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“It’s not a what—it’s awho,” Ketha said. “I…I’m looking for the father of my baby,” she added in a low voice, glancing around to make sure nobody was listening.
The old woman’s faded blue eyes widened.
“So you’repregnant,are you dearie?” she murmured.
Ketha nodded.
“But I can’t find the father anywhere! And my mother kicked me out of the house, so I’m all alone and I’mscared!”
The words just came pouring out, even though she knew it was foolish to confide in a complete stranger.
“Oh, you poor dear!” The faded blue eyes were sympathetic. “Just you come with me for a nice spot of tea and tell me all about it. Maybe we can find him together—I might know where he’s gone to, since I practically live at this spaceport.”
Her words gave Ketha hope and she allowed herself to be taken by the arm and led to a dark corner. There was a little booth set up and Nanny led her behind the counter and got her seated at a low table. Then she busied herself making tea on a little hotplate with a mixture of sweet-smelling herbs from a battered copper canister.
Soon she was serving Ketha a steaming cup of tea in a chipped but clean cup.
“Here now—there’s nothing a nice spot of tea won’t fix,” she said, sitting down at the little, low table across from her. “Have a few biscuits too, why don’t you?” she added, opening another canister to reveal an assortment of delicate looking, flaky white angel-bites.
Ketha thanked her and helped herself to one of the angel-bites. It melted delightfully on her tongue and she sipped the steaming tea to chase it down.
“There now—isn’t that nice?” Nanny Grim asked, smiling. “Now just tell me everything—I want to hear it all, my dear. You said your mother kicked you out?”
“Yes, because I come from Yonnie Six where…where women don’t have, er, relationships with men,” Ketha explained. “And the baby I’m carrying is male—it’s a little boy.” She pressed one hand protectively to her baby bump and sighed. “Once she found out, she disowned and disinherited me. She said she…she never wants to see me again!”
The last word ended in a little sob and she had to swipe away tears.
“Oh my! That’s so sad, dearie. I’m so sorry. So now you’re looking for the father of your baby?” Nanny asked, pouring her more tea.
Ketha took another sip. It was almost cloyingly sweet and had a slightly strange aftertaste, but the hot liquid reallywassoothing.
“Yes,” she said, putting her teacup back down. “Last time I found him here but now he’s nowhere to be seen.”
“Who is he, may I ask?” the old woman asked.
“Er, well…” Ketha was hesitant to mention Styx’s name, since it had caused such a fuss last time.
“Don’t you worry, dearie—old Nanny Grim won’t say a thing to anyone,” the other woman promised.
“He’s a Kindred—a Dae’mon Kindred,” Ketha explained. “He’s really tall—well over two standard meters—and he has red skin and golden eyes and horns.”
“My! He sounds like a big fellow, so he does!” Nanny Grim’s faded blue eyes widened dramatically.
“He is. But I’ve been trying to reach him and he’s not answering me,” Ketha explained. “It’s been about three months since I saw him and we…well, we didn’t part on the best of terms.”
She wanted to cry again but she took another sip of tea instead. The super-sweet taste didn’t bother her so much anymore. In fact, she was beginning to really like it, even though it made her tongue slightly numb and tingly. Should tea do that? Maybe it was just the mixture of herbs, she thought.
“So the two of you had a fight and then he left and you haven’t heard from him since?” Nanny Grim asked. “And now your mother’s kicked you out, so you have nobody to help you raise the baby.”
“That’s it exactly!” Ketha sniffed. “I…I’m all alone and I don’t have anyone.”
“Not even a relative or a friend to turn to?” Nanny Grim prodded, refilling her cup yet again.
“No. No one.” Ketha shook her head and drank more of the tea. She was beginning to feel a little strange now—like she was moving in slow motion. Why was that? Was it because she felt so sad and desperate that everything was slowing down? Was her sadness making time move more slowly? But wait—thatdidn’t make sense, did it?
“No one at all,” Nanny Grim mused, tapping her long fingernails on the tabletop with a brittle,tat-ta-tat-tat.
“Nooo. Nooo onnnne,” Ketha said, but now her words were coming out slow as well. What was happening to her? “Dooo youuu think time is getting slooower?” she asked Nanny, who was looking at her with a calculating expression on her wrinkled face.
