For I Am Convinced

Chapter 8

Longtooth was at his house, carefully examining a spear when a knock came at his door. "Who's there?" He growled lightly. If Leonidas came to ask him one more thing......

"Longtooth?"

The elder guard threw open the door, the spear clattering to the floor. "Levi! That was fast."

"I-I need to ask you something." The guard's voice was cracked and raw, eyes red and puffy.

"Anything." Longtooth beckoned for Levi to sit down and slid a hot mug of tea at him. "Do you put honey in yours?"

"Yes," Levi answered. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Longtooth followed the request before sitting down with a mug of his own. "So, what's going on? Any of the guards bothering you?"

"I was thinking.......about what the king said. What did he mean by saying that what happened to me wasn't my fault?"

Ah, wisdom from the king. And Longtooth knew the king was resting at this hour, so of course Levi would seek the king's advisor out for aid. "What King Lagravis meant was that you can't blame yourself for what you went through. I've seen your scars and I know they aren't combat scars."

Levi tensed up slightly.

"Levi," Longtooth smiled kindly. "You're one of the most energetic and lively members here when you are relaxed. When you're not, I see a side that walks on tiptoes. I may not have grown up in your home, but I know what abuse scars look like."

"My father s-said they were scars meant to remind me that I was to blame for them. That I was a waste of cells and life." Levi glanced at a forearm abrasion, still pink.

"And that's wrong," Longtooth assured. "Those scars, the guilt you carry, the burdens you bear, they aren't because of something you did. I have only known you for a short while, but I know that while you love a good fight, you will fight to bring peace, not destruction. You're one of those people that will stop a fight just to make sure an innocent creature is safe from your brawling before you resume it." He reached toward Levi, stopping short of Levi's arm. "Your innocence is still there. The guilt you have, non-existent. The trauma you went through was not yours. You can't blame yourself for it."

Levi swallowed a sip. "So......what happened to me.....wasn't because I existed?"

"No," Longtooth answered. "Someone cruel did this to you, Levi. And rest assured, I will not rest until he is dealt with."

Levi's gaze flickered. "What's it like to be loved by a parent?"

Longtooth started to speak, but shut it, remembering that Levi had no real parents that didn't hurt him -- in his eyes, anyway, and as far as Longtooth knew. "Well, it's special. A parent is very much the first real friend you have. No matter what anyone says, you're something special to them." He smiled. "Most of the parents here love unconditionally."

"Unconditionally?" The way Levi asked that made Longtooth wonder if there wasn't just physical abuse happening at that house. Emotional neglect, perhaps? That jerk was going to pay a lot more than what Longtooth figured.

"It means loving you for who you are, not what you can or cannot do." Longtooth smiled.

Levi's eyes widened. "For I am convinced that nothing in the universe can take the love I have for you away," he whispered, conviction spreading her wings across his smile.

Longtooth's heart stung. Those words were engraved on a special dagger that vanished when the little Lion Prince was abducted. That dagger was a birthday present, one that the prince would understand the significance of when he got older.