Chapter Four
When there was a knock on the door, Rowan moved to answer it, waving her hand to see through it, and there was a grouping of women on the porch, all glowing with different facets of power. Rowan opened the door.
“Ladies. Welcome. Ted and Lucia are upstairs checking out the guestroom themes. I am Rowan. Would you care for tea?”
A cheerful woman grinned. “I am Mik. This is Arwell, Win, Regis, and Ira, who has a half day today.”
Rowan smiled. “Hello all. Tea? I can make some more muffins. Lucia is cradling the others like a baby. I am guessing she has a thing for sweets.”
The ladies and the little girl entered, and Ira gasped and asked Rowan, “Can I run in here?”
“Absolutely. Count the rooms on the main floor if you like. If you get lost, call Miss Rowan, and I will come get you.”
Ira nodded. “Mom?”
Regis nodded. “Go ahead. Don’t break anything. I don’t know if your father can afford replacements.”
Ira cackled with laughter, and she took off toward the first ballroom.
Rowan took the ladies into the kitchen, where tea was being made, and muffin batter was half-mixed.
Regis looked on with a smile. “Can you show me how to do that?”
“You? Probably not. Arwell, yes.”
Arwell smiled. “Why me?”
“Frequency. Magic has frequencies, which you all know. Domestic magic has specific needs because it is placement and action and chemistry and application of heat, so there is a change of state.” Rowan smiled.
“Also, time is a factor that has to be included. If you rush things, the result is a nasty mess. The right time has to be acknowledged.”
Regis blinked. “I hadn’t thought about it that way. It really is tricky, isn’t it?”
“Sure. Anyone can hold out their hand and portal a muffin from their favourite bakery, but they can be taking it from storage, from the counter, or from someone who saved up for it and is consuming their first meal of the week. It is cruel without compensation.”
Arwell blinked. “Holy shit. I hadn’t thought of that.”
Rowan poured the tea and settled. “Auntie Aspen, they are here for you.”
Hello, is it me you’re looking for?
“That is Auntie Aspen. Her focal point is in the carriage house, but I have run speakers and microphones throughout the house. I am never out of reach.”
Mik sipped her tea. “How do you keep in touch with her when you leave?”
“I am in the walls, the floors. I am part of the great house. She speaks here, and I hear her. Always. She is never alone.”
Win’s eyes lit. “First, this is good tea; second, that is why she has kept her sanity while her body dispersed.”
You drive me crazy.
Rowan grinned. “We don’t use the c-word, Auntie.”
Shut up; there you go, you are always right.
“I know I am, Auntie.” Rowan sipped her tea. “That’s why we are all still alive.”
Arwell asked, “How did you become a sex magic witch?”
“I had to. I needed a power that would be effective on men but strong. I have rarely met a man who wasn’t susceptible to sex. So that is my in, and that is how I get into them and tear them apart. They can’t resist the touch of sex, and I use it to blow them into red mist.”
Mik whistled. “So, you...”
“Shaped myself. I don’t always get it right. The skin thing is an example.”
Win cocked her head. “Skin thing? May I take a picture of you?”
“Sure.”
The camera came up, and there was a snapping of the shutter. Win started looking through the display, and she went. “Oh. Wow. That’s different.”
Rowan smiled. “You don’t say.”
Mik blinked as she peeped over Win’s shoulder. “What am I seeing?”
Win pointed. “This is her core, and these are the spells she’s cast on herself. The part of her brain that processes magic is split into different zones.”
Rowan blinked. “You can see my brain?”
Win gestured. “Come over and take a look.”
Rowan walked around the table and looked. “Oh, pretty. I look like a Christmas tree decorated by a drunk.”
Win paused. “There are some similarities. This is amazing. You are a composite of magic. Different pieces for different purposes.”
Rowan smiled. “Are you going to tell them?”
“It is for you to say.”
Regis was wary. “What?”
“I copy magic styles with different cores. My control is inexact, but I am getting better.” She returned to her seat. “So now I am a little bit mage and a little bit witch. Did you notice the cabinets?”
Win gasped. “The house is alive.”
“The house is alive. It wasn’t during the attacks, but when both Aspen and Mell needed to be concealed, it was my first change. Changing myself was the next step.”
The healer walked into the kitchen with long strides. “She’s in labour.”
Rowan winced. “Delightful. Well, she has her mate; she should be fine.”
The healer looked at her. “She’s asking for you.”
Rowan looked at him. “How long do I have?”
“Her body is moving fast. The two ladies with her are not equipped to handle a woman in labour.”
Regis blinked. “I am heading up there.”
Arwell smiled. “I will be up soon as well.”
Rowan groaned, put her teacup down, and stalked out of the kitchen and through the house to the stairs.
There were stairs off the kitchen, but she liked the sprint up the big stairs.
She walked in and looked at the two mages who looked slightly unwell.
“Ladies, dismissed if you want to be. The others are in the kitchen, and there are more muffins in the oven. Raspberry and cream.”
Mell gasped and looked at her. “You are talking about muffins at a time like this?”
Rowan walked to her side. “Of course. I can’t reach in and make things go faster. Alpha, encourage her. Scoot her up in the bed. Mell, do you have a preferred way for the little one to come out?”
Mell laughed. “The same way it got in.”
Rowan nodded. “Move her to her hands and knees.”
Norecayet grinned and carefully eased her over.
Mell muttered, “I can’t believe you know that.”
Rowan washed up and was going to check on dilation, but Mell started to moan and rock with her body pressure. She looked at Regis coming through the door. “I am just supposed to catch it, right?”
The next few moments passed in a blur as Rowan brought a blue infant into the world with sticky-outy ears, and it was shouting. Mell was laughing and crying.
Rowan looked at the baby and at his father. “Is he supposed to be blue?”
Norecayet smiled and nodded. “He’s supposed to be blue.”
Regis checked the baby and took a strand from her hair, tying off the cord. “Dad, did you want to cut the cord?”
He reached out, and claws appeared out of fingertips. He snipped the cord, and Rowan moved around to bring the baby to Mell. “There you go. One result.”
Regis looked at the alpha. “Do your people have any traditions for the placenta?”
He shook his head. “No, whatever she wishes.”
Rowan said, “Roll her to her back and help her sit up.” He did as instructed. When she was supported, Rowan handed the little boy over to his parents.
She smiled, and Regis was taking care of everything else, muttering, “How is it you didn’t tear?”
Rowan smiled. “She’s still healing fast as her body catches up to missing time. I am going to get some baby stuff.”
She moved across the room to the ensuite, washed her hands, and got a diaper, Vaseline, and a wrap. Regis looked at the Vaseline. “Good call.”
When the baby was greased up, wrapped, and back with his mother and father, Mell smiled, tearing up. “Thanks, Rowan. This is... everything.”
“Big day and a lot of new starts for you. Your documents are on the dresser in an envelope marked important stuff. I am going to let you bask in being a mom. The diaper station is over there next to the bathroom; the mini fridge is stocked with water and juice and fruit cups. You are going to heal fast, and that is going to involve a lot of dead tissue sloughing in a rush, so clean clothes are over there next to the wardrobe, and I put a tarp under you while you were in labour. You will want to get rid of that before you sleep.”
Norecayet stared at her. “When did you get this ready?”
“I started after she got pregnant. I just didn’t want to tell her until she was ready to understand it. She was dealing with enough.”
“I was in a coma. I can’t work until I renew my credentials.”
Rowan sighed. “You want to stay with them?”
“Please.”
“Fine. Ask your friends to get what you need. Dinner is at six.”
He blinked. “Really?”
“Really. Call your buddies and get them to bring what you need.”
Regis finished and looked at Rowan. “Where do you want it?”
Rowan held her hand out and flicked her finger. The mass left the house, settled near a tree, and exploded into bright sparkles that came to rest on the leaves. “There we go.”
Rowan smiled. “Congratulations, Mell.”
The doctor was coming up and blinked. “She had it?”
“Yup. All done. Placenta given to the tree, hands washed, and Vaseline applied for the first deadly poop. I am going to have some more tea.”
He looked at her. “I need to speak to you.”
“Great. I am still heading downstairs.” She walked past him and headed for the stairs.
She felt tired, but the day was going to get longer, and she needed to start dinner. She was pretty sure that orcs ate for two.
The healer walked behind her. “Miss Rowan, do you know what you are?”
“Tired, hungry, and looking for the rosemary. I am going to have to get some from outside. Follow if you dare.”
She grabbed her basket and shears and walked out to the kitchen garden.
“Miss Rowan, do you know what you are?”
“Hungry.”
“No, an opal omega.”
“Oh. That. Yeah.” She walked over through the garden gate, and he followed her, gasping as the thick and rich herb and vegetable garden surrounded them.
“This garden is incredible.”
“Thanks. This is where I get my ingredients for tea and dinner.”
“May I take photos and samples?”
“Let me clip the samples. The garden can be difficult.” She went to get the rosemary.
There was a light wave of giggles that went through the garden, and the healer paused. “It is sentient?”
“Yes.”
“You are tied to this land.”
“Oh, yes. Very much so.” She stroked the rosemary to wake the oils then clipped the herbs, tucking them into her basket. “Was there anything in particular you wanted to examine?”
He walked over to the lemon balm. “Lemon balm?”
“The base of most of my teas.” She stroked the plant to wake it up then trimmed the stems it offered her.
“What are you doing there?”
“I am waking the plant and asking it for a contribution, and it offers me what it wants to spare.”
“Do the plants ever refuse you?” He watched her movements.
She locked her herb snips. “Nope. Not if they know what is good for them.”
She went to the garlic bed and worked a bulb loose. The rest of the meal was waiting inside. She moved past the healer, her heels clicking on the walkway.
“Why do you wear heels in your home?”
“So that it knows where I am. You have to exit the garden with me. It doesn’t know you.” She chuckled as she approached the gate. “You don’t want to feed the plants. I guarantee you won’t enjoy it.”
He moved toward her and exited the garden before she did. The door closed, and Rowan felt the magic take over, protecting her garden the moment the gate latched.
She walked with him. “You can ask all your questions while we cook. I will ask the house to connect Mell’s room with the other next to hers for a suite, so the family has the space it needs.”
“I don’t suppose you have a lab?”
“It’s in the cellar, but yes.” She opened the kitchen door and set the basket down on the huge table.
“May I see it?”
“After dinner is in the oven. Some things have timing, and slow roasting meat is one of them.”
“I can peel potatoes.”
She smiled. “Then that is what you shall do.”
She hauled out an eight-pound roast that made his eyes widen. She trimmed it with a flexible knife and looked at him. “So, healer, what did you want to know?”
He took a deep breath and started asking questions.