Chapter 22 Family Friends
A Mother's Machinations
“If asked whether you or Kat would have multiple children outside of marriage, I would not have guessed it’d be you!”
Tam’s mouth flattened. “Please let me tell Kat you said that.”
Annika’s nostrils flared. “No!”
With a sigh, Tam decided to try and defend himself a little. “Mum, Penelope isn’t mine by blood—”
“Two out of three is more than enough!”
Tam cleared his throat. “I didn’t even know Rosaline was pregnant. If I had, you know I would’ve done whatever I could.”
“I don’t know that I can believe that! Eli says you two aren’t betrothed! Yet here you are sharing a room, with a new little one on the way.”
Tam wrestled down an emotional response to his mother’s sharp words, though his tone was still clipped when he spoke. “I want to marry her. She’s the one who wants more time. Should I strong-arm her into wedding me to add to my sins?”
Annika opened her mouth furiously, then clamped it back shut. Her dark eyes flitted to the bank of windows in Tam’s cabin. The deck beneath their feet was noticeably sloped, but the ship still dragged itself toward Daxaria.
“Mum. You of all people know these things just happen.”
Her attention returned to him, her eyebrow raised. “You listen to me, Tamlin. If it weren’t for the fact that I suspect Luca is the devil, I would be significantly angrier about you leaving him.”
Tam felt as though he’d been doused with ice water.
“He’s not the devil.”
The duchess slowly folded her arms over her chest. “On that note. I’ve been hearing that you keep announcing that you yourself are the devil. I know better. And I can take an educated guess on why you’re doing it.”
Tam felt his insides turn to steel as he straightened his shoulders and stared down at his mother.
She gazed back up at him, unbothered. It seemed as though she was going to continue to lecture her son, but then… her formidable expression eased, and instead weariness and concern replaced it.
“Tam, I’m scared of you taking on that fate.”
Caught completely off guard by his mother’s vulnerability, Tam briefly wondered if this was just her manipulating him to see her point.
“It’s the best way to protect my family.”
“When did I stop being your family?”
“Don’t do that.” Tam frowned angrily.
Annika didn’t falter at his reaction. “Do what? Tam, something will happen to you if you continue on this road. Do you really think that you will come away from this unscathed? And do you really think your parents, your sister, and your nephews won’t be affected by that?”
“You all don’t need me like they do. Eli, Luca, Penelope… the new baby… Don’t you get that this is mine? My responsibility, and mine to protect?” Tam insisted passionately.
Annika studied her son.
Tam braced himself.
“You’ve wanted something of your own for a long time. Your own space, your own life… I’m not blind, Tam. And I know you left Daxaria saying as much.”
The duchess paused as she let out a long breath.
“Everything is just… fast. You’ve taken on a lot, and you’ve done it in a matter of months.
And you’re right. You do have a responsibility to Eli and the children.
Which is another reason why you need to exercise caution when announcing that you are the devil. ”
A flicker of the foreboding sensation that Tam had buried deep in his heart made its way into his throat. His vivid dreams flashed briefly into his mind.
Part of him wanted to crumble in front of his mother. His strong, brilliant mother, who always seemed like she could bend the world into a sailor’s knot if she damn well chose.
But he had decided this fate for himself.
He already had an inkling what might happen, but he also suspected what the consequences for Luca might be if Tam didn’t do this.
Slipping his hands into his pockets, Tam pressed a smile onto his face. “You seem even angrier with me than you did with Kat when she eloped with the prince. At least, with what I was told. You know. When you all left me in charge—”
“—Of running the two noble houses. Yes, yes. I’m starting to side with your sister in the belief that you need to let that go,” Annika said curtly. “It’s been your constant jibe for nearly eight years.”
“That experience aged me ten years. I’ll stop complaining about it when the decade’s up.”
Annika stifled a grumbling laugh before returning to her somber countenance.
“Tam. While you might have started a family on your own, that doesn’t change the fact that you can still count on the people you came from for help.
Just like you would do anything for your own children, your father and I would do anything for you. ”
Tam nodded. “I know. Can you… Can you trust that I’m doing what I think is best?”
“I’ve always trusted that. I just think I can help you find an improved solution.”
Tam tentatively chewed on his tongue.
He knew a lot of people met their downfalls by not asking for help.
Hell, Harris had lectured him about it. His father had lectured him about it…
“How else can I protect Luca from the first witch coming after him? I can’t put that fate on another innocent person.” His heart beat a little faster in his chest.
Tam tried to remind himself that he was not weaker for asking his mother’s insight, but he still felt the burr of discomfort in his chest.
If she was surprised by his acceptance of her offer of help and advice, she didn’t show it. Nor did she act smug about it.
“We can’t. That’s the short answer. What we can do is focus on a way to send the first witch back to the Forest of the Afterlife without the devil being a part of it. She managed to open a gateway before. So what if this time we open it for her?”
“There had to be an equal exchange. She was going to bring over more ancient beasts in exchange for the devil last time,” Tam reminded. “Though I have no idea how she’s planning on taking the devil back with her this time.”
Annika’s fingers fluttered against her arm. “We should talk to Kraken about what would be an equal exchange. We don’t really want something coming through from their side.”
“What would come through if both the devil and the first witch returned, I wonder… Or maybe if they both go back, there is no price,” Tam mused distractedly.
“I suspect the Coven of Wittica knows far more about this than they’ve let on,” Annika lamented.
Tam stilled. “Do you think they’d have records of it on the Isle of Wittica?”
Annika gaped at Tam blankly before a slow smile rose in her face. “My dear, are you suggesting that we perhaps discreetly tour the coven’s island?”
Tam grinned back at his mother.
He knew the mere notion of this thrilled her.
“It’s probably a little more vacant than it normally is, with so many of their members either in Zinfera or out looking for me.”
“And it is a grave matter regarding a pending war…”
“You’ve wanted to do this for years, haven’t you?” Tam asked lightly.
Annika looked like a child who’d been gifted a bucket full of sweets. “They would never let me join your father when he’d go submit his reports and reviews!”
Tam laughed. “Alright. Should we break into the coven’s archives before or after going to see Da?”
Annika bristled—most likely at the idea of prolonging her separation from her beloved husband.
“It’s practically on the way to Austice. We’d just pop over, and then be on our way! It’d take three days at most!”
Tam chortled. “I’ll go tell Eli. I’ve noticed she’s better at making plans in advance, whereas I’m usually better at improvising when unpredictable problems crop up.”
Annika turned with her son to head toward the cabin exit. Before they reached the door, she grasped his arm. “Why won’t Eli marry you?”
“She likes to torture me.”
The duchess fixed her son with a dry stare.
When he realized his mother was not going to accept that answer, he dropped his head and continued, “I think she likes and needs to exercise her freedom to choose how her life goes. And I’m not going to pressure her or make her feel bad for that—so don’t you go trying to change her mind.”
Annika’s hand fell away, and she bowed her head. “I understand now. You have my word.”
Tam bobbed his head in appreciation and was about to continue out of the cabin when his mother spoke up.
“I’m excited to finally have a granddaughter to dress up. I already have some colors in mind for Penelope once things calm down. Ooh. I wonder if she’d let me put her in matching clothes with the whole family.”
“I’m noticing that you assume the rest of us would be onboard with this plan of yours.”
“After all I’ve done for all of you, a portrait with coordinated outfits is the least you could give me,” Annika declared boldly.
Tam opened the door for his mother. “You are not honestly trying to make us dress up to match and sit for a portrait the entire time. Kat’s boys haven’t gotten a portrait done since Asher was a baby, because they won’t sit still.”
“I’m sure between myself, you, Eli, and Penelope, we can manage something.”
“Why is it that neither Kat or Eric, you know, their parents, are expected to wrangle the monsters?” Tam asked indignantly.
“Because their solution is to let their children run around outside to help them deal with their abundance of energy, but if they are already in the outfits I have in mind, that won’t be possible.”
Tam groaned.
“Do you think Luca will be the kind to tear about?” Annika wondered while glancing over her shoulder at her son as he closed the door behind himself.
“Depends. I don’t know if he’ll shy away from Kat’s monsters or become the long-lost fourth Ashowan hellion.”
Annika’s brows furrowed thoughtfully.
“Before you start plotting how to educate him before he meets his cousins, you should probably know Eli and I are already a little bit concerned at how much of our… illicit lifestyle he has been privy to as of late,” Tam finished delicately.
Annika slowly rounded back on her son.
He pressed his lips together in a facsimile of a smile.
His mother’s next word carried an edge. “What?”
“I just mean he might be a little too… comfortable with stealing, setting fires, and occasionally punching men in their groins. Though it’s usually only bad men with the latter.”
Annika stared at Tam blankly.
“In my defense,” he continued. “It’s not exactly like we’ve been in ideal child-rearing environments and situations, though Eli got him a tutor for a while in Junya!”
The duchess’s lips puckered tightly before she managed to say, “I’m aware that you have been in some tough spots on this trip—and you still need to inform me of the details surrounding your magic—but from here on out, I will help keep Luca from getting any terrible ideas.”
Tam wondered if he should point out that, given how influential Harris had been on Luca the past few weeks, she’d have her work cut out for her, but he didn’t really want to test her tenuous calm.
So the mother and son continued making their way back up onto the main deck to rejoin everyone else. Just before they mounted the stairs, Tam once again turned to Annika. “How did you convince Henrietta to change you back?”
The duchess lightly touched her neck just behind her ear. “The coven was attacking. It was an emergency.”
“That doesn’t answer…” Tam trailed off as his mother proceeded up the steps. He sighed. She was the same as ever.
But that wasn’t a bad thing, and besides.
Who knew? Maybe she could find a way for them all to have a happy ending.
Even if they were successful breaking into the archives on the Isle of Wittica, Tam’s hopes about finding a better solution to the devil dilemma were as high as his expectation that Luca wouldn’t punch another man in the balls.
That was to say, not high at all.
With nothing left to do but go up and soothe Eli’s anxieties, Tam set to climbing the stairs.
All in all, similar to what his sister had described, their mother had responded quite reasonably to the news that he had fathered a child… again. Allegedly. Out of wedlock. Which left him wondering if perhaps his father would be the dramatic one.