Dinastiya Tested // 3rd Book of the Takaryev Trilogy

Chapter 33

Ravil, as promised, was still sitting at the kitchen table when Artem and Leopold arrived.

Artem peered over at his husband, an amalgam of concern and terror dwelling in his blue gaze. He took a deep breath and proceeded to wheel himself over next to him. Leopold observed. 

"Ravil," Artem said quietly. 

Ravil glanced up at him. For a fleeting moment, their gazes mingled. 

"Listen to me, Ravil. Look," Artem held out his hand. Ravil flinched. "Look at me, Ravil. It's okay, I won't hurt you. You can take my hand, moy solnyshka." 

Suspicion and fear dwelling in Ravil's viridian eyes, he took Artem's hand anyways. 

"Okay, good," Artem coaxed him. "Just focus on that. Now all you have to do now is just calm down. Can you count to twenty?" 

Although tentatively, Ravil managed to nod. He began to count in Russian. "Odin, dva, tri, pyat, shest, sem, vosem, devyat, desyat, odinnadtsat..." This continued until he reached twenty. 

"Good job," Artem assured him. "Count backwards, now." 

"Dvadtsat, devyatnadtsat, vocemnadtsat, cemnadtsat, shestnadtsat," Ravil counted backwards. Once he finished, he closed his eyes in an attempt to banish the phantoms of the past from his mind. 

"Are you alright now?" Artem queried gently. 

Ravil managed to nod. In the distance, still standing by the door, Leopold offered a thumbs-up. 

"I love you," Artem reminded Ravil. 

"Ya lyublyu tebya tozhe," Ravil's answer remained in Russian. Translation: "I love you too."  

Artem wrapped his arms around Ravil's back and kissed him on the forehead. "It'll be alright, moy solnyshka," 

"S nadezhdoy," Ravil answered.