Green eyes.Green eyes filled with a practical concern.Placing the dishes away, Channah glanced at her husband. He sat on the ground at their small kitchen table. Rotating a fork in his hands, a melancholy expression exasperated his handsome features.When she closed the cabinet, she walked over to the man and squatted next to him. Lucio did not shift his gaze from the fork, but out of the corner of his eye he watched his wife’s posture.She shifted and twitched, unsure what she needed to do. After an uncomfortable silence, she placed a shaking hand onto his shoulder. "You’re welcome to come out with me. I’m heading to Master Shamira’s shop to help with readings. Would you like to come along?“Lucio scowled and tensed underneath her touch. The tender expression of Channah wavered into fear. Holding back frustrated tears, she moved her hand to his back. "You know, I really appreciated it when you came out to visit me at the shop last week.” She said, fighting a quiver in her voice. "It almost made it seem…“ Her cadence stumbled as she searched for words.The fork clattered to table. Lucio’s sneer deepened "Like old times?” His right hand crossed his torso and rubbed the place where his left arm used to be. Channah’s green eyes widened as she leaned back, away from his mocking tone. In the corner, she heard a small dog yelp as Mercedes stirred from a nightmare, nestled against Melchior. She collected herself, and with a soft voice, she coaxed. "Lucio, dear Lucio, look at me.“Brushing his cheek with her fingertips, she guided him to face her. Lucio’s breath caught as he saw his wife. Her silver hair was bunched in a low bun, and two silver braids twisted beside her cheeks. A fringe of bangs hung at her brow line. As she smiled, the scar underneath her eye crinkled in folds of skin. Above her smiling lines laid her green eyes.Green eyes.Green eyes filled with practical concern.Lucio remembers those green eyes, burnt into his memory.
She leaned closer to him. "I just remember how surprised and happy I was to see you.” Her breath moved against the pale skin of his neck. "I remember the way that sun was setting all around you. The way your hair shone, and your eyes, your eyes….“ She trailed of as she kissed his neck. Lucio smiled, letting out a moan. "Keep going.” He said. "You know I like that kind of talk.“Channah paused and smiled into his neck. "Anything that pleases your vanity, you enjoy. But…” She pressed her nose against his cheek. His blonde stubble felt rough against her skin. "I want you to know though, I am not longing for the past.“ She crossed both hands on top of his shoulder. "I’m happy in the present. I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m excited for it because it involves you.”She looked into his eyes, grey eyes, so light they were almost white. As she smiled up at him, he turned away. "I’m not coming into town today.“"Well, everyone enjoyed seeing you last week.” She said in a teasing tone. "I thought that seeing them might put you in a better mood.“As Lucio’s body stiffened, Channah’s hands fell away. After a tense pause, she bolted up and headed toward the door. Mercedes and Melchior perked up as they heard her determined footsteps. When she threw her cloak on, the two pups bounced around her feet. She bent down and rubbed their heads, finding some comfort in their softness. "You guys be good.” She said. "I’ll be back soon.“She looked up from the dogs’ pleading eyes to the form of her husband. He sat slouched in the chair, not his usual proud posture. In his only hand he again turned the fork. He said no words nor did he acknowledge his wife’s presence. In response to his silence, Channah slammed the door. The dogs whimpered at her absence; her husband did not glance up from his fork. Two hours after his wife left, Lucio stepped out of into the sun with supplies for a two week trip on his back. He called out for Mercedes and Melchior, and two white balls of fur came bounding out, yipping at their owner. They fell on the ground as they tugged at each other’s ears. Lucio pushed the door closed. Its weight crashed into the door frame. After he shut the door, his hand lingered on the heavy wood. He studied the wood carving that spanned the top half of the oak door. His hand traced first over the details of his carved likeness and then the likeness of his wife."I know when these were freshly carved, when the wood shaving still laid on the ground, we made promises.” His only hand lingered on her face as if to caress her. “But what did you expect? A place like this cannot hold me for long.” Pressing his face against the etched wood, he sighed. "I’m sorry, Channah. I have to go.“ Backing away from the door, he called for his dogs and headed toward the stables. As he mounted a camel, a fleeting thought pressed him. "Maybe a note, an explanation, would help ease her pain when she finds you missing.” Lucio’s sorrowful expression turned into a sneer. Pressing his his legs into the camel, he started north. The sun deepened the shadows on his face, highlighting his serious reflection.“What would I tell her?” His thoughts shot back. "I have nothing to offer her or the town? What use is a mercenary when he is missing his arm? Now that my father and mother are gone, Vesuvia holds a future for me now?“ He straightened his back as he swayed with the camel’s gait. Mercedes and Melchior squirmed in a sack behind him, whimpering. "I know.” He soothed them. "I will miss her too, but I promise that you will love palace and Vesuvia.“ He squinted at the desert that laid before him. "And I will convince Vesuvia to love me as well. I will be important again.”Green eyes.Green eyes filled with practical concern.Lucio remembers those green eyes, burnt into his memory.In solemn moments, they haunt him.Not that Lucio thinks about her eyes at every experience. The fanfare of his arrival and his existence fills his senses and keeps his mind occupied, the prodigal son coming home to extend his father’s legacy. He surrounds himself with entertainment, romance, festivals and violence.In rare occurrences in which he finds himself alone he drinks and seeks out company. Sitting in his bedroom, he pours himself another glass of wine. As he stares at the glass, he feels a pull to ring for his wife, a new wife, tall, beautiful, with more status.Pushing the thoughts away, he tips his glass back, and the wine slips down his throat. The alcohol burns his nose as he gasps. “Nadia has been acting up lately.” He murmurs, pouring another glass. "I cannot risk losing face before the servants again. Damn proud woman.“ The sudden loudness of his voice woke Mercedes and Melchior who slept by his door. On cue, they lift their heads, and seeing their master’s tense form, they trot over to his feet.As they start to settle down, the shattering glass startles the dogs. Red liquid pools around glass shards. Mercedes glances up her master and growls; the hair on Melchior’s neck stands up.At the sound of her growling, Lucio’s face turns into a sneer that rivals Mercedes’s snarl. He stands and leans over her. "Hey.” He yells. "No. Get!“ He raises a hand over his head, and the two dogs whimper. They saunter away.Lucio turns from his dogs’ retreating forms toward the fire. In its flames, he sees her green eyes. "Channah?”He stands in silence watching the flames flicker. His imagination starts to form how the moods of her green eyes. They shine with delight as he told her a story while they sat at a campfire. They spark with curiosity and passion in candle light as she explained the philosophy of magic, and they ebb into tiredness as the night draws closer to morning.Green eyes.Green eyes filled with practical concern.Lucio remembers those green eyes, burnt into his memory.In solemn moments, they haunt him.He can recall their every expression, feeling and rumination, except for one instance. What thought filled those eyes when she realized he had left? Was it the fierce burn of her anger or the shining swirl of her sadness? Did relief brighten her eyes?Lucio stumbles to his desk and pulls out a paper. Grabbing a pen, he dips it in ink. And on the coarse paper he writes this note.“Channah, my leaving was never about my love or lack of it. Now that my arm is missing, your people do not require my services. You tell me they love me, but I hear the whispers that you turn a deaf ear to. My status in the town is decreasing. Let us be honest, you had to have known, when you fell in love with me, when you married me, that a community like yours could not welcome me forever. I like to live on the edge. I am too forward thinking, too larger-than-life. Just know…”A round droplet of ink dotted the paper as Lucio took a break to collect his breath.“Just know that my leaving for Vesuvia had nothing to do with you and everything to do with Vesuvia. I never told you this, but I am not common born. Though perhaps you did know that since you used to tease me that I was not a common type of man. Anyways, I have inherited my title as ‘Count Lucio.’ The city certainly lavishes everything on me. I lack and want for nothing. At the same time…”Lucio’s hand begins to shake, causing his lines to quiver.“At the same time, I cannot forget you. You are on my mind in my dark hours. I do regret leaving you, but I had two choices: your town, lifestyle and you or Vesuvia, my inheritance and what I was born to do. I choose the latter. In my ideal world, you would be here with me. I would have Vesuvia and you. But, your heart was attached to your Goddess, your people and your customs. I am sorry. I hope someday you will forgive me and look fondly on our time together. Regards, Lucio.”When he finishes, the pen falls to the table. Stretching out his cramped hand, he reads what he wrote. As he reads, his brow furrows, until his grits his teeth and stands up.Loud footsteps scuffing against the floor, he moves to the fire place. "I didn’t have a reason to write it back then.“ He stretches the paper above the fire. "I certainly do not have a reason now.” The fire feels hot on his hand, but Lucio never lets go. His expression softens as he brings the paper close to him again.He looks over his writing one more time, and with a heavy sigh, folds it. White fur brushes against his legs. As he notices his dogs’ presence, Lucio melts to the floor. He tucks the paper into his breast pocket. As he watches the firelight dance inside of Mercedes’ and Melchior’s eyes, he reaches out and touches them, finding comfort in their softness. The warmth of the fire and his dogs surround him. “Yes, sometimes.” He says in a quiet voice. Mercedes and Melchior move their ears to hear him. "Sometimes, only sometimes, I miss her too.“
