“Better than that, actually,” Tonka said. “Thank you for telling me.”
“You’re welcome,” Salene said. “Will you answer my question now?”
“Of course. I’m troubled because I think that I should take this outside to eat, otherwise there’ll be a big mess. But I don’t really want to go out into the storm and besides, without the thermal sheets, I could be spotted which would put all of us at risk.”
“I can cut it up, if you like.”
“I hadn’t thought of that, but if you’re sure you don’t mind, I would appreciate it very much.”
Salene she got up and, using one of her Kunian steel blades, she cut the roast into bite sized slabs in just a minute or two. “It’ll cool faster this way, too,” she said, returning to her place.
“Thank you, Salene,” Tonka said as he plucked a slice from the top of the pile and began chewing.
“Does your Mom still have Tiny?” Mali asked.
“No honey, I’m afraid not. One morning about a year ago Mom found him curled up in his bed like usual, but he wasn’t asleep like she thought. He was over twenty years old which is a very long life for a dog, but it still broke our hearts to lose him. He was a member of our family, and we all loved him very much.”
Mali put her bowl down and got up to hug Salene. “I’m sorry, Mom,” she said. “I didn’t mean to make you sad.”
“Thank you, honey,” Salene said, hugging her back. “And just so you know, you don’t make me sad. You make me very happy.” Mali smiled as she went back to her dinner.
They ate in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. When the children were finished eating Salene got the new brush and a small plastic bag she’d asked the Gryphons to include with the supplies from the Aegl and brushed Mali’s hair until it was smooth and silky. Then she handed the little bag to her.
“Those are yours, honey,” she said. “Why don’t you open it up and choose one for your pony tail.”
Mali looked up at her with round eyes, then carefully opened the little bag, reached inside and pulled out several brightly colored hair elastics that were smaller than the ones Salene used. “These are for me?” Mali asked. “Really?”
“Yes honey, they’re for you,” Salene said with a grin, enjoying Mali’s reaction. “Which one do you want to wear tonight?”
“The pink one, please,” Mali said, choosing a pastel pink elastic from the small pile in her hand.
“Pink it is,” Salene said, then put her hair in a loose pony tail for sleeping. Mali returned the remaining elastics to the bag and sealed it.
“Will you carry this for me please, Mom?” she asked. “I don’t want to lose them.”
“Of course I will,” Salene replied, kissing her on the top of her head before taking the elastics and putting them back in her pack. Then she spent a few minutes brushing Tab’s curls so he wouldn’t feel left out. When she was finished he turned around and gave her a thank you hug, along with a kiss on the cheek.
She used the pretreated cleaning wipes she’d asked for from the Aegl to wash their faces and hands, then gave them each a disposable toothbrush and showed them how to use them. She wasn’t altogether shocked that they’d never had toothbrushes before, but it still hurt something inside of her to know how much they’d gone without. Once they were cleaned up as much as possible, she helped them into bed with the softer, fluffier, and warmer sleeping bag that had both children smiling in surprise. She tucked them in before giving each of them a kiss goodnight, only this time they kissed her back.
With the children settled, she took a moment to put the used wipes and toothbrushes in a plastic container in her pack for later disposal, then washed the bowls and utensils they’d used, setting them aside to dry. The Gryphons had cleaned the cooking containers while she was putting the children to bed, so there wasn’t anything else to do. She removed her boots and took off her weapons, but kept them close enough to reach if she needed them. When she was settled, Jon handed her a cup of hot chocolate.
“Thanks,” she said, breathing in the chocolaty steam before taking a sip. “You guys seem tense.”
“I’m not sure tense is the right word,” Talus said, speaking softly. “We have a bit of a surprise for you once the children fall asleep.”
“All right,” Salene said, wondering what they could possibly surprise her with under the circumstances. She wanted to pepper them with questions, but one thing she knew about her men was that they’d never tell her anything until they were good and ready, so she kept her questions to herself.
“There’s something we’re curious about,” Talus said.
“Which is?”
“We were wondering what you did to kill that hybrid.”
Salene nodded, realizing that the time had come to tell them about the diamond. “I’m not really sure, to be honest.”
“You don’t know what you did?” Talus asked in surprise.
“Not exactly, no,” she replied. “After Wolef gave me his power I practiced drawing it, and putting it back like he said. Jinjie helped me a lot with that, but I never could figure out how to use it. He said that when the time came, it would be there. Looks like he was right.”
“What do you mean, drawing and putting back?” Kar asked.
Salene reached up to touch the red stone on her forehead, hoping that they didn’t get angry. It had been a long and emotional day for all of them as it was. But she couldn’t put them off again, either.
“The power Wolef gave me is dragon power, and even though I’m Clan Jasani, I’m still more human than not. It wouldn’t be safe to have that kind of power inside of me for an extended period of time. He said I needed what he called a buffer, something strong enough to hold the power when I wasn’t using it, but small enough to bond with my flesh so that I could draw on it when I needed it.”
She sipped her drink while trying to brace herself for their reaction. “The day he came to tell me that he hadn’t been able to find a suitable buffer, he found me going through some of my things from the Ugaztun. I’d just discovered a black velvet box that held a ring I’d never seen before. It was a golden diamond solitaire set in white gold, with your initials engraved on the band.” She risked a glance up, relieved to find that they looked surprised and interested, but not angry. Yet. “When Wolef saw the diamond he said that it was strong enough to hold his power, so I asked him to make this from it.” She reached up to touch the stone again.
“But the stone is red,” Jon pointed out.
“Yes,” Salene said, glad to find that they still weren’t angry. “When it holds the dragon power its red. When I draw the power from it, it returns to its normal color, and my eyes turn red.”
“You expect us to be angry,” Talus said. She nodded. “Why?”
“Because I know that the golden diamond is a rare and valuable stone, and that this is not the purpose you intended for it. I should have returned it to you. I knew that at the time, but I used it anyway.”
“Why?” Kar asked. “After what you believed we’d done, why did you want it bonded to your flesh?”
“Because I wanted it to remind me that I’d once had your love, that I’d lost it, and that nothing was forever.”
“You never lost our love, Zerura,” Talus said. “Not for one single moment. We will always love you, and that is forever. We’re glad that you had it, and glad that you put it to use in this way. You’re wearing the stone we intended for you to have and to wear always, and it doesn’t matter to us whether it’s on your hand or your forehead. There is but one thing we would ask of you.”
“Of course.”
“If you can, please try to let it remind you that no matter what happens, no matter what things appear to be, our love for you will never change.”
“I will,” she promised.
“Thank you.”
Salene sipped her drink, then looked up with a little frown on her face. “I have a question for you.”
Jon smiled. “You want to know
why the ring was in your things from the Ugaztun.”
“Yes, I do.”
“I lost it,” Jon admitted sheepishly. Salene’s brows rose in surprise.
“You lost it? You lost a…what is it? Four carat flawless golden diamond?”
“Six carats and yes, he lost it,” Talus said with an exasperated smile. “Kar and I may never trust him to carry anything valuable again.”
“Wait,” Salene said, frowning. “If you lost it, how did it end up in my jewelry box?”
“It was Tani’s wedding day, and we arrived late, remember?” Jon said. She nodded. “You were in your stateroom on the Ugaztun waiting for us, so we transported over the moment we arrived to get you before going down to Garza for the wedding. I had the ring in my pocket because we intended to give it to you that evening. I used your bathroom, then we went down to Garza to attend the wedding. By the time I realized the ring was missing it was late, dark, and we’d been all over the entire cave area including the valley below and the mesa above. There was no telling where it could have ended up, so we decided to say nothing about it and have a new one made for you when we got back to Jasan.”
“You must have dropped it in my bathroom and one of the stewards found it and put it in my jewelry box on the counter,” Salene guessed.
“Yes, that has to be what happened,” Talus agreed.
“It also means that it wasn’t actually lost at all,” Jon pointed out hopefully, but the looks he got from his brothers and Salene made it clear they weren’t going to buy that.
“I like knowing that the stone we chose for you is strong enough to hold such power,” Talus said. “I do wish you knew how you killed that creature, though.”
“Oh, I know how I killed it,” she said.
“You said you didn’t.”
“You asked what I did to kill it, not how I killed it.”
“I’m confused,” Talus said. “Aren’t they the same?”
“I know how I killed it, I just don’t know how I made what I did happen.”
“I see,” Talus said, grinning as he rolled his eyes. Salene tried to glare at him but the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth spoiled the effect.
“I…burned it,” she said, not knowing how else to explain it.
Jon nodded. “It looked to us like it’d been burned with a laser, but we were behind you, so we didn’t see where it came from.”
“My eyes.”
They all stared at her in surprise. “You’re certain?” Talus asked.
“Yes, and even if I wasn’t, Mali saw it. She asked me if it hurt, which it didn’t.”
“But you don’t know how you did it?”
“No, I don’t. When I first saw it I froze again, just like I did when Weeble entered that lab on the space station. It was horrible. I knew I had to move, that I had to do something, even if it was just get out of your way so you could help, but I literally couldn’t twitch a muscle. Then I heard Mali scream, and that…did something inside of me. I wasn’t scared anymore. I was just angry. Really angry, like nothing I’d ever felt before. I remember glaring at the hybrid, wanting it dead, thinking how much I wanted its filthy claws off of my children. And then it just…happened.”
“That’s not unusual,” Kar said, nodding. “Human berezis who undergo conversion often have a difficult time shifting because they’ve never done anything like it before. It’s not unusual for a strong emotional reaction to bypass that little block.”
“I wish I could figure out how to do it intentionally,” she said.
“So long as you can defend yourself in such a way it doesn’t much matter how you do it,” Talus said.
“What if I don’t get angry fast enough next time?”
“I don’t think you need to worry about it,” Kar said. “It takes time and patience to figure out how to use some gifts. When you need it, it will be there.”
“That’s what Jinjie keeps saying.”
Talus turned toward Jinjie. “Is it all done?”
“Yes, alarm do be sound do be anyone come near on foot or air.”
“Thanks, Jinjie,” Talus said, standing up and holding one hand out to Salene. She had no idea what he was up to, but she placed her hand in his anyway. He helped her to her feet, then picked her up, cradling her in his arms. “Close your eyes,” he said softly. She started to ask why, but changed her mind before the words escaped and just did as he asked. She felt the swift passage of cold air around her for a few seconds, then they stopped.
When she opened her eyes she was surprised to find that they were inside what had to be the modular shelter Talus had told her about earlier. It was much larger than she’d expected it to be, and had a hard ceiling, floor, and walls. There were blankets and sleeping bags spread out in a thick pile that covered nearly half the floor, and two small flickering lanterns hung from the ceiling, filling the interior with soft light. The air was warm though there was no obvious source of heat that she could see. “Where are we?”
“Inside a small cave just above the other cave,” Talus said, setting her on her feet.
“But the children,” she began.
“Don’t worry, we’ve got it covered,” Jon said. “Jinjie set up alarms. If either of the children wake up, we’ll know it, and if anyone approaches we’ll know it. Jinjie and Tonka both know where we are, and they can both contact us if they need us even though Jinjie put what he calls a silence bubble around the shelter for privacy. We don’t intend to spend the night here, either. We just want some private time with you. Then we’ll go back to the other cave.”
“Okay,” Salene said, relaxing. “Private time is good. Is there anything in particular on your minds?”
“Several things,” Talus said. “But the first and most important thing we have to tell you is something we’ve been less than honest with you about.”
Salene stiffened, her eyes going cool and wary. The expression on Talus’s face at her reaction made her feel guilty. Nevertheless she reached for their emotions, relaxing only when she felt their concern, their worry, and their love. “I’m sorry,” she began, but he shook his head.
“No, please don’t apologize,” he said. “You have good reason to be cautious. We ask only that you listen to what we have to say, and that afterward you tell us how you feel about it rather than walk out on us.”
“Of course,” she said, relaxing her arms and accepting the hand he held out to her. He led her to the center of the thick bedding and they all sat in a small circle. She waited for one of them to speak but the silence stretched out for so long that she felt she had to say something. “Please, just say whatever you have to say. I really will try not to overreact again.”
Talus looked at Jon, then Kar, then back to Salene. “I’m not trying to drag this out. It’s just really hard to tell the woman we love more than anything that we’ve been hiding a rather significant part of our true selves from her for the past three years.”
Salene dropped her eyes to the floor to hide her surprise and quickly blocked her emotions. “Salene?” Talus asked, frowning but she didn’t answer. She barely even heard him through the shock of sudden understanding that hit her. After a moment she got to her feet and stepped off the blankets so that she was standing on the bare flooring. Then she began pacing back and forth across the width of the shelter, her mind racing as she cast back over the past three years. She didn’t even hear Talus the first few times he called her name.
“Salene,” he said for the third or fourth time, speaking much louder and more sharply than usual. She stopped in her tracks and looked at him in surprise.
“Yes?”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m pacing.”
“I see that,” he replied, a brief flash of laughter in his eyes. “Why are you pacing?”
“Because it helps me think.”
“And what is it you need to think about while we’re in the middle of a confession?” There was a distinct growl in his voice that, to her shock, sen
t a rush of heat through her body.
“I know you have something to say, and I know that it’s important, and I apologize for interrupting you. But before you continue I would like to ask you a question, if you don’t mind. It’s really important to me. Please?”
Talus glanced quickly at his brothers, then shrugged. “Of course, Zerura,” he said. “Ask what you will.”
“We’ve had sex together just that one time,” she said, hiding her smile at the shocked expressions on their faces. They certainly hadn’t expected her to say that.
“Yes, we’re aware of that,” Talus said after a moment. “What’s your question?”
“What did you think of it?”
“What did we think of it?” he repeated, clearly taken aback. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”
“I want you to describe it. Honestly. In just one word. Each of you. Kar?”
Kar hesitated for a moment, glanced at his brothers, then shrugged. “It was sweet, dearest.”
“Sweet,” she said, nodding. “Okay, Jon?”
Jon’s eyes were slightly narrowed. She had a feeling he suspected, or was beginning to suspect, where she was going with this. “Gentle,” he said finally.
She nodded again. “Sweet and gentle. Talus?”
He studied her longer than Jon had, and just as intently. “It was memorable, Salene. Beautifully so.”
“Yes, I agree,” she said. “I agree with all of you. It was memorable, and sweet, and gentle. No woman could ask for more, I’m sure.”
“Your turn, Salene,” Jon said, and she had to bite back a smile. If she’d laid a bet on which one of them would ask her the question she was waiting for, she would have just won.
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