escaped. Disappeared.”
Varina saw Belle’s arms tighten protectively around Sera-Varina could see the suspicions running through the young woman’s head. “A’Morce? Perhaps you should stay here at the Numetodo House tonight where you have protection. We could make up a place for the baby.. .”
“I can deal with Nico myself if I need to,” she told Belle, hoping that her voice sounded more confident than she felt. Now that she had calmed somewhat, now that she knew Serafina was safe, she was less concerned. Surely Nico would be hiding somewhere; he might have even left the city. She went to the drawer of her desk and took out the sparkwheel there. She checked that the pan was filled with black sand and that a bullet pack was in the barrel. She thrust the weapon into the sash of her tashta under her cloak. “Finish up, and I’ll take her,” Varina said.
Belle nodded. “I have to get back to my sister’s, anyway. By now my own little one’s waking up from her nap and she’ll be crying for attention. This one’s almost done, I think.” Belle sat back; Sera let the nipple slide from her mouth, opening her eyes for a breath, then settling back. Her breathing was slow and quiet. “There, you see? Already asleep, the greedy little thing. I’ve a cup on your desk with more milk if you need it. I’ll send Michelle over tomorrow before First Call. Here you are, A’Morce…”
Rising, she handed Sera to Varina, then covered herself again, tying the shoulder sash of her tashta. As Belle bustled about the room gathering her things, Varina stared down at the sleeping face: the pudgy, reddened cheeks; the contented, trusting ease with which she slept; the tiny fingers, one curled into a fist, the other clutching at the blanket in which she was wrapped. Varina felt a surge of… she wasn’t sure what the emotion was, but inside her there was a fierce need to protect this child, as she had once felt the same urge toward Nico.
And you failed back then. You let him escape you, and that madwoman ended up taking him.
Varina leaned down and kissed Sera’s forehead. Belle smiled at her. “I’ll see you tomorrow, A’Morce.”
“Thank you, Belle.”
“It’s my pleasure to help, A’Morce. The poor thing didn’t deserve to lose her matarh and vatarh this way.”
“No,” Varina agreed. “She didn’t.”
Belle leaned down and kissed Sera, then bowed her head to Varina. “I’ll see you in the morning with my cousin.”
After Belle left, Varina sat in the chair near the window for a time, rocking back and forth and watching Sera sleep while she listened to people passing in the corridor outside or walking in the garden below her window. She thought briefly of putting Sera down and letting her sleep while she worked for a bit, then thought better of it. She wrapped Sera more tightly, then picked up her own cloak and left the office. Coming down the stairs, she passed Johannes. “I’m sorry for my abruptness earlier,” she told him. “I was worried.”
He nodded. “I’ve heard since about what happened at the Old Temple. I can understand, A’Morce. You’re heading home? Why don’t you let me or someone accompany you?”
“I’ll be fine,” she told him. “It’s still early enough, and there are plenty of people about. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. There’s to be a meeting with Allesandra on our progress with sparkwheels.”
He bowed to her and she left the house, walking quickly across the front courtyard and out the gates, turning left on the Avi a’Parete toward their house a few blocks away. That’s how she still thought of it: their house, as if Karl were still alive, as if she might open the door of his library there and find him sitting at the desk poring over some old tome. She still sometimes heard a noise and would turn, expecting to see him standing there, but he never was.
She hugged Sera tighter as she walked. The faces she passed would sometimes nod to her, but most of them were strained and serious: people hurrying to their own tasks and worrying about the city and what might happen. The sparseness of traffic made it look as if it were far later than it actually was; usually the Avi was at its most crowded and noisy between Second and Third Call, but not today.
Varina turned the corner onto her own street, then down the curving lane in the direction of the A’Sele. She reached the gate to their manor and unlocked it, not bothering to ring for one of the house servants. She closed the gate behind her.
“Varina.” The voice to her left made her jump and clutch Sera so tightly that the baby cried in her sleep. She turned slowly, seeing two figures in the vine-wrapped shadows of the gate’s stone pillar.
“Nico,” she said. “You shouldn’t be here.” Behind Nico, a young woman stared at her intently.
Nico smiled. “Probably,” he agreed. “But you have something I needed to see.”
Varina took a step back. She could feel the weight of the sparkwheel under her cloak; she could feel the energy of the spells in her mind waiting to be released. Sera fussed in her arms, awake now. “Nico, I’m warning you. I’m not giving her to you. If you try to take her, I will fight you to protect her.”
“I don’t want to take her from you,” he answered. “I’m glad they gave her to you for the time being, since I know you’ll do exactly what you just said you’d do. I just want to see her-to see my daughter. Please, Varina?”
“I won’t let you hold her.”
“That’s fair enough.”
“And tell that woman to stand well back.”
Nico nodded to his companion, who slid back a few steps. Varina tucked the cloth back from Sera’s face as Nico came up to her. She watched his face as he stared down at the baby, watched as his face softened, as his lips curved upward in a smile, as he half-laughed at the sight of her. “The shape of her eyes-I can see Liana,” he said huskily.
He reached out toward her, and Varina clutched tighter at her. She felt the spell energy boiling in her head. But he only stroked her cheek with a finger, then laughed again when Sera reached up with her hand, fisting her fingers around his. “Strong, too,” he said. “That’s good. Hey, Serafina. I’m your vatarh…” He glanced at Varina. “That’s a good name. Serafina.”
“Nico, if they catch you again, they won’t be so kind this time.”
“Then I’ll need to be careful, won’t I?” he said. “Are you leaving Nessantico?”
Varina shook her head. “No?” Nico said. He sounded disappointed, or perhaps concerned “Even with the baby?”
“If it comes to that, I’ll send Sera away with someone I can trust.” She paused. “That won’t be you, Nico. I’m sorry.”
He inclined his head. A sadness deepened the lines around his eyes. “I understand. But… At your age, Varina, we have to be realistic. And it’s not just age-look at you: your study of magic has taken its own toll. The baby needs a matarh who’s younger.”
Varina thought he glanced sidewise toward the woman with him. Varina looked at her also. She didn’t recognize the face, but there was something about her, something vaguely familiar… She shook her head.
“I’m aware that I’m her great-matarh’s age,” she told them, “and I know what my studies have done as well. I’ve seen the face in the mirror. I’ve already made inquiries. But for now, Sera’s in my charge, and I will protect her. I’m serious, Nico.”
“And that’s understood,” he told her. “I’ve already told you that I’m glad they gave her to you. You were always kind to me back then. Sometimes I wished…” He glanced again at the woman with him, then took a long breath. “Keep her safe,” he said. “Maybe sometime I can actually be her vatarh.”
“You are her vatarh,” Varina told him. “And I’ll tell her about you. She’ll know you. I promise you that much.”
Another nod. He pulled his finger away from her hand and she fussed. He stroked her cheek again. “It’s time to go,” he said. “Good-bye, little Serafina.” He leaned down and kissed her, then straightened. The woman with him had moved to the gate.
“Let me unlock it again for you,” Varina said, but the young woman only gave her a look of disdain. She plucked two thin pieces of steel from somewhere in her cloak, leaned down, and a moment later pushed the gate open. She grinned back at Varina. Nico bowed, almost as if he were leaving her house after a visit.
A moment later, he and his companion were gone. Varina pulled the gate shut again, listening to the lock click into place. Sera was whimpering.
She hugged the baby, rocking her in her arms until she settled again.
