Page 26 of Mikoto and the Reaver Village
Kyrie’s lips twitched into a little half-smile. “Ash’sinheritance never frightened anyone.”
“You might have wings one day,” Lilya reasoned. “Anattainment.”
Her brother’s eyes were soft with the gentle sadness thathad always been a part of him. “Ash has the wings of an angel. With dragonwings, I would look even more like a devil.”
Lilya’s troubles seemed small and silly now. She droppedback into the seat and hauled him into a fierce hug. “No,nyet,non,and never.”
Kyrie melted against her. “Sorry,” he whispered. “I should notborrow trouble from my tomorrows.”
“Today has enough worries,” Lilya agreed, quoting AuntTsumiko. “Can we go to Timur, now?”
“May I hold Gregor first?”
Lilya giggled. “If you can get him away from Ginkgo.”
With chorused thanks to the driver, they linked hands andhurried to join their brothers. What a sight they made. True to form, Ginkgohad secured the baby for himself, but that gave Timur the advantage. He scoopedup GinkgoandGregor, proving he was strong enough to cradle both thehalf-fox who’d raised him and the son he was raising alone.
“Put me down, cuddle bud.” Ginkgo’s smile held nothing back.“I know I’m your favorite, but you really shouldn’t neglect the rest of your denmates.”
Timur landed a resounding kiss on Ginkgo’s forehead, thenturned him loose in order to capture Kyrie. He tossed him high, earning awarbling yelp, caught him close, and kissed his cheeks. “Have you grown?” DanglingKyrie at arm’s length, Timur let the boy squirm and smile under his scrutinybefore nodding. “You have grown a little, I think. Yes?”
It always amazed Lilya that someone who looked so much likeMum could behave so much like Papka. Timur had been away for years. A trainingtrip from which he’d returned with mixed baggage. A deeper laugh and a saddersmile. A richer accent and a baby son.
But no wife.
Lilya got the impression that Papka was somehow worriedabout Timur but delighted to welcome Gregor into the family. Mum was flat-out proud,but she tried not to let it show. And nobody was willing to pass along theparticulars to a couple of kids.
While Timur quizzed Kyrie about their trip, Lilya offered ahand to Fend, one of the cubs from Minx’s litters. He nosed her palm andtickled her with his whiskers, mostly to be polite. Fend was all business. Notone for indiscriminate cuddling or purring. But he sat beside her, watchingTimur more closely than anyone. And Lilya waited her turn with the confidenceof one who knows they are being saved for last … and will get the best becauseof it.
“Where is that sister of mine?” called Timur.
She raised her fist in a battler’s hand sign. Or was it fromwolf trackers? Lilya was always getting them mixed up.
Not that it mattered. Timur closed the distance in a handfulof strides, dropped to one knee, and offered his hand like a burly princecharming.
Delighted, Lilya curtsied and placed her fingertips on hispalm.
With a murmured endearment in their mother’s first tongue,he tugged her into the circle of his arms. “Did you see many strange thingsalong your way?”
For someone who lived with giant cats, flying foxes, andphoenix friends, the trip had been filled with fresh oddities. “A boat and aplane and a train and a bus.”
“Wonders beyond compare?” teased Timur.
“New things,” she replied seriously. “Kyrie and I havefinally broadened our horizons.”
Ginkgo swayed over, making silly faces for Gregor, andasked, “Do we need to check in with anyone?”
“As it happens, I just met the headman, and he wants towelcome you personally.”
TWELVE
Treeborne Boy
Even knowing what to expect, Ginkgo had trouble makingsense of reality. Once the promised Amaranthine tree towered into view, heunderstood the scope of the illusions that kept it safe. “Okay, that thing’sbeyond big.”
“He is,” agreed Timur.
Ginkgo peered around, senses alert. So much had beenfine-tuned—the tree’s presence, the shadow it cast, temperature differences, theview of the sky. There was probably a barrier similar to the one Dad used tokeep his conservatory from being overrun. It made most people at Stately Houseforget the glassed-in garden even existed.
