The Complete Razia Series, page 82
"Hullo, Mother," Lyssa mumbled.
Eleonora turned to Dorst with a sneer. "Dorst, when were you going to let me know your sister was with child?"
"I…didn't know…" he stammered. "Lyssa, why didn't you tell me?"
"Because it's none of your business," she snapped.
"Actually it is, because I could get in real trouble for letting you excavate without having a doctor's—"
"She didn't do any excavations, don't worry," Sage said, coming to stand next to her and Vel. In one fluid motion, Vel released her and Sage pulled her closer to him with an arm around her shoulder. "Lyssa, I told you that you needed to tell them."
Shocked and confused, Lyssa could do nothing but stutter aimlessly.
"Al, pleasure to see you again," Dorst said, but sounded a little less pleased than usual. "I can't believe you kept this from me. Lyssa, I am your supervisor—"
"And I am your mother." Eleonora's eyes flashed as she cut Dorst off with a wave of her hand. Lyssa tensed, wondering if Eleonora's rage would overpower her sense of decorum. She would waste no time eviscerating Lyssa in private, but it usually took more brandy to get her to lose face in public. "And you, getting pregnant before marriage. How dare you embarrass me?"
Lyssa's heart raced as Eleonora's evil smile blossomed further. Even though Lyssa didn't care about premarital sex, somehow, standing in front of her mother, she was self-conscious about her bump and her lack of ring and—
"Lyssa, did you forget your ring again?" Sage's voice rang out like a bell, shattering both Eleonora and Lyssa's stares. "Tell me you didn't lose it?"
"I…"
"And are you going to introduce me to your mother or what? You've told me so much about her." Without waiting for Lyssa's response, Sage strode forward and offered his hand to Eleonora, who scoffed at it. Sera, however, stepped forward and gently took Sage's hand.
"Sera," she said with a surprisingly genuine smile.
"Alejandro." He dropped her hand and looked back at Lyssa. "I married this one."
"You must be a saint," Sera replied.
Sage simply grinned.
"At least you've taken that much from Temple," Eleonora drawled. "Have you had a blessing for the child?"
"A what?" Lyssa said, exchanging a look with Sage.
"A blessing," Sera said, her tone a little less genial now. "A chance for the family to be introduced to your child and to ask the Great Creator to guide the child in the right direction."
Lyssa snorted. "No."
Sera's eyes flashed. "And why not?"
"Because that's stupid. The Great Creator doesn't give a rat's ass whether the family asks for His blessing or not."
"And you're an expert?"
Lyssa pursed her lips and glared at Sera.
"And so you would rather risk eternal damnation for your child than come spend an hour at the Manor to have a simple ceremony?" Sera said.
"Basically."
"Lyss." She didn't like the tone of Sage's voice. "Maybe we should consider it."
"Since when are you religious?" Lyssa blanched.
He shrugged. "I'd like to take every precaution necessary."
"Hey, why don't you guys come this weekend," Vel interjected. "Mother is throwing me a graduation party, why don't we celebrate your baby as well?"
If looks could kill, Vel would have been obliterated.
"I think that's a great idea," Sage said, wrapping his arm around Lyssa's shoulder as if it belonged there.
"Excellent!" Sera grinned brightly, almost unrecognizable from her normal dour expression. "I shall call back and make preparations for the ceremony."
As Sera turned away to make a call on her mini-computer, Lyssa glanced to her mother, who looked about as pleased with the plan as Lyssa did.
Instead of saying anything, though, she looked at Dorst, who stood a little away from the group. "Dorst, you look peaky. Have you been eating? Kasan, I haven't seen you home in two months. Is there something you wish to say to me, young man?" And off she went, remarking on every Peate child she laid eyes on (and some who weren't even hers) until her acerbic voice was drowned out by the general volume of conversation.
"I see where you get your charming personality from," Sage remarked with a sly smile.
"Remove your hand or I will cut it off."
"See?" But he removed his arm nonetheless.
"What in Leveman's Vortex did you just agree to?" she growled. "Do you even know what happened the last time I went there?"
"It's going to be different this time," Vel said. "And Sera's right, you do need to have a blessing."
"Of all people," she said, throwing a piercing look to Vel, "you should know how completely pointless a stupid ceremony is."
"Actually, of all people, I know how important it is," Vel replied. "I saw what happened when you don't have a good soul."
"I'm lost," Sage said, looking between the two of them.
"And what is a stupid ceremony going to prove?" Lyssa barked.
"It's a promise that you and Sage are committed to raising your child with good morals and in the teachings of Temple," Vel said.
"I don't need Temple to know how to be a good person, need I remind you—"
"Lyssa, I am asking you to do this," Sage said, cutting the two of them off. "I think I'm going to need all the help I can get to keep this kid on the right path. I mean, I'm a pirate." He shrugged. "Not exactly the most moral of professions."
"Tauron was a good person," Lyssa reminded him. "You don't need some stuffy priest in his morally superior ways to tell you what you already know."
"Please?" Sage said, taking her hands. "This one last thing."
"You have asked a lot of me so far—"
"And you know you have my undying appreciation," Sage said.
She stared at him for a moment, weighing her options. The idea of going back to the Manor was suffocating. But at the same time, the smallest part of her that wondered if her own bad soul would leech into the bug's. She'd already been feeding the bug all her nervous energy, what if she had done more damage than that? If there was a chance that Lyssa's own awfulness could ruin the kid…
"Fine." She sighed loudly. "I'll go."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Somewhere between the Academy and her mother's home planet of B-39837, Lyssa had come to her senses and realized what a horrible, terrible, not good idea it was to revisit such an awful place. She'd begged and argued with Sage from the bottom of her ship, even tried to climb up the ladder before Sage had barked at her to give it a rest. She'd plopped into her bed and refused to come out, even as Sage docked her ship and lowered her ramp.
"You have to leave some time," Sage said, leaning against the doorframe to her bedroom.
"Nope. I'll just stay here until you're done," she said from her spot on her bed.
"Aren't you the guest of honor for this thing?"
"I can't go in there."
"Two days, Lyss. One night. That's all," he said, coming to sit on the bed. "You can handle two days, can't you?"
As if to butter her up, he pulled one of her socked feet to him and rubbed it, digging his fingers into her swollen arches. She closed her eyes and frowned, though a little moan of pleasure escaped her lips.
"Besides, I have something for you," he said, standing and walking to his duffle bag. He dug around for a minute and then pulled out a small black box. He tossed it to her and then waited on the other side of the room.
She picked up the velvet box, and quirked her eyebrow. "What in Leveman's Vortex is this?" She gently opened the box and her eyes widened; a silver ring sat encased in more black velvet. The diamond was clean, but minuscule. Had Sage run out of money? "Are you serious? You went out and got a ring?"
"No, actually, I had it." He looked at the ground and stuffed his hands into his pocket. "It was my mom's."
Her sarcasm evaporated and she let out a small, "oh." His mother, Isabel Teon. She'd remembered the name and often wondered if she should look the woman up. Lyssa didn't even know if she or Sage's father were still alive.
"Don't lose it," he said with a grin.
"I won't," she said, slipping it onto her left ring finger. It was snug, but it fit well enough. She considered why he had his mother's ring on him—especially as the trip to the Manor was unexpected—but found herself not really wanting to know the answer to that question.
"Are you ready?"
"Not in the least bit," she said, scooting off the bed as gracefully as she could. He took her hand, and she felt the presence of the ring on it. "But I don't have much of a choice, do I?"
The last time she had been in the Manor, with Vel, it had been nothing but cheap shots, scowling faces, and, of course, the announcement that Eleonora wished Lyssa had never been born. But now, with Sage, she was experiencing it through his eyes. He pointed out every detail and carving of the pillars in the elaborate docking station, commenting on how often they must have to perform maintenance to keep it sparkling. They traversed the long covered hallway that opened into the main foyer of the giant house.
"And you said my house was big!" Sage said, craning his head to count the floors that rose around them. "How many rooms are in this place?"
"Too many to keep track of," Lyssa said. The entranceway to the large dining hall stood open in front of them, the long dining table already filling up with children.
"Wow." He whistled. "Look at all these people…" He looked to Lyssa. "All these are related to you?"
"Yup."
He grinned.
"What?"
"I feel like I'm going into the viper pit. One of you is bad enough. Look at all these Lyssas."
"They aren't all like me," she said. "Vel isn't like me. Dorst isn't like me." She paused. "I hope."
Sage didn't answer, but pointed to the long row of chairs that lined either side of the table. "Where do we sit?"
She spotted Heelin, her immediate older brother, at his chair and pulled Sage toward the middle of the table. "Oi, Heelin."
He scanned her momentarily and snorted. "What do you want?"
"Do you know if they made a place for us or not?" Lyssa said. "Or else, I'll just take Jukin's seat again."
"There will be no need for that." Sera had appeared across the table, looking much more comfortable in a simple green dress than she had at the Academy. She gestured to the two seats next to Heelin. "You and Alejandro will be here. Right where you belong."
Lyssa rolled her eyes, but Sage offered his thanks as they took their seats. Lyssa squirmed in the hard chair, trying to find a more comfortable spot and Sage reached over to take her hand.
"It's fine. We're fine," he said quietly.
"I'm not… Put your head down."
"What?"
"Head down!"
Sage ducked, and Lyssa cast a weary glance to the side of the room where a bearded man had stumbled in. His hair had grown out and hung limply around his face, as if he hadn't showered in a few days. But more than anything, she recognized the way he slouched and gazed out into the distance as if he had nothing left to live for. Jukin had truly fallen far from grace.
"Holy…" Sage hissed. "You didn't tell me he was here."
"You're the one who wanted to come!" she barked back.
"He can't…he can't do anything," Sage said, exchanging a look with her. "Can he?"
"I don't even think he's on this planet anymore," Lyssa said, watching him chug the glass of brown liquid in front of him. The butler refreshed it as soon as it landed on the table.
"Serves him right, the bastard."
Lyssa wished she could agree with Sage, but all she felt was pity.
"Lyssa," Sage growled. "Don't tell me you're still…apologizing for him?"
"No." She shook her head. "Yes? Maybe a little?"
"Leveman's…"
***
After a surprisingly uneventful lunch, Lyssa and Sage found Vel, who offered to take Sage on a tour of the estate. Lyssa, having nothing else to do and not wanting to be alone, joined them, adding her commentary about how she'd climbed this tree, or how she'd hidden from her brothers under that statue as Vel talked about which ancestor each part of the gardens was dedicated to.
"I wonder what you were like as a little girl," Sage asked, his hand still entertwined with hers.
"You know what I was like."
"No, I mean a little girl. I need to know what I'm getting into."
"So you still think it's a girl, huh?" Vel asked from the other side of Lyssa. "I think so, too."
"Why do you say that?"
"You had morning sickness for a long time," Vel said with a shrug. "Sera says that means you're having a girl."
"That doesn't mean shit," Lyssa scoffed, but placed her free hand on her stomach regardless.
After the tour of the outside, Vel briefly explained the set up of the house: five stories with fifty rooms on the top three levels. Sera and Jukin, as the eldest girl and boy, were granted a large swath of the estate, and Sera would soon take over the entire Manor once the youngest daughter came of age.
"Normally, that means that everyone's gotta get out," Vel said, as they walked by the expansive kitchen. "But Sera only has ten kids, and I don't think she wants this whole house to herself."
"But that's half the fun, kicking all the siblings out," Lyssa said. She stopped short, her gaze falling on a door at the end of the hall, with a glowing red keypad.
"What's behind the creepy locked door?" Sage asked Vel. "More children?"
"That's my father's lab," Vel said.
Lyssa let go of Sage's hand and walked up to the door. No matter how many years had gone by, this door looked the same as when she was a little girl. Her fingers danced along the keypad, the tone pattern eliciting a warm feeling in her chest. The lock clicked, and the door cracked open. With no small amount of trepidation, Lyssa pressed her hands against the door and pushed it.
She felt along the dark wall until she hit the light switch. The overheads illuminated a long staircase. She tossed a look back at Vel and Sage, and they followed her down into the dimly lit staircase.
She found another switch, and a light came on over the laboratory. Her breath left her as she took in every inch of the room before her. It was the same—exactly the same—as the last time she'd been there.
And that was just the tiniest bit disappointing.
"Wow," Vel said, passing her down the stairs and stepping into the laboratory.
Chalkboards lined the walls; she'd forgotten the way he used to stand in front of them and scribble out his thoughts, tracing lines to make parallels between observations. There were tables full of opened books and half-built machines, projects he'd started and then abandoned when he got distracted. A small table sat in the corner, where her own set of number game books lay.
"You just made a whole lot more sense," Sage said, walking to the chicken scratch of handwriting on the walls. He squinted at the writing then back to Lyssa. "Yeah. A whole lot more sense."
She didn't even have it in her to argue, especially as she approached Sostas' desk. It was exactly as she'd left it, with all his black, leather-bound journals stacked in a neat row.
"Are you all right?" Vel asked quietly.
"Yeah," she said, picking up one of the journals. "It's just… I guess I kind of figured that things might be a little different, you know?" She set the journal back on the table. "Maybe there'd be one thing out of place."
Vel wrapped an arm around her. "Yeah, me too."
She leaned into him and looked at Sage, who was thumbing through one of her childhood number books with a confused look on his face. "What in Leveman's are these?"
"It's a pattern," she said, leaving Vel and walking over. "You have to fill in the numbers to meet the pattern. Sostas used to give them to me to keep me busy."
"So much sense. So much sense."
The door to the lab squeaked open and shadowy figures appeared at the top of the stairs. Lyssa tensed immediately, remembering an awfully vivid dream about this sort of thing.
"Sera!" Vel said with a smile. "And…Mother."
"I can't believe this place is down here!" Sera said, a little breathlessly.
Eleonora seemed much less impressed as she glanced around the room. Lyssa was surprised to see her without any servants nipping at her heels. "If I'd known you had the code, I'd have asked for it years ago. We're running out of storage space for our wine cellar, and this would be perfect for it."
"You can't turn this place into a wine cellar, you…" Lyssa stopped her tirade when Sage's hand slipped into hers. She swallowed her angry barb and forced a smile onto her face. "It would be disrespectful to Sostas."
"And what did that man ever do to deserve respect?" Eleonora said, stepping into the laboratory and walking around. Lyssa clenched Sage's hand when Eleonora picked up one of Sostas' delicate satellites and tossed it back on the table.
"He was your husband, for one," Sera said under her breath.
"Hmph," Eleonora said. "He was a monster. Glad to be rid of him."
"Oh yeah?" Lyssa said, Sage's gentle tug on her hand stopped her from speaking more.
"This is not worth it," he said quietly. "She is not worth getting upset over."
Lyssa opened her mouth and closed it again. It was true, Eleonora wasn't really worth getting upset over. Yet, there was still the jittery feeling in Lyssa's chest as Eleonora walked around the laboratory. She didn't belong in Sostas' sacred space, the same way Pymus hadn't belonged in Leveman's Vortex.
"Why are you even down here? Shouldn't you be getting ready for your…" Eleonora snorted as she glanced at Lyssa's stomach. "Blessing?"
"I wanted to come," Vel said, stepping forward. "I thought…I wanted to know more about Sostas, Mother."
"Vel, don't—" Lyssa said.
"And why is that, hm? Do you consider yourself just like him?" Eleonora glanced around. "No, son, you are nothing like him. Unlike her." Her eyes landed on Lyssa, who returned the look with gusto.
"Better than being like you," Lyssa replied, but stopped when Sage tugged on her again.
"Stop," Sage said.
"It's important to me, Mother," Vel said. "After all, he's my father and—"
