“He does. I think the Holt men have you covered.” Sloane had lost his normal humour and was serious as they walked the last few steps to the kitchen. As they hesitated at the door, he watched his cousin. “Zahra?”
“I believe she takes after her grandmother,” Tegan said to him flippantly as she pushed the doors open, leaving Sloane chuckling behind her. “Martha!” Tegan crossed the kitchen hurriedly and embraced the older Akrhyn.
“I have been worried for you, child,” Martha said as she embraced her warmly. She held Tegan at arm’s length and looked her over. “You’ve been training?”
“Yes,” Tegan told her laughingly as she hugged her again before taking a seat. “With Marcus, he moves like father!”
“Well, Leonid taught him for many years,” Martha reminded her as she turned her attention back to her pots.
“Yes, I forget sometimes.” Tegan drew her legs up to her chin as she watched Martha. “Where did you go when the attack came?”
“This dashing young male took me and the youngest Holt out into the passages below.” Martha smiled at Sloane. “It has been years, but I remember the Headquarters well. There are cabins in the woods, north of here. We made our way there. She is a handful, that child.”
“She was rude to you?” Tegan asked sharply.
“No, but she is not trained and shows her weakness easily. I am not as young as I was, but by Delfar, I think I moved quicker than she did.”
“She needs to train.” Tegan looked at Sloane accusingly. “Honestly, how she has been left to be so helpless, it does not help her.”
“I know. I think the two attacks now prove that,” Sloane agreed. “However, that is for her father to decide.”
“Hogwash,” Martha said as she stirred her pot. “Are you not her betrothed?”
“Yes, Elder, I am.”
Martha stopped cooking to look at him. Her eyes travelled over him. “Well, you are a broad sturdy specimen of a male. Are you weak in the head?”
Sloane blinked before he grinned cheekily at her. “No, Elder, I get by.”
“Well, as her betrothed, you can request she train.” Martha turned back to her pots. “She couldn’t even throw a knife.” They could hear her muttering as she took a sip of the contents of the pot. Tossing the spoon aside, she reached for a spice jar. “I had to hunt for us. Me. I am near seventy.”
“I am sorry, Elder.” Sloane did indeed look contrite, Tegan noted. “I will rectify this; however, I hope that you are never in that position again.”
Martha reached for two bowls and spooned out generous helpings. Taking a cloth off of a loaf of fresh bread, she cut two generous slices. Placing the bowls in front of the two younger Akrhyn, she then got the bread and placed a butter dish on the table. “Rabbit stew,” she told them absently. “Caught too many rabbits when I was out there.”
“You caught them?” Sloane asked as he reached for his bread.
“Well, I cannot aim as well as I used to, but I can still make a mean trap.” Martha winked at him.
“Really? Can you show me?” Sloane asked as he ate his stew. “Oh my blessings, this is amazing.” His head sunk down to his stew, and he missed the look between Martha and Tegan.
Smiling, Tegan also started to eat. “I have missed your cooking, Martha,” she said as she savoured the delicious food.
“You must eat to be able to train as much as you do,” Martha reminded her as she sat at the table with them. “Your father has been telling you that since you were old enough to hear him.”
Tegan lost her smile. “He is in danger.”
“He has always been in danger. He has never hidden that from you, Tegan.”
“He is in the Darkness.”
“You will hear from him soon,” Martha said confidently as she buttered her own slice of bread.
“My grandmother arrived,” Tegan said around a mouthful of food, taking the cue from the older female to not dwell on something she could not change.
“Do not eat with your mouth open, Leonid taught you better,” Martha reprimanded her. “Talia?”
“Yes.”