Chapter Text
The bard lets the last notes die out, the magical figures fade into the air, and Cain waits to see their reactions. The girl is giggling behind her hand, clearly amused at the re-telling of her fathers’ love affair. She’s lucky Cain decided to leave out the more colorful details. The young men are sharing a confused look with each other.
“…Is this story about our dads?” the older one asks. “Because it sounds like it’s about our dads.”
Cain leans back in his chair and plucks a few strings, not trying to play anything in particular, just a background of music as he collects his thoughts. “There does appear to be some similarities, I will admit.”
“And Pop said he met you years ago, back when he and Papa were courting Dad,” the other boy points out. “You talk about some of this stuff like you were there.”
“A good bard always does.” The boys don’t seem convinced, so Cain allows, “A good bard also uses what he knows to tell a good story. Perhaps there’s more truth in this story than some of the others I tell.”
“Wait,” one of the young men interrupts. “Aren’t fairy tales and stuff like this supposed to have a lesson or something?”
“Yeah,” the other agrees. “So what’s the moral?”
“The moral of this story is that communication is key,” Cain says. “If the princes or the knights had chosen to talk about their feelings early on, things would’ve gone a lot more smoothly. So that elvian girl you kept flirting with at dinner… perhaps you should talk to her about your affections instead of hiding them.”
The boy blushes and his siblings giggle while sending him knowing looks.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Cain stands, stretching a little to ease out the knots in his back from sitting for so long. “I should pay my respects to your fathers before turning in for the night.”
They look disappointed that he’s stopped entertaining them, but he offers them his lyre as a distraction. The girl snatches it first, smiling in delight as she plucks a few strings and a misshapen fish starts swimming through the air. Her brothers applaud her effort and then argue over who's next.
Satisfied that they'll be distracted for a few hours at least, Cain goes to find his princely hosts. He has no doubt that he'll find them in their bed chambers, eagerly awaiting his arrival…