Page 41 of Of Serpents and Ruins
She looked so frail right now, her features drawn and her eyes shuttered. Her beautiful wreath of snowy-white hair had slipped loose from its silver pins, the fragrant herbs and greens sliding onto her shoulders and the pillow.
"This is part of the process for a vision like this and a seer like her," Kine said gently. "She isn't in danger right now. We need to let her rest. Whatever vision she is receiving, it will take its time in appearing to her."
"What do we do?" I asked, biting the inside of my lip. "Should I make her some tea? Or get her some medicine?" Surely I was supposed to do something.
"Let me take care of her," Elias said. He cupped his hand along my elbow, his gaze soft. "I don't mean to be rude, but she'll recover faster if she has peace and stillness."
Kine gave a nod of agreement. He tugged gently at my arm and drew me out of the room. As we entered the hall, Elias shut the door. The lock snapped into place with a soft click.
Hugging myself, I drew in a deep breath. Several doors lined this hall, each one marked with a distinct crest and secured. A few had elaborate eyes painted on them.
"Do we just wait out here?" I asked.
"She's probably going to be resting for a while. If you're up for it, we should probably get started on training you to shift." Kine placed a hand on my shoulder. The worry lines on his brow eased. "It's all right, Bug. This sort of thing happens to seers. Usually with more warning, but Auntie Runa is going to be all right. She’s been through far worse."
His grip comforted me. I ducked my head then pushed my hair back with both hands. "Kine, I'm trying so hard to remember, and I'm sorry—"
"You don't have to apologize. Listen, this is new for all of us. I know I'm supposed to be careful about what I tell you so we don't overload your memories with everything else that's coming in," he said gently, "but if there's something simple you want answered, you can ask. I don't think there's any harm in it. Some pieces may be better if you hear them from, say, Brandt, but other than that…maybe it would do you good to think of something else than all that’s happened."
There were a lot of things I wanted to ask Brandt, a lot that I still needed to know, but Kine was right. I wanted to hear those words from Brandt's lips. Like how did we meet? What would it take for us to be together again? What was our first kiss like? Did he like to cuddle? How did he propose to me? What were our fights about? Who was Candy? Why was Candy around?
Ihlkit!
What I wouldn't give to see him right now.
But he wasn't here. Kine was.
And I had questions for him as well, starting with the way he looked at me, not with the passionate, brooding hunger of Brandt but with a gentle, rueful affection.
Kine continued to study me, his brow furrowed. "Your favorite color used to be periwinkle and yellow because you never liked having just one. You still like both those colors?"
My mouth quirked a bit at that. That was such a ridiculous thing to ask, but it kind of made me like him even more. "Yeah."
"When we were kids, you used to try and trick me into cleaning crabs and fish. Do you remember how?"
I shook my head.
He gave a short huff, then tilted his head. "Well, I don’t know if I should tell you because I don’t want you pulling it on me again. Whenever it was time to clean the fish and crabs, you’d always have an accident. All the greens for the compost would fall over or the corn bin would topple. And you’d ask me to get started on the fish and crabs while you cleaned up. Usually by having a triceratops or the manatees eat it. Sometimes you didn’t even actually spill anything. You just told me you did." He raised an eyebrow at me. "And you always disappeared when it was time to wash dishes. It was annoying."
More memories rippled over me. My smile broadened. "You didn’t really fall for it though, did you? I don’t think you were really fooled."
"Eh." He shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. You’d get on a roll. And you never knew when to let a bit go. Sometimes I was just curious how long you’d keep it up. Besides, I don’t mind washing the dishes."
"Okay… So, who are you to me exactly?" I tilted my head, studying the laugh lines along the eyes and the smile lines around his jaw. "We’re—we’re family?" Hefeltlike family.
"By choice rather than blood." He tapped my nose. "Your folks took me in when I was a kid, and you were barely ableto read signs in the water. They gave me a home. You were so excited to have a big brother. You told me all the rules, all the things I had to do. I think maybe some cousin or something out there connects us by blood, but your folks gave me a home because I needed one."
"What happened to my folks?" Those memories loomed at the edge of my mind, mercifully vague and dark. "They…they’re dead, aren’t they?"
He raked his hand through his loose, blue curls and then sighed. "Yeah. I’m sorry, Bug. They passed a while back, before we knew what was going on with the Gola Resh and the Babadon. At that time, all we knew was that magic was starting to fail or falter at random points if it wasn't cut into heartstones or something similar. Your folks got caught in one of the freak monsoons before we could save them and a bunch of the others. Couldn’t get there in time, and our magic failed. It was one of the first times we started seeing just how bad the Gola Resh and Babadon's magic interfered with ours." His eyes misted with tears as he looked at me, his brow furrowing. "But you know, it was funny in a way because your folks, they weren’t seers like you. They couldn't have known what was coming, but the last thing your momma told me was that I needed to make sure you stayed safe, and your da told me the same. Asked me to swear to it. So I did. I swore I’d see you got to old age and had lots of grandbabies and great-grandbabies. Your folks were proud of you, Bug. Real proud."
A knot of emotion choked me. Tears burned the backs of my eyes. I dipped my head forward. It wasn’t an actual memory that pressed itself into my mind, just something gentle within my awareness, and the words sprang to my lips as if they had been summoned. "I think you mean our parents, Kine, and I know—I can feel it—they were proud of you too."
He brushed his hand along my cheek. "I won’t break my promise to them or to you, Bug. No matter what, I’ve got you. I’m rooting for you and Brandt both, but if I’ve got to choose, I don’t care that he’s king. I’m siding with you."
"You won’t have to make that choice." I said that with all the conviction I could, and I meant it.
His smile went a little crooked. "It's good to have you back, Bug. Now let's get started on reminding you of just what you're capable of."
