The woman’s gaze lingered on me for a beat too long as if she was assessing, not cruelly, just… curious. She finally landed on Valkaryn and nodded. “Well met, Brynn.”
Before I could answer, Tyrus launched himself into my arms. I held him close, burying my nose in his hair, breathing in the scent of ash and salt and home.
“Mom’s been okay,” he whispered. “She slept a lot. Elia helped a bunch. I don’t think I could have managed without her.”
I swallowed hard and let him go, then stepped deeper inside the house. My mother lay curled under the quilt on the couch, her breathing shallow but easy. She was asleep. Color had returned to her cheeks. A folded cloth rested on her forehead, and a steaming mug sat beside the couch.
I brushed a hand over her brow, and her eyes fluttered open.
“Brynn,” she rasped, smiling.
“I’m here, Mama.”
Behind me, Kaelric stood in the kitchen speaking lowly to Elia as she dished out bowls of hot stew to my siblings.
“I’m fine. Just weak from the fever. It’s better, though,” my mom assured me. “Your Aunt Gracine stopped by and helped Elia with the littles’ laundry.”
That was nice. Gracine had six children of her own and two jobs. No one had time for getting sick or taking care of the sick.
I reached up and felt her head. Not too bad. “Well, I’m here now. You’re going tobe fine.”
She glanced at Elia and Kaelric. “That woman was sent by the Creator. She has managed everything.”
I peered back at them and noticed Elia’s gaze going to Valkaryn at my hip. I reached down and grasped the hilt protectively, and she glanced away quickly.
Everyone had breakfast, a delicious rabbit stew, and then Elia left for the day shift, even though I offered to work it. Kaelric stayed back and helped me manage my siblings. It was quite comical to hear the littles ask him questions about being a wolfkin.
“Has your wolf ever eaten a person out of hunger?”
“Are cats scared of you?”
“Do you eat meat raw in human form?”
But he took it all in stride, even helping hold the littles’ schoolbooks as we walked them to the one-room schoolhouse at the end of our lane.
When we got them all in class and Tyrus was off working my jobs, I peered at Kaelric.
“Thanks for your help,” I told him honestly. Raising this many children took all hands on deck. “You can go back to the academy, though. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow. I want to spend one night with my mother until her fever fully breaks.”
He cocked his head to the side. “I’d like to stay, if that’s okay. I can sleep on the porch under the stars, which I prefer anyway.”
It was sweet of him to call our rotting and dilapidated overhang a front porch. But I had to admit, his willingness and desire to stay was very attractive.
I remembered then that he told me his entire family was gone. I wanted to know more, I wanted to know everything.
“Did you have siblings?”
I knew right then I shouldn’t have. His face went tight with pain, and a haunted expression came over him, replaced by unbridled rage.
“Yes. Many. Not as many as you, but…” His throat caught, and he cleared it.
I felt Valkaryn pulse at my hip, and I placed a hand on her hilt. He noticed the gesture and nodded.
“It was a long time ago,” he said as we headed back to my house.
“How long?” I didn’t want to upset him, but I was curious.
He sighed. “A decade now. I’ve been on my own for a decade.”
