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Annani waved a hand over the spread on the table. "We can continue talking after breakfast. When we are done, Okidu and Onidu can take the girls to the other room and watch them while Jacki shows us her amulet."
"Good idea," Jacki said. "I left Darius with Shamash in our cabin because I don't want my son to be anywhere near that thing when I take it out of the box." She turned to Amanda. "The same goes for your children."
Alena rubbed a hand over her rapidly growing stomach. "Perhaps I shouldn't be here when you bring it over. It might affect my baby, and I don't want to take the risk."
"I agree," Orion said. "We will either leave or join the girls in the other room."
"I'd rather leave." Alena turned to Syssi. "We can take the children with us."
Syssi hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Will you be okay watching over the three of them?"
Alena grinned. "Of course. It will be my pleasure."
"I'm very curious to see the amulet," Syssi's father said. "Would it be okay if I take pictures?"
Jacki scrunched her nose. "I'd rather you didn't. Some nutcase somewhere might see the photograph in one of your photography books, recognize the amulet for what it is and come looking for it. The thing has the ability to absorb the life force from the slain, and there are plenty of monsters out there that would slaughter thousands to imbue it with power."
"Uhm," Syssi cleared her throat. "We agreed to save the talking for later, remember?"
"Oops." Jacki covered her mouth with her hand. "I forgot. Let's change the subject to something happy and upbeat so I don't slip again."
When a long moment of silence stretched across the table, Annani's heart contracted. They were all searching their minds for happy topics to talk about and could not come up with a single thing. It was not because nothing good was happening in the world but because it was difficult to think positively after what had happened the day before. Annani had not heard all the details yet, and she had a feeling that things were even worse than what she was imagining.
Given how stricken Syssi looked under the fake smiles she was trying to cover her distress with, she might have talked withJacki and gotten more information. Another possibility was that Syssi's empathic nature made her more sensitive to the suffering of others than anyone sharing the breakfast table with her.
"I have just the subject," Amanda said. "Wonder and Anandur's wedding tonight. Who wants to bet on Anandur wearing a garter under his tux pants and tossing it at the bachelors after the ceremony?"
Kian chuckled. "I'm not betting against it, and before you ask, he hasn't told me anything."
"You know what would be great?" Mia said. "If Wonder came dressed as Wonder Woman. After all, that was the inspiration for her name. It would be so cool."
As all eyes turned to Amanda, she lifted her hands. "Don't look at me. I'm sworn to secrecy. Besides, I want it to be a surprise. Wonder hasn't given me any instructions or asked for anything specific. She said that she trusted me to come up with stuff she would never even think of. She's very easy to please."
"She is," Annani agreed. "Back in Sumer, when she was still Gulan, she was a very gentle and amiable girl." She smiled. "I was the wild one, and my parents hoped that her easygoing nature would rub off on me."
"Did it work?" Jacki asked.
Annani laughed. "Not at all. I continued to come up with wild schemes, and poor Gulan was in a constant state of panic. I mean Wonder. She does not like to be reminded of her former life. For some reason, she is ashamed of having been my servant even though I never thought of or treated her as such. She was my best friend."
Gulan had been Annani's only friend. The palace guards she had played games with had included her in their playtime because she was the princess, and they had to do what she asked, not because they sought her company.
"There is no shame in being a servant," Syssi's father said. "And being the handmaiden of a princess is a very honorable position."
"Indeed." Annani sighed. "Perhaps it is more about her waking up from stasis as a different person than her years in my service."
"Tula is very different from her older sister," Carol said. "There is nothing timid about her, and she thinks very highly of her position as Areana's companion and confidant, and rightfully so."
Leaning back in her chair, Annani sighed. "I envy you for having seen my sister and Tula, but I do not envy you for what you had to go through to do so. I am not as brave."
Carol's eyes widened. "I don't believe that even for one moment. If you could have, you would have jumped at the opportunity to have a fabulous adventure."
"I am not sure," Annani admitted. "Your so-called adventure almost got you killed."
Syssi cleared her throat. "It seems like we can't have a conversation for longer than five minutes before it touches on a subject that shouldn't be discussed in front of the children."
Annani cast her a fond smile. "You are right that we should let the girls enjoy their innocence for as long as we can. At some point, though, we should stop shielding them from the uglinessof this world. They need to start building up their resilience or they will be paralyzed by the first crisis they face."
Syssi blushed, probably thinking that Annani was criticizing her for being soft, but that had not been her intention. Anita and Adam had not coddled Syssi when she was growing up. She was just a sensitive, soft-hearted soul.
