“The castles are underwater?” I asked urgently.
“They are for now,” he said cryptically. “But they're not going to stay that way.”
“Oh, fu... faerie poop,” I caught myself before I dropped an F bomb on my son.
He stared at me a moment and then started giggling.
“Yes, very funny,” I rolled my eyes. “But, Brevyn, what was your dream about?”
“The many-castles came up out of the water,” he whispered. “I heard people screaming, Mommy. The many-castles is afraid; it doesn't want to leave the water.”
“It's going to be okay.” I stroked his silky, dirty-blond hair. “I'll take care of it.”
“I know you will,” he said confidently. “It's just a dream-warning.” Brevyn's eyes flashed blue, and his young face fell into mature lines. “Nothing is set in stone; not life, or death, or even time.”
I gasped and then whispered, “Ull?”
Brevyn smiled softly, kissed my cheek, and then went back to bed.
“Oh, Brevyn, what are you becoming? What have I done to you?”
Dexter whined and stuck his wet nose into my arm. I had been quiet enough to allow sleeping dragons to lie, but not sleeping nurials. I stroked Dexter's pointed fox ears as he tapped at me worriedly with one of his six paws. He looked at Brevyn's closed door and whined again.
“Keep an eye on him for me, Dex,” I said. “I think our boy may have some rough times ahead; some soul searching to do.”
Dex huffed in agreement and padded back to his bed; a smaller version of Arach's and mine that was set right beside our bed. Dexter turned three times in a circle—his sex legs squishing his fluffy mattress—and then settled back to sleep.
“If only sleep was as easy for me,” I lamented as I crawled back into my bed.
I briefly considered going back to the God Realm without waking Arach; I'd done it often enough with my other husbands when I visited the Faerie Realm. But I knew that Arach would be furious when he found out. So, I tossed and turned all night, and waited till morning to give my dragon husband a proper goodbye.
Before I made my farewells, I told Arach about Brevyn; about the dream-warning and the glimpse of Ull.
“We knew that Ull would surface eventually,” Arach said gently. “Ull's soul is in our son; Brevyn is essentially Ull.”
“But he's also a child,” I said. “Our child.”
“This is true for every human or god birth,” Arach pointed out. “It's just that Ull's memories weren't given time to fade before he was placed in Brevyn. You know what that's like, Vervain. You lived it. Do you consider yourself to be Sabine?”
“No,” I whispered with epiphany.
“No,” Arach agreed. “You know the difference. You were once Sabine, and her memories are yours, but you are now Vervain. Just as Ull is now Brevyn. He will have moments when he remembers, but he will never be Ull again; that life is gone. We get to raise him in this life, and it's the love we surround him with that will make him ours.”
“Yes; you're right,” I said with relief, and then I felt guilty for feeling relieved.
“A Thaisce,” Arach said kindly. “Just as Odin found Sabine again through you, Ull can be found again through Brevyn. His old life may be gone, but he is not gone; that was the whole point of his death.”
“A fresh start,” I whispered. “That's what he wanted.”
“And that's what he got,” Arach said. “As we got our son.”
“But I didn't have Sabine's memories as soon as Brevyn's getting Ull's,” I protested.
“Didn't you?” Arach canted his head at me. “You've told me how you knew spells at a very early age, and most things came to you without instruction.”
“Yeah; that's true,” I admitted. “But I didn't actually remember anything.”
“You remembered in the way that your mind could accept,” Arach said. “Brevyn might be able to accept more than you did.”
“That's more likely than not.”
“And it's also more likely that he will be just fine,” Arach hugged me and then kissed me goodbye. “Now, get back to the God Realm; the sooner you go, the sooner you'll be back, and the sooner I won't have to worry.”
I used my ring to take me back to Pride Palace.
Chapter Twenty-Five
I reformed in my bedroom, where Kirill and Lesya were waiting for me.
“Mommy!” Lesya clapped her hands.
“This trick never gets old; not for any of my children,” I said to Kirill as I took Lesya from him. “Hey, baby girl.” I kissed her cheek. “Miss me?”
She giggled.
“I missed you,” Kirill said before he kissed me. “Did you have good time vith boys?”
“Yeah, but I was only there for one night.”
Kirill lifted a sable brow.
“Arach pointed out something we didn't think of,” I said. “Or someone, rather. And Brevyn had a dream.”
Kirill's face went solemn. “Vhat kind of dream?”
“He called it a dream-warning,” I said. “It was about Dvārakā, Kirill.”
“Vhat vas varning?”
“Vhat varning?” Lesya mimicked her father's accent perfectly.
Kirill lost his grim countenance and chuckled. Lesya was so good at bringing levity to any situation.
“A city rising from the sea,” I said in a light tone as I tickled Lesya.
“I knew zose Hindus vere being too flippant,” Kirill growled.
“Flip, flip, flip-ants!” Lesya declared.
“Yep; they're a bunch of flip-ants,” I agreed with her, and she giggled more. “Now, let's go see your Uncle Az and tell him about another death angel.”
I started out of the room, and Kirill hurried after me.
“Vhat death angel?” He asked.
“Samael,” I said with a dark look his way.
“Samael,” Kirill whispered. “Vhy did ve not zink of him?”
“In our defense,
