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Zephiro smiles at me, and I heave a sigh, just realizing how much I still have yet to learn about Zvori culture. It’s been seven months and still, many aspects of Zephiro’s past and identity remain a mystery to me.
I smile back at him.
I don’t know why I keep expecting everything to go wrong. Even after all this time, the things I’ve experienced since meeting Zephiro feel too good to be true.
I close my eyes for a moment, and suddenly, I’m entrenched in a world of dreams.
We’re at the cradle, and Lucy is running around a tree, chasing Brennik and Sapphus. We always remind them to be kind and careful to her because she doesn’t have all of their strength.
The sunlight shines down on us from the unknown source overhead. I’m still entranced by the way it falls on Zephiro’s abdomen, highlighting the details of his sinuous, branch-like torso. We’re both lying on the ground together, watching our children play.
And we know that we’re safe here. A dense pollen fills the air, kicked up by the strange flowers in the area, but their scent isn’t irritating or abrasive. It’s calming to me.
“Did you ever think this was possible?” I ask him as I run my fingers over his chest, feeling every groove and ridge.
Beside us is the altar where we were married.
“I think I always knew,” Zephiro says, looking down at me with a wide grin.
I open my eyes, and the moonlight enters the hut. I’m reminded of the day I felt like I almost lost Zephiro, after he rescued me from the encampment. Only instead of dreading death, we’re celebrating life.
He’s lying beside me, his head draped against the bed while he slouches over in a wicker chair.
“I thought you might like to hold your children,” Jennil says, greeting me politely.
She’s carrying my daughter, and I realize that I fell asleep before I got to see her.
I gasp. She looks almost exactly like me, except that she’s got Zephiro’s onyx eyes. “Hello, Lucy,” I say, grinning wide at her while quietly thanking Jennil.
It fits her perfectly.
Zephiro jolts awake suddenly. Despite the sudden movement, Lucy remains calm, cooing in my arm.
“I’ll just leave you two alone,” Jennil says, smiling at us both. She leaves the hut quietly, closing the thatched door behind her. Outside, the insects chirp wildly.
“I’m sorry I fell asleep,” Zephiro says, rubbing his eyes before wiping his mouth in embarrassment.
“We both needed to rest,” I say. “And it might have all worked out, anyway.”
I quietly explain the dream to him, telling him how lucid it felt.
To my surprise, he’s not fazed by it, telling me mothers are often given premonitions after the births of their children.
I look down at Lucy one more time, still in disbelief that I could be so lucky as she sleeps in my arms.
31
ZEPHIRO
“Brennik, stop pulling Lucy’s hair,” I growl behind me as the wagon wheels squeal underneath us.
I lightly swat Brennik’s hand away from Lucy, and he giggles in response. I hope he won’t always be this mischievous.
The path to the crater is treacherous and bumpy, and a wagon ride isn’t exactly my preferred form of transportation.
But Brennik and Sapphus are still infants. They can’t travel like Zvori. And Zkovia says this is probably safer anyway, with all the dark elves roaming about.
They don’t expect us, residents of the forest, to be traveling in elven vehicles.
