"Is that him?" An aggravated question came forth, then bit out under his breath. "Shabby dirty blonde looking hair."
"Hmm, seems to be. With the way her arm is clearly entangled with his. And his hair is brown, not blonde." Came the smooth reply, yet an underline of annoyance was detected. "He is a little on the shorter side of a man, I must say." Ardyn gave a humph of agreement as the man in question stood a head under their sister.
"I can't believe this." Came seconds later after watching Arryn and the man move around the crowd of attendees.
"Believe what? She's twenty-two, brother, or have you forgotten that you share the same day of birth?" Amusement slipped out in his tone. That earned a glaring side-eye of darkened blue eyes. "It was bound to happen once she grew into her role as High Priestess."
"You surely can't be okay with this as well? She's our sister and...He's dead." Ardyn groused out making way towards his twin as she was being kissed by the male that had taken that moment to defile his sister in public. Only by the grace of the Astrals, did Somnus stop him by grabbing his arm and forcing him back. "Ardyn, stop. I don't like it also, but we must remember she is a grown woman now and a ruler of her own."
Ardyn scowled as he watched Arryn cover her mouth in a giggle to something the man said. Somnus was right. He knew, but witnessing how much Arryn has grown into the woman she is now has made him realize how much of their paths have differences. It seemed so much simpler before when they talked about their duties to the two kingdoms at the age of nine. That they would still make time to do things when ruling their kingdoms, yet not understanding the large responsibility that would be set upon them. Now, Arryn was set to marry this man and in a few years time, if the gods grant it, her own family. It aggravated, yet saddened him to this fact of life.
"She does look happy." Ardyn sighed as both brothers watched the man take Arryn's cheek into his hand as her own raised to intertwine with his, gifting him a lovingly soft smile.
"It is good to see her smile again." Somnus said taking note that the sorrow had disappeared since the death of their mother three years ago. All three of them grieved, but Arryn was the closest with their mother and took the loss the hardest. "That is something we should be grateful for from that man."
Ardyn scoffed some. "I'm her twin. We're her brothers, why couldn't we be the ones to bring that light back into her eyes? We understood how she was feeling as that was our mother too."
"Do not be discouraged. Mistress, in her own way had to work through her pain and grief that the three of you shared that day and the days after." Both turned to the elegant willowy figure of Lakshmi and were quick to give a respectful bow of the head to the Astral messenger. Her deep blue dress was layered on her figure with her back open to the air as that of the Stelluxian fashion. A bronze bangle sat on the upper left of her arm while her right wrist had several loose bracelets of plain silver. "Understand that there are times when a different type of love is needed to help." Lakshmi gazed with dark sapphire eyes that held the brothers own to hers. "Do you wish to hear a story?"
Somnus glanced at Ardyn before both nodded to the messenger. "Long before Stella Lux came to have its first ruler and even longer still before its birth, there was a man that had gained many names in his time of long life. Consort of Seraphim. Herald of Stella Lux. An Artist. Confidant. He was a dear friend to my
Mistress, the Seraphim. Of all who revered her, he stood out to her. He held the heart of an artist, with an eye that saw her as his forever canvas of all that held beauty in this world. Oftentimes, they would speak days between them just enjoying the other's company. Never did he demand more from her but to forever be the one to capture the pureness she let shine."
"In time, with age turning him, my Mistress took to breaking a law, set by Bahamut, to extend his life as she could not bear to lose the friendship she had with him. In time, with each giving of her feather to restore his life essence, he grew thin in his soul that it took less time to age him that it led my Mistress distressed. Their friendship grew into a deeper form that when he finally could no longer use the magic of her feather to restore his essence and took him last breath, my Mistress nearly followed him."
"You mean, she nearly died?" Somnus asked, surprised by this. "But, she's an Astral, they don't die! Is that how she ended up as an Egg?"
Lakshmi shook her head. "We may be more than humans, but even we Astrals cannot continue if our bodies on this plane are destroyed. For many, we must wait for a time before reentering a plane where we once could form ourselves in, if that form had been damaged extensively. Now, at the time, my Mistress had come to deeply care for him that she unknowingly bound herself to him and the moment he went into the Beyond she slowly wasted. If not for the Glacian and her brother, Mistress would have vanished before our eyes that could have led to her leaving us completely."
"Completely?" Ardyn asked curious by that.
"Completely...in that Mistress would have truly died, just as humans would have, on all planes that she is on."
"Who was this man?"
"His name is Cidulfus, and he was an ancestor to us." Heads turned to the speaker. Arryn nodded to her brothers then gave a bow of her head to Lakshmi. The man she was to wed followed after her with a lower bow at the waist showing how much he respected the Astral. "Come now brothers, surely you haven'f forgotten all mother has taught us of our history."
"I was sick that day." Ardyn announced. "As you fully know. I could hardly focus on you retelling me all that you had learned." Arryn only returned a smile at that.
"Brothers, this is Osric Angura, Osric, Ardyn my twin and Somnus my younger brother." She introduced.
"It is good to finally see the ones she speaks highly of." Osric greeted with a smile not fully noticing the contemptuous look Ardyn was sending him as Somnus took to returning the greeting. With a swift swipe to Ardyn on the arm lightly she sent him a frown telling him to behave. He gave her a raise of his brow to which she could only roll her eyes knowing how much trouble her twin was going to grief her fiance.
"How long have you known our sister?" Ardyn asked crossing his arms which led to Arryn sighing.
"I met her when I took over for my father's seat on the council." Here they watched the man blush as he sent Arryn a soft smile. "I kinda made a fool of myself upon the first meeting. Blundered so many times in front of her that it left me mortified. I was not a clumsy man, but that day forward I seemed to somehow gain two left feet."
"Oh, you weren't that bad. Just here and there you would trip over air the moment I came within eye sight of you." Both brothers were keen to see the normal glow of her eyes seeming to brighten at the memories she shared with the man. "There was one time I tried to help take half the stack of paperwork only for you to fall down a set of stairs after denying my help. I was so worried you had injured yourself badly that I carried you to a healer. I completely forgot that I could have done that myself."
Osric grinned broadly. "It only hurt my pride to become that clumsy in your presence. Though, if that was the easiest way into your arms I probably would have done it sooner." Here he grinned to the brothers. "She is amazingly strong." Arryn had to look away as her face became scarlet.
"Wait..wait, you mean she carried you...as in?" Ardyn used his arms to recreate the princess hold. When Osric happily nodded in a way that seemed to beam little hearts around his head, both brothers suddenly had to shove a fist into their mouth to stop freely laughing. Somnus took several attempts to work through the bubbling shakes that wanted to burst forth before he could speak. "That is quite a way to start a relationship sister." Arryn sent Somnus a glare as if to say 'shut the hell up' as Ardyn glanced at Osric. "I can see why you would fall for her if she could be so manly." She then jabbed a finger into the side of her twin.
"Gah, Arryn, what the hell?" Ardyn let slip a chuckle at the way she bristled. "What are you so definitive for? I for one would be starstruck if a woman whisked me up in her beefy arms and scurried off with me to make sure I was fine and healthy."
"See dearie, he understands how it felt for me that day." Osric said taking her hands into his gifting her with a genuine smile with eyes full of love.
"Jerk." Arryn scuffed playful with a frown.
"You love me." Ardyn returned lifting his lips as the smile that formed seconds later on his twin was reflected by his own. "Unfortunately."