Bound By Madness

85. Our World

Are you sure it will be okay? Does Mother really want this? But who will care for her if not him? We might be gone for weeks searching for her... Not that I do not want him to come with us! Of course, I am very happy that he can come, but who will tend to Mother, oiling her and bringing her flowers so she knows she is still cared for?

I peered up at our Bastian as my Cicero danced gleefully behind him.

"Mother says not to worry, she will be taken care of while he is away. Let him have his time with you, outside where he can see the sun and moons again after having spent so much time away from their light over the years he tended to her," he said before pausing, a blush appearing on his face as he glanced toward Mother's coffin. "Ahem, she says he deserves to see this world's sights reflected in your eyes before it is eventually replaced with the darkness of the Void reflected instead."

The darkness of the Void? You mean, someday I will be allowed to stand beside my Cicero there? We will be able to remain together, even after we have left this world behind? Does this mean... my dearest Cicero will be allowed to be my forever if he wants it?

"It is up to him to decide that, but if he wants it... then yes, you will be allowed to remain together in the Void, so long as you do not stray from Mother's arms. And the farther you extend her reach, the farther you will be able to travel in her name," Bastian spoke softly, his eyes wandering from me to Mother and on to focus on my Jester Assassin who was finally making his way over to us after completing his dance.

"Cicero will always want to be beside his sweet Faith, no matter where she goes or what she calls herself. Cicero would think he had made that clear the other day. But if he hasn't, then maybe this will do the trick?" My Jester Assassin said as he skipped over to my side before growing still and looking into my eyes. "Cicero will never want to be apart from his Faith. Cicero... I love you, forever and always."

I couldn't even blink as I lost myself in his gaze, the smile on my face growing as I felt him gently grasp my hand. I didn't even realize what he was doing until I felt something cold against my skin, breaking away as I looked down to see a band of gold settled on my finger. A single ruby sat perched between two pieces of onyx, the sight blurring as I continued to stare at the ring.

"So sweet Faith will never forget her Cicero, no matter how far she might have to travel from him someday."

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I could almost feel the glare that Arnbjorn was sending at Cicero, even though the Nord was behind us as we rode ahead of him down the path and thus far had been completely silent. Certainly, he should be over his dislike of my Cicero by now. I'd even taken the time to talk to him about it, using up so much of the paper I had collected in the process as I wrote out line after line of carefully formed sentences trying to both learn his side of what happened and explain Cicero and I's side of things in turn.

Turning around to look behind us, I saw Arn turn his head to the side and stare at the snow-covered trees we were passing, his breath visible in the cold air. With a sigh, I turned again and got the attention of my Cicero, asking him to pass a message along to our Brother.

"Brother, dearest Faith wishes you to know that she is concerned for you and wonders if there is anything she or her Cicero can do to make you feel more... comfortable in this situation?" He sang the words out, a forced smile on his face, but I placed my hand gratefully on his where it rested over his stitches.

It would not be easy to get these two to play nice together, but it would be worth the effort if I could make it happen. After all, it wasn't like we had a lot of people to rely on right now and I'm sure Mother would smile if her remaining children got along better. Smiling back at our Brother, I held my hand out toward him, motioning for him to come closer. The moment he was in reach, I leaned down and grabbed his hand, fishing around in my pouch for a moment before closing his fingers around what I had pulled out.