His Stupidly Adorable Sons
Lilia smiled serenely. The medic glared at him. All was right in the world. There was nothing quite as satisfying as messing with people. Scaring them, stalking them, cursing them. Yes, there was nothing he enjoyed more. Even his sons, or maybe especially his sons, weren’t exempt from his particular brand of fun.
Though, by the grin on the child’s face, Lilia was sure he’d have a new accomplice soon enough. Which was just fantastic really. There were too few pranks he could pull without an alibi and Silver no longer liked playing with him.
“Very well then. In accordance with the treaty, you will be permitted entrance so long as you remain with your debtor, barring surgical treatment. At which time you will be monitored.”
Oh, the venom in her voice. The tension that ran down every line of her body. The way her ears pinned back and her tail lashed. It was all too much. When was the last time he’d had this much fun?
He let loose a quiet insidious giggle, ripe with Fae amusement, just to see her twitch. Her hands curled at her sides and her magic spasmed with the desire to be used and Lilia found himself wishing she would. He wanted to prolong this little game of theirs. How far could he push her? What could he make her say? Could he make her slip?
His throat burned and thirst pulsed at him. His own magic swayed and rattled, chilly and cool as it wrapped around the boy in his arms. He lifted the child fully into his arms and relished the way he leaned against him.
He missed this.
When had his boys stopped being so affectionate?
The boy was light and burningly hot and his magic was a fledgling little thing that fluttered and hummed. He wanted to lean down and nuzzle into that wild black hair. Who cared about a little blood and muck? But maybe that was instinct talking. Lilia didn’t exactly care if it was or not.
He wanted to grab that adorable little creature and dance around the room. He wanted to wrap him in garlands and furs and parade him through the streets of the Valley. He’d feed him sugared plums and cream and honey and sweet cakes. He’d make wassail too. Malleus loved wassail when he was little. Although, he’d have to make it without the brandy. Little humans couldn’t drink alcohol this young, or could they? Silver never reacted too badly and it really helped with his teething.
This little one would be his, all his. No senate trying to tell him how to raise his own son. No aggravating neighbors with sly comments. No worries about the war. This little one would be his to adore and raise without fear of reprisal. The humans would never be able to take him. He’d kill any that tried. His boys would be able to love him openly and without fear.
Lilia would keep him safe. Safe and warm and loved. He’d put color into those grey cheeks and fat on those thin bones. He would want for nothing as long as Lilia was there. He would be all his. His in the way he’d never been allowed to have Malleus. This one wasn’t a prince, wasn’t owned by a nation or a people. This one could be his. His and Silver’s.
He clutched that tiny child close and gently placed him back on the gurney. He wasn’t an infant, Lilia knew, but he felt just as fragile as Silver had been all those years ago. He gently, ever so very gently, untangled the absolutely itty-bitty fingers from his uniform jacket. His throat tightened and he gave them a squeeze. He almost felt like he was going to cry. They were just so small!
How could anything be so small?
He wanted to absolutely crush him, hug him so tightly his bones would crack. He was too terribly cute.
He couldn’t help but lean down, fighting the urge to rub his cheek against the boy’s hair. He kept his eyes on the medic’s back, mouth stretching into a wide positively delighted grin. She knew just as well as he did that the boy was practically his now. He could just imagine the self-loathing she must feel knowing she’d failed to keep Lilia from him.
“Very well done, you clever, clever, child,” he whispered, just loud enough for the boy and medic to hear.
Her ears flattened harder against her head and he could hear her teeth grind together. He smelt the spike of anger in her scent but she didn’t turn around. Good, she knew her place. The wrathful thing inside him purred and he turned away from Madame Criquet just in time to see the boy smile.
He melted. It was all he could do not to lean against the wall and faint from the sheer cuteness. He was going to die. This was it. This was the thing that killed him. Lilia Vanrouge, The Phantom General, The General of The Right, The Left Hand of The Queen, felled by a teeny tiny child of barely a decade.
That little dark, twisted, smile would be the end of him. It was bright and innocent on the surface and beneath that lay a grinning little monster so very pleased with himself. Bloody little fangs flashed at him and Lilia couldn’t wait to teach him how to use those. He hadn’t gotten to teach Sebek how to tear out a man’s throat. It was more of a family thing and Lilia might see Sebek as a son but he wasn’t actually Lilia’s. Malleus had been taught by Maleficia, though that was more because dragons had a habit of trying to eat their kills and Malleus needed to be taught not to .
This son, however, would be his to teach however he pleased. Lilia had to cover his mouth to stop a giddy, embarrassing, sound from escaping him. His child. His son. His boy. His little fangy, feral, boy. All his. He loved his boys so much. So, so, so, so much. Malleus and Silver and Sebek and now this one too. He needed a name. He probably had a name already. Lilia needed to find out what it was.
Or maybe the boy wouldn’t give it to him and that was fine, more than fine really. As long as the child didn’t tell anyone else either. Lilia wouldn’t be able to protect it if he didn’t know what it was but nobody would be able to use it against the boy if nobody knew it. That meant Lilia could give him a name.
His heart twisted in his chest and he couldn’t help the way he danced in place at the thought. Naming Silver had been easy and the memory was one of the few he could remember with crystal clear clarity. He could still remember the feeling of responsibility that had settled on his shoulders, the way his soul and magic wrapped around that chubby little infant and claimed him as his own.
His. Silver was his, but he was human and there was so much he’d never be able to teach him. It’d only been sixteen years and Silver was nearly fully grown. The time had flown so very quickly and Silver would leave him soon. Lilia knew that was what humans did. They grew up and they left their sires and dams to make lives of their own. Fae didn’t do that. They lived together always. For as long as they lived, Fae would always live together with their parents.
It wasn’t natural for children to leave their parents first and Lilia wanted to latch on to his son and stop him from ever leaving him. But he couldn't do that either. His son would grow whether he wanted him to or not and all Lilia could do was adapt. Adapt and adopt, apparently. He’d never actually thought about adopting another child but now he couldn’t not think about it.
He looked down at the now unconscious child as they raced through the halls of Night Raven College. He was going to be a father again. Or a mother. Whatever the child needed of him. He could be a guardian, like he was to Malleus, just as long as the boy was his.
His ears perked up as they approached the emergency mirror, larger and more secure than the others. He could see hospital personnel on the other side and guards, plenty of guards. Not enough to take him down. Not near enough.
They crossed the threshold with the sensation of water washing over them and the night was replaced with bright fluorescent lights. His eyes burned instantly and he squinted against the light. Honestly, was it really necessary? No, no it wasn’t. Just like the guards surrounding him. He rolled his eyes as the sound of riot batons unfolding greeted him.
Fantastic.
Madame Criquet broke off from her subordinates, his boy being handed off to a different team of nurses and doctors. And from there, Lilia stopped paying attention. He registered the presence of a government official at the edge of the crowd, but he didn’t pay her much mind.
He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the guards to stand down. Now that his newest was out of his reach, he was twitchy. He had to remind himself again and again and again that interfering with the child’s medical treatment would do more harm than good. The child was injured and dying and there wasn’t anything he could do about it. He just needed to “chill” as Cater would say.
Speaking of Cater, he’d need to call him. Oh geez, he had so much to do. He had to go back to Diasomnia, break the news to Malleus and Silver, then call Cater. Or maybe he’d call Cater first. Just in case. He didn’t know how the boys would react but it was better to have a backup plan. What would he do if the boys did react badly to the notion of another child joining their family?
A spike of pain drove itself through his chest, piercing his heart and leaving him reeling. He didn’t know what he’d do. Not when he so desperately wanted to take the boy in. He had to remember he wasn’t his yet. Not until his boys agreed. Oh, but that hurt. He didn’t want to give the child up, didn’t want anyone else to have him. He wanted that tiny little twisted monster to be his kid, not someone else’s.
He nodded absently as the government official spoke to him, not really hearing anything she said or even what she’d introduced herself as. He vaguely registered Madame Criquet explaining his oath and how he couldn’t be separated from the boy due to said oath. The government official narrowed her eyes at him but acquiesced. He was given a room number, a warning, and the visitation times. After that, he was home free.
He barely remembered leaving the hospital back through the mirror, before he collapsed against a wall. The familiar wards of NRC embraced him as he slid down the wall to sit on the wet grass. The emergency mirror was in a courtyard directly in the middle of campus with straight breezeways leading everywhere through the castle and grounds.
He dropped his head into his hands with a ragged breath.
He’d gotten attached.
He didn’t even know if he’d be able to keep the boy and he’d gotten attached. Attached enough that it would hurt to leave him. He would though. If his sons didn’t take well to the suggestion of a new addition, then Lilia would help find the boy a good home and family. It would hurt like hell, but he would do it. He wouldn’t risk putting either his sons or the child in a tense, uncertain, arrangement. It’d just bring harm to both his own kids and the boy.
He let out a slow whistling breath and ground his teeth together. He’d leave the child to someone else if that was the case. He nodded to himself. Alright, he had to get up. His pants were wet and his knees were starting to hurt. He’d call Cater after talking to the boys.
He levered himself up, bracing himself for the pain and typical clicking of his joints, only to get surprisingly nothing. His knees ached a bit but the pain faded quickly. A good day then. That was lucky. He didn’t know how he’d react if he had to deal with everything alongside his creaky joints and usual pain.
The moonlight beamed down on him from a break in the clouds. He stood there for another long moment, letting time pass him. He didn’t want to go back to the dorm. To his boys. To the possible rejection. He wasn’t one to procrastinate though, at least not usually. So with another deep sigh, he teleported back to the mirror chamber. He took a deep breath of the blood-tinted air, hair raising along his neck now that he knew where that blood had come from.
The blood had been cleaned from the floor and the gate that had held the child was nowhere to be seen. The other coffins had been placed closer to the walls, floating close to the ceiling and out of the way until the next year.
How could so much change in just a few hours?
He’d asked that question before. So many times in his long life, but he still didn’t have an answer. He could feel a new chapter of his life beginning, or at least he hoped so. He’d wanted Night Raven College to be a new beginning for his boys, someplace for them to grow into the men he knew they could be. He hadn’t expected anything like this.
Oh well.
He smiled. Life moved on and so should he. Malleus was sure to be getting impatient and he had new students to properly greet and room assignments to give out and uniforms to assign. So much to do, so little time. He wanted to be back at the hospital in time to see the child get out of surgery.
He stepped through Diasomnia’s mirror and just about collapsed again when Malleus’ magic crashed into him with a litany of where have you been-new students- alone- HELP ME. Lilia snorted before he could stop himself. Of course. Mab forbid Lilia leave Malleus to socialize alone. He shook his head with a chuckle as he walked past the gate and entered the dorm proper.
He paused for a second, taking in the sight of the dorm filled to the brim with students. So much work. At least the new first years seemed to have gotten their uniforms. He looked up to the second floor and met Malleus’ burning green eyes and very displeased pout.
“Lilia.”
Oh dear, he really was upset.
Lilia’s cheek twitched and he teleported to his prince’s side. No lightning, no lightning, no lightning. Please no lightning. He’d had a tough enough evening already. He really didn’t want to have to dodge lightning strikes.
Malleus glared at him.
“Where have you been?”
How was he supposed to approach this? He would’ve liked Malleus to be in a better mood, but obviously, that wasn’t going to happen. Malleus’ eyes narrowed and he saw the moment his son saw the blood on his shirt and smelt the scent that clung to him.
“Are you injured?”
Any talking in the room went silent. All eyes turned to them. He felt Silver’s focus on him and he only just noticed his boy edge his way up the stairs, a sheet in his hand. Room assignments. Oh, his boys must have been so worried.
“I’m perfectly fine,” he spoke clearly, “though I do have something quite important to speak to you and Silver about.”
Malleus’ attention sharpened like a blade, intent and deadly and he was so dangerously proud of his son. Silver slid up beside him, sweeping him with a discerning gaze. Malleus was much less subtle. His magic pressed against his skin, sinking into him, and Lilia crossed his arms with a smile.
“Alone, Malleus. This is not something I’d like to advertise,” he hinted with a quirked eyebrow. The others did not need to know quite yet. And perhaps Lilia was trying to keep any others from getting interested in the prospect of a child up for grabs. He didn’t really want to violently and brutally murder some enterprising youngling, but he would. If they tried stepping up, he’d cut them down.
Malleus looked at him, ears twitching up in question, but nodded slowly. Oh goodie, at least he was calming down a bit. That would make everything easier. Hopefully.
Lilia took a deep breath of his own. Nervous energy shook through him as he led his boys away from the entry hall and common room. His ears shivered and twitched and he felt his boys crowd closer to him. He felt bad about concerning them, but he wanted this to go well. He didn’t even know the last time he’d felt this nervous.
Malleus’ hand brushed against his and he couldn’t help but reach out and grasp it. Malleus let out a soft startled noise, moving even closer. Some of the nervous jitters drained away but not enough for Malleus to not feel them in the shaking of his hand.
“Lilia-”
“Not here. In my room.” Maybe he was turning into a procrastinator. They were well away from the other students. Technically, he could tell them without anyone overhearing. But he wanted to go to his room. He wanted his candles and some tomato juice and maybe a bloody mary because this was going to be hard. He wanted the dark of his black-out curtains and the scent of his family around him.
Silver came up on his other side, his hand on his baton, glaring at every window, looking more awake and aware than Lilia had seen him in a long while. His boys probably thought he’d encountered an assassin or an old enemy. He’d dealt with many assassins while protecting Malleus, but perhaps they thought some imaginary foe had shaken him.
He froze at the door to his room, staring at the wood. No backing out, not that he wanted to. One way or another, the child would be taken care of. He’d make sure of that. He’d find a fae family for him if it didn’t work out. A human one wouldn’t be good enough, wouldn’t be safe enough.
His boys didn’t speak. Every deity above, beyond, and below, he loved them so much. He nodded decisively and let go of Malleus’ hand to twist the handle. No going back.
He moved his bass out of the way and sat down on his bed heavily. His boys moved about the room. Malleus took a seat in his gaming chair while Silver posted up next to the window. He’d have to do something for them later, for how much he’d worried them.
They waited for him, patient as they ever were when he was like this. He looked at his blood-crusted hands. How was he supposed to start this kind of conversation? He sighed again. May as well jump straight to it.
“How do you two feel about having a baby brother?”
Silver choked, head snapping up to stare at him with wide eyes. Malleus went equally as wide-eyed, staring at him like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Neither of them spoke. They just stared at him.
Lilia waited with bated breath, looking between his two sons. Malleus blinked after what had to have been a solid five minutes. Lilia looked from him to Silver. Silver stared at him, pale-faced and mouth hanging open. Any other time Lilia may have laughed at him. It was just so unlike his second son to be so flabbergasted.
Malleus took in a deep, deep, breath. Lilia watched as his eldest lifted his head to the air and scented the room. Silver had switched to staring at his hands like they held the answer to the universe.
“You smell like hospital,” Malleus stated matter of factly. Not the reaction he was expecting. Granted, he hadn’t exactly known how they’d react, but it wasn’t this.
“Yes, well, I did just come from one.”
Silver’s head shot up with an utterly dismayed look and Lilia felt his heart sink. They hadn’t reacted the way he expected but that didn’t mean he was ready for a possible rejection.
“You got someone pregnant.”
He barely caught Silver’s horrified whisper before his head snapped to look at his second son. What? Where had he gotten that from?
“I was unaware you’d taken a lover, Lilia. However, I believe the usual response is ‘Congratulations’?”
What?
Lilia was actually going to die. This time by his own hand.