Ana took a deep breath. “I’d like to start a family.”
Brandt’s hand tangled in her hair. He tugged at the tangle hopelessly for a moment, then simply removed his hand. “What?”
Her eyes twinkled with mirth. “I’m sure you heard me the first time.”
Brandt pushed himself gently away from her so they weren’t entangled. “Now?”
Now that she had expressed herself, she had no problem defending her decision. “Yes.”
“I’m sure there are worse times to start a family, but I can’t think of one.”
She kicked him in the shin under the covers, then turned serious. “I understand. But there is no perfect time to have a child, especially for us. There will always be another danger. In the past it was Falari incursions. Now it’s the Lolani. Who knows what we’ll discover five years from now?”
She paused, her gaze steady on his. “But that’s no reason not to try. Children are another reason for us to keep fighting for a better tomorrow.”
Brandt sat up in bed, and Ana’s hand met his. She held it tightly. He returned her grip. “What about your training?”
She smiled at that. “I’ll continue as best I can, but my skill won’t matter. We both know that.”
“You’re one of the stronger affinities in the monastery.”
“And I haven’t made any progress in months. I’m near the limits of my ability.”
It was the first time either of them had said as much out loud, even though Brandt had suspected it for a while. The admission still hit him like a punch to the stomach, though. He wanted her to grow stronger. They’d been on this journey together, and he didn’t want to leave her behind.
But there were limits, and Ana had found hers.
He considered her proposal. They had talked about having children before, but it had never felt quite right. Brandt enjoyed the idea of raising children, but he found himself with cold feet now that the actual opportunity presented itself.
He snuck a look at Ana. She was gorgeous, kind, and strong. And he suspected she would make a wonderful mother.
In the end, his decision was simpler than he expected. This was what she wanted, and he couldn’t refuse her.
“Very well,” he said.
A smile grew on her face, and a mischievous look flashed on it immediately after. “You want to start now?” She threw the covers off, revealing nearly her entire body.
He should probably tell Kyla they were leaving, and there was no shortage of work around the monastery to complete. The rebuilding had just barely begun.
But it was important to have priorities.
4
Despite their initial confusion, her family’s good manners prevailed. They welcomed the trader into their home and offered what little remained of their meal. The Etari, who introduced himself as Ligt, accepted the hospitality and dug into the remains of the meal with the enthusiasm of a man close to dying from starvation.
Alena laughed to herself as Mother and Father attempted the polite conversation that dominated imperial meals. They asked about his travels and the weather on the road. He answered them kindly enough, no doubt used to imperial customs, but his patience for such questions was clearly limited.
Her mirth died when she caught sight of Jace out of the corner of her vision. He stood near the door of the dining room, stiff as steel. He crossed his arms and fixed Ligt with a glare meant to kill.
Alena didn’t need to soulwalk to understand her brother’s reaction. He understood why Alena had run to the Etari years ago, but his heart still wrestled with her decision and the dark consequences it had spawned. Most days it felt like they had put their past behind them. But Ligt’s presence threatened to destroy in a night what they had spent two years trying to rebuild.
Still, he probably wouldn’t draw his sword within their family house. Her brother could be rash, but he matured day by day. His new promotion was evidence enough of that.
Thought of his promotion saddened her. Tonight should have been his night to celebrate.
Alena interrupted her mother’s question about Etari food. Ligt didn’t bring welcome news, so it was best to deal with it now. Alena raised a hand and her mother went silent. “You said Sooni summoned me. Why?”
Ligt scraped the last of his food from the plate, then turned to face her, hand signing a gesture of appreciation for her intervention. He switched to the Etari language. “Do you still speak and understand Etari?”
“With ease,” she replied, in the same language.
A sign of gratitude. “I do not know the words for some concepts in imperial.” He signed an apology.
“There’s nothing to apologize for.”
She sensed the tension growing among her family members. They all knew she’d spent years among the Etari, but Jace wasn’t alone in his discomfort in being reminded. She turned to them. “He doesn’t know enough imperial to explain Sooni’s summons. It’s not because he desires to keep anything a secret.”
“She speaks true,” Ligt added.
“If it makes you uncomfortable,” Alena said, “I can speak with him in another room. You will know everything before we’re done.”
Father shook his head. “Anything that affects you affects us. We’ll stay.”
Ligt spoke to Alena in Etari. “Your family loves you.”
She turned back to him. “They both do.”
A sign of affirmation, respect indicated in the gesture.
Ligt, in Etari fashion, spoke directly to the problem. “The great scourge threatens us again.”
Alena started. “The Lolani have returned?”
Ligt signed for her to remain calm. “Not in person, but in other ways.”
“Explain.”
“It is our gatestones. Have you noticed anything strange with yours?”
She signed a negative. She missed Etari communication, so rich in its combination of gestures and words. It felt so much more free than imperial.
“Some of our more recent family members have experienced challenges with the gatestones. The problem seems to be worse the closer one gets to the remains of the shattered gate. But at times, our gatestones fail us completely.”
“How
