Page 66 of Dark Destiny: A New Thread in the Tapestry

"Then that's a no." Sari wrinkled her nose at Khiann in sympathy. "I hope you get better soon and can eat normal food. How are you expected to get stronger if all you get are intravenous liquids?"

Annani translated as best she could. She did not know the word for intravenous.

"That was not a yes or no question, Sari."

"Sorry. I just want to tell him that I am so happy he found his way home."

Annani translated.

"He squeezed my hand. Does it mean that he's happy too?"

Khiann was now looking at Annani, not Sari, and his eyes were communicating what his mouth still could not.

"He is."

Sari let go of Khiann's hand with the same gentleness she had taken it, laying it carefully on top of the blanket.

"David is waiting for me in the café. Will you join us later, Mother?"

"Yes, I will. After Khiann falls asleep, but until then, I will tell him about your teenage shenanigans so he will give me that beautiful smile again."

"What shenanigans?" Sari asked with mock innocence. "I was a perfectly behaved young woman."

"You were polite," Annani agreed. "And you still are. But that did not keep you from mischief."

Sari laughed. "Like mother, like daughter." She turned to Khiann. "Goodbye for now, dear one," she said in passable old tongue.

Once Sari was gone, Annani did as she had promised, telling Khiann amusing tales from Sari's youth, and he kept smiling, just as she had hoped, until his eyelids lost their fight with gravity and he fell asleep again.

Annani rose to her feet, adjusted the blanket, kissed his cheek, and then walked out the doors.

She did not frequent the café. Her people loved her, but their deference to her made them uncomfortable, and she did not enjoy having that effect on them. Today, though, she was meeting her daughter and her daughter's mate, so she had to break protocol, but since she could hide her presence, she could join Sari and David without anyone noticing.

They waited for her at a table nestled next to the hedge, with three cups already ordered and a chair pulled out for her, but since she was under a shroud, they didn't see her approaching.

David jumped to his feet when she let the shroud slip for a moment.

"Clan Mother. You snuck up on us."

"I am sorry. Please, do not get up for me. I am creating a bubble so people will not pay attention to us."

"You don't need to do that," Sari said as Annani sat down.

She laughed. "When I make an appearance, I want it to count. If people see me doing ordinary things like having coffee with my daughter and her mate at the café, I will lose all my mystique."

"There is absolutely no chance of that." Sari wrapped her hands around her cup, and her amused expression turned serious. "Kian briefed me about Thursday."

"I assumed he would."

Sari looked at her over the rim. "How are you taking it? Do you approve of the attack?"

Annani let out a breath. "You know my preference is to preserve life whenever possible. I would rather have these males put in stasis, but that is not an option. Losham is the best hope for the people on that island, mostly because he is under our control, and also because he is not as cruel and bloodthirsty as the others." She lifted the cup and took a small sip. "My heart aches for their mothers. We do not know whether any of those juniors are the sons of the harem ladies or just regular immortals that Navuh claimed were born to them, but they might be."

"Have the harem ladies been told?" David asked.

Annani shook her head. "It is better that they do not know. These males have done monstrous things, and it is better that the ladies are not aware of those things or of their demise. I will not mourn them, but I will mourn what they could have been if they were born somewhere else."

"It might not have changed how they turned out," David said. "The soul is put where it needs to be."