by Angie West
"Hello, Megan." I smiled warmly at the woman but didn't offer to shake hands.
"Oh! You're–" she swiveled her head to look at Claire. "She's–wow."
"Yes, she's very pretty, isn't she?" Claire smiled.
"She doesn't look real." Megan murmured and then flushed brightly when she realized what she had just said. "I mean, she doesn't look like us."
"Aries is a little different, Megan."
"She looks like the other ones. The ones who met us in the woods at the...at the..." She gulped.
"Portal." Claire helpfully supplied. "Yes, they're woodland nymphs, too. Like Aries."
"Oh." Megan shook her head and took a deep breath. "But she's..." Megan Roberts paused and stared directly at me then. "You're even prettier than the ones I saw yesterday. I'm so sorry. I'm being terribly rude it's just that...my life is crazy right now." she ended on a shuddering breath and tears filled her eyes again. "This is insane, all of it." She gave a bitter little laugh and made a gesture toward the window. "All of this is..."
"Hard to take?" I correctly guessed.
"Yes, and–"
"Mom!" Two small, loud voices chorused from the hallway.
"Coming!" Claire hollered back. "I'll be right back." She gave her sister's shoulder a quick, reassuring squeeze and then she was gone, leaving Megan and me alone in the room.
"You probably already know my husband left me." she sniffed.
"The others might have mentioned something about that." I hedged, unsure of what to say next, of how much Megan felt comfortable with me knowing.
"I guess it was for the best." she sighed, curling her arms around her middle and looking even more despondent than before, if that was possible.
"If this place is full of women who look like you, he would have left anyway, eventually."
"Hey, you're very pretty, too." I reached out to take her hand. "I'm sorry about your husband, by the way."
"Which one? The cheater? Or the one that tried to kill me?" Her lower lip trembled.
"Oh." I exhaled. "Yes, I heard about that too."
"Who hasn't?" She flopped back against the mountain of white linen pillows at her back. Lately, my life is one big, tawdry open book. The murderer is an ex-husband, by the way. At least I realized my mistake early with that one and came to my senses. I divorced him. But Juan..." she sighed. "I didn't see that coming."
"His leaving?"
"Yes. Although, I probably should have. He'd been different for months before we dropped the whole alternate universe ex-husband-issued-hits bombshell." Abruptly, she covered her face with her hands and began to sob. "Oh God, it even sounds crazy."
"Not so crazy." I smiled ruefully and moved to sit beside her. With one arm slung around her shaking shoulders, I hugged her and began to smooth the tangled blond hair away from her tear dampened face. "There now, you've got to try and calm down. All that crying isn't good for the baby."
"The baby. Oh God, the baby." she gasped. "What am I going to do? I've got no job, no home, no money, my husband left me."
Releasing her, I moved to sit in the center of the bed. Facing Megan now, I took her hands in mine and forced the nearly hysterical woman to look at me. "You and the baby and the rest of your family will be fine. I swear it."
"But my home, my–"
I shook my head. "From what Claire has told me, Terlain is your home now. It isn't safe to go back to your world."
"It isn't. It won't ever be again. Mike and I screwed everything up." Her lower lip quivered again and fresh tears filled her eyes, threatening to spill over onto her pale cheeks. "We ruined it for everybody with-with his exploring and m-my bad choices in men."
"Don't think such things." I commanded, gently. "Ruminating is pointless. Trust me. Look at me, Megan. Nothing is ruined, you'll see. Terlain is a wonderful place. It's beautiful and full of magic and warmth. It's a wonderful place for a child to grow up. Usually." Parts of it. But I didn't think Megan needed me to emphasize that she and her family had landed smack in the middle of a war. If one managed to get past the danger, Terlain was a wonderful place to be. And most of us were used to a little danger, to having to be a little more careful in some spots than others.
"Really? But what about the...fighting?"
"We are in a war." I admitted. "Right now. But life must march on. And besides, you're safe enough here. Everything will turn out right. You'll see. When will you have your baby?"
"Huh? Oh, um...three weeks. But it could happen anytime now. I suppose this room won't be so bad." She glanced around the large space.
"For what?" I frowned.
"To have the baby." Her eyes began to glisten again.
"Well, okay." I took a deep breath. "But wouldn't you rather go into town and have your baby at the hospital?"
Her eyes grew enormous and she sat up. "There's a hospital?"
"Sure. That's where most women choose to deliver babies. Isn't that the usual way in your world?"
"Yes!" She laughed a little, through the tears. "Oh, thank God. I didn't think there were hospitals here, or doctors."
"There are." I assured her. "Claire thought Terlain was a pretty strange place when she first came here." I smiled. "I have the feeling you'll have a lot of adjustments to make. But you will make them. And you're safe now, from the people who were hunting you, anyway. You'll like it here." I nodded.
"You really think so?" She looked skeptical, but she wasn't breaking down in tears again, at least not yet. "But what am I going to do?" she moaned.
"Take one day at a time." I advised. "You'll have everything you need. And your new brother-in-law commands the largest army in Terlain; you're well protected here. And if you don't mind my saying so, there will be plenty of men around."
Startled eyes flew up to mine and I grinned. "You won't be lonely for long. Unless you want to be." I shrugged. "And there's plenty of work to be found, when you feel ready to tackle that part of your life again. After the baby, of course." I smiled. "What did you do before?"
"In my old life?" She tried out a tremulous smile.
I nodded.
"I worked in an office. Maybe it's...time for a change, though?"
"Could be."
"You make it sound so simple."
"Never that," I held both hands out, palm up. "Although, parts of it will be easy enough. But it will be an adventure. Who knows? You might even find yourself walking toward something better than all that you left behind. But you must be brave now and move forward."
"I-I'll try."
"Have you left this room yet today?" When she shook her head, I held out a hand to help her rise. "Maybe you'd like a shower? Then you could go and have breakfast with me."
"I've already eaten." she protested, on her feet now, but digging her heels in.
"Then you can sit with me while I eat."
"But–" she paused beside the window. "What's going on down there?"
I backtracked a few steps and followed her wide-eyed gaze to the lawn below. Mark's voice carried slightly on the breeze, but as far up as we were, it was difficult for Megan and I to make out the words above the constant, low din of the crowd. "Mark is addressing the army–most of them, anyway."
"There are more soldiers?"
"Oh yes; not everyone could be here for the meeting this morning, not unless we wanted to pull everyone off of patrols."
"Oh, well no," Megan blinked. "That wouldn't be a good idea."
"No." I agreed.
"They all look so different." she murmured, inching closer to the open window. "Who are they?" she asked, pointing to a cluster of tall, muscular women.
"The women in the dark green loincloths and off the shoulder tops?"
"Yes, the ones carrying the spears."
“Woodland sprites. They live near the woods bordering Lerna, not far from my native home."
"They're so big, for women. They look like Amazons."
"That's what Claire said, too." I grinned, remembering the legend of the Amazon tha
t Claire had regaled me with over popcorn one dark, stormy night several months back. "See over there?" I pointed, leaning closer to the window and catching Megan's enthusiasm for the multitude of people below. "Those are Mark's men. Yes, the shirtless ones," I confirmed at her look. "Marta calls them the naked heathens; they're called the warriors of the ruins. They came from the tribes near the mountain villages. After Claire and your brother and Ashley had gone, Mark presumed them to be dead, killed, and vowed his revenge. That's when he took to the ruins at the top of the mountain and began to form his army. And over there, the men in the animal skins, those are the Mikhalu tribal men. They don't live far from the dome, either."
"The dome?"
"My home. At least, where I grew up. Most of the nymphs choose never to leave the dome."
"Oh."
"The Mikhalu are excellent hunters and fighters," I continued. "They've spent most of their lives living outdoors and doing for themselves, so they also know the layout of the land."
"Not all of the men are huge." Megan commented, tossing a quizzical glance to me.
"No, they aren't. The more normal sized people in the crowd are refugee villagers that have gathered here from all over Terlain. About half of our world is made up of people like your kind."
"What happened to their villages? The same fate as the one we passed to get here?" She frowned, and continued to stare down at the people on the lawn.
"That was the village of Lerna and yes, most of their villages were ambushed and their homes destroyed. Some of the, well, regular people, I guess you'd call them, are also native Grandview citizens who volunteer their time and train with the others."
"Hmm." Megan nodded and her eyes picked through the crowd as though she were searching for someone in particular.
My lips curved and I scanned the yard for a second before I spotted what I was certain she was looking for. "Carl's over there. He's leaning against the second tree from the driveway."
"Oh." Megan blushed a deep crimson. "I wasn't–"
"Sorry." I interrupted with a shrugged. Bingo. "I thought you might have been looking for him."
"Nope." She ducked her head, but not before sneaking a covert glance from beneath her lashes at the lean blond man. And then she took a deep breath and turned away from the window. "I think I'm ready to go downstairs now."
Chapter Seven
Foolish Heart
The day passed in a blur of activity, of practice and planning that went largely unnoticed by Megan and Claire and me. As promised, Megan took a shower and Claire was even able to coax her into spending the remainder of the day downstairs. The two sisters spent the bulk of the afternoon rotating between the parlor and the kitchen–and the bathroom. Megan was constantly in the bathroom. Most of my time was spent upstairs with Sienna and Ashley.
The little girls took a couple of snack breaks, but beyond that, they mostly kept to the extra large second floor white on white bedroom the two shared; at least, I reflected with a tired grin, the room used to be white. It was definitely more...colorful, now.
The girls had done an elaborate forest scene across the entire wall opposite the one that held their twin beds. I had only just barely talked them out of attempting a ceiling mural, praise the stars above. Claire and Mark openly encouraged creativity in their children but I'm pretty sure that sentiment didn't extend to paint drips covering an entire bedroom set.
So I'd breathed a sigh of relief when the girls had decided to expand the wall mural they'd already started, turning it into a huge forest scene rather than trying to pilfer step stools and paint brush extenders. I had provided companionship and moral support for their project–that and sparkles; lots and lots of sparkles.
The glitter I spread over the wall was static and durable and a very fetching shade of silver. Interspersed throughout the trees of the painted forest were small twinkling lights that glowed amber in the deepening twilight which had begun to seep through the curtains within the past hour and a half. Night would soon be coming.
"Well, ladies," I stretched my arms high above my head and yawned. "It's been fun but the hour grows late. You know what that means–time for me to hit the road." I began to back out of the room, hoping the children would let this new routine go without an argument and a battle. No such luck. Two small faces fell in complete and utter dismay.
"But aunt Aries," Ashley protested, "you're supposed to stay the night! You always stay the night."
"Yeah." Sienna added with a frown.
"I don't always stay the night." I pointed out. "Sometimes I go home to my cabin."
"But not on the nights grandma Marta makes pot roast." Sienna pointed out with infallible logic.
"Yeah, you always stay here on pot roast night."
The girls were right, I did usually bunk down in one of the mansion's spare rooms on pot roast night–and again on casserole night. In fact, I was here so often I had my own designated 'spare bedroom' at the end of the hall, in between Ashley and Sienna's room and the one Megan now occupied.
But that was before; now, I didn't exactly relish spending a night under the same roof as Mike Roberts. And with the rest of Claire's family here, and all of them still walking around looking varying degrees of shell shocked, the thought of staying overnight felt a lot like intruding.
"I'm telling my mom on you." Ashley announced, marching out the door and stomping down the stairs.
With a rueful shake of my head and a grin, I watched her go. The child was relentless, a skill that someday would serve her well, but right now was a pain in ass.
"Aunt Aries, are you scared of all the people?" Sienna's small voice asked.
"Scared of the people who were outside earlier?"
"Them too, I guess." The little girl lifted one thin shoulder and developed a sudden fascination with the pale beige carpet beneath our feet.
"No, not really. After all," I began, watching her carefully, "I know all of those people. But–" I broke off and waited until Sienna glanced up before I bit my lip and shook my head. "Never mind. I shouldn't tell you."
"Tell me what?"
"Oh, it's nothing, really." From beneath my lashes, I peered at the girl. "You'll think I'm silly if I tell you."
"I won't." she breathed, sidling up close. "I promise."
"Well..." I pretended to consider this. "Okay," I finally nodded. "I'll tell you, but you can't laugh at me."
Liquid brown eyes regarded me soberly. "I wouldn't ever laugh at you aunt Aries, I promise."
My heart clenched almost painfully at her guileless, genuine response. Lately, it seemed like innocence was in piteously short supply in my world. "Since you promised not to make fun of me, I suppose I shall have to come out with it. I'm afraid of your grandparents."
Sienna's brow furrowed. "Grandpa Bob and grandma Marta?"
"No," I paused and frowned when I realized I didn't even know the names of Claire's parents. "No, sweeting, your new grandparents."
"Oh. Tish and Andrew."
Tish and Andrew? Huh. They didn't look like a Tish and Andrew.
"I'm scared of them, too." Sienna confessed. "What if they don't like me?" she asked in a very matter of fact tone.
"You? You're great. Of course they'll like you. It's me they might not like."
"Well, I like you."
"And I like you." I exhaled and began to tick the points off on my fingers. "I'm your friend and you're my friend. And your mom and dad like us, so do Bob and Marta and Ashley."
"Don't forget Juliette and Tara." she smiled, getting into the spirit of things now.
"Yes. So that makes, let's see...eight friends. We each have eight friends who, without a doubt, no matter what, like us. So, who cares what anyone else thinks, right?"
"Yeah!" Sienna's head bobbed. "Hell with them." she said decisively.
"Oh! Ah," I coughed to cover the laugh that threatened to burst forth like water through a dam. "No, don't say that. Your father's going to be so mad at me if he hears you talk that way."
"Sorry."
"And anyway, that's not the best outlook, Sienna my girl. What if your new grandparents do like you? Then you'll have ten friends and that would be pretty neat, right?"
"I guess so." She still didn't look totally convinced.
"Then what are you waiting for? I think they're in the kitchen with your mom and your new aunt Megan.”
"I can't tell if aunt Megan likes me."
"She does." I told the girl. "She's just really sad right now."
"Oh." Then. "Are you sure they'll want to talk to me?"
"Yep. Here." I grabbed her sketch pad from the nightstand closest to the door and thrust it into her small hands. "Take this with you. It'll give you something to talk to them about. You know," I winked. "to get you started."
She nodded, tossed a quick "Thanks, aunt Aries." Over her shoulder, and was gone.
With a sigh, I dropped down to Sienna's bed. Despite the pep talk I had given the girl, it was probably best I took my leave and headed back to the cabin. Sienna and Ashley's newly arrived set of grandparents were unlikely to approve of a half dressed, knife toting woman who taught children to swear, I lamented. No, it was better that I left. If I hurried, it might even be possible to make it home before it was full dark outside.
Not that it would matter; walking in the dark wasn't much different from camping in the open, which was what I had to look forward to this evening. No way was I sleeping inside the cabin until the window had been repaired and my new security system was installed.
"You're very good with her." A voice from the doorway observed.
"Mike." I climbed to my feet. "What a surprise." I said dryly. "I was wondering how long it would take you to track me down."
His lips curved into a smile. "It wasn't hard. Ashley came downstairs and asked us to tie you up."
"She what?" I sputtered.
"Something about it being pot roast night and story time."
"Yes but still, I think being tied up is a little extreme." I shook my head.