I had no idea about any of this. My parents didn’t speak of my childhood often. I also do not remember a family leaving the dekes. They must have followed Kahina’s advice.
“Another speaks to the trees, it is gibberish, the mere mumblings of a baby, and yet I swear they benddown to listen to him, and finally there is Lumod, the first sietling to be born in this sun cycle. From the moment he learned to crawl, he has sought out the river as if it were calling his name. I plucked him out of the stream myself as his sire ran to grab him before he drowned and I was shocked to see his fingers had become webbed in the water.
I see these differences as a blessing, and I will do what I can to keep this new generation safe, but I fear Dameron will do all he can to snuff their young lives out if they are discovered. Goddess above, I pray his child is born without any of these strange gifts.”
The screen faded to black and my heart sank at her words. From what Brexl and Drovo said of their conversation with the priestess, Kahina had done all she could to keep us safe. She was the one to convince Dameron to let us go into exile instead of killing us outright.
My heart also sank at the knowledge that the Savrix’s child was in fact born with a strange gift, as the priestess had called it. He was in our dekes now. His mother had been very protective of him up until her death and Dameron had very little to do with him. I wonder if he knew even then and chose to keep his distance.
“I think it’s time for us to go home.” I squeezed Ashley’s hand and she folded me into a tight embrace.
“I think that’s a good idea.”
“I need to head back too,” Holey said as she made her way toward the exit.
“Do you need an escort?” I offered.
“No, I’ve walked this trail many times on my own, and with winter approaching, there are far fewer animals to watch out for.”
I nodded and wished the acolyte farewell.
Ashley and I headed back through the crumbling village to the tunnel that led to my moon cave. Her hand in mine gave me the comfort I needed to sort through my torrent of emotions.
I felt as if my world had been turned upside down. How do you recover from a lie so big, so foundational to your life, your history?
“How are you feeling?” Ashley asked.
“I feel... I feel as if a part of my history that kept me tethered to the ground has been severed and now I’m floating like a leaf in the wind desperate to reach the ground again.”
“You just have to take it one day at a time. The more comfortable you get with this new reality, the more tethered you’ll become. It just takes time.”
I gave my mate a kiss on the cheek as a thank you. I was confident I could face it alone, but I knew it’d be easier with Ashley by my side.
I did worry, however, how the others in our dekes would take this news. I think for some it will not make a difference, but for others, Tarak, for example, might question how we should do things differently moving forward. My parents may want to speak to the priestess themselves and to gain her opinion, but also to question why she kept this hidden from us.
Once we get back, we’ll reveal this truth to everyone. Everyone will have a chance to make the choices that suit them best.
Ashley and I restocked our supplies and continued our journey home. It was a long walk, but we’d be back before the evening meal was served.
Chapter 31
Ashley
“Are you excited about going back home?” I asked Axon as we walked hand-in-hand through the forest.
“Yeah, I’m excited to tell my parents about us.” He looked down at me with a wide dopey grin. He was so fucking sweet.
“Do you think they’ll be happy about our mating?”
“I think happy wouldn’t even begin to describe how they’d feel about us being together,” Axon laughed.
“Really? Do they like me that much?”
The tips of Axon’s ears turned a dark blue as he admitted, “I may have told them that I liked you months ago.”
“Months ago?” I couldn’t believe it.
“Yeah,” he ran a hand through his hair.
