Beloved

• Chp. 76 •

Lilith

Lovis. But Lov was what Khael called him. Short and sweet to the ear. It seemed our son responded to it better as well.

It was hard to tell time passing by since we did not have the four seasons like in Roem. Even so, I was able to see through our son that time was indeed flying right by us. Days became weeks. And weeks soon became months. Lovis was  a year old and pulling himself up already.

We held a grand celebration for Lov at the hall we had Khael's birthday celebration last year. We had Lov's attire specially tailored for the celebration by tailors from Roem. And of course another attire following the Dravick's tradition.

Lov was a special child and his physical features served as one of them. I did not fail to notice that there were still people that looked at our child like a rarity. His reddish aubirn hair was fiery underneath the sun's rays. While his eyes were different from one another. One brown and the other grey and faded. Heterochromia is what the healers called it.

Our son was still young, just a year old now and already I felt the reality of our world hovering over him. The whispers. The stares.

The reminded me of the time I was in Roem under father's care. Those whispers and stares were no longer for me. They were towards our beloved son.

I was no longer just a young woman without a purpose in life. I was a wife. I was a mother. I was the lady of Draylum that had to be strong. Those whispers and stares were the least of my concerns when our baby was healthy and strong as ever. He was a child that had received many blessings and pushed through so much just to enter this world.

There would be days when Lov would grow to know about his differences but there were also many that showered him with love. Lov was in good and trustworthy hands of our people.

And so, on the day of his birthday, Lov received many blessings of both the people of Draylum and Roem. A grand feast followed by joyous music overflowed halls of the tower. There was one last event everyone waited.

It was a tradition of Draylum to have various items laidout before the child and encourage them to crawl towards 1-2 of the items on the table. The items he grabbed would fortell his future and his life. The items on the table were a toy bow, a bag of coins, a medicine cup, a strand of yarn, and a gold medal.

It was more of an entertainment now but some of the elders still took it more seriously. They were engrossed in the event, some even leaning forward in anticipation of what Lov would grab.

Our son was placed ontop the table in front of hundreds of guests. He hesitated and looked back in my direction and then at Khael. We were the only faces he recognized and wanted to come back. But with a few little encouragements, he turned his attention back to the items on the table and started to crawl.

His left hand grabbed onto the small toy bow and from this Khael chuckled. He seemed pleased with what Lov had claimed. And then the last item he grabbed was the strand of yarn. From this, the whole crowd all cheered and Khael lifted our boy up in the air. A large smile was plastered across his face and his laughter merged with the crowd's cheer.

"That's my boy!"

The arrow symbolized a strong warrior and leader while the yarn symbolized a long prosperous life. His reign would spread across generations and many would remember his name.

With Lov in one arm, Khael pulled me closer with his other arm for a kiss. His lips were warm against mine and my heart still fluttered like a girl that had fallen in love again.

Khael

It was late and majority of the guests had left to their respected suites. The night was rather quiet now. Halfway through the event Laurdes had taken Lov to his room since he fell asleep on top of Lilith.