Page 5 of Dark Destiny: The Turning Of The Loom

"You are my family, and you are my priority until you are restored. My children and their mates know how long I have waited for your return, and they want to see me happy. They will not begrudge you for monopolizing my time for a little while."

Ogidu parked the cart at the curb, got out, lifted the chair, and set it down on the path before approaching Khiann's side.

"May I, Master Khiann?"

When Khiann nodded, Ogidu lifted him and set him in the chair. Next, the Odu offered Annani his hand and helped her down as well.

Julian took Ogidu's place at the wheel of the cart. "I'm taking the chair to my mother. She'll be glad to have it back before my baby brother decides to be born." He dipped his head. "Clan Mother. Khiann."

As the cart hummed away up the lane, Khiann put his hand on the driving stick, pushed it forward, and drove up the walkway.

Thankfully, the door to her house was level with the path, and there were no steps. There was a low threshold that the chair's large wheels would have no trouble rolling over.

Ogidu opened the door wide, and Khiann drove through it.

"It is lovely," Khiann said, looking around the entrance hall. "You have a beautiful home."

"Thank you," she said, returning his polite compliment with polite gratitude.

They were both being very proper, and she tried not to wince at how wrong it felt.

She led him into the living room. "Would you like to sit with me?" She sat down on the couch. "Or would you rather stay in your chair?"

She watched him weigh it. The couch would take a lot of effort or help from Ogidu.

"The chair," he said. "It is easier."

"Master Khiann, welcome home." Oridu came in from the kitchen with a tray. "It is so good to see you after so long."

"It is good to see you, too," Khiann said, because that was the polite thing to do.

His mother would have been proud to see how well he remembered his manners, even when he remembered nothing else.

"Would you like some tea, Clan Mother?" Oridu asked.

"I would love some, thank you."

"And you, Master Khiann?"

"Yes, please."

Oridu beamed with joy as he served them.

Khiann wrapped both hands around the teacup but did not drink. He looked at her over it. "What happened to me, Annani? How did I end up in stasis for five thousand years, and how did your people find my friends and me?"

She had known it was coming, and that he would ask this when they were alone.

"It is a long and complicated story, my love."

He smiled, but it was a sad one. "I know you are trying to shield me from pain, but I need to know what happened to my parents, Navohn and Yaeni, and I believe I am strong enough to hear that story."

He was not. Not all of it. But he was strong enough to hear some of it.

"I will tell you," she said. "But not all at once, because it is a great deal to tell. Most of it is difficult, and you are already tired." She reached over and laid her hand on his knee. "We can begin today, if you like, with something gentle."

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SULLHA