It was Lesya's bedtime, not mine, but I was so tired that Kirill had to take her up to her room while I crawled into my bed. The men took up posts around me; talking softly while I fell asleep. I didn't mind; the sound of their voices helped me feel safe enough to doze off. I didn't even dream; I was too tired for that. I just slipped into blessed darkness and stayed there until morning.
Chapter Forty-Five
I took the next few days to relax. Olympus reeled in the aftermath of the death of two more Olympians—Hera had already been given the boot so she didn't count—and I was told that there would be nominations for replacements made by the current Olympians and then they'd vote on who to elect. I was abstaining from the vote; I just didn't feel as if I knew enough Greeks to make a fair contribution to the proceedings.
Besides, I had to get to Faerie for a birthday party.
The members of the God Squad, including my sons Vidar and Vali who were kind of honorary members, were coming to Faerie with me and my husbands and Toby. Oh, and Thrud. We were all pleasantly shocked when Thor showed up with his daughter. It was a large group that showed up at the End of the Road, and Arach had to bring several carriages to accommodate us. But he didn't seem to mind.
“A Thaisce,” Arach murmured as he hugged me tightly. “By the flames, I've missed you.”
Arach didn't have to go without me often. Usually, I would jump back to nearly the exact time I'd left him. I didn't often need to let the times between the realms catch up so I could travel with others. It was even rarer that it took longer than a week. This time, it had nearly been three.
“I've missed you too,” I whispered in his ear and just held him for a little while.
I had missed him. Terribly. Love is not finite or even quantifiable. In my life, it seemed as if the more I gave, the more I had to give. And Arach got a lot of love from me. We'd had a rough start, but my dragon had become precious and irreplaceable. During this crazy crap with Narcissus, Arach's counsel and strength would have been invaluable to me. But I didn't want to worry him and there had been no war for him to fight. I'd even decided not to tell him about all of that until after our sons' birthday. I didn't want to ruin his fun.
“Mother.”
Speaking of my sons, they had to get their hugs from me before they'd greet our guests. That was just their way. I reluctantly released Arach and hugged my boys together. Not that I hadn't missed the Twins; I'd missed them nearly as much as Arach. But I had been enjoying being held as opposed to doing the holding. However, once they were in my arms, and I was inhaling the precious scents of Brevyn's sunshine and citrus and Rian's sugar and smoke, my heart filled to near bursting. I kissed them on the cheeks.
“Mommy!” Lesya cried from her father's arms. “I want to see my brothers!”
“Hello, Lesya!” Brevyn called from my embrace.
“Hey, Sis,” Rian added (He learned that one from me).
“Brevyn! Rian!” Lesya bounced until Kirill let her down and then she came running over to hug the boys. “You guys got bigger.”
“You did too,” Brevyn's blue eyes were a shade lighter than Lesya's but you could see the resemblance in their faces.
It always lightened my heart and amazed me a little to see my children together. Perhaps it's egotistical to enjoy seeing myself in them, but there's the truth of it. I loved seeing pieces of me in my babies, but I loved seeing their fathers in them even more. Rian looked more like Arach than Brevyn did, especially with his crimson hair, but that was due mostly to the way the Twins had been split in the womb. I wasn't sure how much of Arach Brevyn had gotten, it was possible that it was none at all. But that didn't matter to Arach; Brevyn was his son as far as he was concerned.
“Hey there, Brothers,” Vali said as he came up with Vidar.
I smiled even brighter as I stood. Vidar had only a few bits of Odin in his face, he was mostly Sabine, but Vali was more his father's son. It was ironic really, because Vali had felt as if he were second best to Vidar. After I had died—back when I was Sabine and married to Odin—Odin had mourned greatly, and he subconsciously favored Vidar because he looked so much like me. Vali had suffered for that; enough that Odin had made amends. They were better now, but I wondered if Vali knew how much like Odin he was; not just in looks but also in personality. I made a mental note to tell him.
Vidar picked up Brevyn and hugged him tightly as Vali took Rian, and then they traded with a laugh. It didn't stop there; the boys were passed back to the waiting crowd, and Arach and I waited with Lesya, my grown sons, and Kirill for everyone to get their fill of my Twins. I appreciated that they included Rian in their exuberance despite the fact that it was really Brevyn who they were wanting to see. But then it was hard to
