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The Feri Circle
Chapter 4
Much later the boys and I entered the kitchen. Helen served us breakfast and we had fun feeding each other and goofing around at the breakfast table. Every now and then Helen and the other kitchen staff would steal a glance our way and snicker. We didn't care in the least that they were watching.
With our bellies stuffed, we parted ways. Each with a particular destination in mind. Wren left to meet with his brother Reed outside. They were on sentry duty. Even with the Citadel's magical defenses up, Eric didn't want to take any chances and Charlie agreed with him.
Nick was heading to the High-Guard Camp. He thought his warlock training was over but he was dead wrong. His father had restarted his training sessions right after the Pledge Ceremony. Nick told me that Nico was grooming him to be a Commander like himself. He exuded excitement whenever he talked about it and I was proud for him.
Before they left both made sure to kiss me goodbye.
`I see that you're little circle of love has grown,' Helen said by the stove. Already she was helping the others prepare for lunch.
I blushed.
`Don't be embarrassed. You should be beaming with pride for having two gorgeous men doting on you with love.'
`I'm not,' I said.
Good,' she grinned. Now run along and do what Charlie tasked you with.'
`Hello, father,' I said the minute he materialized. His pale, transparent ghostlike figure stood before me smiling.
My son,' he replied. You're early. I thought it would take you longer to come and see me.'
`You knew I was coming?' I asked, although that shouldn't surprise me. I knew of his ability to know things before they happen.
`Yes. I've seen this possible future. You've grown into a fine young man! You look just like me when I was your age, except for the eyes. You have your mother's eyes.'
`My mother!' Nobody ever talked about my mother.
`Yes, your mother,' he said in a grave voice. His smile was gone and his face was now solemn. I could tell he missed her. I did too even if I didn't know her.
`What was her name? Can you tell me about her?' Charlie and Eric didn't appear to know much of her, except that she was dead.
`Mira... her name was Mira.'
`When did you meet? Was she a Feres too?' I blurted out. I was dying to know. I've seen the way Nick interacts with his mom. I never wanted to admit it but I was jealous seeing them together. Linda was annoying as hell sometimes but I could tell she and her son had a special bond and they loved each other, even while she scolded him.
`When I met your mother she was very young, only two years past her transition. I came knocking at her family home one night hoping to find the first Feri child of my generation. She had lovely parents. Her father and his bond-mate welcomed me without reservations. From the moment I walked into their home I knew that only love dwelled in this place. And at the center of it all was your mother. She was so impressive that she took my breath away when I saw her, radiating like a star, next to the fireplace with a book in hands. Like I said Mira was the most ravishing creature I'd ever seen.'
`Was she the feri child?' I interjected.
My father smiled again. `No. But I knew that I found my soul-mate in her. To cut a long story short, we fell in love and a few years later she had the bonder glyph to prove it.'
It was good to know my parents loved each other before I was conceived. It wasn't an epic love story but I liked it. I had the feeling it wasn't the end though.
`There's more to that story, isn't there?' I asked him.
`Yes.' Once again he had that solemn look on his face. Although, I was curious to know what happened, I didn't want to press him. He would tell me eventually.
`Okay then. Can you at least tell me whether you found the Feri child you were looking for?' I asked.
`Yes, he was there next to your mother when I came in. She was reading to him.'
`Was he her brother?'
`He was her brother, yes, but not of blood. Her father took another bond-mate when her own mother died a few years prior.'
`Tell me more about my mother? What was she like?' Although the idea of my father finding a feri child of his generation intrigued me I was thirsty to learn more about my mother.
`After spending a few weeks with her and the Brownwood clan in LaDem, I left with her brother because he needed to be trained. He had the gift but he wasn't able to control it. And frankly, I also needed to find the other feri children. Your mother was sad to see us go but she managed to visit us every summer for the next three years. With every visit our love grew stronger and our bond strengthened. The day her glyph changed she was so happy. Her parents and her entire clan gave us their blessing and she came to live here at Notwitt with me. By then I'd found all four of my feri brothers and sisters.'
My father strolled by a cold stony bench nearby and sat. I followed and sat beside him.
`Mira loved them all and they loved her back. She had a gentle, kind soul and she could easily be trusted. Naïve in some ways she rarely got angry. She saw the good in everyone and everything.'
`How did she die?' I asked curiously.
`She died shortly after giving birth to you.' My heart skipped a beat. She died because of me. I killed her!
My father saw the tears running down my face and he quickly cupped my chin with one of his pale hands. I barely felt it. `It was not your fault. You are not the reason she's no longer with us.'
My father got up and started pacing.
I wasn't there when she died,' he stopped pacing and looked up, but I felt the life leave her body when she passed.'
He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.
`What happened?'
`Kan the Keeper of Sandridon and I were investigating a tear in the barrier on the Northern border near The Serangi homeland. We found that a horde of Northenders had gotten in. It appeared they had help from the inside but we were not too sure. Tracking them was not easy but we managed to find and kill them all. As the last of them fell I heard Mira's voice brush against my ear whispering her goodbyes and getting me to swear to take care of our son.
`At once I teleported back to Notwitt but I was too late. I felt her go the second I materialized in the citadel. Mira was dead and the perpetrators were long gone. All of the staff, including Rosalia, Mira's midwife and one of my feri sisters were dead.'
I didn't know what to think. But something about my father's posture told me that he blamed himself for what happened to his bond-mate. Maybe he thought he should have foreseen it or something.
`You're a seer. Didn't you have a hint of this event?'
He gave a short chortle. `Regrettably, no. All powers have a weakness son. Mine is that the more attached I am to someone the less I can see of their future.'
Right then a great realization hit me.
`That's why you sent me away to the human realm with Charlie, wasn't it?'
`Yes. I couldn't risk not knowing what would happen to you. You were the future of our race and I saw your struggles the moment you were conceived.'
`What happened then?' I wanted to know the rest of the story.
`After I buried your mother I went in search of you. It took Kan and me three months but we finally found you with another of my feri sisters named Amegra. With her dying breath, Rosalia used the last of her powers to send you to her. Amegra already had a young son so it wasn't difficult for her to take care of you.
`She also told me what happened to the other feri children who died fighting off the intruders that evening.'
`And who were they, these intruders?'
`Three Northenders who escaped our notice and... and Mira's brother, my most trusted friend and brother. You know him as Helledon.'
That was insightfully shocking.
`What did you do to him?'
`You already know. I showed you in a vision remember. I sent Kan after him and he killed my Keeper.' That's right. My father made him the new keeper of Sandridon after that.
`Did he ever say why he did it? Why he betrayed you and my mom?'
`He didn't have to say it. I already knew. Just like I fell in love with your mother, he fell in love with me. For years I refused all his advances. As a result he became obsessively jealous of your mother and mad at me for choosing her over him. He was such a jovial and meek person that I never gave him much thought. Evidently I was wrong.'
Yes. My father was wrong to underestimate the power of unrequited love. I hoped this would never happen to me and the boys.
...
End of chapter 4