Chapter Seven #2
When a huge dark elf escorted a smaller pregnant light elf, they were both dazzled and escorted by a woman with long dark hair in a series of glorious twists that kept it contained.
Her dress was black, and the small connections held it at the top of her shoulders.
The sleeves were long panels that left the inside open, so her arms were always free.
A thick gold band was on her left wrist, and it glowed against the dark caramel of her skin.
But the eyes in a green so dark that it looked black had streaks of gold, and her face shape was simply. .. perfect. She was beauty.
Meritha grinned. “Hello, Nimue.”
The woman with the soft English accent said, “Thanks for the call, Meritha. This is going to be fun.”
“The least I could do.” Meritha inclined her head.
Nimue turned and walked back to the entryway.
Duran smiled. “Teyval, Myrtle, this is Emhara, and you may know Meritha Van Housen.”
Meritha asked, “Emhara, what do you see?”
“Dark elf with reading glasses, tusks, and four arms, each with a stack of books, and thousands of books behind him. She is also covered in books, but she’s a light elf with red eyes, and the stack of books with her supports a laptop.
Definite writer.” She ate the marrow on toast and sighed happily.
Myrtle was still stunned. “How long have you been out and about?”
Emhara shrugged. “Puberty.”
Meritha nodded. “The same. I don’t know about Nimue, but she is the mage of beauty and truth. Perfect to straighten out lying would-be clients.”
Myrtle asked, “How many of you are there?”
“Don’t know. I know of twelve so far. Have met seven. We keep to ourselves and do our own thing as we pursue our focuses.”
Myrtle whispered, “What is your focus? Both of you?”
Emhara smiled. “Art and seeing truth. I have just started my ability to find my focus. My path was... not kind.”
“What kind of art?”
“Drawing, choreography, if it can be seen and appreciated. If it can visually touch the soul, I want to be in on it.” She flexed her fingers.
Meritha smiled. “She’s already gotten one choreography out into the world.”
Myrtle blinked. “Really?”
“Really. Her team won Tiberia’s spirit dancing, and the local schools got a new meal program from it.”
Myrtle looked for her phone, and it appeared in Teyval’s palm. “Thanks, sweetie.”
Samsor grinned. “Scourge of the battlefield, hunter of the wastes, and now you are... sweetie?”
“Yes, proudly. When it happens to you, you will welcome it.” Teyval looked over Myrtle’s shoulder.
“I look forward to proving you right.” Samsor grinned.
Emhara finished her plate and smiled. “That was nice.”
Myrtle smiled. “How do you eat that stuff?”
“What I might answer is not for this table.”
“Why not?”
“It will kill the appetite.”
Myrtle looked around. “I think Denith can take the hit to his ego.”
“Fine. Guys, cover your ears. You, too, Meritha.”
She waited then explained that, in an effort to break her as soon as she moved in, she was only allowed to eat the garbage left over by the pack, out of the trash.
Sometimes they held it in the fridge for weeks before they gave it to her.
She ate mold, filth, and slime to stay alive.
Now, she would eat anything that was hot, fresh, and prepared for her, except broccoli.
Myrtle blinked, and even Teyval looked ill. Emhara gestured to the guys and Meritha to uncover their ears. Myrtle whispered, “How long did that go on?”
“Three years. I did favours for businesses when I went out on errands, and they gave me food in return. Then, back home for what was left.”
“Well, I feel like an asshole.”
Emhara shrugged. “We have had different lives. No shame in that. I am tall enough to reach most of the stuff on the top shelf, and that is good enough for me.”
Myrtle nodded and stiffened when Denith came to her for a kiss. She said, “I will try whatever you want to prepare today. Don’t get used to it, but I will try it.”
Denith paused, nodded, and was smiling as he left.
Emhara smiled. “He didn’t get Teyval’s order.”
They both said as one, “He knows.”
Emhara grinned as the server removed her plate and slid the entrée in front of her. “Ooh. Pretty.”
Whatever she had ordered was jewel-coloured, had small diamonds of braised meat, and was served on segments of potato that had a puffed pastry. The meal was drizzled with a gravy or sauce. She didn’t care.
She waited until her party had their entrées, and then she attacked.
Myrtle was sitting and tilting her head as she ate, and she nodded.
Emhara smiled. “Oh, right. ARFID.” She kept her focus on her own plate.
“Yes. Um, you know someone with it?”
“Sure. Looking at you is the worst thing to do, so I am just going to keep myself to myself. So, Duran, how many times have you been here?”
“Three since he opened. We believe in supporting our community.”
“Nice. What was your favourite thing?”
“Dessert.” Duran chuckled.
“He outsources those. They don’t count. What is your favourite thing here?”
Duran thought about it. “The steak. I liked the steak.”
She smiled. “Echel?”
“Four times, mainly for lunches. I find it refreshing when I am working on a project. So, cold soup for me.”
“Wow, aren’t you the dark horse?”
Samsor grinned. “The hamburger steak. I have had it here twice.”
“Huh. Surprising.”
He winked. “I am full of surprises.”
Emhara sighed. “Not an endorsement from a man who just had a plate full of beans.”
Myrtle burst out laughing, and her plate was empty.
Teyval looked pleased.
Meritha ate delicately, as if she had trained for it. Emhara watched. Meritha probably had trained for it.
“You are skeeving me out, Emhara.”
“I have never seen anyone eat peas that neatly.”
“My aunt Minara taught me to eat like a lady. It freaks people out and hypnotizes them at the same time.”
Emhara smiled. “One of those.”
Myrtle was smiling and eating quietly.
Emhara was going to ask another question when she heard, “Emhara?”
She looked up and blinked. “Mateo? Wow. The whole pack. Date night?”
Persephone nodded. “You are looking better. Much better. Did you see the new hostess? Holy shit.”
Emhara laughed. “We have seen her. Her name is Nimue.”
“Wow. She makes me feel like she can kick my ass and take care of me at the same time.”
Meritha smiled. “Perceptive. Yes, to both.”
She chuckled. “Emhara, can I have a hug yet?”
“I am still a little tender, so be careful.” She got up, went around the table, and hugged her sister-in-law.
Persephone was small and cute, but she was wearing five-inch heels. It helped.
Mateo loomed behind her. “Dad showed me the picture you drew of him.”
“Ah. Yeah, I did that.”
Persephone continued hanging on.
“Can you do one of me? Perhaps the whole pack?”
She frowned. “I don’t have enough supplies. I can only do stuff on the paper pad Father got me.”
Mateo smiled. “When can you get more supplies?”
She reached into her cleavage and pulled out the black card. “I am guessing that it will be as soon as I hit an art supply store, and after I ask Samsor for some of his space until I can find a place of my own.”
Persephone looked at her with shining eyes, and Owen said, “You don’t want to live next to us?”
“It isn’t my house, and I have situational connection to Samsor, the bruising in my body won’t be gone for another three weeks, and I don’t know how long he wants to wait.”
There was a clattering of cutlery behind her.
Duran chuckled. “He will wait. Echel will wait, and I will wait. You are recovering, and we can deal with that, but we do plan on cuddling your brains out.”
“Is that a euphemism for something?”
Echel chuckled. “No.”
She snorted.
Samsor said, “You are welcome to take as many of my rooms as necessary for a studio.”
Mateo said, “If you don’t mind baby handprints, you can paint and sketch at our place. I can make a hole in the wall between our houses, and you can come and go as you like. Is that a Van Housen card?”
“Yes. Did you know Grandma left me money?” She put the card back in her cleavage.
He smiled, his black eyes crinkling with amusement. “Yes. It drove my mother insane.”
“Permanently?”
Mateo pried Persephone away and hugged Emhara. “I am glad you are weathering this.”
“Me, too.”
“I really want to see what my spider looks like in a suit.”
She giggled. “I will do that when I get home. I am interested in it as well. I have a few things that I want to try.”
He whispered in her ear, “So do your deltas. Only make them wait as long as absolutely necessary.”
She smiled at him. “Only the absolute necessary wait. I am starting cold, so I am being careful.”
Mateo’s eyes went wide, and then relief filled him. “I worried that they would have...”
“Nope. Augusta is too jealous. The pack turned on itself when one of them suggested it. They expressed frustration in other ways.”
“Your mother?”
“Oh, off somewhere else in the world, so she didn’t consider herself liable for anything that happened to me. With stepdad.”
Mateo frowned. “Where are they?”
“Dunno. I haven’t heard from her in nine years.”
His brows raised. “I had no idea.”
“Nobody does. Augusta doesn’t even try to call her, so she might even be dead.”
“Do you want me to look for her?”
“No. If I want her hunted, I will ask Samsor and Echel. I might have to bribe them somehow, but they might be willing to take me on as a client.”
The server was fidgeting while trying to look calm. “Okay, bro. Have a fun night away from the littles tonight, and I look forward to meeting your little princess.”
Persephone grinned. “And the rest of the batch. They move with surprising speed and accuracy.”
A gentle arm pulled her away from her brother. “Come on, Emhara. They just live next door. As long as you live with me, it is a simple twenty-minute walk to their door. I have never been as happy as I am now to have purchased that house.”
She leaned back and against Samsor. “Thanks for having good sense.”
He chuckled and kissed her temple. “Come on, the dessert menu is out.”
“Ah, so you have a sweet tooth.”
“Says the woman who has more chocolate chips than batter in her pancakes.”
She grinned and nodded to Mateo before she was steered back to her chair. Samsor murmured, “Owen is afraid of you.”
“What? Why?”
“You will have to find out. For now, find out what Regis has provided to the restaurant. You know you want to.”
Emhara looked around the table at the attentive faces who were smiling at her. “Right. Let’s make the most of this, but I am gonna need coffee.”
The server smiled. “We can do that.”
Myrtle sighed. “I will have a decaf.”
The server laughed. “Yes, Myrtle.”
When the server made it around to Emhara, she murmured her order, and the woman grinned. “Yes, miss.”
They waited, and Meritha asked Myrtle, “So, I am guessing you have questions about mages?”
“Yes. So many. Where did you come from? How did you study? Are you related to the elves?”
“We are naturally born. Stress or emergency or pain is not a factor in our activation. It just happens when it’s time.
There is no genetic component; the magic of the world under us just lives within us and emerges when we allow it to.
It takes the shape of an inclination already inside us, and yes, there is overlap. ”
Myrtle blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Overlap. A mage can share focus aspects with someone else. Someone who is physically coordinated can dance, but someone else can dance and sing. Someone else can dance and sing and write the songs. Like that.”
“Oh. Cool. What focuses have you seen?”
“Strength and grace, art and determination, beauty and grace, knowledge and understanding, psyche and chaos. There are a few more, but you get the idea.”
When the coffee and dessert arrived, Emhara looked at Myrtle. The coffee that was set in front of her was an abomination of whipped cream, mini marshmallows, and edible glitter. Myrtle grinned, giggled, and clapped her hands.
She looked at Emhara. “You did this.”
“I did not. I was here. I just thought that growing a person was stressful, so something foolish with identifiable pieces would be fun. Dessert is a mousse and limited on sugar, so you are good for balance.”
Myrtle smiled. “Thank you. This is surprisingly fun. The guys try, but they miss the whimsy a lot.”
“Whimsy is easy. It is the spot where you ask, ‘Should I?’ and you say ‘Yes’ no matter what it looks like.” She smiled. “I like whimsy.”
Myrtle cocked her head. “How much for you to make a mural for the baby room?”
“Subject matter?”
“Fairy tales and elves.”
She looked from Teyval to Myrtle and glanced toward Denith in the busy kitchen. “I will need to meet the other two.”
“How did you know?”
“I heard that Denith was part of a quint. I can do math. That isn’t usual for the elves, right?”
Myrtle sighed. “You have no idea. Eat your dessert. It is quite the story.”
They sat around, and the guys obviously all knew the story, but Meritha stopped her to get more information on the way.
“So, did Toros’s nuts ever grow back?”
Myrtle chuckled. “They did. These guys can heal from just about anything. I have tested it at random times. You know, to keep them sharp.”
Teyval wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in for a kiss. “Yes, she does.”
She chuckled and returned the kiss.
Meritha paused. “Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?”
Myrtle nodded. “Yes. It’s one of those.”
Teyval snorted. “She won’t tell, and we have tried nearly everything.”
“Nearly?”
Myrtle smiled. “We have a no tickling rule. My knee tends to shoot up out of nowhere.”
“Sensible.” Emhara smiled. She finished her cheesecake and fruit sauce.
Myrtle asked, “What do you think about the earth-born djinn?”
Meritha grinned. “They are here to keep your people in line. We are here to help our people thrive.”
“Thrive?”
“Magic was always here. It is what made the white Elite in the first place. And the shadow mages, but I think we have blocked them in. They were creeping out, but we have managed to clear them away from the portals and lock them in. Hopefully, our wards hold. We haven’t actually tried to cast wards before. Well, most of us haven’t.”
Teyval stared. “You cast a world lock?”
“Is that what it’s called?” Meritha cocked her head. “I believe you are right. Some of us got together and did a thing.” She reached out and patted Emhara’s hand. “Don’t worry, you will be at the next one. We need an artist’s touch.”
“Oh, I can provide that. Just tell me what I am doing.”
“When it is time, Emhara. Don’t worry. When we are ready, you will know.”
She smiled and felt the statement settle into her. She would be ready.