To Share the Bond, page 3
Caleb strode rapidly ahead. At six foot, he was lanky and his stride covered lots of ground; I had to trot to keep up. Doc streaked ahead, barking his welcome. Dad, I noticed, followed slowly behind.
**
When my cousins neared the grove of trees that was our home, they were immediately surrounded; my parents and siblings nickered as Caleb’s parents and brothers chattered a welcome to everyone’s favorite guests. Cousins Lillith and Lillyon had brought our two families together earlier in the spring because of Caleb’s and my mind-meld and we were thriving in our new relationships.
<I see you’re doing well!> Cousin Lillith waved her wings for quiet just as Caleb, Doc, and I arrived.
“This place is ideal.” Caleb’s mother Teal beamed as she wrapped one arm around her son’s waist. “The tents you left are warm and we love being here with Lilliod’s family.” Teal always spoke for her men, her husband and eight sons. She waved toward one section of the grove. “We’ve already started building a permanent home and planting a garden. We’ll be prepared by winter.”
My mom, Lillura, the most beautiful steel grey in the world and currently very pregnant, waddled to her favorite cousin and stroked her forehead down Lillyon’s neck. <We’re so grateful you brought these wonderful humans to live with us,> she said. <We’re getting along fabulously.>
He returned Mom’s caress and gave her a full-toothed reeth grin while cocking his ears Dad’s way. <We have news.>
<Let’s go into the shade, then, and hear your news,> Dad said.
Mom led the way to the grove of trees with Doc running in and out of her striding legs. <This little scamp is going to get hurt one of these days if he keeps this up.> She dropped her head to nip at his vanishing black tail.
<Doc knows you won’t hurt him, Mom. He loves teasing you.> Again, I had to trot to keep up. Someday, I swore, I’ll be as big as everyone else and won’t have to trot so much. Caleb heard my whine and slowed his stride.
I felt Cousin Lillith’s stare. <You can understand the dog’s feelings?> she asked.
<Of course.> Conscious of my manners, I stopped to converse. <Can’t you?>
She glanced at the dog prancing toward her. He sat abruptly, his little nose pointed directly at her face. <I can’t hear anything,> she said.
<He doesn’t talk mentally like you and I do, but I always know what he’s thinking. So does Caleb. They like you a lot,> I added as a scowl developed in her eyes.
Cousin Lillith shook her head. <More mysteries.>
Caleb and I exchanged wry glances. We seemed to always cause her troubles, or mysteries, as she called them. She sent us a mental smile that I took as forgiveness. Caleb smiled back and we continued toward the grove with Doc yipping and running madly around.
**
Teal conducted our guests on a tour of our living situation which was quite different from the last time they’d visited. Caleb’s family had erected the long tent to one side of the clearing, close to the woods where we reeth lived among the underbrush. Except for the oldest, each of Caleb’s brothers had his own small tent—scattered around like mushrooms that had popped up after a spring rain. Owen, the oldest, and his wife used one end of the main tent as their room while Teal and Pa used the other. In between, they’d set up a cooking and eating area.
A small stream meandered between their temporary home and ours, easily accessible to both human and reeth families. Caleb and I, and of course Doc, had our own tiny hut halfway between the main tent and the woods. <So both moms can keep watch on us,> I mimicked in Teal’s voice, blocking from any adults that might be listening.
Once they’d expressed their approval of our arrangements, Cousin Lillith took a position near a gnarled spruce at the north of the clearing and everyone spaced themselves around her, preparing to listen in comfort. Cousin Lillyon had backed into the trunk of a tall pine, resting his hip against it. Caleb sat cross-legged to his right; I sprawled, settling my head in his lap and Doc snuggled up to his thigh.
Before Cousin Lillith could start, Caleb’s dad, a heavyset man with a dark beard and shaggy dark hair, spoke abruptly. “We’ll keep working. Teal will tell us.” He gathered the older boys with a glance; they followed him into the woods to the west, leaving Caleb and his youngest brother behind.
“He has no patience.” Teal smiled an apology and pulled Josh to her side. “Once he starts a project, he drives himself and the boys hard until they finish.”
Cousin Lillith nodded. <Who is this young one? I haven’t had a chance to meet all the boys.>
“This is our youngest, Josh.” Teal ruffled the boy’s dark hair. I felt Caleb shiver although she hadn’t touched him. He didn’t like having his hair ruffled; it was longer and thinner than Josh’s and tangled easily.
“He’s almost as curious as Caleb,” Teal continued, oblivious to Caleb’s reaction. She sank to the ground before Cousin Lillith and curled her legs beneath her skirt. Josh stood behind her, his chunky short legs providing a back rest.
Suddenly, I knew why my cousins had come. It was a follow-up visit from what had happened in Center when Cousin Lillith first presented Caleb and me to the Council. One of the don, furious over my meld with a human, had tried to kill Caleb. He stiffened as he caught my thought. <No reason to fear,> I assured him and sent soothing to help him relax. Then, I warned the others of the topic of Cousin Lillith’s news: her investigation into Pildon’s attack.
<I probed Pildon’s mind,> Cousin Lillith said into everyone’s mind. She was one who could do that. Supposedly, I could, too, but I never wanted to. <He was slightly crazy after hearing of your meld. When he was young, Pildon’s father punished him for not melding—not physically but emotionally. He’s spent his entire life resenting anyone who melds. Add to that, he’s adamantly opposed our efforts to reconnect to humans and the Council had just voted against him. When he realized what Lilliod and Caleb’s meld was like, he snapped, I guess you’d say. Now, he’s full of remorse and I’m working on a way to help him be happier.>
“So he doesn’t hate Caleb?” Teal asked as if a heavy load had been lifted from her spirit.
<Not at all.> My cousin glanced at Caleb. <I should have thought about his probable reaction but it never occurred to me. I’m sorry it happened, Caleb.>
<What will happen to him?> he asked me and I passed his question along to the others. Another talent I shared with Cousin Lillith: the ability to communicate with every don and human.
I caught her side question, <Who was that?>
<That was Caleb,> I answered. <When I’m expressing his words, I use this voice.> I made my voice lower and raspier, the way I imagined Caleb would sound if he could talk. It was how he sounded in my head.
<If it’s me, my voice will sound like this,> I said in my own high tenor, clear and precise. <You should always know who is talking.>
<Thank you for making that distinction.> She turned her head. <Caleb, we haven’t decided what to do with Pildon. Ideally, we need to cure him of his anger and hatred.> She glanced at her husband. <That’s what we’re working on.>
Cousin Lillyon snorted. <Leave me out of it. I’m not doing anything—you are.>
Mom copied his snort. <You can’t stay out of it and you know it.> She shoved him in the shoulder with her head. <You’ll be right there beside her, whatever she does.>
He dropped his head and his voice sounded rueful. <Of course. You’re right.> Once I’d relayed their exchange to Caleb and his family, they laughed with us reeth.
Cousin Lillith interrupted our mirth. <Everyone is wondering how your meld came about. We’ll want to study the circumstances—perhaps try to duplicate it somehow.>
“Why?” Teal asked. Caleb echoed her; I asked Lillith using his voice so she’d know for sure he was concerned.
<There are many non-melded reeth. You’ve only seen a small portion of our society. Here…> She waved a wing around. <…the best. At Center the other day, the worst.> Her voice filled with mischief. <I think the unmelded want to try to meld with humans if we can figure out how to make it happen.>
She proceeded to describe a meeting of elders where one, the elderly head of the Heww herd, had asked lots of questions. <As far as I know, no one in her family has been melded and I think she’s curious—and maybe envious. I’ve never sensed such a strange emotion before.>
She focused on Caleb and me. <Lilliod, I ask you to be aware of everyone around you. Notice if your siblings, or Caleb’s siblings, start to hear each other in a different way than normal.> She shot a smile at Teal. <I know your boys don’t talk much, but maybe living around these lively reeth will change their ways.>
Teal nodded and smiled back. “They already have. When Pa leaves them on their own, they talk more amongst themselves and to me than they ever did.” She turned to look at the son behind her. “Isn’t that right?”
“I love living here with the reeth!” The boy burst into speech, running his words rapidly together. “I hope to fly with them some day. And I want to have a mind-meld like Caleb but even if I don’t, I still want to live with them forever.” Abruptly, he stopped and clapped his hand over his mouth. His cheeks turned fiery red and he ducked his head behind Teal.
<It’s alright, Josh,> Cousin Lillith said to him, softening her voice. <I think it’s great that you love reeth.> He peeked out from behind Teal and gave my cousin a bashful grin.
“The other boys are just as happy here, although not as outspoken, Lilliod says.” Teal winked at me. “He hears them all, you know.”
<I did know. I didn’t know you were aware of it.> My cousin pointed her ears at the brown-haired woman with the gray eyes. Caleb looked like her instead of his Pa as the other boys did. <You don’t mind that he hears you all?>
Teal shook her head. “I don’t. I haven’t told Pa and the older boys, and Josh here can keep a secret just as well as Caleb.” She put her hand on Caleb’s knee. “We’ll tell them when they’re ready to learn of Lilliod’s abilities. Especially Pa. He’s as proud as he can be of Caleb, but he doesn’t want to understand how Caleb and Lilliod communicate.” She smiled softly. “He’ll come around eventually.”
<You’re a wise woman to let him come to the realization himself,> Cousin Lillyon said. <Between you and Lillura, you’ll work it out just fine.> He looked around. <Is there anything we can help you with while we’re here?>
<I don’t think so,> Mom said. <But you should see the skeleton of Teal’s new house. She’ll show you. It’s too hard for me to walk that far right now.>
“Right,” Teal said. “He would never say anything but Pa would be hurt if you didn’t come see.” She took Josh’s hand and pulled herself to her feet; we followed her into the woods.
**
Cousins Lillith and Lillyon stayed through the evening, gossiping and getting to know more about Caleb’s family. I helped Cousin Lillith learn the names of his brothers and how to tell them apart, giving her a mental image to associate with each. Since they resembled their father to a marked degree, stocky with dark brown hair and eyes and not much difference in size, she needed something to latch on to other than looks. Josh, to me was a butterfly, flitting from place to place. Otis, a year older than Josh, I associated with an oak: strong, solid, and slow. Between Otis and Caleb was Ira, the sheep; he went along with anything his older brothers said. Then, there was Ellery, a year older than Caleb and to me a fox, sneaky, wise and quiet. Rex was the badger; Lucas, a hawk; and the oldest, Owen, the boulder everyone climbed on.
Once I’d assigned each an image, she never mixed them up. Later in the evening, she miraculously coaxed Caleb’s father into speaking briefly about his plans for their new home and admitting to the name of Nozi Pohl. I’d lived with Caleb’s family for a couple of months and never knew—I suspected Caleb hadn’t known either. No one ever used his name. He was just Pa.
It was well past midnight and everyone had retired for the night when I felt confident enough to approach Cousin Lillith with my question. <What did you mean about investigating Caleb and me?> To my shame, I felt my voice quiver, revealing our fear of what might be coming our way.
She sent a comforting mental smile. <I think I will ask a very nice man named Dr. Lyle Grey of Pith to meet with you both. You’ll like Dr. Grey.> She projected a picture of the man: short and slight, energetic, glasses slipping down his nose as he rushed around in his white medical coat. His gray hair and twinkling eyes seemed to soothe. <I’m sure he will be interested in working with us to understand how you two communicate, and perhaps, how you hear through Caleb even though he can’t hear.>
Caleb and I relaxed, especially after she added, <Don’t worry about it at all. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you ever again.>
Chapter 5
Saradon
The sudden violence of Pildon’s attack on the boy and Joedon’s reaction upset everyone. As a group, we’d prided ourselves on our lack of aggressiveness for centuries. What is happening? First, Kewdon, now Pildon. Joedon’s ferocious response! The evening it happened, I felt frazzled; tears rose instantly to be gone in a moment. We’d decided to stay the night with Father and Mother, and even as far as the Sar mansion was from the Joe mansion, we suffered the upset of Joedon’s son mentally fussing. Those who lived closer must have been frantic.
Lillith called for my help the next morning and I did what I could, considering I knew less than nothing about calming upset babies. When Lillith convinced Joedon he needed to take his family back to the human village where Jaym had been living, I wholly supported the plan. That child is just too powerful! We all needed a chance to center ourselves after the emotional roller-coaster of the meeting.
Taldon postponed the interrupted vote until Joedon returned and the boy, Caleb, and reeth-mate, Lilliod, went back to the western mountains; both were fine but wouldn’t be back in Center in the near future. That was a good decision from my point of view. Let the Center diehards get used to the idea of a human-reeth mind-meld.
A few days later, Joedon called for the decision; of course it passed without Pildon there to agitate against it. The Council then set up an oversight committee to accept, review, and either approve or deny proposals for projects dealing with humans. Bursting with pride, I watched Raedon accept the chairmanship even though it would mean he’d be gone from my side for major portions of the coming weeks. To me, the confirmation of his appointment meant Council recognition of his status as Royal Consort. Every evening, I happily listened to the committee’s progress.
I dearly wanted to get to know my new human cousin, and if truth be told, I wanted to spend time with her babies, to better prepare myself for my own soon to arrive. Even with Raedon bugging Lillith almost hourly to contact Joedon for his input on the oversight committee, she refused to interrupt him and Jaym. She said they needed time together to become a real family since they’d been separated from the day they’d met. I thought Joedon needed to practice being a husband and father; he had little preparation for the roles. So, I waited, almost patiently.
Somehow the days flew by. I was as busy as my energy allowed, yet couldn’t detail what I did at the end of a day. Mother came to stay and we embarked on hand stitching baby clothes, not my greatest talent. Labor pains, and Saraedon’s calls for freedom, started about ten in the morning: a mild tightening of my back and stomach muscles, an urgent vibrating in my mind. Siss called Memm and Zippith; within an hour, Raedon and Beneta arrived. As expected, the birth was easy.
Mother held Sarae while Beneta cleaned me up. Raedon fidgeted between patting my hand, peering over Mother’s shoulder into Sarae’s dark eyes, stroking Siss’s neck, and stomping around with excess energy. He was so funny, he had Beneta and I in giggles. Finally, she was satisfied and Mother placed Sarae onto my breast; I moaned in pleasure at her mouth nuzzling for milk.
As tired as I was, we had a hard time falling asleep. The fascination of Sarae in the crib by the bed kept us whispering and marveling until finally, I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. Over the next weeks, I reveled in the sweet mind of my daughter, her contentment my abiding goal; Raedon pouted that he couldn’t sense her emotions.
“It’s not fair,” he grumbled late one evening. “Not only does she look exactly like you, you get to sense her every whim and get to spend all your time with her!”
I laughed at his complaints and offered to attend the next oversight meeting if he’d stay home and feed her every three hours, day and night. “How could I do that? I haven’t got the right equipment!”
“Jaym says human mothers who work feed their babies using plastic bottles,” I taunted. “We could have Joedon bring us some!” I knew he’d be appalled at the notion of plastic around Sarae. Jaym had only told me about them as we commiserated with each other over the lack of sleep. And she has it twice as hard as I do. Evidently, Sarae understood his discontent as she gave him a huge smile when I handed her to him. That was the end of his grousing; he became totally besotted with her burbles.
Chapter 6
Garard
Months sped by in domestic bliss at Pith Palace. My Lord and his bride settled into married life as if made for one another. The other ladies of the family gained more autonomy from royal supervision than they’d had for years. Soer Murr and Soer Flit spent evenings with their father and stepmother and daytimes learning to ride the ponies he’d found them, scheduled around music or art lessons. My life became almost boring after the previous hectic months. No parties, no wars, and no domestic disputes.
We’d heard that Lillith had finally allowed Joedon to meet his twins, that he’d swept them and Jaym up to present to the don Council—I interpreted that to mean ram them down the Council’s throats—and that the don political scene had settled into relative calm. And we hadn’t heard from don or reeth since.
**
When my cousins neared the grove of trees that was our home, they were immediately surrounded; my parents and siblings nickered as Caleb’s parents and brothers chattered a welcome to everyone’s favorite guests. Cousins Lillith and Lillyon had brought our two families together earlier in the spring because of Caleb’s and my mind-meld and we were thriving in our new relationships.
<I see you’re doing well!> Cousin Lillith waved her wings for quiet just as Caleb, Doc, and I arrived.
“This place is ideal.” Caleb’s mother Teal beamed as she wrapped one arm around her son’s waist. “The tents you left are warm and we love being here with Lilliod’s family.” Teal always spoke for her men, her husband and eight sons. She waved toward one section of the grove. “We’ve already started building a permanent home and planting a garden. We’ll be prepared by winter.”
My mom, Lillura, the most beautiful steel grey in the world and currently very pregnant, waddled to her favorite cousin and stroked her forehead down Lillyon’s neck. <We’re so grateful you brought these wonderful humans to live with us,> she said. <We’re getting along fabulously.>
He returned Mom’s caress and gave her a full-toothed reeth grin while cocking his ears Dad’s way. <We have news.>
<Let’s go into the shade, then, and hear your news,> Dad said.
Mom led the way to the grove of trees with Doc running in and out of her striding legs. <This little scamp is going to get hurt one of these days if he keeps this up.> She dropped her head to nip at his vanishing black tail.
<Doc knows you won’t hurt him, Mom. He loves teasing you.> Again, I had to trot to keep up. Someday, I swore, I’ll be as big as everyone else and won’t have to trot so much. Caleb heard my whine and slowed his stride.
I felt Cousin Lillith’s stare. <You can understand the dog’s feelings?> she asked.
<Of course.> Conscious of my manners, I stopped to converse. <Can’t you?>
She glanced at the dog prancing toward her. He sat abruptly, his little nose pointed directly at her face. <I can’t hear anything,> she said.
<He doesn’t talk mentally like you and I do, but I always know what he’s thinking. So does Caleb. They like you a lot,> I added as a scowl developed in her eyes.
Cousin Lillith shook her head. <More mysteries.>
Caleb and I exchanged wry glances. We seemed to always cause her troubles, or mysteries, as she called them. She sent us a mental smile that I took as forgiveness. Caleb smiled back and we continued toward the grove with Doc yipping and running madly around.
**
Teal conducted our guests on a tour of our living situation which was quite different from the last time they’d visited. Caleb’s family had erected the long tent to one side of the clearing, close to the woods where we reeth lived among the underbrush. Except for the oldest, each of Caleb’s brothers had his own small tent—scattered around like mushrooms that had popped up after a spring rain. Owen, the oldest, and his wife used one end of the main tent as their room while Teal and Pa used the other. In between, they’d set up a cooking and eating area.
A small stream meandered between their temporary home and ours, easily accessible to both human and reeth families. Caleb and I, and of course Doc, had our own tiny hut halfway between the main tent and the woods. <So both moms can keep watch on us,> I mimicked in Teal’s voice, blocking from any adults that might be listening.
Once they’d expressed their approval of our arrangements, Cousin Lillith took a position near a gnarled spruce at the north of the clearing and everyone spaced themselves around her, preparing to listen in comfort. Cousin Lillyon had backed into the trunk of a tall pine, resting his hip against it. Caleb sat cross-legged to his right; I sprawled, settling my head in his lap and Doc snuggled up to his thigh.
Before Cousin Lillith could start, Caleb’s dad, a heavyset man with a dark beard and shaggy dark hair, spoke abruptly. “We’ll keep working. Teal will tell us.” He gathered the older boys with a glance; they followed him into the woods to the west, leaving Caleb and his youngest brother behind.
“He has no patience.” Teal smiled an apology and pulled Josh to her side. “Once he starts a project, he drives himself and the boys hard until they finish.”
Cousin Lillith nodded. <Who is this young one? I haven’t had a chance to meet all the boys.>
“This is our youngest, Josh.” Teal ruffled the boy’s dark hair. I felt Caleb shiver although she hadn’t touched him. He didn’t like having his hair ruffled; it was longer and thinner than Josh’s and tangled easily.
“He’s almost as curious as Caleb,” Teal continued, oblivious to Caleb’s reaction. She sank to the ground before Cousin Lillith and curled her legs beneath her skirt. Josh stood behind her, his chunky short legs providing a back rest.
Suddenly, I knew why my cousins had come. It was a follow-up visit from what had happened in Center when Cousin Lillith first presented Caleb and me to the Council. One of the don, furious over my meld with a human, had tried to kill Caleb. He stiffened as he caught my thought. <No reason to fear,> I assured him and sent soothing to help him relax. Then, I warned the others of the topic of Cousin Lillith’s news: her investigation into Pildon’s attack.
<I probed Pildon’s mind,> Cousin Lillith said into everyone’s mind. She was one who could do that. Supposedly, I could, too, but I never wanted to. <He was slightly crazy after hearing of your meld. When he was young, Pildon’s father punished him for not melding—not physically but emotionally. He’s spent his entire life resenting anyone who melds. Add to that, he’s adamantly opposed our efforts to reconnect to humans and the Council had just voted against him. When he realized what Lilliod and Caleb’s meld was like, he snapped, I guess you’d say. Now, he’s full of remorse and I’m working on a way to help him be happier.>
“So he doesn’t hate Caleb?” Teal asked as if a heavy load had been lifted from her spirit.
<Not at all.> My cousin glanced at Caleb. <I should have thought about his probable reaction but it never occurred to me. I’m sorry it happened, Caleb.>
<What will happen to him?> he asked me and I passed his question along to the others. Another talent I shared with Cousin Lillith: the ability to communicate with every don and human.
I caught her side question, <Who was that?>
<That was Caleb,> I answered. <When I’m expressing his words, I use this voice.> I made my voice lower and raspier, the way I imagined Caleb would sound if he could talk. It was how he sounded in my head.
<If it’s me, my voice will sound like this,> I said in my own high tenor, clear and precise. <You should always know who is talking.>
<Thank you for making that distinction.> She turned her head. <Caleb, we haven’t decided what to do with Pildon. Ideally, we need to cure him of his anger and hatred.> She glanced at her husband. <That’s what we’re working on.>
Cousin Lillyon snorted. <Leave me out of it. I’m not doing anything—you are.>
Mom copied his snort. <You can’t stay out of it and you know it.> She shoved him in the shoulder with her head. <You’ll be right there beside her, whatever she does.>
He dropped his head and his voice sounded rueful. <Of course. You’re right.> Once I’d relayed their exchange to Caleb and his family, they laughed with us reeth.
Cousin Lillith interrupted our mirth. <Everyone is wondering how your meld came about. We’ll want to study the circumstances—perhaps try to duplicate it somehow.>
“Why?” Teal asked. Caleb echoed her; I asked Lillith using his voice so she’d know for sure he was concerned.
<There are many non-melded reeth. You’ve only seen a small portion of our society. Here…> She waved a wing around. <…the best. At Center the other day, the worst.> Her voice filled with mischief. <I think the unmelded want to try to meld with humans if we can figure out how to make it happen.>
She proceeded to describe a meeting of elders where one, the elderly head of the Heww herd, had asked lots of questions. <As far as I know, no one in her family has been melded and I think she’s curious—and maybe envious. I’ve never sensed such a strange emotion before.>
She focused on Caleb and me. <Lilliod, I ask you to be aware of everyone around you. Notice if your siblings, or Caleb’s siblings, start to hear each other in a different way than normal.> She shot a smile at Teal. <I know your boys don’t talk much, but maybe living around these lively reeth will change their ways.>
Teal nodded and smiled back. “They already have. When Pa leaves them on their own, they talk more amongst themselves and to me than they ever did.” She turned to look at the son behind her. “Isn’t that right?”
“I love living here with the reeth!” The boy burst into speech, running his words rapidly together. “I hope to fly with them some day. And I want to have a mind-meld like Caleb but even if I don’t, I still want to live with them forever.” Abruptly, he stopped and clapped his hand over his mouth. His cheeks turned fiery red and he ducked his head behind Teal.
<It’s alright, Josh,> Cousin Lillith said to him, softening her voice. <I think it’s great that you love reeth.> He peeked out from behind Teal and gave my cousin a bashful grin.
“The other boys are just as happy here, although not as outspoken, Lilliod says.” Teal winked at me. “He hears them all, you know.”
<I did know. I didn’t know you were aware of it.> My cousin pointed her ears at the brown-haired woman with the gray eyes. Caleb looked like her instead of his Pa as the other boys did. <You don’t mind that he hears you all?>
Teal shook her head. “I don’t. I haven’t told Pa and the older boys, and Josh here can keep a secret just as well as Caleb.” She put her hand on Caleb’s knee. “We’ll tell them when they’re ready to learn of Lilliod’s abilities. Especially Pa. He’s as proud as he can be of Caleb, but he doesn’t want to understand how Caleb and Lilliod communicate.” She smiled softly. “He’ll come around eventually.”
<You’re a wise woman to let him come to the realization himself,> Cousin Lillyon said. <Between you and Lillura, you’ll work it out just fine.> He looked around. <Is there anything we can help you with while we’re here?>
<I don’t think so,> Mom said. <But you should see the skeleton of Teal’s new house. She’ll show you. It’s too hard for me to walk that far right now.>
“Right,” Teal said. “He would never say anything but Pa would be hurt if you didn’t come see.” She took Josh’s hand and pulled herself to her feet; we followed her into the woods.
**
Cousins Lillith and Lillyon stayed through the evening, gossiping and getting to know more about Caleb’s family. I helped Cousin Lillith learn the names of his brothers and how to tell them apart, giving her a mental image to associate with each. Since they resembled their father to a marked degree, stocky with dark brown hair and eyes and not much difference in size, she needed something to latch on to other than looks. Josh, to me was a butterfly, flitting from place to place. Otis, a year older than Josh, I associated with an oak: strong, solid, and slow. Between Otis and Caleb was Ira, the sheep; he went along with anything his older brothers said. Then, there was Ellery, a year older than Caleb and to me a fox, sneaky, wise and quiet. Rex was the badger; Lucas, a hawk; and the oldest, Owen, the boulder everyone climbed on.
Once I’d assigned each an image, she never mixed them up. Later in the evening, she miraculously coaxed Caleb’s father into speaking briefly about his plans for their new home and admitting to the name of Nozi Pohl. I’d lived with Caleb’s family for a couple of months and never knew—I suspected Caleb hadn’t known either. No one ever used his name. He was just Pa.
It was well past midnight and everyone had retired for the night when I felt confident enough to approach Cousin Lillith with my question. <What did you mean about investigating Caleb and me?> To my shame, I felt my voice quiver, revealing our fear of what might be coming our way.
She sent a comforting mental smile. <I think I will ask a very nice man named Dr. Lyle Grey of Pith to meet with you both. You’ll like Dr. Grey.> She projected a picture of the man: short and slight, energetic, glasses slipping down his nose as he rushed around in his white medical coat. His gray hair and twinkling eyes seemed to soothe. <I’m sure he will be interested in working with us to understand how you two communicate, and perhaps, how you hear through Caleb even though he can’t hear.>
Caleb and I relaxed, especially after she added, <Don’t worry about it at all. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you ever again.>
Chapter 5
Saradon
The sudden violence of Pildon’s attack on the boy and Joedon’s reaction upset everyone. As a group, we’d prided ourselves on our lack of aggressiveness for centuries. What is happening? First, Kewdon, now Pildon. Joedon’s ferocious response! The evening it happened, I felt frazzled; tears rose instantly to be gone in a moment. We’d decided to stay the night with Father and Mother, and even as far as the Sar mansion was from the Joe mansion, we suffered the upset of Joedon’s son mentally fussing. Those who lived closer must have been frantic.
Lillith called for my help the next morning and I did what I could, considering I knew less than nothing about calming upset babies. When Lillith convinced Joedon he needed to take his family back to the human village where Jaym had been living, I wholly supported the plan. That child is just too powerful! We all needed a chance to center ourselves after the emotional roller-coaster of the meeting.
Taldon postponed the interrupted vote until Joedon returned and the boy, Caleb, and reeth-mate, Lilliod, went back to the western mountains; both were fine but wouldn’t be back in Center in the near future. That was a good decision from my point of view. Let the Center diehards get used to the idea of a human-reeth mind-meld.
A few days later, Joedon called for the decision; of course it passed without Pildon there to agitate against it. The Council then set up an oversight committee to accept, review, and either approve or deny proposals for projects dealing with humans. Bursting with pride, I watched Raedon accept the chairmanship even though it would mean he’d be gone from my side for major portions of the coming weeks. To me, the confirmation of his appointment meant Council recognition of his status as Royal Consort. Every evening, I happily listened to the committee’s progress.
I dearly wanted to get to know my new human cousin, and if truth be told, I wanted to spend time with her babies, to better prepare myself for my own soon to arrive. Even with Raedon bugging Lillith almost hourly to contact Joedon for his input on the oversight committee, she refused to interrupt him and Jaym. She said they needed time together to become a real family since they’d been separated from the day they’d met. I thought Joedon needed to practice being a husband and father; he had little preparation for the roles. So, I waited, almost patiently.
Somehow the days flew by. I was as busy as my energy allowed, yet couldn’t detail what I did at the end of a day. Mother came to stay and we embarked on hand stitching baby clothes, not my greatest talent. Labor pains, and Saraedon’s calls for freedom, started about ten in the morning: a mild tightening of my back and stomach muscles, an urgent vibrating in my mind. Siss called Memm and Zippith; within an hour, Raedon and Beneta arrived. As expected, the birth was easy.
Mother held Sarae while Beneta cleaned me up. Raedon fidgeted between patting my hand, peering over Mother’s shoulder into Sarae’s dark eyes, stroking Siss’s neck, and stomping around with excess energy. He was so funny, he had Beneta and I in giggles. Finally, she was satisfied and Mother placed Sarae onto my breast; I moaned in pleasure at her mouth nuzzling for milk.
As tired as I was, we had a hard time falling asleep. The fascination of Sarae in the crib by the bed kept us whispering and marveling until finally, I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. Over the next weeks, I reveled in the sweet mind of my daughter, her contentment my abiding goal; Raedon pouted that he couldn’t sense her emotions.
“It’s not fair,” he grumbled late one evening. “Not only does she look exactly like you, you get to sense her every whim and get to spend all your time with her!”
I laughed at his complaints and offered to attend the next oversight meeting if he’d stay home and feed her every three hours, day and night. “How could I do that? I haven’t got the right equipment!”
“Jaym says human mothers who work feed their babies using plastic bottles,” I taunted. “We could have Joedon bring us some!” I knew he’d be appalled at the notion of plastic around Sarae. Jaym had only told me about them as we commiserated with each other over the lack of sleep. And she has it twice as hard as I do. Evidently, Sarae understood his discontent as she gave him a huge smile when I handed her to him. That was the end of his grousing; he became totally besotted with her burbles.
Chapter 6
Garard
Months sped by in domestic bliss at Pith Palace. My Lord and his bride settled into married life as if made for one another. The other ladies of the family gained more autonomy from royal supervision than they’d had for years. Soer Murr and Soer Flit spent evenings with their father and stepmother and daytimes learning to ride the ponies he’d found them, scheduled around music or art lessons. My life became almost boring after the previous hectic months. No parties, no wars, and no domestic disputes.
We’d heard that Lillith had finally allowed Joedon to meet his twins, that he’d swept them and Jaym up to present to the don Council—I interpreted that to mean ram them down the Council’s throats—and that the don political scene had settled into relative calm. And we hadn’t heard from don or reeth since.
