Lahn telling me he was pleased my heart guided me back to him.
And Lahn telling me last night he couldn’t have dreamed a better me.
And as each memory shimmered in my brain, I watched in stunned silence as a new blossom sprouted out of nothing and bloomed in a flash of color somewhere along the bank.
Except for the memories of Lahn giving me his spirit and the last of him telling me I was better than a dream, both of which caused dozens of flowers to explode and grace the banks with astonishing vibrancy.
Holy shit. I totally had magic.
And it wasn’t noble.
It was awesome and it was freaking beautiful.
The eyes of those sharing this turned to me in wonder and Lahn’s arms gave me a squeeze as he murmured over my head, “My wife thinks happy thoughts.”
Yes. He was right, I did.
I… so… freaking… did.
And I did because I was in love with a savage, warrior king and I knew straight to my soul that he loved me.
My arms crossed over his hand at my belly and stared at the beauty I created.
That made me happy too.
And I smiled when a bloom burst to life at that thought.
Lahn chuckled.
He was happy too.
Another bloom burst open.
Freaking cool!
“Loolah,” I heard the tired mew and twisted my head to look around Lahn and my bodies to see Gaal emerging from the tent she shared with all the girls, Ghost padding toward us, still blinking sleep from her beautiful blue eyes and I noticed with the weeks passing, my cub was becoming less of a cub and growing into a tigress.
“Poyah, kah teenkah lahnahsahna,” I called to her, she made it to us, bumped her head against Lahn and my legs then her booty collapsed and she sat leaning against them.
Lahn’s arms gave me another squeeze and I knew another bloom had opened but I was looking down at Ghost and didn’t see it.
One of my hands twisted so I could wrap my fingers around his at my belly.
Then I whispered, “I love you, my Lahn,” and heard the swift hiss of his intake of breath.
Then he buried his face in my neck and whispered back, “Loot kay hansahnalay na, my Circe.” And I love you, my Circe.
At his words, the banks of the creek burst forth in a riot of blooms, so many, no bank could be seen as one blossom crowded the next.
And that was when I knew, I loved my father, I loved my friends, I had a good life at home in Seattle and I was happy there.
But nowhere near as happy as I was here.
And I was never going back.
* * * * *
Life carried on as normal for the next two weeks. I wandered amongst my people with Bain and Zahnin. I spent time with my girls. My Korwahk improved to the point I no longer needed lessons. My mornings were spent with my husband in bed then at his bath, my evenings with him at our table then back in our bed.
And I was not content, I was gloriously happy.
Dark moments drifted through as I considered exploring my magic, maybe finding out if I could go home and explain things to Pop, say good-bye to him, his boys and my friends and come back, maybe even plan trips back and forth but there would be time for that, I decided. And I would know when that time came; I would then speak to Lahn and Diandra and plan for it. But my worry was, if I went home to Seattle, I couldn’t get back to Lahn.
And in the now, I was happy just to exist in a crazy dream that had become a beautiful reality.
* * * * *
After two weeks, when Lahn and I were taking our evening meal together, he told me that the Daxshee would pack up the day after the next and ride.
And we did, for eight days, until, on a bleak cliff with not very much scrub but a lot of stone, dirt and sand, we set up again. It was a weird spot and not very attractive, especially compared to our spot by the creek, but what did I know? I was no Dax.
The morning after the Daxshee rose, Lahn told me he would be leaving the next day to lead a raid and he wouldn’t return for five days.
And he wouldn’t be taking me.
I didn’t want him to go because I didn’t want him to be away from me but there was more.
This alarmed me.
