Page 28 of Drawn in Blood
Theo’s eyes widened as he shrunk into himself, snapping his head toward Gaelen.
”It’s how he communicates,” Gaelen replied, “and how I communicate with him.”
”He can’t hear you?” Ember furrowed her brow.
Gaelen shook her head. ”Theo is deaf.” She gave a half smile. “he can’t hear anything.”
The little boy twiddled his thumbs beside her, and Ember felt her heart sink.
”Does Mum not know?” she asked. “Did no one think to tell her?”
“She knows,” Gaelen replied with a sad smile. “I think It’s been hard for her to come to terms with, and often times, she denies it altogether. She blames herself for it.”
“Why?” Ember asked, as she furrowed her brow.
”Theo was raised by me, just like most Vala children and the Merrow that work in their homes,” Gaelen replied. “It happened after he suffered a very high fever for a prolonged amount of time when he was little. He didn’t speak before that, that much is true, but the loss of his hearing made it almost impossible for him to speak after the fact.”
“And there’s nothing the healers could do?” Ember asked, as rage burned in her stomach. “No spell or potion or ritual that could bring his hearing back? They just sat back an allowed it?”
”Iam his healer.” Gaelen straightened, cocking a brow. “His magical core was damaged along with the fever. There was nothing any of us could do.”
“Why didn’t my mum tell me he was deaf?” Ember asked, as she looked over toward Theo. “Why didn’tyoutell me?” He was her little brother after all, even if they had only known each other for a few days.
“Theo didn’t want anyone to know. It wasn’t my secret to tell.” She peered at Ember, as if to sayyou of all people should understand that.
Ember nodded, biting her lip as she gripped the strap of her bag, and then turned to walk out of the room. She crossed the foyer, making her way into the den and immediately began rifling through the books on the shelves lining the walls.
“Looking for something in particular?” Aoife asked, as she walked into the room.
Ember jumped, knocking a book off the shelf as she turned. She frowned as she bent to pick up the copy ofA Vala’s Guide toMagical Maladiesand gently placed it back on the shelf. “Sorry,” she mumbled, as she averted her eyes. “Do we have any books about sign language?” She didn’t mention what it was for, but Aoife didn’t seem inclined to ask.
Aoife tapped her chin as she seemed to rack her brain. “I’m afraid I have no idea,” she sighed. “Books were always your father’s favorite pastime, something I see you’ve inherited from him. We do have a very well stocked library upstairs that has been collecting dust for some time now. You could take a look in there. I’m sure he had something.”
Ember’s heart leapt into her throat as she grinned. The idea that her father might have things here that he had left had never even crossed her mind. She had gone her entire childhood with just a journal and a ring to remind her of her parents, and now she had an entire manor full of things that whispered of him. She quickly threw her bag back over her shoulder and rushed across the room in two strides to wrap Aoife in a hug.
“Thanks, Mum,” she whispered with a smile.
“Of course, Mo Stor,” Aoife replied, as she brushed a stray hair off her cheek. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything.”
Ember nodded with a smile as her mother left the room, and then all but sprinted toward the stairs in the foyer. After running up two sets of spiral stairs and getting lost down several halls that felt never ending, Ember finally spotted a set of double doors at the end of a long corridor and quickly walked up and pushed them open.
The sight that greeted her was one she had only ever dreamed of. Sunlight beamed through the large window, soaking the floor in peach and lilac. The window reached all the way to the top of the vaulted ceiling that was supported by large beams running from wall to wall. Shelves lined the walls, accompanied by stairs on each side and led to the second floor of books. Ember felt her stomach flip, positive she was dreaming.
Oh, but what a wonderful dream it was.
She quickly dropped her father’s journal in a comfy chair tucked away in a corner and Helio’d Killian to ask for a book recommendation. He had mentioned something earlier that day about a book on sign language he had found, and she was willing to bet her father had a copy somewhere too. She walked along the shelves, pulling out old tomes and searching for anything that had to do with sign language, when she heard the double doors swing open and then close again. Ember poked her head around a shelf, only to see a tall blond with campfire eyes leaning against the wall.
Instead of replying to her Helio, Killian had decided it was best to just show up.
“How did you get in here?” were the only words she could think of as she furrowed her brow and struggled under the weight of the books in her arms.
Killian glided across the room, snatching them away, and carried them to the chair she had set her father’s journal in.
“Your Merrow let me in, erm…” He stared at the ceiling for a moment. “Gaelen, I think? She told me I could find you in the library.”
“It took me a solid twenty-five minutes to find this room,” she scoffed. “How did you get here so quickly?”
Killian barked a laugh as he sank into the chair. “I’ve been navigating manors since I could walk, Starhshine,” He smirked. “They’re all grand, but all laid out in the same fashion. The library is always on the third or fourth floor, at the end of a wide corridor with giant, double doors. It took me five minutes.”
