The Reckoning

by S. L. Morgan

  “Is that so?”

  “That’s a promise.”

  They continued to dance until Levi unexpectedly stopped his lead, forcing them to end their dance. Reece’s eyes followed to where Levi’s now stared.

  “What do you think is going on?” Reece asked as she watched Harrison and Navarre walk briskly toward the palace.

  Levi blinked a few times and turned back to Reece. “If it is important, they will alert me to it.”

  Reece saw the distance in Levi’s eyes. “Go,” she ordered. “Just promise me, no crazy plans to get Mordegrin tonight without talking to me first.”

  “Reece, this day is to celebrate you—”

  “Levi,” she stopped him. “I have had a wonderful time, and I’ll join the ladies on the sofas. Please go, I’m curious myself. Mordegrin is still out there and a dangerous threat, we can’t take anything lightly. I’ll be fine.”

  “I will return as swiftly as possible,” he said as he escorted her back to her seat facing the river.

  When Levi arrived back to Reece, his eyes were seeing something other than the river before them. “Levi?” she whispered, bringing his attention to her.

  “Yes,” he smiled.

  “You don’t have me fooled with that smile,” she said as she stood up. “It’s Mordegrin, isn’t it?”

  Levi rubbed the back of his hand across his lips. “We were close to capturing him, and once again he vanished.”

  “That isn’t news, Levi,” Reece sighed. “What else is going on?”

  “We were watching him follow a course of patterns, but they make no sense to us.”

  “Mordegrin has never made any sense, period.”

  “I want this threat removed.” He ran a hand along her arm. “There is nothing we can do about it, so I am forcing the thoughts out of my head about him and trying to enjoy our evening together.”

  Reece looked back at the palace. “And the fact that Harrison and your father haven’t returned?”

  Levi guided Reece back to sit with him. “They are finishing the last of the reports from the Guardians and should be joining us at any time.” He cocked his head to the side. “Would you care for anything to drink, or perhaps some more soup?”

  “The soup sounds wonderful…and that water with the fruit in it?”

  Levi’s eyebrow rose. “Did that agree with you as well?”

  “It’s the most refreshing drink I think I’ve ever had.”

  “Will this new desire outdo the cravings for the Anders’ basil soup?”

  Reece half-smiled. “No, I could eat that soup and nothing else and be the happiest woman in Pemdas.”

  “Why don’t you both hire the Anders’ to prepare the soup for Reece at Oxley Manor?” Harrison teased as he walked up and sat next to Angeline.

  “Why don’t you stay out of everyone’s business, Harry?” Angeline chided. “As usual, it is quite lovely to have you return to us.”

  “Because that’s not in his nature, Angie.” Levi grinned and offered Reece her soup and chilled water.

  Reece ignored the conversation around her as she slowly indulged herself in the thirst quenching drink and the savory flavor of the tomato basil soup.

  “Reece, you act like tomato basil soup is a rare delicacy served only here in Pemdas,” Harrison said with a laugh.

  “Truth be told, I’ve had my share of this particular soup throughout my time spent on Earth, and I’m serious when I say that nothing comes close to it.”

  “I stand with Reece on that argument,” Levi announced.

  “Speaking of standing,” Harrison nodded toward Reece finishing the last of her soup, “you may want to get her another helping before she starts licking the bowl.”

  Reece laughed. “I’m actually full,” she said as she handed the bowl to Levi, covering up an unexpected yawn.

  Levi stood and offered his hand. “All of you enjoy the rest of the festivities,” he said as Reece gracefully stood. “I believe my wife and I shall say our goodbyes and give our gratitude to our guests.”

  “Tap into the power of that stone so you can stick around longer,” Harrison laughed. “The night is young, and both of you are already letting that little one run the show.”

  Levi smirked. “I believe I shall use your words against you when your time comes.”

  “We have other reasons to use the power of the stone for my energy anyway,” Reece said with a laugh. “Goodnight, everyone.”

  On the carriage ride home, Reece lost the battle to keep her eyes open, and the next thing she knew, she was being carried into her room.

  “You’re awake?” Levi questioned.

  “And starving.” Reece rested her head back on his shoulder.

  “You’re joking, right?”

  Reece shrugged. “This child is turning me into some crazed, soup eating monster.”

  Levi laughed. “I wouldn’t necessarily refer to it like that.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “You are eating for two, my love, and I will send for some food while you freshen up and change into your evening gown.”

  “Levi?” Reece called out as he placed her feet on the ground.

  “Yes?”

  “Today was a fantastic day.”

  Levi brought his lips down onto hers. “The best is yet to come,” he said before turning to leave the room.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Unable to sleep due to the discomfort of almost eight months pregnant, Reece opted to quietly get out of bed and enjoy the solitude of their glistening gardens in their estate. Reece meandered outside and turned toward the place where Levi had worked effortlessly to design a charming habitat for Mozart to live outside of their home. As soon as she stepped onto the cobblestone walkway, she heard high-pitched violin sounds coming from her zorflak.

  She covered her mouth and tried not to laugh as Mozart held onto the carved wooden door that Levi made to keep him in his cage. She glanced down at his tiny fingers as they gripped the cage while his ears and wings fluttered and glistened in an array of colors.

  “Mozart,” she smiled, “you may think you’re in a prison chamber, but Levi has worked pretty hard to appease you with this amazing garden. He made it especially for you.”

  Mozart’s humming became louder, knowing Reece was about to free him from his lavish cage. She opened the gate, and Mozart flew out past her, darting through the shrubbery Levi had brought in to help him adapt to his new environment. Reece marveled at the beauty of the zorflak, watching a glittery trail of colors follow him through the darkness of the morning.

  “Care to take a walk with me, Mozart?”

  Mozart flew back over to where Reece stood. She turned, walked out of Mozart’s garden home, and stepped onto the path that led her out toward the glistening woods that surrounded the back of their estate.

  Mozart flew low to the ground as she strolled along the path that snaked through the enchanting woods. She looked up to see the shimmering pink and purple blooms of the trees above her and sighed with contentment.

  “I don’t think this place could ever be more beautiful,” she said as she put her hand over her stomach and glanced over at Mozart, who was now prancing around the vibrant green foliage surrounding her. “You are such a silly little guy,” she said with a laugh.

  As Mozart continued leaping and flying around the glistening foliage, Reece gazed down at her very pregnant stomach. She ran her fingers over the large bump, amazed by all of the changes that had occurred in her body over the last three months.

  Oh! she thought as she felt her baby moving. “You’re awake, too!” she said to their child, who seemed to enjoy using her womb as a kickboxing ring. “I think your father is correct; we may have a little man inside there after all.”

  The sky above her lightened into a soft hue, alerting Reece to the sunrise she was about to witness. As she absently rubbed her belly, she silently waited for the sun to paint the skies a multitude of colors as it slowly rose up from behind the mountain range.

 
; Reece became distracted by the beauty of a variety of glimmering tenillians swarming through the trees. She watched as the majestic insects fluttered through the area.

  To her utter horror, Mozart shot up and darted toward the lively tenillians. “Mozart!” she cried out, trying to stop the zorflak from attacking the insects, but she was too late. Mozart snatched a glimmering insect and flew back to the ground.

  “Mozart!” she demanded again. “Get over here!”

  Mozart appeared from behind a large iridescent tree. He blinked his large eyes slowly and crawled in shame toward Reece as he hummed a low cello sound.

  “How dare you!” she scolded him, prompting Mozart to drop his head and his long ears. As he slowly walked toward Reece with his ears dragging along the ground, Reece sighed, trying to remain stern, even though he was so adorable at the moment that she struggled to remember why she was so upset with him.

  “I must say, as long as you insist on keeping that monster around our home and out of the habitat I created for him, you can rest assured we will not have the luxury of tenillians exploring our forests or gardens,” Levi called out from behind her.

  Reece looked up at the purple hue in the skies.

  Of all the times he has to find me out on a walk, she thought, knowing that any argument she had in trying to defend Mozart was invalid now.

  She turned to find Levi leaning against a tree, arms and legs crossed, with a knowing grin on his face. “We can have him trained so that he doesn’t have an appetite for the Tenillians, then.”

  Levi cocked his head to the side. “You are kidding, correct?”

  Reece tried to ignore how handsome her husband looked standing there in a simple white undershirt and tan trousers with his wet hair smoothed back. She lifted her chin. “I’m not kidding. People on Earth train animals all the time. Horse whisperers, dog whisper—”

  “Reece.” Levi pushed up from the tree. “There are no zorflak whisperers if that is the point you are trying to make. These critters are not meant to be pets, and I am quite confident that we are the only family in all of Pemdas who has one in their possession as a pet!” He laughed as he approached and brought his arms around her.

  Mozart instantly began humming loudly to interrupt Levi’s interaction with Reece. “When will he ever learn?” Reece exhaled and looked down at Mozart directly under their feet. “You are in trouble, mister!” she reprimanded the animal.

  Levi stood back and grinned at the zorflak. “And now you’ve upset the only person who desires to protect you.” Mozart’s wings shimmered red, showing his agitation with Levi. Levi kissed Reece on the side of her head. “We can still auction him off, you know?”

  Reece reached down for Mozart. “He’s not going anywhere,” she returned. “The only place he’s going is back in his cage so he can learn that he was out of line today.”

  Levi turned and followed her. “If you want to make your point with that monster, you should be carrying him by his ears instead of cradling him like an infant.”

  “Levi!” Reece called out. “I get the fact you both don’t get along, but you don’t need to be so mean.”

  “Mean? Reece, theses critters are used to that. Their mothers will always use their ears to punish them for their wrongdoings.”

  Reece rolled her eyes and walked into the habitat. “I’m finding it hard to believe you on that one,” she said as she placed Mozart back in his cage. “Now Mozart, you know what you did, and I’m not going to take you on walks if you are going to attack the tenillians again. We feed you well, and you need to start appreciating that.”

  Mozart hopped over to the corner of his large cage, brought his wings over his ears, and began humming to himself.

  “Don’t fall for it,” Levi said flatly.

  Reece turned to find Levi studying the zorflak with an annoyed expression. She couldn’t help but laugh. She grabbed his hand and led him out of the area. “How did you find me out here, anyway?”

  “Easy,” Levi answered. “I exited from the vanity room with preparations to dress for the day, when out of the corner of my eye I noticed something shimmering outside through the window. I stepped onto the balcony, and lo and behold, I see a zorflak trail winding through the trees.”

  “I’m having such a hard time sleeping.” She sighed. “I think you might be right about having a boy. This baby is so strong and active.”

  Levi led her back into the house, where breakfast was being prepared for them. He stopped in the atrium and brushed his hand along her stomach. “Would you care to know the gender of our child?”

  “I thought we both settled on the fact that we wanted it to be a surprise.”

  Reece watched Levi studying her abdomen while the baby responded to his hand massaging over it. She could tell Levi knew something and wasn’t telling her.

  “Levi?” she questioned, bringing his eyes to meet hers. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Reece felt the unborn child press either an arm or a leg into the weight of Levi’s hand over her stomach. “Quite active this morning, aren’t we?” he said with a laugh, ignoring Reece and completely avoiding the subject.

  Reece placed her hand on Levi’s arm and cleared her throat. “Don’t ignore me. You have a funny look on your face. What is it?”

  Levi rubbed his chin. “I do not like keeping anything from you; however, it might be best if I keep this one thing from you.”

  “One thing?” Reece persisted. “No secrets.”

  Levi sighed. “I am aware of our child’s gender,” he said as if he were guilty.

  “What? How?” She looked at him in astonishment. “You were peeking at the holographic ultrasound screen or whatever that thing is that Doctor Fletcher was using the other day.”

  “No.” He gave her a sorrowful look. “I have tried my hardest to tune the rhythms of our child’s heartbeat out when I hear it, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to, as our child’s heartbeat is a strong one.”

  Reece smiled at him. “That’s too bad for you. How could you tell, though?”

  “At the rate of which the heart is beating, I am able to decipher if it is a male or female.”

  “You sound pretty confident that you know for sure what our child is.”

  “It is incredibly obvious. And I am sorry. I really wanted to find out when you did so we could share the moment together.”

  Reece eyed Levi. “How long have you known?”

  “I was able to figure it out close to a week after the garden party.”

  Reece ran her hands along Levi’s chiseled arm. “You’re lucky that I love you so much that I’ll let your cheating on this whole thing slide.”

  Levi caught her hand. “I am willing to share the information with you if you would like.”

  Reece shook her head. “I’m waiting. I may have all these heightened abilities, but the one thing I can’t do is hear our child’s heartbeat. I’m sorry that your superpowers ruined the secret for you.”

  Levi grinned. “Indeed. I must admit that I am much relieved to be able to reveal my secret to you. It has lifted quite the burden from me.”

  “I’m sure it has.” Reece laughed as they turned to walk into their dining room where breakfast awaited them.

  As they entered the room and took their seats around the large table filled with a variety of food, Reece studied the room and had no idea why she didn’t notice their dining arrangements before. She couldn’t help laughing as Levi buttered a slice of bread and handed it to her while the servants placed plates filled with breakfast foods in front of them.

  “May I ask what is amusing you at the moment?” he questioned with a smile. He looked over at the servant. “Thank you, Jasper. We shall call if there is anything else we require,” he said, politely dismissing the servant.

  Reece looked down their long, polished table and laughed again. “I didn’t realize this until now, but don’t you think it’s a bit ridiculous that we sit in this massive room when we eat?”

  Le
vi swallowed a bite of his breakfast and looked around the room. “Perhaps we should get busy making more children so we won’t be so lonely?” He winked.

  “I’m still trying to prepare myself for the birth of this one and the pain I’m about to go through to bring this precious life into our lives. How can you be so sure I will want to go through all of that again?” She raised her chin and took a bite of her bread. “You might just get the privilege of having only one child.”

  “You should know we have remedies in Pemdas that will void you of any and all pain while you are in labor.”

  “I’m not cheating.” She arched a brow at him.

  “Cheating?” Levi coughed out a laugh. “You do realize that there are women on Earth who use medications to remove the pains of labor, do you not?”

  Reece shook her head as she swallowed another bite of her breakfast.

  “Why Mrs. Oxley, you are indeed most stubborn this morning,” Levi returned. “Shall we place a wager on this confidence you have found in giving birth to our child?”

  “A wager?” Reece narrowed her eyes at Levi’s humorous ones. “You’re on.”

  “Returning to your earlier concerns about our dining situation,” Levi took a sip of his tea, “shall we remodel a smaller nook area and turn that into a more comfortable eating area for us?”

  “I think that’s a great idea.” She sat up. “Maybe the downstairs office can be transformed into that. It overlooks the gardens, and it would be perfect. Oh!” Reece reached for Levi’s hand. “What if we changed the baby’s room color to a softer cream?”

  Levi brought her hand into his. “We recently painted the walls with the pale yellow that you so desperately liked.”

  Reece exhaled. “It’s not pale enough.”

  Levi sat back in his chair and studied Reece while folding his arms. “Perhaps we can paint the exterior of our home as well?” he teased.

  Reece’s mind, which had been reeling with ideas that seemed to flood through her, had come to an abrupt halt. She rubbed her forehead and looked over at Levi’s amused expression. “I’m acting like one of those crazy pregnant women, aren’t I?”