by M. K. Eidem
Along with a row of brownies.
Chapter Thirty-Three
"Are you ready to see how the gairdín and Crann fared?" Treyvon asked, taking the large, cleaned pot from Jennifer's hands.
"You have the time?" she asked, pointing to where she wanted the pot.
After Raiden and the Goddess had disappeared, things had gotten somewhat chaotic in the kitchen. Warriors had started filing in, apparently having reached their limit on not investigating what that new, amazing smell was. It had finally taken Treyvon ordering them out to get them to reluctantly leave after Jen promised to bring the tray out to the larger eating area so they could all have a sample.
After holding back a row for Mac, who Nikhil had disappeared with as soon as Luol had finished his scans, she carried the tray out. She explained to the warriors what it was, then cut small bars so there was enough for everyone, then stood back and watched the myriad of expressions that crossed their faces.
During all this, Treyvon received word that the storm had ceased and that communications were restored. After giving her a hard kiss, and stealing one more brownie, he left to contact Liron.
Things got a little crazy after Treyvon left. The warriors started jockeying for position to get whatever crumbs or smears of frosting were left in the pan.
Yes, the brownies were a hit.
The preparation of Last Meal was just as chaotic with warriors finding the strangest array of excuses to come in, but their gazes always went to the plate of brownies reserved for Mac. Finally, after bumping into yet another Warrior eyeballing the plate, Jen had picked it up and taken it to Mac and Nikhil's quarters.
Mac had been ecstatic, grabbing the plate from her hands. Nikhil had been confused. He couldn't understand why the brown lumps excited her so. The warriors that followed her had been crushed. At least until she promised she would make another batch... soon.
Now Last Meal was done. The kitchen was put back to rights. And Treyvon was off the comm with Liron who had called again just as she'd arrived with their share of Last Meal. When the comm went on and on, she interrupted just long enough to set Treyvon's plate in front of him, she gave him a kiss, then left to clean the kitchen.
"I will always have time for you," he said pulling her into his arms for a long, deep kiss. "That is how we should always kiss goodbye."
"Liron was on the comm," she murmured against his lips.
"Doesn't matter."
"Liron might disagree with that."
"Only because he's jealous that I have the most beautiful True Mate in all the Known Universes."
"And Nikhil will disagree with that," she told him smiling. "Oh, Treyvon, can you believe they are going to have a baby!"
"Offspring," Treyvon softly corrected, then turning, tucked her in close as they walked out of the kitchen. They hadn't had a chance to discuss the fact that Mac had conceived. It wasn't something he'd given much thought to. So much had occurred in such a short time what with his and Jennifer's first Joining, her agreeing to rest with him, his True Mate bead transferring, her accepting his Ashe bead, and her being gifted beads to give to him.
Offspring had been the last thing on his mind. But now it wasn't. Could his Jennifer conceive his offspring? And if she could, would it cause her harm? Just the possibility had his heart beating faster, in fear... and in hope. He now understood how Nikhil could lose control, and he wasn't even facing the possibility.
"What has you so quiet all of a sudden?" Jen asked as they walked across the now empty eating area to the door leading to the gairdín.
"Offspring," he said quietly, looking down at her. "The possibility of our offspring."
"Would... would you want that?" she asked hesitantly.
"Only if we are absolutely sure you wouldn't be harmed."
She stopped just in front of the door to put a reassuring hand on his chest. "I don't think there's anything in life that we can be 'absolutely sure' of." Then she gave him a teasing smile. "Well, except for my love for you."
"And mine for you." Leaning down he gave her a soft kiss. When he pulled back, her eyes were serious again.
"I've thought about having offspring with you ever since we talked about the Tornians and fit offspring. I keep seeing this beautiful little boy with his manno's dark hair and glowing blue eyes. He'll look just like you and follow you everywhere."
"Jennifer..."
"I'm not going to pretend that I'm not nervous about it, but I don't think that our True Mate beads wouldn't have transferred if we weren't capable of having offspring together."
"Perhaps, but you have been through a great deal and still haven't regained all your strength or enough weight."
"I'm fine," she put gentle fingers across his lips. "And no matter how much you might wish it, I'll never be as big as a Kaliszian female."
"I don't want you to be any different than what you are, my Jennifer. I just want you healthy, and strong and safe."
"I'm all those things, Treyvon, because of you." Her lips replaced her fingers. "Now let’s go see how the gairdín fared."
• • • • • •
Jen closed her eyes and sent up a silent prayer to the Goddess as Treyvon unsealed and pushed open the door that led to the gairdín. She wasn't sure what they would find. At best, she knew she'd be moving a lot of sand... At worst... The sound of Treyvon's sharply sucked in breath told her it was the latter.
"Jennifer."
Knowing she had faced much harder things in her life, and that she wasn't alone, she opened her eyes. Taking Treyvon's hand, she let him pull her outside. Gasping, she stumbled into Treyvon's protective arms and let her gaze take it all in.
There before them lay a gairdín without a speck of sand in it. The carvings in the Kevtoof easily seen as were the edges of the ancient planting beds.
"Treyvon..."
"Come," he shifted so she was at his side. "Let's investigate."
Arm in arm, they slowly followed the clean path around the corner of the building and Jen released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. The Crann was still there. Standing tall but different. Where before the Crann had seemed to be a dull, black skeleton, it now glowed white in the lowering Pontus sun. It was as if this storm had blasted away its hard, outer shell revealing its softer, inner core.
"Treyvon?" she asked as they approached.
"I do not know," he told her. "I've never seen anything like it."
As they approached, Treyvon realized something else. All the debris from the explosion that had nearly taken his Jennifer's life was gone too. Including the dark stain under the bench from her blood. Pulling his gaze from the spot, he looked to the right.
"Is that the path you threw your rings down?" he asked.
Jen pulled her gaze from where she'd been staring up at the branches. It had to be a trick of the light, but for some reason the branches seemed thicker to her, even with the black removed.
"What?" she asked then looked to where he pointed. She should have realized that he would still want to investigate the attack that seemed like a lifetime ago and insignificant to her now. But she knew Treyvon would never see it that way. For not only was it an attack on her, but on his Emperor. "Yes. I came back here, after the attack. Did I ever tell you that?"
"No, you didn't."
"I came to check on the Crann then thought I should look for my rings."
"You didn't find them." He knew if she had, she would have told him.
"No, not with all the sand and debris. But I did find that the path was undamaged while the wall was demolished."
"Meaning it couldn't have been made from Kevtoof or part of the original structure."
"Yes. The path is also different."
"How?" Treyvon asked as he guided her toward it.
"The other paths seemed to go directly to the glyph at the end. But this one seems to take its time." She pointed ahead of them. "See? It curves first this way and then that way as if it’s taking you on a long journey."
"Yes, after the next curve, but it doesn't seem as big as the other ones to me."
"Was there a stone in the center of the glyph like in the other ones?"
"Yes, yellow. And after the light hit it for a while, it began to glow and expand and shards of light seemed to emanate out from its center. It reminded me of Earth's sun."
"Did it?" By now they'd reached the end of the path and they both paused for a moment, letting their gazes travel over something they were sure no one else had seen for hundreds if not thousands of years.
As they entered the area, Treyvon realized his Jennifer was right. This was the smallest of the areas they had found and the path made it seem like it had been hidden and tucked away. Someone had gone a step farther and built a wall across the path, making sure it stayed hidden. Why?
Walking around the glyph in the center of the area, he led her to the bench on the far side. Looking down, he saw it was inscribed in the same language as the ancient texts he had struggled so hard to translate. His fingers tingled slightly as he brushed them over it and suddenly he knew what it said.
"Dharati," he whispered.
"What?" Jen asked.
"It says Dharati."
"You can read that?" She gave him a surprised look.
"So it seems." He frowned and wondered how that was possible. He had spent countless hours struggling to be able to translate what he had from the ancient texts. To just be able to now read it, as if it were Kaliszian.... Could he read anything else?
"Does that mean anything to you?"
"No." Letting his gaze travel to the other inscriptions in the area, he found he could read those too. "I have never heard of it before."
"Strange."
Treyvon thought it was strange too until he remembered Raiden's words. It seemed he had kept his word to the Goddess and made it possible so someone could read the ancient language. Him. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. But that wasn't important right now. What was important was to find out who was trying to kill his Emperor and why.
"Does this look anything like your universe?" he asked, gesturing to the design engraved into the stone before them.
"I think so. I mean I had to learn about our solar system in school like every other kid did, but really didn't pay that much attention. I do know that there are nine planets in our system, that Earth is the third one from our sun, and that it looks blue and white from space."
"So this could be your Earth." Treyvon pointed to the bright blue stone with white swirls that was third from a large glowing yellow stone."
"Yes."
"Then I think we have found your Earth, my Jennifer."
"But..." she looked from the stones to him. "Does that mean you can find it? Do those carvings," she pointed to the ones on the ground and walls. "Give you directions on how to get there?"
"No," Treyvon walked to the wall behind the bench. The inscription there was new, well new compared to what was on the bench and stones making up the path. Treyvon didn't know how he knew that, but he did. "This says that 'What was hidden shall be found when the worthy rise again.'"
"That's it?" Jen looked at the engraving and expected well... more.
"So it would seem." Then noticing the lengthening shadows, realized the sun was rapidly setting and the air cooling. He also noticed the darkness starting under her eyes that only appeared when she was extremely tired. Wrapping his arm around her, he pulled her close, sharing his body heat since she wasn't wearing her cape. "Come, it's getting late. We'll look for the rings tomorrow."
Jen opened her mouth to protest as he led her back down the path then she realized just how tired she was. It had been a day full of shocks and surprises. Mac was for sure pregnant. Raiden and the Goddess had actually appeared and spoken not just to her but to Treyvon. Everyone's reaction to the brownies and now the condition of the gairdín. She needed some time to absorb it all and Treyvon's arms were the perfect place to do it.
"Okay," she agreed. "I think I'm ready to snuggle up in bed next to you."
Her words had Treyvon pausing only long enough to sweep her up in his arms and quicken his pace down the path.
"Treyvon!" she laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I can walk you know."
"Truth, but not fast enough and I find myself wanting to snuggle up next to you too."
"Oh, well then, carry on."
• • • • • •
Maysa lay on her side staring down at her sleeping Dasho, a hand gently caressing his chest. After all these years she still loved touching his body. The solidness of his muscles hadn't diminished from when he was the young Elite Warrior trying to impress her. He had been taut and toned and the most magnificent male she had ever seen. He still was.
As her hand traveled lower, it was covered and brought to his lips so he could kiss her palm. Looking up, she found his violet eyes glowing softly at her.
"What has you awake, my Maysa?" he asked shifting to his side in the narrow bed so she had more room. "I know this bed isn't as comfortable as you are used to."
"Shhh." Her fingers gently silenced him. She knew it truly bothered him that he wasn't able to provide her with the comforts she was used to here on Pontus. "I don't care about any of that. I'm with you, in your arms. That’s all that matters to me."
"Still..."
"And," she continued, "now that the storm has ended, there's nothing stopping me from sending for some items if I want. Like a bigger bed."
"You wish to remain here on Pontus?" He made no attempt to hide how much he wanted that.
"Of course," she gave him a loving smile, "you are here."
"But our offspring."
"Are grown and have lives of their own as they should."
"And our home."
"Isn't a home when you aren't there," she told him.
"You are sure, Maysa? We are on the edge of the Empire. As you have already experienced, it isn't always the safest of places."
"This is truth, and I won't say I wasn't frightened during the attack, but I was also with you."
"There won't be much for you to do here," he warned but not strongly.
"I realize that too, but I will find a way to fill the time. Jen and I are going to make recordings so others can make her biscuits. And I'm sure there are other recipes we can do the same thing with. Also, I still know my way around a medical area. I can assist you when necessary like I used to before we had offspring."
"You were amazing," Luol agreed smiling slightly as he remembered those times from so long ago.
"I especially want to be here for Mac. I know you reassured her and that she trusts you but still... She is young and so far from home. She is going to need someone to talk to that has presented offspring before."
"You, my Maysa," he leaned down to gently kiss her lips, "are truly a gift from the Goddess. Most females wouldn't be so understanding or caring."
"I don't know about that, but I have also come to care very much for Mac. Jen too, although she's been a little harder to get to know."
"She is the more reserved of the two, but she is still a caring and generous female."
"She would have to be for the Goddess to gift her with beads and allow them to transfer to her True Mate."
Maysa tried to keep the envy out of her words, but her Luol knew her to well.
"Maysa..."
"I know and I'm sorry. I am truly happy for them, Nikhil and Mac, and Treyvon and Jen. I am. They are all fit and worthy of the honor. I just wish..."
"For it too?"
"No, that the Goddess thought I was worthy enough to be yours..."
• • • • • •
"It would seem Jennifer and Mackenzie has the right of it," Raiden told his True Mate as they looked down at the couple below. "The beads no longer comfort or bring peace to our people as they were meant to. Instead, they make them question their worth."
"How do I correct this, Raiden? Because they were also right that it is my fault. When I cursed them, I didn't just make it impossible for them to nourish their bodies but also their souls."
"You know what you must do, my Goddess."
"I don't know that I can." Sadness filled her eyes as she looked at her mate.
"You can do anything you set your mind to, Goddess. And I know you want to do this. Once you forgive yourself for causing the Great Infection, your forgiveness will begin to flow down to those that had nothing to do with it. You said it yourself to Kim. She is the beginning and she has done her part, just as Mackenzie, Jennifer, and all the others will. But this is something only you can do." Raiden's large hands gently cupped his Goddess' face, his thumbs wiping away the tears that were falling. His Goddess should never shed tears. "Forgive yourself, Goddess."
The Goddess’s took a deep shuddering breath and closing her eyes tried to do what her Raiden thought was she capable of.
• • • • • •
"You are!" Luol angrily exclaimed sitting straight up in bed. "Don't you ever say something like that again, Maysa! You are the worthiest of females and the only one I ever considered giving my Dasho bead to! If this," he shook the braid holding his True Mate bead, "makes you think differently then I'll remove it and never wear it again!"
"Luol! No!"
"Yes! The bead isn't important to me. You are!"
"No, Luol," she reached out a trembling hand touching where his was. "Look..."
Luol frowned, but looked to where her violet eyes were fixed and sucked in a sharp breath of disbelief. What he had threatened to remove wasn't his True Mate bead.
It was Maysa's.
His gaze shot to her braid and felt his eyes fill to see his True Mate bead there.
"Maysa... my True Mate..."
"Yes!" she cried out, and laughing she launched herself at him and they fell back onto the bed.
• • • • • •
"See my Goddess, I told you. You could do it," Raiden said, as he reverently kissed her. "Now I think we should commemorate the occasion the way they are."
And with just a thought, he had his Goddess naked and beneath him in their bed.