Chapter 239: Disasters, Denials, and the Children Who Burn, Trick, and Entertain
Chapter 239: Disasters, Denials, and the Children Who Burn, Trick, and Entertain
Aurelixa inclined her head slightly, one hand lifting with effortless grace as she gave a mock bow from where she sat.
"I am pleased to know my suffering serves as entertainment," she said smoothly.
There was not a trace of offense in her tone.
Ysera laughed.
It was bright and unrestrained, her shoulders shaking as she leaned back into her seat.
"It does," she said without hesitation. "Very much so."
Aurelixa exhaled softly through her nose but did not argue.
Because it did.
Time had a way of reshaping things.
What had once been frustrating, exhausting, and—at moments—deeply concerning somehow softened into something else when viewed from a distance.
Ysera waved a hand lazily.
"When you think about it," she said, "all of our children are disasters."
Her gaze shifted.
It landed squarely on Faelyra.
"And speaking of disasters," she added, a grin tugging at her lips, "Aziren is one too."
Faelyra raised a brow.
"Oh?"
Ysera nodded, entirely unbothered.
Seraphielle turned to her immediately. "Aziren is not a disaster."
Ysera raised an eyebrow.
"Every disaster that child has caused," Seraphielle continued, setting her glass down with quiet certainty, "was a mistake. Not one of them was intended."
"Of course they weren’t intended," Ysera said pleasantly. "That is what makes them disasters."
She leaned forward slightly, resting her elbow on the table.
"Aziren is a fox demon and a fire demon," she said. "Which means he has just enough mischief in him to be dangerous—and more than enough fire to ensure that danger becomes very real."
Aurelixa’s ear twitched faintly.
"That child," Ysera went on, "is sweet."
She paused.
"Very sweet."
Then she added, "And extremely destructive."
Faelyra smiled slightly at that, her earlier exhaustion easing into amusement.
Ysera gestured loosely with her hand.
"We have lost count," she said, "of how many times we have had to replace furniture in the castle."
Faelyra frowned. "The fire-resistant—"
"Does not always hold," Ysera said. "When Aziren is too excited—genuinely, deeply excited—everything burns. Including what is supposed to be fire-resistant." She gestured lightly with her hand. "Rugs. Curtains. Chair legs. He moves through a room when he is happy and it simply... goes."
Faelyra let out a small breath of laughter.
"There was a time," she said, "when I took him to the beast demon territory. For a festival."
Everyone knew Aziren and festivals were a combination that ended in only one way—joy for him and consequences for everyone nearby.
"I took him there," she continued. "Everything was fine. Perfect, even. He was behaving. There were no fire-induced accidents."
Aurelixa hummed.
"That should have been your first warning," she said.
Ysera nodded in agreement. "I really should have."
"I had my back to him for less than a minute. And then the stall burned down."
"And because the stalls were arranged closely—very aesthetically, I might add—"
Aurelixa closed her eyes briefly.
"They all caught fire," Ysera finished.
Faelyra covered her mouth.
Ysera smiled faintly.
"It spread very quickly," she added. "One stall, then the next, then the next—like a line of very unfortunate decisions."
Seraphielle exhaled.
"I paid for all of it," Ysera said. "Every single stall."
"Aziren cried," Ysera added. "Badly. He was devastated. But his tears—" she stopped, then laughed quietly, "—his tears also burn. So we had to leave immediately before the crying caused further damage."
"There was also the firefly incident."
Aurelixa’s ear twitched again.
"He decided he wanted to play with one," Ysera said. "A firefly. He caught it, put it in a jar, sealed the jar." She paused. "Within minutes, the entire castle was surrounded."
"Everyone knows how fireflies are," Ysera continued mildly. "Tiny. Cute. Absolutely vicious when something that belongs to them is taken." She nodded slowly. "The whole castle. Surrounded. Every entrance, every window, every corridor that let air through."
"We returned the firefly," Ysera said simply. "Immediately. With a formal apology." She picked up a piece of the grilled meat. "The funny thing is, the fireflies are now something akin to his friends. Whenever he’s playing, they flock to him."
Aurelixa’s lips twitched.
"There was also the incident with Ignivar’s study," Ysera continued, because apparently she was not done.
"Ignivar had told him not to go in there," Ysera said. "Explicitly. Multiple times. Aziren is sweet, but he has a stubborn side—once something catches his interest, telling him no is more of a suggestion than a rule." She exhaled. "He went in anyway. And then everything in there—the parchments, the documents, important things Ignivar had kept for years—burned."
"Ignivar almost hit him," she said.
"He didn’t," she added. "But he came close. He was furious." She sipped her drink.
"Aziren cried for days after. He knew he had done wrong. He apologized so many times we lost count."
Faelyra shook her head slowly.
"He is sweet," Seraphielle said, almost quietly.
"He is," Ysera agreed. "He always apologizes. That is the difference between him and some others. He feels it genuinely."
"Oh," she said. "And the pregnancy."
"Twenty-eight years ago," Ysera said, looking at her. "Aziren joined Zayrion—"
Aurelixa laughed before she finished the sentence.
"Yes," Ysera said, smiling. "Together, they convinced Xaleron that you were pregnant again."
Faelyra’s head swung toward Aurelixa.
"He panicked," Aurelixa confirmed, pressing two fingers lightly to her temple at the memory. "Considerably."
"And Aziren," Ysera said, "found the panic fascinating. He watched Xaleron spiral with complete delight." She shook her head. "After that, he started asking me and Ignivar for a second child. Every week. For months."
Seraphielle made a sound that was almost a laugh.
"There is more," Ysera said, "but I genuinely cannot remember all of it right now."
She settled back, and for a moment, the table was simply quiet.
Seraphielle exhaled.
"He is a disaster," she said of Aziren, and her tone was almost fond. "But he is cute about it. Everything he does, he is cute about it."
Ysera nodded.
"Velira," Seraphielle continued, shifting, "is not a disaster."
She paused.
Then she added, "But there are things she has done that have made me genuinely question my sanity."
Aurelixa and Ysera both looked at her.
Faelyra smiled into her glass.
"Like that one time she was found in the pleasure house," Faelyra offered.
Seraphielle closed her eyes briefly.
"Yes," she said. "That incident."
Aurelixa turned fully. "I remember hearing about that."
"We found her," Seraphielle said, "in one of our pleasure houses, in a huge room, surrounded by succubi and incubi her age."
The table was very still.
"Now," Seraphielle said, holding up a hand, "before any conclusion is reached—"
"We know your kind," Ysera said pleasantly.
Seraphielle nodded. "I thought she was doing things that adults do, but when I got there, I found out they were playing dress-up. They were having a sleepover in a pleasure house because, according to my daughter, the music there was better, they had staff there too, and there was enough makeup and dresses to play with!"
The whole table dissolved into fits of laughter. Even Seraphielle herself couldn’t hold it back.