Flora & Fauna Pt. 14

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In the time I spent traveling back to Prophia, the somberness mutated into burning anxiety. The questions I have for Andrius have cycled through my mind so many times that I no longer want to ask them. I'm sick of hearing them. Sick of looking at them. I just want to hold the answers. I want to shatter them and inspect the defused pieces. Then we can finally go about our lives. It's near pitch black outside but for the dim light of my lantern, but it's nearing dawn based on the sound of people leaving their homes.

Inside, I don't go to the bedroom. Holding my lantern high, I glare at the cupboard he knows I can't reach. I shove the key into my pocket, set the lantern down, and begin to look around the living space for stackable things. The square cushions of the low couch are the best option, so I drag them in front of the kitchen counter.

The stack shakes under my feet as I stand completely still atop the three. When they finally feel steady, I reach forward to grip the smooth, curved wood of the cupboard handle. I pull it back and feel the center cushion shoot out from between the others. My scream is cut short when my elbow slams into the floorboards first, followed by my backside. The pain makes me grit my teeth as I curl into a ball on the floor and clutch my throbbing arm.

"Flora?"

Light emerges as Andrius enters the kitchen holding a lantern. His golden hair is askew, partially held in tie but mostly freed and sticking out in all directions around his face. He drops down beside me and brushes my own hair away from my pained expression.

"What were you doing?" He looks at the disarrayed stack of cushions and back to me.

"I want to know what's in the cupboard." I grit out.

"Come to bed."

"No." I swat his hand away and sit up on my knees to look him in the eye. "You know I can't reach that cupboard. And I-"

"Flora-"

"And I may not know Laith as well as you do! But I know when someone is treating me differently."

"We'll talk about this some other time."

"We'll talk about it now!"

"I'm half asleep, can't we just-"

"And you didn't say goodbye to me."

"What?"

"When I left for Leaven, you turned away before I left and went into the house."

He stares at me with a bewildered expression. "It was cold? I went inside?"

"I waved! And you didn't wave back."

"You never waved goodbye the other times you left."

I hesitate and think back to those other times. He's right. "Well, I... I did this time!"

"Okay? I'll stay outside next time and wave to you."

Stubbornness overwhelms anything else I could possibly feel, I begin to restack the cushions.

"Flora, stop that. You're hurt." He snatches one of the cushions from my hands and throws it back toward the hearth.

"Show me what's in the cupboard then!"

A muscle tics in his jaw, the flicker of shadow stark in the firelight, before he stands and reaches over me. When he refolds his forelegs to sit down in front of me, he grabs my wrist to turn my hand upward and puts a faceted glass box in my palm. I put my other hand on top, about to flick the lid open when he covers it with his own.

"This isn't a question," he says, staring down at our hands around the box, "It's more of... discussion I want us to have. And let it be known that I'd have preferred we have this talk when I'm awake and you're not... whatever you are right now. Angry with me?"

When his hand leaves mine, I hesitate before flicking open the gold clasp on the front. Firelight dances on the gold and the diamond ring inside. I turn it in the light, lips parted in shock, tracing the shiny outline of the heart-shaped stone and the smooth curve of the warm metal. I look up, but Andrius looks away the instant my eyes find his. "Are you pr-"

"Like I said, it's a discussion. I'm the one who made that dramatic declaration about marriage. I figured I owed you a ring. But we just met, in the grand scheme of things, I was thinking of it more as a long engagement?"

My throat feels like it's closing up. I can't answer any of this through my guilt and... everything else. My feelings knot and tangle.

"You scared the living daylights out of Laith, by the way."

"What?"

"When you showed up at his shop before the ring was finished. He sent a sprite messenger to me right after you left. He was worried you had found out somehow and were there to interrogate him."

"That's why he was being weird? And when he was here at the house?"

"He was dropping off the ring. It would've been done before you came home for our postponed solstice but I changed my mind about the stone. It was originally a teardrop shape. But then you told me about the heart shaped jewelry set you saw someone wearing in town, how much you loved it. So, I thought this would be more to your taste."

"And the letter?"

"What letter?"

"When Laith was here, you had a letter in your hand and you tore it up."

Andrius tilts his head at me. "Oh. That was from Ares. I tore it up because he didn't have anything to tell me that I didn't already know."

"About what?"

"About whether our kind can even marry. I tried looking into it myself. But it isn't even discussed in our laws. Nothing says you can. Nothing says you can't. Ares meets all kinds of people working in the pub and doing deliveries, so I asked if he would mention the topic to people who work in law to see what they know. His letter had the same answer that I'd already found. There's no real answer because no one has ever asked."

"What about the vows? Like, does it say 'you centaur, take this other centaur'?"

"The marriage vows among my kind aren't very romantic, to be honest. It's all dowry exchanges and property acquisitions."

I stare down at the ring and my sight of it blurs as embarrassed tears build over my eyes. Andrius sighs and the sound calls my attention up to him.

"I wanted to talk to you about all this before. But I didn't want to make you have this conversation in front of my family. Then you seemed upset about something the next night and wouldn't talk to me about it. I asked you to stay a day longer, but you said you would be late and that it would be a problem."

A mental map of how the last stretch of time I spent in Prophia went from his perspective unfurls in my mind. No wonder he didn't show me the ring then. I set the ring box in my lap and bury my face in my hands.

What have I done? I wonder.

"And you still haven't told me."

"What?" I sniffle.

"Why you were upset with me."

I clench my jaw and swallow the sob that's building up in my throat. "I saw Lillian."

Andrius sighs and rubs a hand over his face. "If she gave you shit about us being together, I'll talk to her-"

"She didn't even see me. Or, I don't think she did. I was in a boutique so I was kind of hidden between the racks. She came in with a couple of friends and was distracted talking to them so-"

"Calliope and Colette."

"How do you know?"

"Two redheads? One has white spots?"

"Oh. You do know."

"The three of them are all but surgically attached. Guess whose side they took in the break-up." he grumbles.

For a moment, I don't say anything more. I only watch in my mind's eye the memory of seeing her before I heard her name. "She's very beautiful."

Andrius goes so long without speaking that I look up at him. His jaw is so tense it's surprising that I don't hear his teeth grinding. The golden gaze is directed away from me, at the empty darkness. "She is very beautiful."

I flinch and wait for him to continue.

"She also put me through a year of manipulative Hell. During which I developed insomnia for the first time because I couldn't even sleep through how much I was wracking my brain every moment of every day trying to figure out what had changed between us. I spent a year of my life trying to fix that relationship. I begged to know why she suddenly hated me. Somehow it hurt so much worse to realize that she never hated me, she was just bored. And then she cheated on me with someone I thought was my friend. At a time when we were supposed to be meeting for a date night by the way, I assume because she wanted me to catch them. Because God fucking forbid she just tell me she didn't want to be with me anymore. Then she had the audacity to come here and tell me that all of that was my fault because I didn't 'fight hard enough for us'." His hands raise to make disdainful air-quotes on the last part. "If I wanted to be with her, Flora, I would be."

A sob breaks out from me for both of us. Andrius' reaches out but flinches away just before he touches me. "Is that really what you were afraid of? That I would want to go back to her?"

"Kind of. Sometimes I have this fear. Sometimes it's a nightmare." I bow my head again as I quietly confess. "And it always takes forever to get it out of my head. That someday I'll come back to Prophia, and you'll be here with someone else. You'll be here with one of your own kind. And you'll tell me that the novelty of being with me wore off. Or that you got so sick of this whole arrangement in Leaven that being with me isn't worth it anymore. And I won't even be able to argue with you, because why would you want to put up with all of this?"

He gently grips my chin and tilts my face up. "I am not with you for the novelty of it. I didn't introduce you to my family, or bring you here to live with me, for novelty."

"Or you'll get sick of having to help me with literally everything." I choke on the last word and petulantly kick one of the cushions away. "I can't even open a fucking cupboard without you."

His hands pause when they reach the warm lines of tears running down my cheeks. His thumbs brush them away. "We could build a very low shelf?"

I laugh and tilt my face more into his touch.

"I'm happier when I'm with you, Flora. That's the only reason."

"I'm happier when I'm with you too."

Andrius pulls me forward and I feel his lips press softly to my forehead. "Can we please go lay in bed now? Ares and I delivered six finished dining sets to a buyer today."

I nod and silently wince as I stand, feeling the beginnings of pain where I slammed my tailbone into the hardwood floor. Andrius waits with me at the start of the hall as I set the glass box on the counter and take out the ring. He is silent and standing so in the dark that I can't be certain if he watches as I slide the ring onto my finger before I follow.

In the bedroom, I pull off my snow-soaked clothes and replace them with one of his cotton tunics that hangs down to my knees. Then I extinguish the tiny flame and crawl under the blankets. Andrius' reaches out in the dark and takes my wrists to pull me closer. The breath that was painfully lodged in my lungs gasps out in relief as he places my arms around his chest and lets me bring one leg up to hug around his lower body as far as it can reach. One of his hands slides down my own, pausing when it reaches the ring. I worry for a second that he's going to twist it off and take it away from me. But he only turns it slightly to center the diamond on my finger.

"Laith is freakishly good at estimating ring sizes. I don't know how he does it."

"Do you have one for yourself?"

"Mine's in the nightstand drawer."

"I really do adore the shape."

"Good. You should've seen Laith's face when I walked into the shop to change the stone last second. I thought he was going to set me on fire with his mind." His voice is mumbling and slow with fatigue.

I laugh and nuzzle closer to his body in the dark.

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When I wake up, I'm torn between excitement and dread. Andrius is still laying in bed beside me, one hand stroking the back of my own that's resting on his chest. The smile I try to give him falters when my gaze slides up to his face and I see how absolutely exhausted he looks. It's hard to tell if he's also annoyed with me for being the cause of it or not. When I see the band of gold around his ring finger, I relax and lean towards not. He watches silently as I bring his hand closer. As I put my fingertips to his own and open his hand, a glint of sparkle makes my eyes widen in surprise. It looked like a plain gold band. Facing inward is a small, embedded diamond that looks like it's suspended as it sinks into the gold. I turn the ring so that the stone is facing out. Andrius laughs as he watches me adjust it.

"I can wear it like that, if you prefer."

"Isn't that how it should go?"

He looks equally confused. "Is that how human males wear them?"

"Human men don't get stones in their wedding bands. It's just metal."

"Oh. Weird. I assumed it was the same in both cultures."

I turn the ring back to how it was. "I never thought about it, I guess. Is there a reason?"

"It's supposed to be a metaphor. We keep the stone turned in, so we're always holding and protecting it." Andrius rolls his eyes. "Because we're so gallant and possessive and blah blah blah."

I laugh and lace my fingers with his. "In that case, I like the meaning. Although I wonder who spread all these stereotypes about your kind."

"Knowing my kind, we probably spread them ourselves." He rubs a hand over his face and sighs tiredly. "I don't think I'm going to get much done today. Do you want to go eat our weight in pub food?"

"You can eat your weight?" I reply with a doubtful glance at his body.

"I can try."

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Aurora snatches my hand so fast the movement is a golden blur. The tray covered in bare, tiny cakes balanced on her other hand doesn't even wobble. She smiles at me, then turns to Andrius and scoffs playfully.

"Good. You finally gave it to her. You know I hate keeping secrets."

"I appreciate that you did anyway."

"Now maybe Ma will stop asking when I'm getting hitched."

Andrius rolls his eyes. "I wouldn't bet on that. She still hasn't stopped asking Ares."

"Ares doesn't want to get married?" I ask.

"He'd have to commit for longer than a one night stand first." Aurora answers as she sets the tray down on the front counter. "Try one of these."

She squeezes a bag full of white icing onto one of the cake squares in a zigzagging line and places it in my waiting palm. The cake melts on my tongue and leaves a sugary tingle of sweet vanilla mixed with spice. Satisfying, peppery heat builds on my tongue as I chew the soft bite. I tear the remainder of the square in half and give one to Andrius.

"These are amazing." I tell her honestly.

"Really?" She tilts her head as if she doesn't believe me. "I was trying something with the grains of paradise you gave me but I think I used too much and what with the cinnamon pairing I-"

"Aura, she loves them. Accept the compliment."

One gold-shod hoof stomps on the floorboards at her twin's comment. "I can accept the compliment and still want to improve. They are not mutually exclusive."

It's still a little strange watching Andrius interact with an almost exact copy of himself. Maybe it will always be strange. They bicker in increasing volume until they're both on the verge of laughter.

"Okay, okay." Andrius holds up a hand to his twin. "We were originally stopping by to ask if you wanted to go to the pub with us."

"No, no, no." She shakes her head, not a single golden hair escaping for her chignon as she does. "I'm way too busy today. I can't just leave!"

As Aurora answers, she takes up the tray again and rushes back to the kitchen. I almost go after her, wanting more of her friendly bluntness. Instead I stay still beside Andrius.

"And God willing, we'll see her again next year." he playfully whispers in my ear.

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The pub is so desolate I think at first that it's closed. As we sit down together at the bar, Andrius explains that it's often dead this time of day. All the travelers that come through Prophia are either selling their wares, sleeping for the next leg of travel, or repacking. He reaches over the bar counter for a menu and opens it up between us.

"And? Can I ask you something? About her?"

In a near imperceptible way, he tenses beside me before he answers. "Yeah. What is it?"

"You were together for a while." I turn the ring this way and that on my finger, watching the shine as I speak. "Why didn't you and Lillian ever get married?"

"Because she's a cunt."

I jump at the sound of Ares' voice and turn toward the doorway behind the bar.

"Pretty sure she was asking me." Andrius responds in an unamused tone.

"Fine." Ares says as he bundles his black hair up in a tie. "Try to come up with a better answer than that."

"Ares-"

"Just because you spent four years not seeing her for what she is, doesn't mean everyone else was blind."

"Okay, yes, fine. I get it. You never liked her."

"You hated her the whole time?" I direct toward Ares with a raised brow.

"I hated how she treated my brother."

"Things were okay between us for the first few years-"

"No they weren't. She made you jump through hoops for her amusement that entire time. That's why none of us liked her. For fuck's sake, even Fern didn't like her and Fern likes everyone."

"Aurora says you're a slut." I snark deadpan in Ares' face to pull his attention away from And.

It seems to work as he reels back stunned for a moment, then leans close to prop his chin on his fist and bat his eyelashes. "And how. Why? You interested?"

I lean back onto Andrius as I retreat from his brother. "You are terrifying."

"If you have all this energy." Andrius interjects. "Maybe you could use it to make us a warm meal? I feel so worn out today."

Ares' pointed ears tilt back slightly with the immediate worried fall of his features. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt moving all those sets yesterday?"

"I'm not hurt." Andrius pulls away from his brother's inspecting grasp and swats his hands away. "I'm exhausted."

"Okay, okay. Melt sandwiches would be the fastest warm thing I can whip up."

"Fastest sounds good."

Ares nods and disappears into the kitchen. I silently wait for an actual answer to my earlier question. Only when the sound of sizzling butter is audible does he turn back to me.

"For one, neither of us wanted kids. So, we didn't feel like there was any rush to put an official seal on our relationship." He pauses and looks self consciously at me through his golden lashes. "And her family didn't like me much. Not at first, anyway."

"Why didn't they like you?"

"They're more wealthy than my family ever was. Not as wealthy as it sounds like your upbringing was, but still. More than what I grew up with. They wanted her to be with someone from the upper crust. That and it's no secret what my father was like. Everyone knows how he was. I got the feeling they were worried that I'd be the same way. We agreed we didn't want to worry them by rushing into marriage. After the first couple years we spent together, they warmed up to me. I can't say I don't understand why they were apprehensive. But all of that is why we were never engaged."

I nod and let out a relieved breath at the logical answer.

"What about you? Weren't you ever interested in anyone in Leaven?"

I scoff and roll my eyes. "Spoken like someone who hasn't met the options I had there."

Andrius laughs and softly brushes a hand through my hair. "That bad, huh? Or was a centaur always what you wanted?"

"Bold of you to assume I wouldn't have teased you til you broke if you were human. And the men out there... It's all so fake. I've had men pursue me. But it always felt like their attempts had nothing to do with me. They'd pour the same impersonal gifts and compliments on me that they'd pour on my girl friends. As if we aren't individuals who talk to each other and know all their stupid tricks. Maybe some of them actually liked me as a person. I don't know. But the first time I noticed the attention ebbed and flowed with the success of my father, it ruined any gullibility I had about the whole performance. After that, I was cagey about any man expressing interest in me. You teaching me to use a thickness planer is more genuinely romantic than anything anyone ever did for me in Leaven."