Levi listened intently with his eyes widened ever so slightly. Their love story sounded familiar, kind of like a mix between his friendship with Marya, and his romance with Mordecai— if Mordecai and Marya were the same person, it would be even more similar. “That’s quite a story,” he smiled warmly, “No wonder you two are so close.”
Levi took a moment to respond after Cadmus gave him time to speak. He let out a long, drawn-out sigh, a smile lingering in the right corner of his lips, “Yeah, his eyes are pretty great. But they’re not the only thing,” he snickered with a light shrug.
Cadmus smiled at the compliment, laughing at Levi's response to his question. "Well obviously it's not the only thing. It wouldn't be much of a relationship if you were only sticking around for his eyes, now would it?" He grinned. "Like, for example, I think Fi's laugh is just the most wonderful thing in the world. Does that mean I don't think his ass is fine as hells? Fuck no!"
Levi responded with a hearty, a bit nervous bout of laughter at Cadmus’ last comment. “That’s funny,” his corner of his eyes crinkled with happiness. “I can second that for Mordecai. But then again his legs are pretty damn fine too,” he snickered. Levi enjoyed talking about Mordecai, it seemed to ease his homesickness to a degree. But he also missed him all the more.
Cadmus beamed at the compliment, smacking Levi on the shoulder playfully. "Yeah but it's not your kind of humor, is it?" Levi was kind of adorable when he was happy, with his crinkly eyed smiles and his topsy turvy laugh. He seemed younger too, less weighed down by his worries. "I bet you miss Mordecai a whole fucking lot. I think I'd've gone crazy by now if someone had taken me away from Fiori.
Levi’s chuckled died down as the conversation continued, and eventually came to a soft halt at Cadmus’ last comment. “Yeah…” he looked off to the side. He twirled his ring around his finger again, “It hurts like hell. I know I’ll be seeing him again soon, but… he probably thinks I’m dead.” What if he had moved on already?
Cadmus bit his lip when he realized what a somber turn this had taken. He'd heard about what had supposedly happened to the prince. "Well… the first step of grieving is denial. And… anyway, he probably doesn't think you're dead. He'll hold out hope for as long as he can, that's… that's how things work when you're in love."
Levi nodded, slightly eased by Cadmus’ reassuring words. “He’s very logical, so I think it could go two ways. He could easier logically prove that I’m not in fact dead, just missing. Or he could logically, eventually resign himself that he needs to keep going without me.” He would be Johan’s advisor—that in itself gave a slimmer of hope. Mordecai could provide sound, calculated advice in Levi’s absence.
(I know this doesn't really relate to anything but I'm reading a bunch of love letters and I… I'm so genuinely happy. These are such sweet things, I wanna write something like that someday)
Cadmus nodded. "Logical people jump to… illogical conclusions when they're grieving." He swallowed, remembering the first time Fi had almost died. The second. The third. "But… if Mordecai's sensible, he's going to investigate, and he's gonna figure out what really happened– or get as close as he can, anyways– and then he's gonna do his best to keep going until you come home."
(Ohh! I love those things! I haven’t read any in a while but I’m gonna have to now 😊 and me too!)
“He’s sensible,” Levi nodded, relieved even more at the further encouragement. “I fear for my little brother, though, I doubt he’s as sensible for him being so young.” He could only imagine losing a sibling to death, well, at least thinking they’re dead.
(Read the ones between Vita Sackville-Louis and Virginia Woolf!! That's some top quality stuff right there!)
Cadmus bit his lip, nodding. "That's… different. He'll mourn you, obviously, but… he'll have your Mordecai and the middle brother to help hold him together. And if he's young enough he won't really know what's going on anyways; how old is he?"
(Sweet thanks!! I’ll check them out!)
Levi bobbed his head, “He’s eleven, nearing twelve in a few months.” He stilled the silver ring, keeping himself from twirling it. “He really looks up to my other brother, but our relationship wasn’t bad either. Apparently better than my relationship with my first brother.”
Cadmus sighed. "Well you can put an ixnay on the whole 'not knowing what death' is thing then, but… he's just a kid." His mouth twitched up into a sad sort of half-smile. "Kids are… imaginative. I dunno if they even realize death isn't just moving on to a new world until they really start to grow up."
He laughed a little at the last quip, nudging Levi playfully. "I mean, obviously, but you'll whip your other brother into shape when you get home, so maybe things can get fixed up then."
Levi snickered, "Hah, yeah, I definitely will. Either literaly or figuratively." He would have to decide when he got home. "It's up to the prisons, or most likely the prince regent. High crimes like kidnapping and murder are judged by either the monarch or whoever is highest in charge at that time." If nothing else, he knew that he would send Johan to the prisons, either with physical labor, or hidden away with the worst criminals.
Cadmus nodded, a smile on his face. "I dunno if you wanna get him sent too far away." Was it a good idea to give the prince of an enemy kingdom advice? Probably not. Was he gonna use this against Fi somehow? Possibly. Did he care? No. Levi was just so sweet, he was impossible to hate. "He's a fighter, and apparently he's sneaky enough to get you sent out here without anyone noticing. It'd be a good plan to keep an eye on him so he won't be able to do anything too sneaky."
Levi nodded after he considered it. It made perfect sense. “Yes, hopefully he’ll simply be kept incapacitated in the dungeons on high security. He certainly deserves it.” He lifted his hand to scratch his lip. He felt different here, just as he was playing a character who wasn’t the prince, and had no pride other than the intrinsic dignity brought to him by being noble blood. But being a slave in this enemy kingdom, noble—even royal blood seemed to mean nothing. Even if he was simply playing a character, it still took a toll on his mind and confidence. And politically, he could blame it all on Johan.
Cadmus nodded, giving him a sunny smile. "Good choice!" He'd opened his mouth so say something more, a half-formed comment on the tip of his tongue, when footsteps tromped up behind him and someone set a tanned hand on his shoulder.
He turned with a grin, grabbing Fi by the furry collar around his neck and yanking him down into a sweet kiss. "Hey baby! How'd the fights go, anyone get you too roughed up?"
Fi gave him a fond smile in return, setting his head on Cadmus' shoulder. "I'm alright," he murmured. "Tired. My arms hurt, Elowan hits very hard."
Levi chuckled softly as he watched the sweet scene between the two lovers. His mind flickered back to Mordecai for another fraction of a second, but seeing as that dimmed his spirits again, he buried the thought. Elowan, Elowan… who was that again? He assumed that it was Fiori’s close female friend who appeared nearly equally skilled as Fiori in the arena.
They spent a few more minutes gazing at each other before Cadmus seemed to snap out of it, tapping Fi on the arm to break him from his daze. "We were having a conversation before you got here, sweetling. Levi, d'you remember what we were talking about? Was it boys?"
“Um, yes, pretty much,” he nodded, looking between Cadmus and Fiori. “I was just telling him a bit about Mordecai, and the conversation shifted over to my family. And how my brother’s probably going to be punished. Conversation took a few turns,” he chuckled.
Cadmus ushered Fi down into his seat and then plopped into his lap with a bright smile, nodding along as he spoke. "Oh yeah! We were thinking prison instead of labor camp, that way he can't escape. D'you have any input?"
Fi hummed. "A prison sentence is… a bit light, is it not? Something ore immediate might work better, something more painful."
Levi tilted his head with consideration. “I suppose so, yes. He should still be in prison but…he could be flogged as well,” he shifted his jaw. “Or what suitable punishments does your country have?”
"I would suggest a flogging. Punishment like that is… quick. Brutal. It leaves marks, marks people will not forget." Fi wrapped his arms around Cadmus' waist as he spoke, eyes dark with memory. "And it takes him out of operation for a while, long enough to keep him from scheming while you relocate him."
“I’d hate to do that to my brother,” Levi scratched the corner of his lip. “But… it seems appropriate given what he did.” And clearly Johan didn’t care enough about him. “Oh, and I told Cadmus that I’d give this collar to one of the silversmiths when I got back, to turn into either a pendant or necklet for him to wear.”
Fi hummed, nodding. "The irony is a nice symbolic gesture, though… I am not certain he'll want to take anything from you. Especially if you do choose to have him flogged. You would most likely need to frame it like a gesture of forgiveness after the punishment, but even then… your brother sounds very proud."
“Oh,” Levi looked off to the side. This was true, Johan was quite proud. “The I wouldn’t offer it to him. I would make him wear it in the prison,” he suggested with a loose shrug of his shoulders. “Or, make him a laborer for a number of years, but for a specific person. Like a slave. And eye for an eye kind of deal…” He wasn’t sure how well that would go over in his kingdom, especially since Johan was a prince.
(Oh!!! plot idea, y'know how we want Fi to get sent over to Levi's kingdom? What if he makes Johan his laborer? And that way we can force some bonding??)
Fi considered the new idea quietly while Cadmus loudly and enthusiastically agreed. "Yes! That's… that's so perfect Levi, you're a genius! Give him a taste of what he sentenced you to, make sure the punishment fits the crime! And anyway, I'm sure the poetic justice of it'll go over well with the family, especially since you are the older son."
(Oohh! Ah yess I like that a lot!! That way Fi doesn’t have to keep going down to the dungeons)
Levi bobbed his head again, smiling at how much Cadmus liked his idea. “I’m sure they’ll find it alright… as long as the labor isn’t too cruel. He is my brother, after all. But I doubt that would happen, depending on who he ends up working for.”
(Yes!!! Also, quick question, should Cadmus die before or after the holiday festival. The way I see it, he can either die right before Fi fights his uncle, thus forcing Fi to run away with Levi, or he can die after a beautiful festival night the three of them spend together, increasing sad points)
"Oh I'm sure you can convince them somehow!" Cadmus gave him a knowing smile– a you're the prince and you have the power kind of smile. "Widonians are all so… hereditary, yeah? You get all the power. And anyways, faking your brother's death and then selling him into slavery is… pretty serious. The punishment definitely fits the crime, it's gonna be hard to argue that he doesn't deserve it."
(Oohh, Hmm… I like both those options, but I’m kinda leaning towards the first one. It might add a little more drama/emotion to when Cadmus tells Fiori that Levi’s the prince right before he dies?? What do you think?)
Levi shrank a little bit at Cadmus’ look. He knew, Cadmus definitely knew, unless he was misreading that expression. He swallowed hard, momentarily losing his composed words to running thoughts. “I…Yeah, that would work, then. I could probably convince them. Somehow.”
(I think that sounds great! Maybe they head back downstairs to let Fi get ready for his fight and then boom guards swarm them and it's murder central.)
Cadmus's smile eased back into something bright and half-plastic as he gave a decisive nod. "Good! I'm sure you'll be just fine getting him what he deserves then, and now we can move onto something else. What shops do you wanna hit during the winter festival?"
