Special note: I have renamed “Lalhàn” to “Velerè”, pronounced “Vell-air.” It was pointed out to me a while back that the resemblance of “Lalhàn” to “Lhan” was confusing. I also noticed I had a “Lilhàn” a few volumes back. So Tiana’s oldest living sister is now “Velerè”. I will revise this in prior chapters as well.
§
Rather than four days, more than a week would go by before Diur and Pasrue completed their preparations and Kotto and Amana continued their investigation. During that time, I again had a rare stretch of peace. Fan Li (or at least one copy of her, as she had fully perfected the multiple stream awareness trick at this point) became the monitor of Bruna’s [Blood Sigil] and insisted I do no more than occasionally drop to visit the back of Shindzha’s mind.
The reason being I was supposed to concentrate on my life as the Duchess, my cultivation (because applying on Huade what Lydia was gaining in Sky Ocean would help all of us), and occasionally attempting to gain union with Lydia as a single awareness.
I still don’t get it, but Lydia really wants it. She doesn’t see it as being absorbed by me. She sees it as becoming me. Other than perhaps Rugau and Fan Li, she has the strongest sense of having completed her life and needing to concentrate upon mine.
My peace only lasted until Rest Day, though. That’s when I found myself confronted by a quite severe-looking woman in my sitting room.
She was an ageless beauty with literally silver hair and almost blazing violet eyes, who glared at me with arms folded and visibly stern disapproval from the opposite side of the room. She literally just appeared, with my senses offering no warning before she did so.
And rather than an explanation, an apology or even a greeting, she demanded, “Why is such a young child as you already pregnant?! Where’s the man who did this to you?!”
I mentally patted myself on the head for not spilling or spitting out any of the tea I was in the middle of drinking, then sat it neatly back down on the table.
It was, of course, already apparent to my [Fairy Sight] that this woman hailed from a magical species, and, after a cow-like tail flicked out from behind her oddly anachronistic raiment, a design dating from Imperial Dorian times, I even knew which one.
Only a Huldra would have a cow’s tail like that.
Most fairies show up in Greek Mythology as nymphs, but four exceptions exist. There’s the Green Man, of course, whose natural form nobody knows, and the Jinn of the desert, both male and female. And of course the Huldra and her masculine counterpart, the Spriggan.
On Earth, the Huldra is a Nordic creature, while the Spriggan has Celtic origins, but I think there’s a lot of overlap between those cultures. Perhaps on Earth, they each had opposite gendered counterparts which are their respective cultures’ names for the same thing. I honestly don’t know.
At any rate, the creature in front of me would be a kind of forest nymph with a back covered in fur or moss and a cow’s tail. I couldn’t confirm the back, but the tail flicked out a second time as she awaited an answer.
I should mention, my maids, both Servants and otherwise, have grown more fussy about my behavior as a pregnant woman. I suspect it’s because I have a tendency to not act the part. I blame my non-human physique. I should be careful to act more like a pregnant mortal, or I am going to piss off some actual pregnant mortals.
Am I bragging? I would never, because I remember exactly what being pregnant as a mortal is like, from my lives as Sirth and Lhan. They both suffered every bit as much as any mortal woman, despite their marginal identity as mortals, because their particular physiques didn’t grant them any advantage. Or actually, Lhan suffered more than most, considering her life ended in post-partum.
But on Rest Day, the Twenty Third of the Month of Ripening, I reached roughly the four and a half month mark in my effigy’s simulated eight month pregnancy, to match the five and a half month mark in my real body’s Elder-length pregnancy. Both work out to three and a half months to go, but more importantly, if I were in an Earth Human body on the Earth calendar, I would be at almost exactly five months or twenty weeks gone.
To put it bluntly, to my mortal maids, something is weirdly wrong with a woman so far gone who is not bothered by a wide variety of new issues. Backaches, issues with balance due to center of gravity changers, swollen ankles, aching feet, dizziness, fatigue…
The only issue that is bothering me properly is certain changes spoiling the fit of my clothing. My belly isn’t the only thing expanding, you see. Every day is an adventure in finding out what doesn’t fit anymore. But as for the rest…
Yeah, it isn’t fair. I apologize to any pregnant women hearing this. Non-human physiques are cheats, and that’s just a fact. Despite the fact that I can now slip my palm underneath my babies and support them (just barely, but enough to count), I could easily still run a marathon if I wanted to risk causing heart-attacks amongst my domestic staff. For the sake of their cardiovascular health, I need to act more pregnant.
There’s also the problem that Mireia will reach this point in a little over two months. I need to give her a more honest preview by… well, by being less honest about what I’m experiencing.
I’ve digressed awfully far, haven’t I? It’s a symptom of how surreal the sudden home invasion felt. My brain went momentarily on vacation. I was only meaning to explain why I clambered slowly to my feet, pretending awkward motions, rather than jumping up and taking a defensive stance.
The woman surely was ancient. I could sense tremendous spiritual strength, and I could see that she was practicing some form of body cultivation like we were doing in Sky Ocean, which suggested she had long passed the age most fairies reach before they meet some fate or another.
Once on my feet, I bowed and stated, “Ëi onar lâ, Darböan. Narseselve lalhecizo.”
Greetings, Senior. Welcome to Narses Castle.
The woman snorted, haughtily declaring, returning to Dorian, “You aren’t my Heldian, child. You’re my baby sister. Now tell me what man dared touch you at such an age!”
Immediately concerned for my husband’s life, I stated, “Mother arranged for our marriage, so kindly spare my husband’s life, Salnedo.“
Her eyes flared. “Even if she did, a man who would sully a child…”
A new voice broke in. “Velerè-salne, what will you do to your own brother-in-law? Surely you don’t plan to commit violence on a defenseless mortal?”
A second presence manifested to accompany the voice, this one being someone I had met before. Although I was groping my memory for her name. She had flaxen hair of extreme length and a raiment like a nightgown of cloudlike silk gauze.
She immediately moved across the room as if flowing like a stream and wrapped her arms around me for a warm hug.
“I am Mitozin,” she told me, as if seeing on my face that I was trying to remember it. Well, she probably did. “You were a guest of my inn, a while back.”
This was, in fact, the proprietress of the “House of Gold Leaves” in Tëan Tír, who protected me from Mára in the bathhouse.
I stepped back and bowed to her. “Welcome to you as well, Miss Mitozin. If you call this one elder sister and she calls me her ‘baby sister’…”
“You are indeed also my baby sister, Your Grace,” she stated with a smile, taking my hands in hers. “And Velerè’s as well, I might add. Forgive her for being so cold. It’s just the way she is.”
I hesitated. “Back then, you called yourself a commoner…”
“As far as everyone in Tëan Tír knows, I am a commoner,” she confirmed. “Kindly protect my secret.”
“Thanks to a period of time that Mother spent in captivity, Mitozin spent all her formative years with her commoner father,” the woman apparently named Velerè explained, slipping her hands into her sleeves to fold her arms the way Fan Li does, rather than the imposing posture which she began with. “She dislikes royal treatment.”
“Captivity?” I echoed, in utter disbelief.
Both fairies… Both big sisters laughed bright fairy laughs. For Velerè, it was a bit darker, but full of humor, making her seem quite a bit less threatening.
“Everyone has that exact reaction,” Mitozin stated. “Understandably.”
“Well of course!” I retorted. “Who could possibly…”
“Your father,” both women stated in unison.
Velerè added, “With Mother’s cooperation, I should add. Their marriage hit quite a few snags in the early days. Becoming pregnant with Mitozin was one of them.”
Mitozin shifted to stand beside me, putting an arm around my shoulder and her hand on my tummy as she went on, “Lord Egon really didn’t understand the implications of marrying a fairy at first. They agreed not to have any children together, since it would be most difficult for Mother to carry a monster in her womb, but he wasn’t prepared for her to cheat on him and have a fling with my father.”
The alternating explanation returned to Velerè. “Mother agreed to be imprisoned for a hundred years as penance. Of course, your father couldn’t make her go a full hundred years before he forgave her and accepted that marrying a fairy meant the occasional other man’s child. It took him a few decades though, and by that time, Mitozin was more accustomed to commoner ways.”
The pretend ‘commoner’ sounded quite a bit more subdued when she spoke next. Of course, she had been checking on the babies within.
“Salne, Grandfather spoke truthfully, it seems.”
The older fairy focused on my midsection, and I could actually feel her [Fairy Sight] boring into my womb. She pressed her lips together and raised an eyebrow, exactly the same way Fan Li does it.
“Indeed,” she stated, with a terse nod. “And a second one is with her.”
They had recognized their mother, of course. As for the second one…
I hesitated to say it. A number of maids were present, gaping at this scene the entire time. Funny how one can focus on individuals and fail to remember the others in the room, but I did so, now.
I told Syl, “Have everyone leave the room, and you go as well. I have personal matters to discuss with my sisters.”
“Shall I bring in tea, Your Grace?”
“I’ll call for it.”
Syl gave me a Dorian bow and clapped her hands twice, and the maids all quickly filed out.
“[Sanctuary],” Velerè intoned as soon as they had left, and to my surprise, a strong Healing Magic spell enveloped the whole room.
This was a spell that Mireia was learning at the temple. It was like [Realm of Silence] but with some additional bells and whistles, and it was terribly difficult. Mireia had yet to master it to this degree.
For the first time, an actual smile touched lightly on my dour sister’s lips. With a touch of pride, she declared, “I mastered Healing magic long before Mother began learning it.”
“That’s a spell only priests use, though?” I asked.
“A fairy who is clever enough can pretend to be a priestess,” she answered, her smile turning wry, then turned stern once more and inquired, “Is the rest of it true?”
Meaning the rest of what Oberon told them.
“I’m not sure precisely what Grandfather has told you, so I cannot answer. The other one is my baby sister,” I stated. “She passed with Mother while still inside her womb.”
“And both their souls were preserved by a Divine Artifact?” Velerè supplied.
I nodded. “Yes.”
“It’s… very difficult to believe,” Mitozin noted. “And the rest of what Grandfather said is… just impossible, isn’t it?”
She frowned at me, her eyes conflicted.
Velerè suggested, “Let us ask rather than speculate, Innanmi.“
Mitozin pooched her lips and gave another terse nod. “Fair enough. Then let me just ask this. Are you indeed our great-grandmother, returned from the dead?”
I grew a bitter smirk and asked, “He told you that much, huh?”
Mitozin was staring steadily at me, awaiting my words.
Putting my hand on my tummy, I nodded. “I am Senhion, the mother of Oberon. That’s your grandfather’s given name, in case you haven’t heard it before. Here in my womb, along with my granddaughter, is your real baby sister, my great granddaughter Tiana. She lived until this year, and after she died, Heaven played a little trick on Mother. They slipped her back into Mother’s womb and stuck me in my great granddaughter’s body to finish her work. Does that cover everything you were told?”
