Page 22 of Dark Destiny: The Turning Of The Loom

"A date," Merlin repeated. "It's when you both dress up nicely and go to a restaurant or a bar. You sit at a table and talk to each other, or you meet with friends and talk with them. The Hobbit Bar is a good place to socialize and let loose. Go there and meet people Sullha likes, not people who need her or want something from her." He waved a hand. "You need friends, not dependents."

"I like Mattie and Anita," Sullha said. "They are nice, and they don't need me for anything other than spending some quality time with me."

"Excellent." Merlin leaned back. "Call them up and meet at the Hobbit. I hear that Doctor Petrov is a frequent customer."

Yaaf nodded. "I like Petrov and Dimitri. It's not just business between us."

"Third." Merlin turned back to Sullha. "You were a gardener, which was something you enjoyed doing and that brought you peace. You don't have that here. Either start a garden in your backyard or walk outside in nature, preferably in the mornings. If you can't do that early, squeeze in a walk whenever you can." He turned to Yaaf. "I count on you to make sure it happens. You can go with her, but no one else joins you." He shifted his gaze to Sullha again. "Your son and your mother stay home. Those hours are yours."

Sullha's mouth twisted. "My mother will have opinions about that. I'm already relying on her heavily with Tomek."

"My team can help," Yaaf said. "They can come play with him."

Sullha cast him a look that conveyed her opinion of his idea. "I'm not leaving my son with men who have no experience with kids."

"I don't have any."

She chuckled. "Do I leave you alone with Tomek?"

Good point. She might not be in the same room, but she was always in the house when Tomek hijacked Yaaf for playtime.

Feeling suddenly uncomfortable, he turned to Merlin. "So, do we keep trying, or do we wait until Sullha is in a better place before we resume the efforts?"

"Fates, no." Merlin laughed. "Keep going. The venom bite is the best antidote to stress. It's the only thing in nature that's an aphrodisiac, a sedative and a euphoric at once, and you've got it on tap." He stood. "The more, the better. Doctor's orders."

"Thank you, Doctor Merlin." Sullha put the bottle inside a brown paper bag that Ronja handed her.

"My pleasure, and it's just Merlin. Drop the doctor."

"Okay." She smiled. "Thank you, Merlin."

The walk home was quiet.

Sullha held the small brown bag with the small brown bottle inside it, and she wasn't in a rush to get home.

"I was thinking about your mother," Yaaf said.

"What about her?"

"Does living with her make it harder for you? Merlin said no one should need you while you are having time to yourself for the morning walks, and the first person I thought of wasn't Tomek."

"Leehy is not a source of sunshine," Sullha said after a moment. "She never was. She's difficult and, all of a sudden, opinionated. The woman who never had anything to say now has something to say about everything, especially anything that has to do with me. But she helps a lot with Tomek and with cooking and cleaning so I can do all the other things I have to do. I couldn't do half of what I do without her."

"So, she stays," he said.

"Of course she stays. For better or worse, she's my mother, and she's better now than she's ever been. I want her in my life, annoying opinions and all."

He understood. If his mother were alive, he would have wanted her near, even if she annoyed him to no end.

They were almost at Sullha's house when she slowed and looked up at him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"If it never works. If I take the potion, manage to release the stress, and still nothing happens, will you stay with me?"

He stopped walking, so she had to.

"You are not seriously asking me that."