52. Annani

"Mistress." Ogidu rushed over to Annani with a shawl spread between his arms, looking like he planned to catch her with it, which was probably what was on his mind. "It is chilly outside this late at night."

He was probably right, but Kian"s house was only a few minutes" walk away, so getting chilled was not a concern. Besides, with her excitement, Annani doubted she would even feel the cold.

That the royal twins, her half-brother and sister, had been found alive was a miracle, especially given that no one in their entourage had made it. If not for their godly genes, they would have perished too, but the Fates had spared them, and they must have done so for a reason.

The future would tell their purpose, but Annani did not doubt that it would alter the destiny of her clan and maybe even Earth and Anumati.

She could not wait to meet them.

They were why she had not gone home after the cruise had ended as she had planned. She missed her Alaskan sanctuary, the marvelous tropical oasis under a dome of reinforced ice, and her community there. Still, she"d had a feeling that the expedition to Tibet would be successful and that the twins would be found.

Once again, her gut feeling had proven correct. Her siblings were alive.

She wondered what their names were. No one seemed to know, which was odd, but she would soon find out, if their memories remained intact.

Poor Gulan had not remembered her name when she had awakened from her stasis after five thousand years, and she had adopted the name Wonder because she had heard a child call her that. The royal twins had been in stasis for over seven thousand years, which was significantly longer, but on the other hand, it had not been a critical injury that had put them in stasis. They had spent at least part of it in a chamber that had provided life support. Hopefully, their memories had remained intact.

"Thank you." She took the shawl from Ogidu, wrapped it around her shoulders, and waited for him to open the front door for her. "You can stay here. I am only going to Kian"s house."

Ogidu bowed. "I am sorry, mistress, but I cannot obey your command when it contradicts your previous command to ensure your safety. Oridu and I will follow you to Master Kian"s house, but if you so wish, we will stay outside and wait to escort you back home."

Ever since their rebooting, the Odus had not been as obedient as they had used to be. So far, it was in a good way. Still, it worried her a little. What if that newfound independent thinking of theirs led them to defy her in a moment of crisis?

She could imagine them interpreting something as a threat to her and refusing to stand down when ordered.

Annani shook her head, pushing the thought aside. It was a concern for another time, a problem to be addressed with careful reprogramming. For now, she had more pressing matters to attend to.

Reaching Kian"s door, Annani lifted her hand to ring the bell, but before her finger could contact the button, the door swung open revealing her beloved son.

"Mother," he said warmly, kissing her cheek.

Annani lifted her arms, inviting a hug, and as Kian gladly obliged her, she threw her arms around him in a fierce embrace. Clinging to him for a long moment, she savored his solid warmth and the steady beat of his heart against her cheek.

As Syssi appeared behind him, Annani released Kian and hugged her equally enthusiastically. "As usual, your vision was true. They are alive."

Syssi squeezed her back tightly. "It was the Fates" will. Or so I hope."

Threading her arm through Annani"s, Syssi led her to the living room. "Should we celebrate with a cappuccino or with champagne?"

"Cappuccino," Annani said as she sat down on the couch. "I love the way you make it. Your skill is unparalleled."

As she had expected, Syssi blushed, flustered by the compliment. "I have the best equipment money can buy. That"s why they come out so good."

Annani waved a dismissive hand. "Having the right equipment is just half of the story. Knowing what to do with it is the other half." She winked, making Syssi blush crimson.

"Mother." Kian shook his head. "Sometimes you are worse than Amanda."

Annani laughed but then affected an innocent expression. "Am I wrong? A good storyteller can use a great typewriter to write her story faster. Still, it will not inspire her or make her a better writer unless she writes commentary about typewriters."

"No one uses typewriters anymore." Kian walked over to the kitchen, where Ogidu and Oridu had joined Okidu. "Would you like some chocolate cake with your coffee?"

"I would love some." Annani smiled at Okidu, who bowed deeply. "There is nothing better than chocolate to celebrate a joyous occasion." She shifted her gaze to Kian. "Did you share the good news with your sisters?"

"Not yet." Kian returned to the living room and sat on one of the armchairs. "I wanted you to be the first to hear about it."

"Then we should call them and invite them to celebrate with us," she said. "Would it be alright if I invite Amanda and Alena over? We can call Sari and have her join via a tele-call."

"Of course," Kian said. "Provided they are not in bed yet and wish to come."

"I"m sure they are not sleeping yet." Syssi put a cup of cappuccino in front of Annani and another in front of Kian. "I just don"t know if they will be as excited about this as you are. We don"t know anything about the twins, and they might not be good people." She cast Annani a soft smile. "We want to believe that they are and that the Fates sent them our way to benefit us, but we should be prepared for the possibility that they are not a force for good."

Kian nodded. "We are exercising precaution. Everyone on the team was instructed to use their compulsion-filtering earpieces around the twins. I hope they are following protocol."

That dampened Annani"s exuberance, but it did not eradicate it. "The Fates used extraordinary measures to point us in the twins" direction, so I have to believe it was for a good reason and not to wipe us out. If they wanted that, they would not have saved me five thousand years ago from the fate that befell my family and the other gods on Earth."