
“You okay?”
“Mm,” Tani nodded, bringing his glass to his lips taking a sip, he turned to look at the fading sunset in the distance. “These floor length windows are such a genius idea. You get a great view any time you take a look.”
Dante placed his glass on the stool in front of them with their half-full bottle of wine. Dante closed the little distance they had maintained between them. He took Tani’s glass and set it on the stool too.
“Look at me,” Dante said taking Tani’s left hand. “You were lost in thought a minute ago. I’ve talked myself thirsty this evening. You’ve just asked questions. Now, I have one for you.”
Tani met Dante’s gaze then.
“Ask,” Tani said.
Dante cupped Tani’s right cheek and looked into Tani’s eyes for a moment.
Tani’s heart thundered in his chest, wishing and hoping Dante would not ask him about his past. This was a beautiful evening and he did not want to think of their tragic past. It would ruin this…and he so wanted to hold on to this memory. Simply sitting here with Dante having a conversation.
“Can I kiss you?”
Tani bit his bottom lip and smiled in relief.
“Dante, I have wished I could kiss you since the moment we met in the olive grove. I…”
Dante leaned in and took his lips in a sweet short kiss that tasted of sweet rosé. He ended the kiss as fast as he started, but he did not move away.
Tani kept his eyes open meeting serious brown eyes already wanting another kiss. Their breaths mingled and Dante’s gaze shifted to Tani’s lips. Tani took in a short breath, his heart racing again.
“You are a dream to me,” Dante said, closing his eyes. “I’m half afraid I’ll wake up tomorrow and discover I’ve made up this encounter with you. Will you stay with me tonight? Let me hold you?”
Tani breathed him in and leaned in to brush his lips on Dante’s cheek, smiling at the tickle of Dante’s beard on his own cheeks.
“I’m already here with you there is no need to imagine it,” Tani said, closing his eyes when Dante brushed back his hair, sinking his fingers into his red hair and pushing it away from Tani’s face.
“I’ve never been anyone’s dream. What do you picture about us?” Tani asked. “Will you tell me?”
“I never thought anyone else a dream before you. When I saw you I wanted to experience everything with you,” Dante said with a small chuckle, shifting even closer so that he could wrap an arm around Tani’s waist.
Dante maneuvered them until they were lying on the long couch, the pillows pushed and arranged for their comfort. Tani rested his head on Dante’s right shoulder, burying his face into the curve of Dante’s neck when strong arms rubbed down his back. Their feet tangled and Tani hummed at the warmth between them.
“I never felt much before,” Dante said, his hand moving up and down Tani’s back. “But since I met you, I’ve felt helpless, jealous, angry, infatuated, almost all at the same time. It’s overwhelming.”
“What kind of experiences do you want, Dante?”
“Will you give them to me?”
“Yes.”
“All of them?”
Tani grinned and leaned back to look into Dante’s eyes.
Dante kissed him again on the lips. A lingering kiss, teasing, it warmed him up straight to his heart. He wanted more, because he did, he worried about how much time they had together.
Tani ended their kiss and answered Dante’s question.
“I will give you all of them,” Tani promised.
Dante smiled.
“Then, I’ll give you what you want too,” Dante said. “I have talked away the whole evening. I never gave you a chance to say what you think about us.”
“You haven’t asked,” Tani said.
Dante held his questions.
“Are you scared to ask?” Tani asked when Dante kept quiet.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Your memory is too long,” Dante said. “I’m afraid it is full of sad moments about us. I want to change those memories and fill them with good ones. So, I’ll wait a bit before I ask you what you want.”
Tani bit his lip hard because Dante’s thoughtfulness threatened to undo the protective walls built around his heart. He swallowed the lump of emotion that rose up in his throat and let out a soft breath.
“Then, you tell me a few things,” Tani managed to say. “We can do them while I think about what I will ask of you.”
“Okay. I’ve already said the first one. I want to wake up next to you everyday,” Dante said.
“I’m already here with you at Artri House for tonight, and tomorrow. I’ll try to make your wish come true, but it might not be daily. There is still Elderwood.”
“Fair enough,” Dante said with a small nod. “If I’m welcome, I’ll sleep over at Elderwood with you then we can balance it.”
Tani grinned and nodded in agreement.
“What else do you want us to do?”
“I want to make love with you,” Dante said, leaning in to breath Tani’s scent in. “Not yet though. When we get to know each other better. I don’t want our first time to feel impersonal.”
Tani hid a smile. He did not remember their sex life being fast and impersonal. Their lovemaking was consuming in the best of ways. He missed being close to Dante. Loved their intimacy, it was the one thing they never got wrong.
“Let’s not wait too long,” Tani murmured.
“Then after our third real date.”
“Is this our first?”
“No,” Dante shook his head. “You came to me when you were upset. This, here, is me comforting you. Our first date should be fantastic and memorable. We can go on it tomorrow.”
Tani grinned at Dante’s enthusiasm.
“I can work with that,” he said.
“With what?”
“Fantastic and memorable,” Tani said, thinking Dante’s wishes were very easy to fulfill.
“About earlier,” Tani continued, pressing his face into the curve of Dante’s neck, he closed his eyes, as the sting of his mother’s slap finally faded. “Thank you for making me stay here with you. I had an unpleasant encounter. I cannot explain it yet, but you’ve healed the sting that I thought would stay with me.”
“I’m a great listener too,” Dante said. “Whenever you’re ready to talk about it, I’m here for you.”
“I know,” Tani said, grateful that Dante had not pressed him on the details of his encounter with his mother.
“Should we travel?” Dante asked. “Let’s see the world together…”
Tani and Dante talked into the night, they mapped dreams of traveling together, places they could visit, Dante’s interests mostly. They fell asleep on the comfortable couch, holding each other in a tight embrace as though an inch between them would be too much to suffer.
****
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