Chapter 25
We arrived back at Chateau de Bergellon in the afternoon. The sun was high as we rode up the winding path to the open gate welcoming us home. The guards called out as we approached to, presumably, the staff within the curtain walls. I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying and exchanged nervous glances with Lhoris and Lobikno. I was almost certain we had nothing to worry about, but I knew my love and his brother were concerned about their welcome being rescinded.
Oshruli looked a little overwhelmed by the chateau. It was likely the largest building he’d ever seen, and I worried that maybe the sunlight was making it hard for him to see it well; that perhaps it was frightening him. He clung to his father and glanced at me with wide garnet eyes. I couldn’t offer him words of comfort, so I smiled at him and told Lhoris he might want to reassure the boy.
Lhoris’ face was gentle while he spoke to Oshruli. I was starting to pick up on more elvish words after having been somewhat immersed, but I couldn’t understand what he said. Oshruli smiled at Lhoris and buried his face in the crook of Lobikno’s neck.
“What did you tell him?”
“That it’s our new home. That there are good people here who will care about him. That I can tell him all about it after we get some food and rest,” Lhoris with a gentle smile.
Emma, Nicolas, Eve, and Judith met us at the gate. They and the rest of people milling about the courtyard cheered to see us. Lhoris and Lobikno looked unsure of how to react. Oshruli’s eyes almost bugged out of his head, startled by the unexpected noise.
“Wave at them, my love,” I said and lifted a hand to do just that. Lhoris gave me a lopsided grin and waved at our friends.
I hopped off the horse and went to retrieve Oshruli. Lobikno tried to detach the child, but he held tight. So, he attempted to soothe Oshruli with gentle words. The frightened boy eventually relented and buried himself in the crook of my neck instead. His little heart raced frantically. “It’s okay, sweet boy,” I cooed and gently rubbed his fluffy hair with my fingertips.
Emma and Eve could hardly contain their excitement at the sight of the beautiful child, oohing and aahing in high voices.
“He’s very nervous,” I warned them. “He’s probably tired and hungry right now.”
Judith spoke up. “To the kitchen with you all,” she ordered. “Growing children need food!” Even Nicolas followed, somewhat bemused as she herded the whole lot of us down to the kitchens.
We all sat at the long table to the side of the kitchen while Judith and the few other staff on hand brought some food over. The adults got cold meat and dried fruit, but Oshruli got a meat pie and a breakfast bun.
“You’ll spoil him, Judith,” Lobikno scolded half-heartedly while Oshruli tore into the sticky sweet pastry. Though I’m sure everyone could see in his eyes that he was pleased to see the boy eat.
“The way to a boy’s heart is through his stomach,” Judith said loftily. “I want him to like me.”
Eve tittered, “She’s been practicing her grandmothering on every child that comes through the kitchen.”
“What?” I asked. “Eve … are you expecting?”
“Yes!” she squealed. “Guille and I got married a few days ago so we can do this right.”
“Congratulations!” I said, genuinely happy, and gave her a hug. I supposed there were more than a few people that felt pressured to rush into marriage after the incident. When I considered Eve and Guille together, they were a rather handsome couple. It seemed too quick for my liking, but I genuinely hoped they’d be happy.
Judith might have been onto something in bribing Oshruli’s affection with pastries. His eyes tracked her around the kitchen, and he smiled at her. I suspected between Judith and the other kitchen matrons fawning over him, he was going to associate older women with treats. “Oshruli,” I said, and his gaze snapped to my face. “Grandma,” I said, pointing to Judith. He pointed at Judith and repeated after me.
“Really, Oz?” Lobikno barked, a scowl on his face. “You could check in with me on something like that first.”
“Are you going to invite your mother out here to be his grandmother? I doubt mine’s even alive,” I sniped back in indignation.
He rolled his eyes and nodded to concede the point. “Okay, Grandma Judith it is.” Though I made a mental note that it would be best to consult Lobikno before doing something like that again. I’d already robbed him of the opportunity to name his own son. I nodded to myself and decided to let him pick the name for the baby. It was only fair.
Judith beamed and slipped a pastry in front of Lobikno. He cut it and gave half to Oshruli. The other half he tried to give to me, but I insisted we split it. I couldn’t be sure if he was compelled to do that, but I wasn’t going to let him neglect himself. Then I slid my hand into Lhoris’ and leaned on his shoulder, worried he would feel left out.
Now that Oshruli had some food in his belly, he started asking questions. Starting with everyone else”s names. He couldn”t manage to pronounce Nicolas, which seemed absurd considering it was practically an elven name, according to Lhoris, so they settled on just calling him Duke.
Lhoris and Lobikno answered all his questions patiently. Lhoris translating for the rest of if something was relevant. I was beside myself thinking how adorable the three of them were. The brothers seemed in awe of the fact that they had Oshruli safe from harm. They’d put down a heavy burden in their hearts when we arrived.
“Is there anything you need for him?” Nicolas asked. “I assume you don’t have much for a child right now.”
I looked to Lobikno, but he shrugged. It appeared this was to be my responsibility. “We don’t have a lot of clothes for him. I don’t really know what else. I’ve never been responsible for a child before.”
Emma nodded, “Well, I can send someone out tomorrow to find some clothes. And maybe a few toys.” Then her eyes widened in excitement, “He’d be darling in silver.”
Lobikno sighed and shook his head. “Emma, he’s not a princeling,” he cautioned in a drawl, “he doesn’t need fancy clothes.”
I could see that his words had fallen on deaf ears, though. Emma was clearly plotting many adorable outfits behind those amber eyes of hers. “Play clothes would be best, he’s a very active little boy,” I said and gave Nicolas a pleading look.
He smirked and put a hand on Emma’s shoulder, “I’m almost certain that there is a trunk of my old clothes in storage. We can see if any of them fit.” I nodded thanks to him. Maybe we could get Emma’s urge to play dress up out of the way without going overboard.
The next morningwe were asked to join Emma and Nicolas for breakfast. My stomach wasn’t feeling well so I sipped mint tea and slowly ate toast while Oshruli got a lesson in table manners from Grandma Judith. The child had obviously never used a fork before, and took the lesson very seriously, exploring all the ways he could use the tool to get food to his mouth. Judith appeared torn between amusement and consternation.
Emma told us about their progress in rebuilding the guard and disposing of the mirrors Ubras had left behind. The community had taken a day off to cast the cursed things off the cliffs. Watching them shatter on the rocks below and then disappear into the sea was healing for many of his victims. Emma said they might even make it an annual holiday. “The real trouble is figuring out what to call it,” she claimed.
I let Lhoris and Lobikno tell how they defeated the war lord, rescued the damsel, and saved the child. Aside from my escape and concussing Dulanzo, we kept the rest of my experiences in the underground fortress to ourselves. Those things had been too private for such a public gathering.
Once finished eating, Nicolas invited the brothers to join him in his study. He wanted to discuss the possible roles they could assume in the household. I was irritated to be left out of that. It must have shown because Emma caught my attention.
“Ozanna,” said Emma, “shall we take a walk in the courtyard gardens with Oshruli?”
Oshruli had already started wiggling in his seat once his empty plate had been cleared away. “Oh, yes. That’s a good idea. He seems ready to run around,” I agreed, although a little terse. “Best to do it before the sun gets too high.” I called to him when I got to my feet and he followed us out to the gardens.
Oshruli’s eyes were wide for a moment as he took in the autumnal garden. Most of the flowers had faded, but it was still green and tidy. As far as I knew, he’d only ever seen wild plants before, nothing so intentional or organized. At first, he appeared unsure of what he was supposed to do and paused in the doorway behind me. With my gentlest smile and a gesture for him to follow, he took his first tentative steps onto the cobbled garden path. I wasn’t familiar with the flowers and would have been hard pressed to identify them with blooms, so I made sure to pause by the herb garden. I smelled the mint and sage and rosemary, inviting him to do the same, telling him their names as he sampled them. His eyes went wide with excitement at every new scent and chattered away, as he walked around sniffing the other plants. I plucked a small mint leaf and popped it in my mouth.
“He’s going to love the spring,” Emma observed. “So many new things to discover.”
She was right. I could envision him capturing insects and admiring the migration of birds. He may be Lobikno’s child, but he was very like his uncle. Perhaps Lobikno would have been that way as well if he’d had the freedom. My heart ached a little at the thought.
We watched him in a companionable silence for a few minutes, smiling when his fluffy little head would pop up and turn to check and make sure he hadn’t lost us. I sighed and examined Emma from the corner of my eye while she watched Oshruli play. I suspected she wanted to talk to me about something, but it was hard to read her now that she had a grasp on her power. She was so much more comfortable in her own skin. Her eyes looked older, though I knew she was still the nineteen-year-old I’d come to know.
“Nicolas and I want to add you to the house guard. You’ll have to take some leave for the babies at some point, but I expect you back on duty when you’re ready. Take as much time as you need, obviously. The position will be here.”
“Really?” I asked, my mood brightening. My work was all I had for so long. I knew realistically, even with three adults raising three little ones, it would still require much of my time. Was the source of my irritation at being left out just pride? A thought to pursue later.
“Yes,” Emma answered. “Nicolas insists I have a personal guard, particularly during outings. But really,” she leaned into me a little and whispered conspiratorially, “I’m probably more dangerous than the entire guard, army, and lords combined.”
“Of that, I have no doubt,” I laughed. “I can think of no other way I’d want to serve here. I’m honored to accept the position.”
“I couldn’t ask for a better friend or guardian,” Emma beamed at me.
We turned our attention back to Oshruli as he zipped across the garden path. There was a bird foraging among the plants. He stalked it, likely curious to have a closer look. The bird’s keen eyes caught his movement and spread its wings to escape.
“I’m already looking forward to this spring,” I said as the startled bird flew away. Oshruli squinted into the sky to watch it escape, disappointment apparent in his face. “Though my hands will be full by then. His father will probably get to experience those joys with him.”
“I know,” Emma nodded. “There will be many, many full hands by then,” she said, with a touch of manic cheer. “Almost every woman of childbearing age in Bergellon is pregnant.”
I balked and stared at Emma. But should I be surprised?
“I’m going to hire a tutor for Oshruli, to help him learn the languages used here. And likely some laborers to help lighten the burden of such a large surge in the population. I just need the new steward to get accustomed to his position so we can figure out how it would impact the finances.”
“Emma,” I said with as much disapproval as I could muster, “you can’t just say everyone is pregnant and sweep it under the rug.”
Emma wrung her hands, turned away and then back to me, as if unsure what to really say. “When I Became a demi-goddess of life and love, it turns out that comes with fertility too.”
“So this,” I gestured to my abdomen, “is as much your doing as it is Lhoris and Lobikno?”
She offered me an apologetic grimace. “And probably the one before,” she admitted. “Ozanna I am sorry. I simply had no idea what I was doing.” She shook her head and sighed.
It wouldn’t do any good to hold it against her and I didn’t doubt her sincerity. But I also needed to file a complaint. It wasn’t often one got the opportunity to do so directly to the divine source of one’s woes. “I’m having twin sibling-cousins,” I groaned.
Emma winced and anxiously flapped her hands in the air between us. “It sounds yucky when you say it that way,” she said hurriedly, giving me a glimpse of the girl I’d known on the journey here. “But it’s not. It’s just … awkward.”
I huffed a laugh, though it didn’t feel like the smile touched my eyes. “I know. It’s a lot, but it’s not bad.”
Overall, it could have been so much worse. I could have been blessed by a fertility goddess then trapped underground, perpetually pumping out multiples until I was spent. That thought made my blood run cold.
“Ozanna,” Emma said, putting a hand on my arm. “Are you okay?”
“Oh, yes, I am. Or I will be,” I grumbled.
Oshruli had come to the end of the garden path and encountered the smithy. He paused there and looked back to where Emma and I were standing. Before long, it would be too bright out there for him without a hat, and we would need to find something else to engage him. I crouched down and opened my arms to him, gesturing for him to come give me a hug. He beamed at me and ran as fast as he could into my embrace. I scooped him up and smothered him with affection while he laughed and nuzzled my cheek with his face.
“Let’s take him to the library after this,” Emma said with a smile of her own, as if reading my mind. “We can show him the first volume of the sea fae books.”