Nanny For The Alien General by Athena Storm
Keilon
It’s all starting to make sense now – and I wish it wasn’t.
I’d left the nehjik near the solitary, thin tree when the kids and I got into my cousin’s boat and hit Fogfrost Lake. It was to be our ride back to Evervale. Discovering it missing made my stomach drop. For a moment I wondered if I’d gotten lost, crossing the blank, monotonous ice.
It was a fleeting thought. There was no way my sense of direction had been off. This is where I’d left the nehjik, no question.
There was also no sign of a search party anywhere on the lake. Nor had one even been spied on by the humans in Tilleli, who had informed me (after taking their liking to me) that they kept a lookout for such things.
It’s all pointing to one thing.
I’m glad Serafina offers no resistance and asks no questions when I turn us into the woods, heading in the opposite direction from Evervale. I don’t know that I have the self-control to explain what’s going on without flying into a rage. Just holding my anger in check while I try to process the situation is difficult enough.
Not to mention, hurtful. But there’s no denying what’s happened. I’d stake my throne on the only conclusion I can reach.
My cousin sabotaged me.
It was Teread who suggested the remote Fogfrost Lake. It was his vehicle that came with a broken ion stone, that lacked oars, that featured a broken comm-pad. I’m beginning to think even the Mizonz were planted by Teread. There’s no reason for those creatures to be in a lake on this side.
That son-of-a-bitch. He better pray to the Divine Ones I’m making a big mistake.
“Daddy… where are we gooooing?” Belanna asks from behind me.
“Slight detour, sweetie,” I call over my shoulder. I know I should engage with them, but for the moment, I’m too angry, too focused.
“It’s cooold,” Emex says, adding to the chorus of young complaints.
“I know,” I growl with as much sympathy as I can muster right now.
I hear someone stumble over some high roots and a little grunt behind me. Still walking, I see Belanna has tripped, slightly, but Serafina’s got her. They rush to match my pace again. Serafina gives me a concerned look and I force myself to slow somewhat.
“Hey, guess what,” Serafina says to my children as we keep marching through the woods. “You know what should be ripe and ready to spot if you look hard in these woods? Winterberries.”
My mood improves slightly, hearing this. Serafina’s smart to distract the kids from their worries with a game. The kids are immediately all-in on the hunt.
Winterberries are tiny, purple fruits that grow in clusters on thin-branched trees. Lakes women often turn them into marmalades, but you can also eat them raw. They’re fun, because they pop in your mouth when you bite them.
I find myself getting swept up in the game, as well, and find I’m grateful for the distraction. I keep us moving, but start helping Emex or Belanna spot a cluster. Now and then I reach up to grab some off a branch none of the others can reach.
In short order, the kids’ fingers and mouths are stained purple. They’re also exhausted. In addition to the walking, they’ve been running off the path to grab winterberries.
They want to stop and rest, but there’s no way I’m delaying this reckoning with Teread. If my suspicions are correct, he’s already had too much time to make his play. So I pick up the kids in both my arms and let them fall asleep as Serafina and I continue to walk.
She stays at my side and marches silently along with me. I’m much calmer now, more in control, and figure she deserves an explanation. I tell her my suspicions.
“Geeze. Family, huh?” she asks.
“Indeed.”
“But why would your cousin do something like that?”
“He probably thinks he has a shot at the throne,” I say grimly.
“But he’s not even your brother or anything, right? He’s just a cousin.” Her brow contorts as she tries to figure out our royal ins and outs. “So how does he succeed to the throne?”
“The King of the Lakes must be of royal blood,” I explain to her, “but that’s the only real requirement. The role of the King is not inherited, like elsewhere. Leaders of the Territories elect him.”
“You… elect a king?” she asks, incredulous.
I look down at her, confused by her doubt. “Yes,” I say.
“Interesting. Go on.”
“My guess is that Teread has gotten enough elders on his side that disappearing me would mean he’d get elected to fill the vacuum.”
“Oh.”
We walk for a little while longer in silence. I note the way the woods around us are darkening. The sun will be set soon, and the winter cold will descend on us with a fury. I shift the sleeping, snuffling kids in my arms.
“Keilon?” Serafina says, eventually.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry.”
I glance at her, unsure at first what she might have to apologize for.
“Your cousin,” she explains. “Being betrayed by family must… hurt.”
“Yes,” I say. “It does.”
I suddenly feel a mix of emotions. The anger at Teread. The disappointment. And, as Serafina has just said, the hurt.
There’s also a feeling of intimacy with Serafina. The fact that she understands and empathizes swells my heart in a way I’m hard-pressed to explain at first. Then it hits me.
You fool. Just how long have you tried to ignore how lonely you are in your position as King? Now, here you are, betrayed by family, made to feel even more alone… and then there is Serafina, reaching out to you.
It’s the sort of thing I might expect from, for instance, a mate.
Could Serafina really fill the loneliness I’ve tried to pretend for so long I didn’t feel?
