Page 57 of Breaking Ties

Aubrey looked at Vress and said, “This is why we came here.”

“Is it?”

“Well, that and the honeyed locusts. They are particularly tasty.” She smiled brightly.

He laughed and lay on a couch near Ra, pulling her onto his lap.

Aubrey smiled and leaned against him.

Ra held his son and said, “Can you determine how many children Harwin and I will have?”

“I will have to touch you.”

“Acceptable. Be prepared that my son may grab you.”

“I understand the risk.” She reached out and touched Ra’s forehead. Images came fast and thick. She inhaled, exhaled, and then let go when the baby climbed into her arms.

“Is Harwin around?”

Ra looked and smiled. “No.”

“In the next one thousand years, you will have fifty children. They will each have a minimum of three children, and when they all fly, the skies will turn gold.”

Ra beamed. “That sounds wonderful. Why didn’t you want Harwin to hear?”

“Because your legacy does not stop at a thousand years.”

He paused and started laughing. “You are right. That is quite the legacy.”

She sighed and sat with Harran staring at her. His wings flapped gently and gave her a toothless grin.

Ra finished his giggle fit. “You can see?”

“Yes. The discolouration does not impair my vision.” She smiled at the baby trying to grab her hair and getting frustrated. “Ra, please take him. My hair is irritating him.”

Harran’s face was screwed up, and his father took him and tossed him in the air before he screamed.

Vress ran a hand through her hair. “Do you have an extruder? This hair is lovely but annoying.”

Ra chuckled. “We do. Do you wish to use it?”

“I do.”

“This way. All of my machines are on the lower levels.”

Ra got up with his child on his shoulders and walked toward a wide set of steps. Vress got up and carried Aubrey with him.

“Hey! I didn’t agree to this.”

“It is a necessary repair to your person. That is in the contract.” He chuckled.

She snorted and crossed her arms. Getting a forced makeover wasn’t the worst option. “Just not red. I am not sure I could live with it myself. If we have kids, I would like them to have a fifty-fifty chance of not being red.”

He grinned. “All of our children will look like me. That is the joy of breeding with a Hmrain.”

“That sounds less like joy and more like a haunting.”

He chuckled. “You will get used to it.”