"I'm fine. I promise," I lied. "Why is everyone here?"
"It's customary to call the heads of the families in on the first night of awareness - to get their blessings. They wish the baby a safe journey and prepare the body for the carrying of a magical child."
"Oh."
I knew he was excited, but I could also tell he felt conflicted about being happy after seeing how I looked. I felt like I was taking away from the moment. I didn't want anyone else to see me.
Aster needed everyone to focus on her. I looked at Tallis and spoke quietly. "Will you take me outside?" I took a breath, still fighting off the searing pain that seemed to be spreading by the minute, then I looked at Chris. "Chris, will you send Anesta out when she gets a chance?"
His eyes were so burdened as he spoke with absolute guilt. "Yeah no problem, Aria, and again, I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I'm fine." Sharp pains kept coming from my side where I had been kicked. I certainly didn't want Chris or Tallis feeling worse, so I didn't tell Tallis that the way he was holding me was torture.
He gently placed me on the swing of the front porch. He sat beside of me and carefully placed my head in his lap. He began gently stroking my hair, while letting his free hand rest gently on my stomach. It was peaceful, minus the pain of course. I reached up to touch his face. It was soft and gentle, like him. I pulled his hand from my stomach up to my lips and kissed it. He smiled and finally looked down at me.
"So on a scale of one to ten, how incredibly tempting am I right now?" I joked. He shook his head, amused, but said nothing. I wasn't giving up that easily. "Too soon?"
That got a snicker out of him. I smiled up at him and he flashed a small grin at me. I knew my voice still carried waves of pain in it. "At least I got something out of you besides sadness."
A ruffled breath blew out of his tightened lips.
"You don't know how hard it is for me to know that I could have prevented this." His eyes were riddled with guilt he didn't deserve to feel.
"I'm fine. You did prevent it from being worse. If you hadn't shown up, then I really would have been in a mess. You always save me though."
"Yeah but-"
I put my hand over his mouth to stop him from continuing to blame himself. "But nothing. I'm very happy that you saved me…again. You're always my hero."
He smiled big that time.
We were interrupted as Anesta walked up, speaking with uncertainty in her voice. "Aria? Chris said you needed me." Her eyes caught sight of my battered body. Fury and surprise rang out in her tone. "What the hell happened?"
"A group of guys jumped me, beat me up pretty badly. Tallis stopped them before one of them cut my face up."
Tallis flinched. I guess he hadn't even noticed what was going on when he threw himself into the fight. He just knew I was a bloody mess on the ground.
Anesta shook her head in disbelief. "Filthy mongrels. They should be turned to ashes for this."
"It's my fault. I shouldn't have left her side." Tallis put his head down in shame.
Anesta had been cruel to the whole Verdan family since the alliance. I was surprised when she didn't take the opportunity to kick him while he was down.
"You can't watch her every second of every day. You left her in the very capable hands of Aster. How were you to know her baby would make introductions tonight? You've barely left Aria's side for more than an hour or two at a time for the past few months. You haven't hurt her or taken advantage of her, and it seems like you're always saving her. You shouldn't feel guilty for this. Not to mention, she'll be just fine in a couple of minutes. This is the easy stuff. Mortals are too weak to make a mess I can't clean up quickly."
I smiled as they exchanged a silent promise of truce. Anesta was finally accepting the Verdan's. Or at least Tallis anyway. She looked down at me.
"All right. I need to know where you hurt the most. I need to start with the worst pain."
I pointed to my stomach and spoke through gritted teeth. "I think my ribs are broken."
I saw Tallis's face distort. He realized I'd been in pain the whole time he'd been holding me. "Why didn't you say something?" he asked, his tone swelling with misery.
"Because you would've just felt worse."
I forced a smile as Anesta put her hands on my sides. My ribs moved inside my body. It hurt for a moment longer, but then I could breath easily without the sharp pains. Next she put her hands on my knees. I watched in disbelief as my skin that had been ripped apart suddenly closed back together right in front of my eyes. It looked like nothing had happened. Then she did my hands, my lip, and my bruised face. When she finished, she hugged me and I thanked her.
I looked at Tallis, who was still beating himself up. I looked down at my body as I spoke with ease now. "See? Now the only things messed up are my clothes. I need to go change."