fresh start

He had kept to his vow, in however a humorous way he'd chosen - and now he would see if she would keep to hers. Epiphron stood at the ready, clearly not understanding the inside joke, but how could she? He relished in her quick nuzzle before she took her seat at his side, where he wished she would remain always. Time ticked by, but not too much, before Raisa made her appearance. To his surprise her initial remarks were quite candid, and directed to his wife instead of him. "I assure you, I got the better end of the deal in our marriage." He had received the most beautiful and wonderful creature in the world, and she had gotten a flawed once-King who had yet to find his true self. He would allow a lilting laugh to trickle from his lips, the kind he hadn't known since his youth, before he stood to his paws and bowed his head and neck low to the Queen. "And you, Your Grace." An ear twitched idly as she asked of their purpose. Eyes sideswept to his wife for a mere second before he began. "I wonder if your previous offer of a home for my wife, my children, and myself still stands? This is Epiphron Adravendi-Mathias, the wife I have spoken of. My children, should they choose to come, will be traveling and requesting acceptance in their own time." He had not volunteered to carry them here, nor to assist them in their endeavors. Perhaps it was tough love, or perhaps it was a father making something of his children. In due time he would give the Queen all of the children's names, so she might know them when the came - if they came. He doubted Caeto would join them, and he knew Arian would not. Cassius was likely to come along, though he had been reluctant to leave the home he knew. Quintus was also likely to come, but he too had seemed unsure. He would wait, hoping that her mind hadn't been changed in his short absence.






"Speech,"