"No, it doesn't make sense!" Ripha replied. "I've seen what she can do and this has never happened before. Elysia hasn't asked to do anything, she made my hair move against my will.
"Can you do the sa, Lith? Do you have this degree of control over your Demons?"
"It's possible but right now I can't." He shrugged. "I evolved in this form and I'm still getting used to it. Elysia, instead, was born a Tiamat. She can do by instinct things I need to discover and train for."
"La." Elysia sucked on a lock of hair, unaware of the content of the conversation, only of its general tone. "Mama?"
The babble word made Ripha's dead heart beat again.
"No, sweetie." Solus rushed to explain. "The beautiful lady looks like mommy Solus and is bound to your father, but she's not your mother. Elysia, this is Auntie Ripha. Say-"
"Grandmother Ripha." nadion glared at Solus, cutting her short. "If I have to stay here and you won't give a grandchild, I'll take what I can. Elysia has our hair, after all."
"Mom!" Solus blushed up to her ears. "She's not related to more than you are to Aunt Loka or Friya! Having six elental streaks-"
"Gama!" Elysia giggled.
As long as she was fed and loved by her parents, the number of grandparents was but a minor detail to her.
"How smart you are!" Ripha tickled the baby, making her giggle. "Can you say Ripha?"
"La." Elysia shook her head.
"Close enough. As I said, I'll take what I can." nadion caressed the baby. "Prepare yourself, old lizard. Your asly trinkets will pale in comparison with the toys I'll make for her."
"Dream on, old hag." Leegaain scoffed. "Even if that was the case, I'll be the favorite grandparent the mont Elysia sees the treasure hoard I've prepared for her. I'm not above bribing children to like ."
"Speaking of children and introductions, Elysia, I want you to et your younger brother." Kamila neared her scaled hands to the baby.
"Wait, didn't you do that already?" Lith asked.
"No, silly. There was no celebration in your absence. I wanted to share this mont with you." She replied, making nadion miss her husband even more.
Elysia was confused by the sudden developnt. Her mother had never had scales, making their conversations most frustrating. Her young brain dismissed it as Kamila being an airhead and grabbed her finger after shapeshifting into a Tiamat.
"Ba?" Elysia felt sothing besides her mother on the other side.
A level of peacefulness and silence she had never experienced before, not from herself or even from her father while he was asleep. It wasn't quite a person but the potential of sothing that with ti would beco one.
The feeling spread to all aspects of Elysia's life force, creating a bond with the unborn child. It was the third person the baby girl had ever t who resonated with her almost in a perfect tune.
The first was her mother. During the final months of gestation, Elysia had beco cognizant of many things by experiencing the world around Kamila through the sensations shared by the Dragon scales.
The second was her father, who Elysia had only felt through Kamila until the day she had been born.
Elysia had never understood why the bond with her mother had been lost and its restoration filled her with joy. The love and affection Kamila felt for her eclipsed the quiet peace of the embryo but Elysia loved them both because one heralded the other.
"No, he's not a bad boy." Lith tutted. "He's your little brother. Say sothing nice to him."
"Ba? Ba, ba. Ba!" Elisya was indignant. How could her father confuse two completely different words?
"She's saying that the ba for bad and the ba for brother are not the sa thing." Kamila translated through the scales. "To her, tone and feelings make them two completely different words."
"It makes no sense to , but alright." Lith offered Elysia his finger to receive a nonsensical lesson about baby speak.
"What about ?" Baba Yaga asked with a hopeful tone.
"Baba." Elysia grunted.
"It still ans very bad, sorry." Kamila translated.
"Bribing it is." The Mother sighed.
While everyone talked with Solus to know how she felt and learn the fate of the World Tree, Lith moved toward Salaark.
"I know it's still early but I'm already starving, Grandma. Can I get so food, please?" His enhanced tabolism was healing his scars while the tower refilled his core with mana but both depended on his body to respectively produce and withstand energy.
"I knew sothing like this could happen so I've prepared a feast for you, Featherling." At a clap of Salaark's hands, the curtains of the room opened, letting in a long line of servants bringing dishes of every size.
Long rectangular tables appeared out of thin air, lined up against the walls to leave the center space for the guests. Refreshnts were also brought in in gilded jugs, spreading the sll of fresh juices, spicy wines, and frothing brews.
Also, the top of the tent beca transparent, letting sunlight in to feed and replenish the Abomination side of her guests. It was the first ti Ripha experienced hunger again, especially a kind sunlight could quell.
"I knew it would happen but it still feels weird, like I've beco a plant." She muttered.
"Isn't it early for alcohol?" Raaz asked.
"It's always evening sowhere." Salaark shrugged. "Don't worry. I don't plan to make a habit of this. It's just that you can celebrate the conception of your grandchild only once and you can't choose the ti."
Lith, Solus, and the Eldritches focused on the food. They were all starving from the battle and Solus hadn't gotten a real al since the day she had been captured.
Lith picked a tall glass of water for himself but Kamila replaced it with a large mug of his favorite Maekosh ale.
"I know you probably won't drink again until the pregnancy is over. Consider it as you toasting for the three of us." She said.
"Eat aplenty, dear." Ripha filled Solus' plate with nutritious food she picked from the various trays. "Just go easy on the sweets like we agreed, okay?"
Solus choked on her food, the chuckles and sneers from those who knew her only made her embarrassnt worse.
"We didn't agree on anything, Mom! That was your idea and I was just too busy dodging spells and blades to have an argunt with you while we escaped from the Tree!" Her face flushed all the way to her ears.
"Elina, help out, please." Ripha turned to Lith's mother who was bringing him seconds of his favorite dishes. She had cooked them to allay her anxiety while waiting for her son's return.
"Wouldn't Epphy look better without the extra kilos?" Ripha pinched Solus' belly to highlight the problem, unwittingly ashaming her to death.
"Uhm…" Elina was at a loss for words, torn between honesty and motherly affection.
"Mom!" Solus glared at Elina, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Solus is a beautiful woman as she is." It was enough to tilt the scales toward affection.
User Comments
0 comments from readers