Chapter 35 Annani
ANNANI
Annani sat on the couch, her hands wrapped around a teacup that Ogidu had filled moments before. The Odu moved silently through the room, refreshing drinks and arranging aperitifs on the coffee table in his characteristically quiet way.
Her butler was one of the seven Odus who had been an engagement gift from her Khiann. They were also her protectors when the need arose and her companions in times of loneliness. Now, only three had remained with her, the other four having been assigned to each of her children.
Ogidu had been assigned to her son Lilen but had returned to her when Lilen had fallen in battle.
Annani sighed. The grief never truly eased, no matter how many years went by. It had dulled somewhat, yet at times a sudden surge of anguish would strike without warning, leaving her nearly bent in two from the pain.
Around her, the living room was full but quiet. Kalugal sat in one of the armchairs with Jacki beside him, Darius on her lap, playing with her phone. Lokan and Carol occupied the love seat, while Ell-rom and Morelle sat next to her on the couch.
Everyone was sipping on their tea, seemingly comfortable, but tension hummed beneath the surface like a dissonant note.
"More tea, Clan Mother?" Ogidu asked.
"Thank you, but my cup is still nearly full."
Ell-rom shifted in his seat, his long fingers drumming against his knee before he caught himself and stilled them. He exchanged a glance with Morelle, and Annani could see the nonverbal debate playing out between them.
"Perhaps Morelle and I should wait elsewhere," he said. "In the office or the guest bedroom."
"We should not be here at all," Morelle murmured.
"Why would you say that?" Annani asked, though she knew the answer.
"Because this is your reunion with Areana," Morelle said.
"Because Areana is no doubt exhausted and frazzled after all she has been through, and meeting you for the first time after five thousand years will be emotional enough.
Adding two siblings that she has no clue exist to this reunion will just destroy her, and instead of making this a happy occasion, we will be calling Vanessa for an emergency counseling session. "
Annani smiled. Morelle was slowly coming into herself and starting to exhibit more and more traits similar to Amanda's, proving the old adage about blood being thicker than water.
"You make it sound so dramatic," Annani chided.
"We are family, and Areana will be overjoyed to discover that she has another sister and a brother.
" She lifted her teacup and took a small sip.
"She has survived five thousand years with Navuh, navigating his moods and his madness and saving as many people as she could.
She is not fragile. On the contrary. Areana is a rock. "
"She is," Kalugal agreed, his eyes shining with pride at her words. "But Ell-rom and Morelle have a point. Not everything has to happen at once. Introducing my mother to the twins could have waited for another day."
Annani shook her head. "I do not believe in postponing until tomorrow what could be done today."
Was she being selfish? Impetuous? Unable to wait another day to share with her sister the good news about their family?
She could not tell Areana before, not while she was still with Navuh, because the Kra-ell were a big strategic secret that the Brotherhood could not know about.
She trusted Areana, but her sister had been a prisoner even if she could not admit that to herself.
If Navuh had caught their secret communications, he might have gotten Areana to tell him everything she had ever learned from Annani.
Areana might have been immune to Navuh's compulsion or compulsion in general, but there were other ways to make someone talk.
"It's not about strength," Jacki said quietly, bouncing Darius on her knee.
"It's about emotional bandwidth. Areana's been through so much over the past three days.
The rescue, seeing Navuh hurt, the journey, arriving in a completely foreign place.
How much can one person take? And I bet she hasn't slept much, if at all. "
Annani opened her mouth to respond, then closed it. They might be right. She was asking a lot of Areana. Perhaps too much.
"I think Ell-rom's initial idea has merit," Carol said. "He and Morelle can wait in another room while you and Areana are having your moment, and once she calms down from that, you can call them in."
Given that everyone was nodding, it seemed to be a consensus.
"Very well," Annani conceded. "That is how we shall proceed. I will call for you once Areana and I have had our reunion."
The relief on the twins' faces was palpable, especially on Ell-rom's, the more sensitive of the two.
Ogidu glided forward with a tray of small pastries. "I prepared some sustenance. Lady Areana has been traveling all day and may arrive hungry."
"Good thinking," Jacki said, taking one of the treats. She broke off a small piece and offered it to Darius, who grabbed it with enthusiasm.
They settled into an uneasy silence, broken only by Darius's happy babbling and the quiet clink of teacups. Annani watched the clock on the wall, counting the minutes.
How long did it take to get Navuh to the clinic and ensure he was stable? Kian would have called if something had happened, so hopefully Navuh was still hanging on, not because Annani cared whether he lived or died but because she wanted her sister to be in a good mood for their reunion.
It was selfish, but she was allowed some selfishness once in a while.
When her phone finally buzzed in her pocket, she nearly dropped her cup of tea in her haste to retrieve it.
It was Kian, and she accepted the call right away. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes. We're on our way up. See you soon." He ended the call.
She made a quick calculation in her mind, estimating how long it would take them to get to the elevator and then how long the ride up to the penthouse would take.
Three minutes. Five at most.
"We should make ourselves scarce," Ell-rom said, pushing to his feet. "Any preference for which room we should wait in?"
Lokan shook his head. "Take your pick but leave the door open so you can hear when we call you."
He nodded and offered his sister a hand up. "Come on. We can wait in what used to be my bedroom when I stayed here."
They disappeared down the hallway, and the tension in the room intensified instead of easing.
Kalugal set down his cup. Lokan straightened in his seat. Carol and Jacki exchanged glances. Even little Darius seemed to sense something important was happening, growing still and quiet in his mother's arms.
Annani stood, smoothing her gown though it did not need smoothing. She was the Clan Mother. She had led her people through millennia of challenges. She had faced impossible odds and emerged victorious.
And yet her heart fluttered as she waited to see her sister again.
Two minutes ticked by, and then the doorbell chimed.
Kian's courtesy warning.
The door opened.
And there she was.
Areana.
Tall where Annani was petite. Blonde, where Annani was a redhead. Pale blue eyes, while Annani's were a more intense shade. But she was still unmistakably, undeniably her sister.
They rushed toward each other like gravity had finally properly aligned after being out of alignment for thousands of years.
They crashed into each other's arms, both crying, and nothing else in the world mattered except this moment, this reunion, this impossible gift of holding her sister once more.
"Areana," Annani sniffled into her shoulder. "My sister. My beautiful sister."
"Annani." Areana's voice broke. "I never believed this day would come."
They held each other, swaying and crying without shame or restraint. Five thousand years of separation, and only recently finding out that the other was alive and establishing weekly calls that had been a miracle and yet could never bridge the distance between them.
"I forgot," Areana gasped between sobs. "I forgot how beautiful you are. How small and perfect and radiant."
"And I forgot how tall and gorgeous you are," Annani laughed through her tears. "How striking, how much you look like our father."
"But you have his spirit. His strength. I've never had that. I'm meek like my mother was."
Annani shook her head. "You are brave and strong. Not all acts of bravery are enacted with a sword in hand. Some are done with a smile and a soft word spoken at the right time."
They pulled back just enough to look at each other, hands still clasped, tears still streaming down their faces.
Around them, the others watched with varying expressions of emotion. Jacki and Carol were dabbing at their eyes, not even trying to hide that they were tearing up. Kalugal and Lokan looked moved, and even Kian, who usually didn't get overly emotional, was smiling and had a soft look in his eyes.
Darius, however, started wailing. He was either picking up on the emotion in the room or just misinterpreting all the crying going on around him.
"Oh, no, sweetie," Jacki said, hugging him to her chest. "It's okay. Those are happy tears. See? Areana and Annani are happy to see each other. They're smiling."
But Darius wasn't convinced, his little face scrunched up in distress at seeing the adults cry.
Areana wiped her tears and turned toward him. "My precious boy. Come here."
She took him from Jacki, holding him close and smiling at him with such warmth that even through his tears, Darius could see she wasn't sad.
"See?" Areana said softly. "I'm happy. These are happy tears because I get to meet you, and you're the sweetest boy, so handsome and strong."
Darius studied her face, his crying subsiding to hiccups. Then, apparently satisfied that she was okay, he reached for his mother.
Jacki took him back with an apologetic smile. "Sorry. He's not usually this sensitive."