Chapter Nineteen

Scott

I was up the next morning before Terrick. High Priestess Arrakia sat with her forearms resting on the kitchen table when I walked into the room. The bags under her eyes were even larger than they were when she left last night.

“Hope you don’t mind that I showed myself back into your home,” she said and nodded in the direction of the percolating coffee pot.

“You’re always welcome in our home. I don’t know if this will be our home even if we stay,” I stopped to cover a yawn. “But wherever we end up, you’re welcome.”

“You Hemlocks have always specialized in hospitality,” she let out a sleepy yawn.

I made two cups of coffee and brought her one before I sat down on the other side of the table.

“Terrick will be okay,” I said, mostly to fill the silence.

“I know he will. He’s my child, stubborn to a fault,” she nodded. “Salta too. I thought perhaps that had skipped her, but then she stole my sword.”

“At least she knew enough to believe that she might have to defend herself,” I shrugged. “And she could lift it.”

“It’s a ceremonial sword. Sharp, but lighter than a battle sword,” Arrakia explained.

“Just the right weight for her apparently,” I chuckled.

“We will likely be gone before Terrick awakes. I understand this might upset you, but he needs time to process what Salta will never have to. She processes a bit every day that she doesn’t know her biological father, but she has dads. My mates are her dads even if Terrick doesn’t see it that way.”

“He might someday. I can’t imagine what he’s going through,” I admitted.

“I think his is the fate of all of us who live long enough. It’s the right of passage not spoken about nearly often enough. My own parents died in battle – the very battle where I fled, gathering up everyone I could to bring them to Earthside. Others had come before, but they had already gone somewhere else. They left behind their stronghold and because the guards wouldn’t let the enemies pass without a fight, it was enough for us to start over. No one in their right mind fights the gateway guards. Some of them tried, but they were defeated. I’ve spared my children that much. Their home has been as stable as anyone could expect a home to be. Death lurks in every corner and with our long life spans we often forget that.”

“Not Terrick. Not with his sight,” I said.

“Perhaps that is the sharp side of his gifts. He cannot forget that death is out there – always out there.” Arrakia nodded.

Salta came out yawning and wearing the clothes she had worn the day before. Someone, probably her mother, had washed and dried them overnight. She padded over and hugged her mom’s neck before climbing into her lap. Salta buried her face in the crook of her mother’s neck, but Arrakia’s expression told me they were talking over their own shared link. I sipped my coffee as mother and daughter hopefully made up.

“We shall leave now,” Arrakia stood up. “One more thing, son-in-law,” she looked down at me. “Your video was spectacular. So much has been lost to our kind. Don’t let one pair of self-loathing siblings take that from you. Don’t let their insecurities drive you away from what you are blessed with. The universe can only bless us. It cannot make us make the best use of our gifts. That is up to each of us. Oh, and congratulations. I’d start the morning sickness gummies sooner rather than later. Start taking them every morning first thing. You may chase off those symptoms before they even arrive.”

I opened my mouth to ask what she meant, but it was obvious. How did she know? I wasn’t sure, but in a world full of people who saw the dead it wasn’t that surprising that someone saw the living too – even the tiniest of the living.