The Spirus

by JB Trepagnier

  It was nearing the time Esylle would give birth soon and he was surprised with all of the mornings Lisana was late, that she was not also with child yet. Esylle had retired to her chambers now and had left ruling to Leodos, Lisana, Joron, and the council. He managed to pull her aside as they were all adjourning and asked. For once, she was the one that turned red.

  “Even though I’m supposed to, I’m not ready to have a child like me yet. And I don’t want it to dampened the excitement when my brother or sister is born because I have to announce that I am.”

  “You’re coming to breakfast late every morning and doing things like you want to be with child,” he said, getting embarrassed again.

  She looked down at her feet. “I have to have at least four children like me. One to rule each of the tribes depending on who their father is. He never told me what childbirth is like, but I see how uncomfortable my mother is and how tired she gets. I worry it hurts. I can’t want to wait a little longer?”

  Leodos knew Esylle was going to have to talk to her before she gave birth. If Lisana was in the room knowing nothing about childbirth and saw it, he thought she would never have children. He hoped Esylle could explain it to her in a way that if she did decide to be with her mother then, nothing shocked her. All he would tell her was that she needed to talk to her mother before he left her to go check on Esylle.

  He found her sitting by the window reading the diary. Now that she had more time, she told him she wanted to start. He had left her that morning reading and it looked like she had only stopped to eat. She looked upset when he walked in and put the diary aside to lay with her head on his chest. He knew he should ask her why she was upset, but he brought up explaining childbirth to Lisana.

  “I’ll talk to her. I was right. He didn’t teach her because he just wanted her to be his granddaughter. He took her because he thought someone would hurt her if she stayed. He wrote he took her to Idric because he thought her gifts wouldn’t show up there, but as soon as she woke up the night he took her, she set the drapes on fire. He slipped into the kitchens and put something in my food and drink so that both I would sleep and when I fed her, she would sleep. He put something in Rivannus’ food too and that’s why he didn’t wake either. If he was going to drug us and steal her, he should have prepared her for what she is supposed to do!”

  “You shouldn’t be getting upset right now. What was your reaction when you found out who she was supposed to be? You had to come to terms with it right away because she was here after so long and finding out herself. You had to come to terms with it while trying to make it better for her when she let you. I don’t agree with what he did to either of you, but maybe it took him longer to come to terms with it and that’s why he finally decided to send her out to you. She’s back now, she’s brought peace, and you know she loves you.”

  “I haven’t gotten that far into the diary because it’s upsetting and I’ve had to take breaks to calm myself. When I found out he even drugged a child so she wouldn’t wake when he took her, I wanted to pull her from your council meeting and make her sit in here with me.”

  “She was too young to remember anything about that night. Maybe you should wait to read the rest of it since it upsets you. She seems adjusted here now and if you try to bring up that diary again, you’ll both be upset.”

  “I want her to sleep in here tonight and I know why she can’t. She’s too old and I don’t think she would want to spend a night away from those three if I asked.”

  He kissed her head and told her if she asked and explained why, he thought she would agree. If it would make her feel better, he would go get her and ask her. She said it would, so he left to find her. She didn’t have art or dance lessons now and she wasn’t in her chambers. When he asked, Oris said she wanted to be alone in the garden and seemed like he didn’t like it.

  The gardens were very large and a hedge of mazes and flowers. He wondered how he would find her, but the further he got in, his new enhanced hearing picked up music and he followed the sound. He found her sitting in the dirt under a plant playing her bone flute. There were birds perched all around her and some were bold enough to land on her shoulder and take off again. He let her finish her song and sat next to her to ask her if she was upset about something.

  She confessed she wasn’t, she just wanted a moment alone to play her flute. She told him Frog and the Theran girl he caught him with at Inanos were wanting to wed and waiting for Terros to give permission and accept Frog. She said she may have to talk to him. When he told her what her mother read and what she was wanting, her mouth tightened and she looked away. She agreed to stay and said she would talk to the others if it made her mother feel better, but she didn’t understand why she was still wanting it now.

  He put his arm around her. “She’s trying to make up for nineteen years of not getting to hold you or touch you. She knows you’re too old now, but she needs you to make it better for her. You know why she can’t be upset now.”

  “Let me go talk to Oris, Neptis, and Sono and let them know. I’ll meet you back at your chambers.”

  He let her disappear and went back to check on Esylle. He knew he shouldn’t, but she was reading that diary again and looked upset. He gently took it away and asked her not to read it again until after the baby was born. He told her he knew she was desperate for that information, but maybe instead of reading, give Lisana a break from her duties and let her stay in her chambers during the day talking. Esylle didn’t think she would and Leodos pointed out she was taking a break from being late to breakfast every morning and they both knew what she was doing at night. He thought it would be good for both of them and she needed to talk her into being with child if she needed to have at least four.

  They were interrupted when the door opened and Lisana slipped inside. She talked with Esylle until food was brought up for everyone and let her hold her while she slept. Esylle calmed and did not read the diary again. She took Leodos’ suggestion and asked Lisana to stay in her chambers while she rested instead of doing her duties. He didn’t know what they talked about because he was busy during the day, but Esylle seemed happier now.

  Lisana only slept with them that one night and went back to being late to breakfast. It was a few weeks later in the middle of the night when Esylle woke him and told him the baby was coming. He ran out and got the midwife. He knew he needed to get Lisana and Joron, but he had no idea what he would walk into if he entered her chambers, so he just stood outside her door pounding on it. Oris finally answered with a blanket from the bed wrapped around his waist and said they were sleeping. Leodos was relieved he didn’t have to pull her away from something else. When he told Oris what was happening, he ran back in to get her, but almost shut the door in Leodos’ face. He had a feeling he did because they were all naked.

  She finally came out in her usual black robes with her hair tousled, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. She asked him why the baby was coming in the middle of the night and he told her they came when they were ready. When they finally got back to Esylle’s chamber door, he could hear her in there crying out in pain and hoped this birth didn’t last as long as Lisana’s had. Lisana looked a little panicked and unsure and asked if she was supposed to go in there with her. He asked, and Esylle had explained childbirth to her and that had already scared her. He suggested she go in to help Esylle and asked her if she could make the pain better.

  “I don’t want to try something with her and hurt the baby. I can make her feel better when it’s over.” She jumped and shot a panicked look at the door when another scream came from Esylle. She looked like she didn’t want to go in.

  He put his hand on her shoulder and told her that her mother needed her and she needed to learn. She opened the door and went in, but she shot him a look before she closed the door like she didn’t want to. Joron arrived shortly after she closed the door and they both paced. This birth definitely wasn’t as long as Lisana’s, which had lasted nearly through the night, and she poked her he
ad out the door with a smile and told him he had a surprise waiting for him.

  The midwife was cleaning off a baby while one of the servants was putting out a fire on the rug that it had started when it came out screaming. Esylle was sweating and looked tired and he meant to go to her before he checked the baby because once it was clean, it would be placed in her arms.

  Esylle started panting and crying out again and he stopped in his tracks. Lisana looked at him like she had no idea what was happening. She was closest to the midwife, who handed her the baby quickly and rushed back over to Esylle.

  “There’s another one!” the midwife announced. She stood at the foot of the bed and soon there was another child and Esylle looked ready to pass out. Lisana walked over to him and handed him a cooing baby and told him he had the son he wanted. She went directly to Esylle and placed her hands over her. The light was nothing new for them and Esylle gasped, sat up, and thanked her.

  Leodos went and sat next to her and showed her their son while the midwife cleaned off the other baby. He wondered if he had two sons now or if they also had the girl Esylle wanted. The other baby was letting out furious cries and the servant had to rush over and put out the fire in the drapes. The midwife was trying to hurry cleaning the baby because the heat coming off it had to be unbearable for her. Lisana saw she was uncomfortable and Leodos was surprised when she took over like she had done this before. She wrapped the baby up and it stopped crying as soon as she held it to her breast. She came and sat on the other side of Esylle, beaming at both of them.

  “You both got what you wanted. A boy and a girl.”

  Esylle peered into both blankets. Neither child was screaming now and were lying in arms, content to suck their fists. Esylle told Lisana this was what she looked like as a baby and told Leodos their son might have her hair and eyes, but he had his nose and she thought he would look more like him. Leodos didn’t say anything to her, but thought it was too soon to tell with his son. The girl was almost an exact replica of Lisana the night she was born.

  Esylle took the girl from Lisana and leaned into him and told him she was glad they didn’t have to change their eyes and darken their hair. They would be free to play in the gardens as they grew instead of staying hidden inside learning to control themselves until they were old enough. He snuck a look at Lisana and watched her eyes widen.

  “You had to stay inside as a child too?” she asked. “Did Belisarus make you?”

  Leodos could tell Esylle was relieved she was asking questions about her and she tried to answer them while nursing the girl. “We hid ourselves until you came back like you did, though not so extreme. I had to darken your hair as soon as you were born and you were fighting me on changing your eyes to blue. If you had stayed and Belisarus taught you, we would have continued to darken your hair and I would have changed your eyes until you could have yourself. You wouldn’t have been allowed to roam around until you were old enough to understand why you couldn’t expose our secret. You would have had lessons every day and you would be used to having your fire taken. Belisarus was hard on me, though not as hard as I think he was on you.”

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me you grew up like me a little? He told me nothing about the Tempris. When I came to deliver your message, I thought as the humans did. That you had lost power after so long.”

  “I always thought it would upset you.”

  “No, it doesn’t. It means you understand how I grew up a little. Now that they are here, do you have names? You weren’t expecting two.”

  “No, I definitely wasn’t expecting two!” Esylle laughed. “If we had a boy, we were going to name him after his father. If we had a girl, we were going to name her Liana after you.”

  Lisana smiled sadly, but didn’t comment. It was late and Leodos was exhausted. Since she healed Esylle, she wanted to sit up and chat instead of sleep. Lisana told Esylle she should sleep because she could feel that everyone in the room was exhausted and she didn’t know if she would hurt in the morning. Esylle smiled at her and told her to get some sleep. Lisana turned red again when Esylle told her that she hoped tonight changed her mind about putting off having children and she gave theirs a playmate soon. Leodos didn’t know if tonight made it better or worse for her.

  When she left, Esylle was done feeding both children. There was only one crib and they would have to have another made. Since they came together and Esylle was fairly small, both of them were tiny enough to sleep in one crib for tonight. Leodos and Esylle stood over them as they drifted off to sleep. They seemed to want to touch each other while sleeping. He knew they would have their hands full with the two of them, he just hoped they were less full than they always were with Lisana.

  Esylle

  The twins were now two months old. Esylle was right. Liana looked exactly as Lisana looked as a child and the boy, who everyone called Leo to not confuse him with his father, looked like a flamed-haired Leodos.

  Lisana was still late to breakfast every morning and both Esylle and Leodos wondered when the sheen of mating would wear off for her and she would show up on time. It had also been two months and she had still not announced she was with child. She didn’t really care to discuss it with Leodos or Esylle, but it was starting to become an issue with everyone on the council. They never said anything to her directly, but Volaris, Terros, and Fluvis had all pulled her aside to ask if Lisana had seen the physician or would allow someone from their tribe to examine her to find out why she wasn’t yet. None of them understood why she wanted to wait after everything she had done.

  It was probably two weeks later when Lisana, Oris, Neptis, and Sono were all on time for breakfast. Lisana looked like she had been crying and none of the boys were speaking and were focusing on their food. Esylle suspected they had gotten into their first fight after being married, but had no idea what it was about. She didn’t know if something had happened behind closed doors and she was now preferring one of them over the other. When she finished eating, Lisana pushed away from the table and left without speaking to anyone. She finally asked, hoping one of those boys would tell her. Oris finally exploded.

  “She wants to mate every night, but she refuses to carry any of our children. Every time we ask, she wants to wait. She can’t keep putting it off!”

  “Oris, you know she’s never going to do anything just because you want her to. She knows she has to do this and will agree when she’s ready. I think she should have by now too. Maybe the more she’s around my children, the more comfortable she will be with the idea. Please tell me the three of you didn’t spend last night yelling at her and trying to force her to do this.”

  “We all talked while she was in her art lesson. We told her we wouldn’t mate with her again unless she stopped taking the herbs to prevent making a child.”

  Esylle sighed and looked at these three boys. She wanted her with child almost as much as they did. “You’ve been married to her almost a year now. You thought giving her an ultimatum would have some other result besides upsetting her?”

  “Nothing else we have said to her has worked,” Oris pouted.

  “She worries her child will be like her and have to carry the burden of everything she has done. She’s finally accepting this as her home. Please don’t make her run again.”

  Sono finally stopped Oris. “We should find her and make it better. We shouldn’t have upset her like that last night.”

  They disappeared to find her. It would be a lazy day because there were no council meetings scheduled and Esylle didn’t see anyone on this day. She suggested to Leodos that they take Leo and Liana walking in the gardens. He whispered in her ear on the way out that he knew she only wanted to go out there because she wanted to check Lisana was there running and had not disappeared again. He made her wait for the boys to find her and talk to her before they went out.

  She was surprised when they got out there to find the four of them running and laughing. Lisana was in the lead and she flung her arms behind her and became a
n osprey and flew off. The three boys behind her changed and Esylle and Leodos sat in the grass with their children watching four birds circle and play together in the air. Leo laughed when she swooped down over his head.

  “What are we going to do with her?” she asked Leodos. She was good at talking to the humans when Esylle needed her to, but she seemed bored during council meetings when she should be paying attention and learning. All she seemed to have any interest in was her art and dance lessons, playing, and mating.

  “Let her enjoy herself,” Leodos said gently. “You know what her life was like before she got here. The newness will wear off eventually and she’ll settle down.”

  For all of her delays of saying she wasn’t ready yet, she was amazing around Liana and Leo. She spent a lot of time in Esylle’s chambers to be with them and sometimes, Leo would only take his nap if she would hold him until he fell asleep. Esylle’s eyes would water seeing him asleep in her arms when she would also fall asleep in the chair with him because all of her children were now here with her. She was getting just as good as Esylle and Leodos at pulling smiles from them when they were in the middle of screaming.

  Esylle knew she was worried about the light, but even though Leodos and Esylle had a little now and healed like her, she pointed out to her that Leo and Liana didn’t heal like they did and maybe her children wouldn’t have the same light she did and could just be gifted the way she was before she had it. Lisana didn’t want to talk about it anymore and left.

  After the incident at breakfast, she was still late, but not so often. One morning, she was at breakfast and there was a new smell coming from her. It was like the musky vanilla smell of mating, but different. She was fidgeting at breakfast and anyone who tried to talk to her had to repeat themselves because she was distracted. She left without touching most of her breakfast, but moved like she was going back to her chambers instead of out to the gardens where she could run out whatever was bothering her.