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Whatever shape their future took, he would not let Tenebra rob them of it before it began. He would not let the mortal world pull her back in.
They arrived at the door of his tower to find the courier waiting for them. She bowed again and handed Lio five replies.
“Did you beat your record?” he asked with a smile.
She beamed. “Seven and a half minutes!”
“Well done!”
“Good veil, Firstgift. I’ve got another summons.” She disappeared once more.
Lio took Cassia and Zoe inside and spread the replies on the coffee table. His sister gnawed on a huge wad of her new gumsweets while she opened his notes for him. He put Cassia’s dinner and a treat for Zoe on the geomagical warming plate, then started brewing the coffee in the glass coffee service he had crafted for his residence.
Cassia studied the notes. “Hmm, I see a scroll—that must be from Kia.”
Lio nodded. “As children, we had a fierce argument over who should be the scroll. Finally I chose the moonflower instead.”
“A diplomatic move.” Cassia smiled. “Here is a shamisen—Nodora, of course. Xandra is undoubtedly the moth. The entwined speires are Mak and Lyros.” She looked over at Zoe. “But why did they draw two goats, too?”
Lio handed Cassia a mug of warm vegetable stew. “Everyone is on their way.”
She wrapped her hands around the mug, raising her eyebrows. “They are?”
“They’ll be here on the hour, and they’re bringing Bosko and Thenie to see Zoe. That’s what the goats meant.”
“You mean you put us in your code?” Zoe smiled at him over the rim of her warm milk.
“Of course. I thought we all needed some time to relax among friends.”
The tension drained from Cassia’s aura, and she cast a glow of ease and contentment upon the Blood Union. That contentment sank deep into Lio. He needn’t have worried about the time she had spent with the Tenebrans.
When the bells of House Kitharos signaled the hour, the tones of a flute drifted into Lio’s library, mimicking the chimes.
Lio chuckled and called, “Come in!”
Nodora stepped in, laden with her flute, a lyre, her shamisen, and a lute. “As I suspected, I am the first one here. We of Blood Kitharos pride ourselves on punctuality.”
“Living right under the bells, you must never be late,” Cassia said. “But it’s a good thing Hesperines don’t have trouble sleeping.”
They laughed together, and Nodora took the chair she preferred for its acoustical position, setting her instruments within easy reach. “Last one here is a rotten egg and misses out on my first tune. What do you think, Zoe? What shall I play?”
“Um,” Zoe answered, “‘The Happy Herder’s Reel’?”
“With pleasure.” Nodora put her flute to her lips.
None of them could resist tapping their feet to the energetic dance. Halfway through the song, Mak and Lyros bustled in with the other children. Mak started dancing with Thenie in his arms, and she beamed and cooed in delight. Lyros watched his Grace with a besotted expression that Lio finally understood.
When Nodora finished, she said, “All right, Bosko. Your turn to pick the song.”
Bosko hung back behind Lyros. “That’s all right.”
Lyros looked down at him. “What’s Thenie’s favorite song?”
“Well…her eyes light up whenever she hears that one about the baby star.” Bosko looked at Nodora and cleared his throat. “I guess you could play that one. For Thenie.” He cast a glance at Lyros. “Please.”
Lyros patted Bosko on the back.
Nodora exchanged her flute for the lyre. “‘The Little Dreaming Star.’”
