"They are exquisite. Now, grab the one where Cord looks like he's about to strangle Darian in the kitchen." Izzy gathered a few more and they headed to the smaller, more intimate dining room for breakfast.
She noticed the closer they got to the dining room the slower Oron walked. "Hurry up!" she said excitedly.
This time when she entered, she ignored all the men standing and went right to Darian. "You know how you didn't know that the Skysongs moved here because Fremi saved you, but Oron did because he was older?" Darian nodded slowly, taking in her ramble. She was about to continue when she noticed Oron lingering at the end of the table. "So help me..." Oron trudged over to stand next to them. Instead of handing the picture of Darian with his parents to him, she passed it to Oron, then stepped back.
Without saying a word, Oron handed Darian the small framed picture.
Darian looked down, confused. "What is this?"
Amelia gasped as she looked down. "It's you," she whispered, tears in her eyes. Of course, his own mate would recognize him.
Darian looked up at his brother. "Oron, is she right?" Oron just nodded. Darian looked back down at the picture. He kept swallowing over and over again as tears ran unchecked down his face. "Are these, are they..." he couldn't even finish the sentence.
Oron just placed his hand on top of Darian's head. "It's your mother and father. You had just started to crawl in the garden and they were so proud."
"What?" Aleksandra asked, before popping up out of her chair and racing over with Brennus and Cord.
When she looked down and saw the picture, she covered her mouth with both hands. "How?"
Oron shrugged. Izzy knew that this was an important moment for her mate, so she slipped her phone from her pocket and began taking pictures.
The queen turned and grabbed both of Oron's hands, snatching the one from Darian's head. "These hands did this?" He just shrugged again. "All these thousands of years, why didn't you tell me you were this gifted?"
"I'm not, I'm just a warrior," he said.
The queen pulled him into her arms. "You Oron Vi'Eirson are not 'just' anything. You are my son. You are the best brother any boy could pray for. You are kind and your light shines so bright it threatens to eclipse others. Your hands can create and defend, you are not just anything," she said fiercely.
"Aleks, look!" Brennus said, holding up another picture.
When the queen saw what the picture held, her knees gave out, so Oron had to support her. Heedless of her condition, she still reached for the sketch. It was of her, giving baby Darian a bath while a laughing Cord supervised. The queen's hair was falling out of her immaculate braid, her sleeves were pushed up to her elbows and she looked to be soaked from head to toe.
Brennus handed Cord the one where Darian had destroyed his kitchen. Cord accepted the picture and turned his back to the room while his shoulders quaked.
Oron looking positively terrified, helped his mother to a chair while she cradled the drawing in her arms like a newborn.
"You are a unit warrior when you can create such masterpieces?" Aiden demanded.
Oron spun. "But sir, they're not that..."
Meryn held up a hand. "Oron, they look like freaking pictures, like from a camera. Trust me, they are beyond art."
Darian stood and simply wrapped his arms around his brother's neck. "I already owed you my very life, even if I were to live as long as our mother, I could never repay you for what you've preserved." When he pulled back and looked up into Oron's face Darian's composure cracked. "I never knew what they looked like," he sobbed, clutching at his shirt like a small child.
Oron's back straightened and there was no panic on his face now. He wrapped an arm around Darian and rubbed his hand over his hair. "Shuush, Dari, it's okay."
"I just can't," Amelia sobbed into Meryn's shoulder at the sight of her mate so undone.
Meryn awkwardly tried to mimic Oron's actions and wrapped her arm around her big sister cousin's head.
Izzy set her phone down, feeling satisfied with her work. She plopped into her chair and looked around for the coffee.
"Allow me," Ryuu said, a kind smile on his face. "You, more than anyone, deserve it." Ryuu poured her a fresh cup of coffee. She sat back and enjoyed her mate's moment of glory.
*****
"I can't believe you've had these for thousands of years!" Darian exclaimed a bit later once he composed himself and started looking through the other pictures.
"Looks like your honeymoon period is over," Izzy teased.