Wishes on a Frame

As the day grew gloomier over Abermory, those who had no excuse to stay outdoors were fortunate enough to shelter themselves from the cold, savouring a seasonal drink and enjoying the warmth of their fireplaces as the day went on.  

Ares stood on the porch in a green cardigan. As he gazed up at the distant hills, he smiled as three horsemen galloped steadily towards him. They slowed to an elegant trot once they entered the alchemist’s colourful garden. 

Edwin’s horse was the tallest. Slender but toned, black, with eyes barely visible amongst the coat.

Andrew’s horse was as tall as Calem’s, an adaptable quarter horse that resembled Edwin’s mount, though Andrew's horse had deep blue eyes.

On the other hand, the remaining horse had a burly body and blonde feathered legs. The animal had a bright chestnut coat comparable to Calem’s ginger hair. 

"My, my… Have ye ridden all the way here on such a dreich day?" Ares clicked his tongue, shaking his head in disbelief. 

"It’s nae cauld at all, granda!" Andrew answered, raising both arms energetically. 

"True," Calem nodded. 

"All is alright, father." Edwin grinned. "Besides, twas a good opportunity to show them who’s the best rider here." Edwin glanced at his sons from the corner of his eye. 

Andrew gasped. "Calem was too slow—I dinnae want to leave him behind!"

"That’s because Rum had a tummy ache," Calem spoke solemnly. All eyes were on him now. 

"A tummy ache?" Edwin arched an eyebrow. 

"Aye. Rum has a hackit tummy ache. He told me to go slower because of that," He paused. "Right, Rum?" 

The glutton horse raised his heavy head lazily from the weeds, huffing and showing his teeth. The family laughed with the riders finally dismounting. 

"Aye-aye, come here now, my best riders!" Ares welcomed his grandsons’ hug with open arms and a broad smile. "Now, say goodbye to yer da. I have a surprise for ye two," he winked. 

"A surprise?" Calem’s eyebrows arched in curiosity. He and his brother rushed to their father, kissing his cheeks. "Bye, father!" 

"Behave." Edwin kissed their heads. "And dinnae cause more troubles to yer grandfather." He hunched enough to face them. "And nae swords games in the house." 

"Aaaye, father!" 

Meanwhile, the alchemist has opened the door, allowing the warm scent of baked goods to fill Andrew’s nostrils—who sniffed the air like a bloodhound. "Fern cakes!" he shouted as he lunged into the house. 

"And cranachan," The alchemist hummed. Calem snorted loudly after hearing that,  following his brother. 

"If ye dae this, I doubt I’ll convince them later to come back home," Edwin chuckled, approaching his father to embrace him. "Thank ye for doing this. I dinnae expect the drastic change of plans for the afternoon."

"Och, haud yer weesht, boy. They are my grandchildren. Forby, they’ll make me some company." Ares answered, kissing his son’s cheek before breaking the hug. However, his hands remained on Edwin’s shoulders. "But tell me. Where is my wee Annaca?"

"She was aboot to join us, but Calem spoke aboot Mery’ls training and fae there was no way to convince her to not going to his place." Edwin sighed, rubbing his forehead. 

Ares giggled, nodding. "I see, I see. Ah, hopefully, I’ll see her later if Meryl decides to come around." 

"Oh, believe me, he will." he mused, his face resembling a fox as he smirked. "Annaca packed her make-up kit," 

Ares gasped before bursting into laughter. "Och! Then certainly, I will see them later!" He moved away from the door. "Dae ye want tea?"

"I would love to. But I must go now." Edwin glanced briefly at his wristwatch. "It’s almost time." 

"Understood." he nodded. "Then I winnae distract ye anymore with my ramblin’! Go, my son." 

"I like yer ramblings," Edwin answered with a relaxed smile. 

Edwin approached his father, hugging him tightly, and kissed his forehead, closing his eyes. Ares hugged him too, patting his son’s back. 

"Alright, son. Time for ye to go." he waved a hand, pointing at his grandchildren’s horses. "I’ll tak the horses to the stalls." 

Edwin nodded slowly, staring at his father and then at the horses. A sigh escaped from his lips. "Great. Then, see ye later, my auld man." he clicked his tongue, and his horse huffed in response. "Tell Cillian if ye need anything,"

"Aye-aye! Haste ye back!" 

Edwin mounted the obsidian horse again. Ares waved to then guide the remaining horses to the little stalls on the right side of his house, providing them with water and hay. 

—

The kids didn’t waste any time on their way home. Calem tackled Andrew to the spacious living room, falling onto the carpet. Andrew grunted, hands on his brother’s face to push him aside. 

"Ye twally!" Andrew roared. "Get off me!"

Calem gasped, clearly offended. "Dinnae call me twally, ye eejit!" 

"Ye didnae call me eejit, ye eejit?!" 

They rolled on the carpet until Andrew sat atop his counterpart. "A-ha! What aboot this?" Andrew pressed his cold hands against Calem’s neck and lower jaw before his brother could do anything. "Freeze!" 

"Put yet chankin hands away!" he curled himself to get away from his brother, "aaah! Away I said!"

Calem took in advance his distracted, laughing brother and buried his thumbs into Andrew’s armpits. The raven-haired boy gawked, suddenly breathless. "N-nae, that’s–" he wouldn’t finish the sentence as he burst into laughter. 

Calem grinned, victorious. Now to push his brother to a side was as smooth as butter. The ginger retrieved his oak wand from his right boot and pointed it at Andrew’s face. "Surrenderin’ now?" 

"I-in yer dreams, brother." Andrew had mimicked his brother, drawing his wand off the left boot. He pressed it against Calem’s abdomen. "I won… Unless ye want me to fill your tummy with slugs!" 

Calem gawked, shaking his head.  "If ye dae that, I– I will–" he babbled. "I’ll give ye frog eyes!" 

Andrew raised an eyebrow in disgust, making a face after visualising it. "That’s pure disgusting," 

The ginger boy drew a thin line on his lips. "Aye, ye right…" 

They exchanged glances, smiling. Both rushed to get on their feet, Calem using his heels to take off his boots clumsily, then jumping on the couch. 

"A-ha! On guard!" Andrew exclaimed, pointing at his brother with his oak wand. 

"Ye rascal… Ye’ll pay for yer insubordination!" Calem answered, "Any last words?" his wand crossed Andrew’s as if they were swords. 

"Aye…" Andrew sharpened his eyes. "Go float yerself!" 

The youngling with raven hair grinned, casting a spell that caused his brother to float like a balloon. Calem gawked, soon panicking. Trying to focus on the roof, the ginger boy frantically cast little currents of magic to push him again to the couch. Since he had already been affected by vertigo, everything ended in chaos. 

"B-brother, stop! I-I ca-cannae cast the right spell if y-ye–" a tartan pillow slapped Andrew in the face. "Calem!" 

The sound of breaking glass was the only thing capable of focusing Calem's mind. Both kids turned pale as their eyes met. Suddenly, the living room turned quiet as a graveyard. He helped his brother get up on his feet again.

Andrew searched for the object that caused the sound, expecting the worst.

Several glass shards splashed all over the wooden floor, with a small frame in the middle. Calem’s lips drew a thin line, worried. He knew how important the photos decorating the place were for their grandfather. He came closer. 

"Calem, watch out for the glass shards, please," Andrew warned in a whisper, his eyebrows arched in guilt.

Calem carefully removed the last shards of glass, turning the item over to see the photo. Calem remained quiet as he carefully lifted the frame from the floor. 

Three smiling teenagers sat on a huge serpent-like creature that stared at the camera with a seemingly friendly demeanour. The boy in the middle had wavy ginger hair resting on the left side of his head, while the twins on his sides had raven hair. "Brother, look," 

Andrew approached to look over Calem’s shoulder. "Who are they?" 

"I dinnae ken. But they look like ye." He glanced back at his brother. "Aye, tons." 

Andrew shrugged at his brother, blinking before pointing at the red-haired boy in the photo. "And ye look like him." 

"Ah? Nae, I dinnae think so…" Calem looked again at the photo, making a face. "Uhm, aye, perhaps we look a wee alike," he admitted. 

The boys froze when a familiar raspy voice interrupted them. "What’s the craic, lads?" 

They turned to meet the alchemist, who stood with both arms resting on his hips. "G-granda! I-we-" Calem babbled with his eyes wide open. Andrew was as startled as his brother was. 

"What's that?" the alchemist inquired calmly as he examined Calem's expression and the pillow mess around. "Did ye drop it?" He extended his right hand. 

Calem lowered his head in guilt as he handed the broken frame to his grandfather. "Uhm… aye, granda… I’m sorry; it was my fault,"

"Nae, granda. It was my fault. I… I made him float, and… and then it fell," Andrew rushed to say, staring at his feet with both arms behind his back. 

After gazing at his grandsons solemnly, Ares raised his eyebrows, gasping in surprise as he touched the faces in the picture with genuine affection. It felt like an eternity had passed since that day.

The kids looked at each other, curious about Ares' reaction. "Granda, what happens?" Andrew asked sheepishly. 

"And who are they?" Calem added. 

Ares opened his mouth to answer, but no sound came at first. Who are they? That was a question he couldn’t answer soon. "Dinnae ye ken?" 

Both kids shook their heads. "It's papa's brothers?" the raven-haired boy innocently asked. 

Ares considered. Cillian wasn’t exactly like them, but he could definitely understand why his grandson had asked that. 

"Nae, they aren’t. But, come. I will tell ye something," he tried to change the subject, guiding them to sit on the couch with him, having the kids on either side. "Dae ye ken who is he?" he pointed at the ginger boy in the middle. 

"Uh, nae. I dinnae ken, granda," Calem asked while Andrew tried to figure it out quietly. 

"It’s yer da," Ares said, and the kids gasped. Calem tried to take the frame out of his hands to double-check. "Weesht! Careful, Calem. I dinnae have any copies of this one." 

"But, but nae way that’s father!" Andrew gasped. "He looks so different!" 

The alchemist smirked, nodding. "Aye-aye. He changed a lot over time. But believe me, he is yer da." 

"Wooow… that’s booonkers…" Calem rested his cheek on Ares’ shoulder. "But why is he looking so different now, granda?" 

"Well, he was ill. But once he recovered, his appearance changed too." Ares decided to make the story short, avoiding details. 

"It’s aboot father’s leg, granda?" Andrew patted his own right knee. 

"Hmm, somehow. But nae exactly." 

"How so?" Andrew raised his eyebrows.

"It’s a long story, love. Ask yer da in a couple of years." Ares kissed their heads. "What ye should ken is the fact he is strong." 

"Strong like a horse," Calem added. 

"Strong like a horse," Ares repeated, nodding. 

"But, granda," Andrew pointed at the twins. "If they are not papa’s brothers, who are they? Ye didnae answer," he insisted. 

The alchemist met Andrew's lilac eyes filled with curiosity. Ares knew there were things he shouldn't share, but thinking about lying to her grandsons caused a heavy feeling in his chest. "Ah… where should I start?" he chuckled, deciding to take things easy. "They were brothers to whom my husband was at that time," he paused, staring at the frame again. "Their da was a sweetheart, though I raised these lads here. They were aboot yer age when I first met them," 

Ares sighed, smiling nostalgically. "I considered them to be my sons. I saw them grow into men, after all." 

The ten-year-old boys shared looks, wondering the same thing. "But-but, where are they now? If ye were like their da, they should come by to visit ye," Calem said, shrugging. "Like father does," Andrew nodded at his brother’s words. 

"As I said, they were sons to me. But we cannae avoid the fact they already have a good da with them." Ares tucked Calem’s ginger strands behind his ear. "They dinnae have to come back. But if they wanted to, they ken my home could be their shelter again."

"Granda, are ye crying?" Andrew caressed his grandfather’s cheek, worried. 

Ares was startled by the touch but quickly shook his head. "Och, not at all, love!" he smiled. "I am just nostalgic." Andrew nodded slowly, not very convinced. 

"Did father love them, granda?" Calem pointed at the picture. "They look really happy." 

"Och, yer da adored them," 

"Oh, that much?" Calem asked. 

"Definitely. They lived many things together," 

"What things?"

"What are their names?" 

Ares sighed. Too many questions. "Did ye try the sweets I’ve prepared for ye?" he asked suddenly, with renewed energy. The boys jumped out off the couch in awe, though Andrew seemed slightly off the mood compared to his brother. 

"Och! And what are ye waitin’ for, lads?! I’ll eat them all if ye dinnae want it," 

"Nae-nae! Wait, granda!" Calem ran to the kitchen, followed by Andrew, who looked briefly over his shoulder. 

Once alone, Ares walked towards the glass shards on the floor, releasing the tension from his shoulders. As he knelt, he waved his right hand slowly, causing the fragments to float into the air, swirling around for some seconds before covering the photo as if it had never been broken.

"May ye live forever, my dear lads," he whispered, kissing the cold glass. "Wherever y are, I hope life is treating ye kindly, my sweet, dear lads..."