Chapter 31: Chapter THIRTY ONE

The couple was relieved to find the tranquility of their hosts' home after the chaos of the crowd. They had indeed been able to get away with no speeches, but the people of Callis hadn't let them go without patting them on the shoulder or giving them two or three encouragements on the way. There was no shortcut to avoid the crowd, especially since the group had to take the metro again and it was extraordinarily crowded since everyone was going home after the meeting. And when they weren't touched and brushed against without their consent, it was the intense stares, sometimes curious, sometimes full of hope, that had gotten the better of Mia's energy. So much attention had simply worn her down, and Ethan was no slouch next to it.

Just before heading home, they stopped to pick up a tired Liam who had already eaten and was getting ready to sleep soon. Irina allowed him to stay with the adults until dinner was served, but he would go to bed during the meal, and the order was irrevocable. The child grumbled at not being able to spend the evening with his family, but he didn't insist when his father laid a heavy look on his little face. It was not a good day for acting out spoiled.

"I think it's time to open that bottle of Pita, don't you think?" Adam asked his soul mate.

"Why not?" she smiled, nodding her head. "We could bring the cushions back and sit outside. I'm going to put a roast and some vegetables in the oven, so we can all have a drink together while waiting to eat."

Adam, therefore, began to gather the cushions of the house to arrange them on a large blanket which he placed on the warm grass so as not to soil anything. The night was falling, which created a warm atmosphere in the garden of the house, especially after the Vila set up a small magic lantern that diffused warm and colorful light all around them. Meanwhile, Irina took care of preparing the dish to put in the oven, helped by the blonde who fulfilled the role of the kitchen clerk by cutting all the vegetables into small pieces.

Mia was still as amazed that the kitchens of this world could be so modern, with their ovens and fridges which, although they did not have quite the same shape, aesthetics, and materials as those on Earth – again, they were more basic here – still allowed for comfort close to her world. The refrigerators were more like freezers, their cold temperature maintained through magic. The ovens were large and round and made it possible to alternate at will between magical heating and wood-fired heating thanks to a compartment below the central part. Both were made of solid stone and took up a certain place in the kitchen due to their imposing size. Mia knew, however, that it was a privilege of an affluent household to have a kitchen equipped with both in the same room since she could see in Shaun's house that the poorest people had to place them outside in their yard or even do without if they simply didn't have the space.

Once the roast was cooking and their things were settled outside, the two young women joined their partners and sat down on the cushions. Mia leaned against the Vila, resting her head on his shoulder for some comfort after this hectic day. She sighed in happiness when he put his hand on her scalp to stroke her hair and place a kiss there.

I really took a liking to it, to having someone tender and attentive to my needs, she remarked with a smile.

"I'll get the bottle and the glasses," Adam announced now that everyone was finally settled on the cushions.

He brought back a plain glass bottle, with an old cream-colored label on which was written "Pita" in black ink, and four small round glasses, similar to those used for whiskey in his world, which he distributed to each. It was a liquor name she hadn't heard at the Arena Ball and, judging by Ethan's curious look, the drink wasn't familiar to him either. Adam filled each of the glasses halfway. Mia could smell from the alcoholic scent that the alcohol percentage must have been quite high and that the Vila had actually been generous in its dosage.

"What is that? Smells very sweet," Ethan inquired, sniffing the drink.

"Pita. It is an alcohol that is made here in Callis, with the few species of plants that grow in the canyon. It is quite expensive, we lack space to devote cultures to its manufacture. We export most of the alcohol we drink here outside of this one, but it's a pretty scarce commodity since we can't trade openly. Go ahead, taste it."

Mia let the liquid swirl in her glass for a few seconds to release the aroma. She had sensed, as had Ethan, that the drink seemed very sweet. When she dipped her lips in alcohol and swallowed a few drops to test its taste, she found that it was really just an impression.

"Tastes a bit like Tequila, but with a good spoonful of sugar," she laughed, happy to find a drink she was almost familiar with. "And an aftertaste that I can't identify. It's pretty good!"

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Ethan still hadn't tasted it and seemed hesitant to indulge in alcohol, but eventually took a sip when he saw the blonde's approving face. The warmth that filled their throats as they felt the liquid slide into their stomachs began to relax them instantly, without them even feeling the first effects of the alcohol.

"I thought you were going to refuse to drink on the pretext that we have to be at the top of our abilities tomorrow night or something," she teased, leaning more on his body to capture his warmth.

As night fell, a pleasant breeze rose, making the temperature more breathable than in the afternoon. Mia wasn't cold, but she felt she needed the touch of their skin so she wouldn't turn into a ball of nerves and fatigue.

"We don't know what's going to happen, so we might as well relax a bit," he admitted, smiling slightly.

It's funny, now that we no longer have a choice and we know that we might die, he finally let go.

They spent the rest of the hour chit-chatting, pouring another drink, and savoring it until the roast was ready and it was completely dark. Surprisingly, Mia also managed to relax on this normal evening, almost making her forget that she was going to risk her life in twenty-four hours. Perhaps it was precisely because the anguish would nail them to the spot if the reality of the situation hit them that their brains had decided to bury this information and let them enjoy their evening as if nothing had happened. Seeing Ethan smile and laugh almost carefree was something she hadn't witnessed very often since they'd known each other, and it was a sight she very much wanted to observe more in the future. if they got away with it.

I wonder how he is, when he's not overwhelmed with problems… she reflected, thinking that his pretty face was even more attractive when he smiled sincerely and relaxed.

"We manage to communicate our emotions telepathically now," explained Irina, telling some anecdotes of the first months of her relationship with her soul mate. "It's already happened that we manage to send each other ideas and intuitions. Do you remember the time a wendigo attacked our convoy?"

"Without the bond, you would have died there," he grimaced before addressing the young couple to tell the story. "We were three men and two women, and it was the women's turn to wash in the river that night. The wendigo fell on us at the camp, and we managed to scare it away, but it was heading towards the river. Getting attacked while bathing is clearly not the best time to defend yourself. It had been so long since we had been under threat and close to the danger that we relaxed our vigilance by separating like this..."

"I was chatting quietly with Vanya when my whole body screamed at me to grab my guns and fight. I later realized that it was Adam who had managed to warn me of the danger through the link. If he had attacked us by surprise, I don't think we would have made it out alive, Vanya and me."

"What is a wendigo?" asked Mia, who had waited until the end of the story to ask the question.

"It's a werewolf who... lost his mind," Irina revealed. "The closer the full moon approaches, the more their strength is increased tenfold, but the more likely they are to succumb to their bestiality if they don't control themselves. They then turn into wendigos. Their power can match or even surpass that of the Vilas, but a wendigo's birth happens very rarely. It is not a desirable fate, even in so much war. It is seen as a disgrace in the eyes of other werewolves. The wendigo becomes a beast incapable of thinking and acting only on instinct. His only desires are survival and blood. I wish you never cross them, they are really mad beasts."

Okay, we just flipped into a horror movie here, Mia thought with a shiver.

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