by Susi Wright
Melu, his wife Shimbu and their children were never left out of an invitation to a family celebration. Luminor had formed a special bond of friendship with the Morvian man from their first meeting; it had been strengthened by their adventures together, not least by the loss of their mutual dear friend, Churian. Melu had been a capable Envoy and advocate of the cause, having made several visits to other lands. With a retainer of Gaian and human men, he had successfully brought more refugees from diverse races to the Baramese fold, including three fellow Morvians whom he had tracked down wandering in the borderlands. They were all settling in to their new life with little mishap. Of course, Shimbu had ably helped in the birth of Ardientor, followed by several other birthings, and the increasingly strange mix of children always played wonderfully together. It was a glimpse of the future under the Alliance.
The adults were watching their children cavort and play games. Espira was always a source of entertainment for any observer. The other youngsters were delighted by her tricks. Although she had earned back some of her magical talents, she had been held to careful study and her antics were now safely tempered by the vigilant tutelage of Luminor and the other elders.
She had been mentally moving small objects around between the others as they clustered around her, a gemstone necklace, some pebbles from the garden and then her party piece – which always brought screams of delight – a puff of sparkling coloured baths salts were sent and suspended high above their heads to catch the light, twinkling in a myriad rainbow hues before swirling neatly back into the glass jar on the floor in the middle of their circle. Small tricks like this were allowed for fun, only on special occasions. This was strictly enforced. Luminor was a hard taskmaster, and necessarily so, in his daughter’s case.
Ardientor had been able to walk and run at six months of age. He also knew this was his party, he’d had enough of his sister’s showing off and he was not going to be left out of the limelight! On a repeat of the bath salts trick, he brought the breeze from the open window and scattered the twinkling cloud to the far corners of the room making a dusty mess all over the floor of the living room. He sat still in his position in the circle of children, green eyes exactly like his father’s, open wide, looking innocently surprised, while several gasps of shock went up from family members.
Luminor trained his gaze on his little son with a frown of reproach, recognising this as the first time Ardientor had shown his talent. He sighed, knowing it would certainly not be the last.
“That is enough for one day!” ordered Luminor. “It is time for bed!”
It sounded like that meant everyone.
Adults stood, feeling compelled to obey, some still looking puzzled. They had to agree, it was getting late anyway. Aleana handed back the newborn, embracing Altor and Lissel, and they bade the others goodnight. Rihann, Simban and their children, sharing a room in the villa for the night, also took this opportunity to retire. The matriarchal Aleana wore a knowing half-smile as she met Luminor’s eyes, hugged Fralii and the children and took her own leave. Melu and his small tribe followed suit. Chadren shook his head affectionately, rarely surprised these days at the things Espira did, now naturally assumed Ardientor would be equally as gifted as his sister. He roused his father-in-law, who had begun to doze off and completely missed the last antic of the night, helping him to the nearest bedroom where they would both sleep. Chadren was glad it was Luminor and not himself that had to deal with this new development in the toddler! He intended to extend his stay for a few days, just to see what happened next!
With the visitors gone, Luminor threw a stern glance at Fralii, who was barely succeeding to hold back a smile, before he rounded on his little son.
“I know you did that, Ardi – so do not try to pretend otherwise! Clean it up – immediately!”
There was no argument. Being found out was enough punishment. Nevertheless, the toddler had an infuriating little smile of victory on his face as he looked pointedly at his pouting sister on his way past to fetch the broom, wisely choosing – or was it condescending? – to use the conventional method of cleaning!
Espira chose to fold her arms and gloat, as Ardi struggled with the size of the cleaning tool and his punishment. It promised to be a lengthy process.
The sweeping was finally done, which of course needed the help of an adult since the toddler could hardly use the broom properly. After watching Ardi for several minutes, struggling with the tool three times his height, Luminor leaned over and assisted by guiding the top. Then, Luminor and Fralii took one child each, to settle them in separate rooms where they could not incite each other to wakeful mischief. With his son’s punishment exacted, Luminor scooped Espira into his arms to carry her to bed. As he swung her on to his hip, he felt the painful twinge in his side which persisted even after all this time. The wound had healed long ago but had left a scar and a lingering tenderness which he had kept to himself, discounting it as merely an after effect of the poison – a poison that to this day, no one had yet been able to name. He knew there would be the smallest trickle of blood from the scar now, as at the other times this had happened, but that it would have disappeared without a trace by morning. The discomfort was only brief and bearable, gone as quick as it came, and he turned his attention to the precious little girl in his arms. This was Espira’s time, to be told bedtime stories which only her father could tell. They were tales of adventures and quests, monsters and battles, and of course, magic! Espira insisted this night to hear the story of the Battle of the Fires, for the hundredth time, and for Luminor to mention her part in it and how proud he was of her, even though she should not have done such a dangerous thing!
She snuggled closer to her father, asking him to describe in detail, for the umpteenth time, the little dragon that had saved his life and then mysteriously disappeared. She had been acutely disappointed when her father had returned from his quest without it! She had exclaimed on that occasion, and every single time he told this particular story, “But Papa. . .the dragon is to be my pet! I know it!”
Luminor always answered the same. “Espira, do not let your imagination deceive you!” before he had changed the subject by reciting a favourite poem for her.
Tonight however, she would not be distracted, refusing to listen to a poem. She returned stubbornly to her favourite tale, insisting Luminor describe how beautiful the dragon was, even though he strongly suspected she had seen it during her astral travel, on the battlefield. She smiled up at him with pure mischief in her eyes.
“But Papa. . . Ra is to be my pet!”
Luminor stared, taken aback at the blatant mention of his dragon’s name. She had heard him call it out in the battle! He made eye contact and studied her speculatively. She pressed her demand. “Tell me the story. . .where you and I go on the adventure together. . .to find him, Papa!” Her studiously ingenuous expression belied the canny depths of her gaze.
Luminor looked at her with a perceptive twinkle in his emerald eyes, quickly recovering from his initial surprise. An inscrutable smile appeared and he winked at his oh-so-special daughter, powerless to be anything but indulgent in his admonition.
“My sweet Essi, you are incorrigible! I have never told you that tale! And you must learn patience, and restraint, because I think you know. . .have always known. . .that story is for another time......”
THE END