"Surprise!" He said to both Kamila and Zinya. Zinya had been accommodated in a single room as big as a small apartment. The furniture was simple but tasteful, giving her all that she needed to make herself at home and even have guests.
There were big windows from which entered plenty of sunlight and lots of different flowers decorated the room.
"Zin?" Between the tonics, Vastor"s treatments, and the safe environment, Kamila almost couldn"t recognize her sister. Her knees buckled, forcing Lith to sweep her off her feet to prevent her from falling.
"Kami? How did you get here? Visiting hours are over." Her knees buckled too, but she was in bed, so no one noticed.
"Hey, I may not work here anymore, but I still got friends. Visiting hours is whenever you want for you two." Lith said bringing Kamila near the bed before putting her down on a chair.
The two sisters started chatting and crying out of joy while Lith used his old Professor ring to order dinner for the three of them. He was feeling better by the minute. His blue core was thriving by being so near to the abundant mana source that the academy was.
The two women talked a lot, giving Lith a taste of an evening in Solus"s shoes, but to him it didn"t feel so bad. He was satisfied with seeing Kamila being so happy. She never stopped smiling, like it hadn"t happened ever since her first visit at the Sarta household.
"If Solus feels like this the whole time, she"s a saint." Lith thought. He was already getting bored not having any part in the conversation.
"Can I show her your gift now?" Zinya asked, finally remembering about Lith.
"Yes, of course."
Kamila remained flabbergasted seeing the communication amulet.
"Thanks, but we cannot accept it. It"s too expensive." She said.
"I knew you would say that, and that"s why I had her imprint it already" Lith laughed.
"You can only suck it up and accept that your sister can now call you whenever she wants and vice versa."
Kamila was lost for words, incapable of expressing the feelings that were taking her by storm.
"Thanks." Was all she managed to say. She spent the rest of the evening chatting with Zinya, reminiscing together the happy moments of their shared past and planning the future ones, once the procedure was over.
Lith half listened and half slept, making the two women giggle when his snoring reached new heights.
"Lith is indeed a bit scary, but he"s a keeper. Don"t let him get away." Zinya said.
"I know, but how can I possibly repay him for all of this? We"re so different that sometimes it feels like our relations.h.i.+p is one way only, and I"m always on the receiving end. What do I have to offer to him?"
"Your love and trust. Those are too rare commodities, especially for someone who"s coveted for their power. Just be honest with him and don"t overthink. You are a wonderful person and he knows it." Zinya took Kamila"s hands between hers.
"Has he ever asked you for something?"
"No." Kamila replied.
"Then it"s you he"s interested in, not in what you have. As long as you feel the same, then you"ve nothing to worry about."
Later, when they were returning home, Kamila pondered all the way back on Zinya"s words, even asking Lith for a walk to have more time to think. With winter close to its end, there was no snow covering Belius.
The chilly air of the night and the late hour made the city silent, very few people were still walking around. Kamila looked and the big black buildings that comprised every single city block, thinking for the first time in years if that was the place that she wanted to call home for the rest of her life.
Her mind started to wonder, reminiscing the party at the Ernas house. It was so big and flashy that it almost scared her. Then, Lith"s house in Lutia came to her mind, with the entire family around the fire, with the kids playing together or watching a movie with the rest of the family.
That image warmed her heart. When they arrived at her apartment, Kamila felt the need to let Lith know how important he was for her and how deep her affection was. Just Like Solus had predicted, tired or not, Lith was more than happy to spend the third night in a row doing anything but sleeping.
***
Earlier that night, inside Solus"s Tower
Thanks to the tower Warp coupled with the Warping Mirror on the first floor, which greatly enhanced the range of her Warp Steps, it didn"t take Solus much time to pick up her friends.
"I still can"t believe how easily we just crossed hundreds of kilometers at once. Lith is really lucky to have you." Tista said. She had been moving around the Distar Marquisate, collecting all the information she needed for her travels once spring finally arrived.
"Yeah. It makes our sleepovers so easy to arrange. To what do we owe the pleasure this time?" Nyka asked. Kalla"s daughter was no normal girl, but a vampire, so she could only move after sunset.
Nyka looked like a young woman in her mid twenties, around 1.7 meters (5"7") tall with raven black hair and emerald green eyes both emphasized by her rosy skin. A vampire was pale only when unable to properly feed and that wasn"t her case.
She wasn"t a stunning beauty, but undeath gave her smooth, delicate features and kept her body toned without a shred of body fat. Every one of her movements was graceful and sensual, even when she wasn"t attempting to flirt.
"I need help." Solus said. She was wearing a work s.h.i.+rt and pants. Leather gloves covered her hands, leaving the natural glow of her humanoid form radiate only from her head.
"Do you need another pep talk or advice about lil bro?" Tista asked.
"Neither. I mean help with a Forgemastering experiment." Solus told her about the last memory she had recovered and what had triggered it.
"This is huge, sister." Nyka was adamant considering Solus a fellow vampire due to her bond with Lith"s life force.
"Why you didn"t tell your spouse? One secret is okay, but two… The more secrets you keep, the more you"ll grow apart."
"For the last time, he isn"t my spouse. Lith isn"t even my boyfriend. He"s with Kamila now." Sometimes Nyka"s single minded approach on life exasperated Solus.
"You share one body, one mind, and one life. If that"s not a spouse, what is it?" Nyka said, always striking the iron no matter if it was hot or not.
"I"m with Nyka, for once." Tista stepped in before the two could start bickering.
"What if something happens and you two fuse again? If Lith discovers how many things you"ve kept from him, it will hurt him. I could understand if this was just about not wanting to mess with his relations.h.i.+p, but now it has become about your life.
"Maybe he could help you recover your memories. Like you always say, just give him a chance." She said.