Page 104 of Tamiko and the Two Janitors
“What’s …?” she began.
But True groaned, and Doon-wen growled. Another cub wasarriving, and the discussion ended in a rush of readying.
Jiminy probably should have moved to a polite distance. Thiswas not his den, neither were these his denmates. Emotions ran high,occasionally resonating with the various crystals he kept about his person.Hardly surprising, given that Doon-wen had shed most of his restraint. His cubswould know the full force of his strength. And of his joy.
Rook’s presence might not dominate, but it was no lesspowerful. He hummed as he roughed and wrapped High in a blanket woven from manybrushings, fur gathered from father, mother, and uncle.
For a moment, another presence caught Jiminy’s attention.Fleeting. Elusive.
“Another son,” announced Doon-wen.
He turned his head to pin Jiminy with a look that was notexactly hostile, although it definitely held a challenge. Jiminy quicklylowered his gaze and scooted backward.
Doon-wen’s casual grab ended his retreat. “What do youthink?”
Jiminy’s gaze swung to the cub occupying all of Melissa’sattention. His opinion was needed?
Wait. Doon-wen and True were parents to dozens of Kith, allexceptional. Yet none of their children had ever found speaking form. Kith-kinwere rare in a broad sense, but for an established pair, their chances were alwaysone-in-four. It hadn’t occurred to Jiminy that Doon-wen might have been hoping.
“Is there any way to tell?” Jiminy asked quietly.
“No.”
He lifted his hands. “May I?”
Melissa grunted as she hefted the newborn around. The cubnearly staggered Jiminy. “Even bigger than your brother,” he accused.
A soft whine. A questing nose.
Doon-wen bent close, murmuring old words into new ears.
Jiminy wasn’t sure he could offer any kind of opinion.Historically, Kith-kin surprised their unsuspecting families by suddenly takingspeaking form. While not exactly scandalous, they weren’t entirely normal.Clans might embrace their special children, but they didn’t advertise theirexistence. Jiminy would never have known that Kith-kin existed if not for Kip.
Couldhe assess power or potential?
Reavers needed to be periodically assessed by an Amaranthinein order to be ranked. That was standard procedure. But reavers weren’t calledupon to quantify the quality of clan members. He doubted such a thing was evenpossible, since the oldest and strongest personages were usually adept atdisguising their true strength, like a fox hiding his flourish.
Although … lately, there were rumors about a person whocould see into the souls of Amaranthine. A new breed of reaver, currentlymaking the rounds of settlements and sanctuaries. The way the communiques wenton, he was revered as some kind of messiah, since he could apparently tend tothe Broken and make them well again.
Someone like that would probably know. But Jiminy’s talentcentered around stones and sigilcraft. Even so, he recalled Michael’s mentionof a new technique, invented on the fly in order to allow two souls into closeenough contact to give each an impression of the other. Wasn’t that a kind ofassessment?
Eyes shut. Mind open. Carefully, cautiously, Jiminysought—and found—some sense of the cub in his arms. And since a means ofcomparison was readily available, he turned his attention to the cub’slittermates—one born, one unborn.
“Heisstrong.” Resting his forehead against thecanine brow, Jiminy asked, “Will we have a proper chat one day, cub? I don’trecommend giving your elder sister any sass.”
Melissa bristled.
Doon-wen’s tail wagged with an extra lift, and the glance heshot Rook mingled triumph and trepidation.
“A fine son.” Rook’s smile was all affection. “What shall wecall him?”
“He will be called Gate, to honor the farm where he canrun.”
Gate licked Jiminy’s chin.
Melissa touched Doon-wen’s arm. “Is True all right?”
“Someone is eager to catch up to their brothers.”
