7. SETH
SETH
“I’ve talked it over with Phoebe, and I’m willing to step in for the short term.”
The apprehension I’d been feeling as I’d waited for Jed’s decision evaporated at his words, even though I hadn’t really expected him to refuse.
“As long as you get him to agree to six months,” he continued. “I won’t do it for a year. But how does Zara feel about all this?”
I gave him a rueful look. “Saying she’s not happy about it would be the understatement of the century.
But I think I managed to convince her I don’t have any choice.
If what Lucien’s telling me is true, these people have as much right as the rest of us to their freedom.
They’ve more than earned it in fact, if they’ve evolved enough to rise above their baser nature and form a civilised society of their own accord. ”
“Have you considered the possibility that he’s lying to you? That he’d say whatever it takes to get you where he wants you and there could be a very different situation waiting for you than the one you’re expecting? Or that he may not allow you to leave.”
“Of course I have, and please, if you have any affection for me whatsoever, don’t voice that last thought within Zara’s hearing.”
“Don’t you think she has a right to know just how much of a risk you’re taking by going there?”
“Oh, believe me, she knows as well as I do. It’s just that neither of us have chosen to openly acknowledge it, and I’m very happy not to have to address it with her.” He didn’t look convinced that was the right way to go about it, but that was my mistake to make.
“So what happens now then?” he asked, thankfully not pressing the issue. “I can’t take over your role without Zeus’s approval. How do you plan to go about gaining it?”
“We will go about gaining it by visiting Olympus together. But I don’t foresee any problems. Didn’t Aphrodite already tell you that your return would be welcomed? And our cousins have been asking for a while now if you intend to join us again.”
“I’ll be making it very clear to Zeus, and our cousins, that this is only temporary. I’m more than content with my life in Avalon and I have no wish to change that. If it was anyone but you asking me to do this, the answer would be a resounding no.”
“I know it would. And I can’t even begin to tell you how much I appreciate your support. I’ll arrange an audience with Zeus for us, but maybe you should pay Aphrodite a visit too while we’re there. You could ask her your questions about whether starting a family is possible.”
“No. I don’t think I’m ready to face the answers to those questions yet. Before I met Phoebe, I’d never even considered it. But with her, the thought of creating a new life is…” he shrugged, “it’s probably too much to hope for.”
“I’m not so sure. I’ve been giving it some thought myself since you first mentioned it and I can’t help wondering if maybe, when we finally meet our Kaderi, we’re meant to have children to carry on our work.
I know it’s not as if we’re going to age and die, but there are times when I feel so tired of it all.
The thought of being able to step away from it is more appealing than I ever thought it would be. Perhaps Lucien had the right idea.”
“A new generation of guardians? That’s a lot to dump on a son or daughter.”
“Is it though? It was a lot for us back in the beginning, because it was all totally new and we didn’t have a clue what we were doing.
It took a good few centuries for us to really settle into the role.
It’s different now. The infrastructure we’ve put in place means being a guardian today is no harder than running a company.
And they’d have us around to train them and guide them.
They wouldn’t be going in blind the way we had to.
“And, if they were born immortal,” I added, “they’d need something to do with their lives, a real purpose.
Experiencing everything the realms have to offer would be satisfying enough for a handful of centuries I suppose but after that…
” I’d seen enough elder vampires driven to insanity by the constant, fruitless search for fulfilment to know how real that threat was.
“That’s a fair point,” he conceded. “But it’s not something we need to worry about right now.”
“Perhaps you should ask Phoebe how she feels about it.”
“Are you seriously counselling me to have an open and honest conversation with my Kaderi about a sensitive issue?” he said with a little huff of amusement. “When you’re sticking your own head in the sand about something far more immediate?”
“It’s completely different,” I protested. “And you know it is.”
“If you say so. But unless Phoebe starts dropping hints about starting a family, I won’t be asking Aphrodite anything. Let’s get this Underworld situation dealt with, and you back here where you belong, before we start looking into retirement plans.”