Chapter Six
Together,KadeandFlorianwalkedbackoutsideandintothevillage.Kadeledhimalongthemainstreetaways,untiltheycametoarowofhouses.Heopenedthegatetooneinthemiddle,andtheyheadedupthesteps.
“Hello?” he called out, not bothering to knock as he opened the door, Florian hovering just behind him. Several voices answered, but the loudest and most excited was accompanied by the thundering of footsteps—a boy, maybe twelve or thirteen, barreled through the door, running straight up to Kade and tackling his legs.
“You’re home!” the boy shouted, hugging Kade tightly and grinning up at him. One of his canine teeth was missing. “I thought Bowen was lying! You’re really home!”
“I’m home,” Kade agreed, smiling warmly down at the boy. “At least for a little while.” He patted the boy’s back with one hand, and with the other gestured toward Florian. “Look. This is the new fae king, Florian. Florian, this is my little brother, Yuka.”
The boy stepped back from Kade, and forcing his grin down to a serious expression, he bowed stiffly to Florian. Now that he was still enough for Florian to look at him, the family resemblance was clear. His face still had the soft fullness of youth, and his hair was past his ears with a slight curl to it. Looking at him, Florian couldn’t help but wonder if this was what Kade looked like as a child—if his hair was also wavy when it grew out. The boy’s eyes glowed slightly like every Veilian’s did, a burnished golden color a few shades deeper than Kade’s eyes.
“Nice to meet you,” Yuka said, then he glanced up at Kade. “Should I say something else?”
“It’s okay,” Florian laughed, interjecting before Kade could answer. “Nice to meet you too. You can just call me Florian.”
“Who else is here, Yuka?” Kade asked, and the boy looked back up to him, the grin settling back on his face.
“It’s me and Amka,” he said, counting off names with his fingers. “Amka wanted to see the baby.Again.Tatuk and Stormy were here earlier, but I think they went home. Bowen came by just now, but he left again already.”
“Let him come inside, Yuka!” a male voice shouted from further within the house.
“Come on!” Yuka said, running further in. Kade glanced back at Florian, a slight smile still on his face, and gestured for him to follow.
They pulled their shoes off first thing when they entered, then Kade led Florian around a corner into a large sitting room where several people were gathered. Yuka was bouncing with excitement next to a man who looked a bit older than Kade, grinning over at him. Near the fireplace, a woman sat in a chair with a baby at her breast, and a teenage girl with her hair in a long braid draped over one shoulder sat next to her, peering curiously at Florian.
“There’s the man himself!” the older man exclaimed, stepping closer to Kade, grabbing him in a hug, and clapping him on the back. “Good to see you.”
“Thanks, Tan,” Kade replied, hugging the man back. “And congratulations. My mom told me you guys had the baby.”
“Ani had the baby. I didn’t do much in comparison,” the man said with a laugh, and his eyes flickered toward Florian. “And I take it this is the fae king?”
“I’m Florian,” Florian said with a nod, before Kade could speak. “Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Tan,” the man said with warmth in his eyes as he shook Florian’s hand. “It’s an honor to have you in our home. This is my wife, Ani, and our daughter, Sesi.”
“Hi,” the woman, Ani, said from her chair with a wave.
“And I’m Amka,” the other girl said, standing up. While the brothers seemed all but identical with only their age to distinguish one from the other, Amka’s appearance was softer and her face was rounder—her eyes were an icy blue a few shades lighter than Bowen’s and Kallik’s, and as she smiled, it was the same grin as Meriwa’s. “We missed you, Kade.”
“Hmm. I’m sure you did,” Kade said, a slight teasing tone in his voice, as Amka came to hug him as well.
Florian couldn’t stop the smile that had spread on his face. He had never seen Kade act so warm before—thiswas his family, he thought.
“Kade!” Yuka blurted, leaping toward him. “While you were gone, I had my first shift!”
“You did?” Kade asked, surprised. Then a teasing grin flickered across his features. “No, I don’t believe you. Too little still.”
“I did!” the boy insisted, then glanced at Tan nervously. The taller man laughed, gesturing for them to continue.
“Go on, then,” he said. Yuka’s eyes screwed closed in concentration, and his body began to glow with a yellow-orange light. When the light dissipated, the wolf that stood in his place was small in stature compared to Kade and Bowen. But his coloration was similar to Kade’s timber wolf though Yuka was a lighter color, with more white in his coat overall. The wolf stamped his feet excitedly, dropping into a play bow before Kade, who laughed more freely than Florian could ever recall.
“Wow,” he said, reaching down to pet the wolf. “Good job, Yuka. I’m proud of you.”
Yuka only remained a wolf for a moment, though; the wolf began to glow anew, and a moment later the boy was scrambling to his feet. Now that he looked again, Florian could start to see the beginnings of gangly limbs and a clumsy gait: his face boyish, but the rest of him right on the cusp of becoming a man. Amka looked a year or two older than Yuka, but Bowen had been about Florian’s age—probably just a bit younger than Kade—so there was a considerable gap between the two sets of siblings.
“You’re a Changeling, right?” Yuka asked, looking right at Florian and pulling him from his thoughts. “Can you shift, too?”
“Oh, uh, yeah,” Florian stammered, nodding. “Kade showed me how.”
