“Far more than one time.” Hana sat in Venark’s lap on my right, reaching past me for the canteen. “All the more reason you should share.”
“For you, mil, I would.” Elira chugged. “But you’re mocking me with the rest of them.”
“Everyone, you’re wrong,” Hana said. “Elira can drink an entire brewery without belching once.”
We all laughed, and Elira glared. As she passed Hana the flask, she said, “I’ll be the bigger person this time.”
“Nix,” Rion caught my attention from the other side of the fire.
“Hmm?”
“Have you heard from Lux yet?” he asked. “I thought he would’ve sent a crystal by now.”
“If he did, it would’ve shown in my tent.” I stood, dusting crumbs from the bread I’d been munching on from my lap. “Probably about time I stretch my legs.”
“I’ll come.” Rion pecked Luna’s cheek as he stood, collecting the toddler from her lap. “I oughta tuck this one in either way.”
Aurora’s—Rion and Luna’s daughter—eyes fluttered as he lifted her, but she stayed asleep as we walked. She was a sweet little thing, barely four, right between the ages of my daughters. They all got along well, but she and Mirobhail got along best because their demeanors were so similar.
If Luna didn’t swear she birthed her, I wouldn’t believe Aurora was her daughter. She did inherit Luna’s blue eyes, but she got Rion’s jet black hair and warm brown skin. Aside from that, Luna could terrify a lion while Aurora was the gentlest child I’d ever met.
“You sure she’ll tolerate the egress well tomorrow?” I asked him as we started to the tents.
“Eh.” Rion adjusted her in his arms. “We’ll see. She wants to see it. Yours didn’t?”
“Nah, not this year.” My children would much rather see Morduaine than Matriaza. “Véa didn’t feel like going either. She says it’s too hard with all the babies.”
“That’s fair. I don’t understand how a little person needs so much shit.”
I chuckled. “Neither do—”
“Nix!” someone called out behind me. It was a feminine voice, but I couldn’t be sure whose.
“What?” I yelled over my shoulder.
“Get me a blanket!” Sanvi, I believed it was.
“Aye, grab me one too!” Neia that time.
“Ooh, and can you grab my cloak?” Elira asked.
“Let me grab a carriage while I’m at it,” I called.
A few laughs and ‘Thank you’s’ followed. I could bitch and moan about being their mule, but the truth was, this was fun. More fun than I’d had in a long time, in fact. Or rather, moreadultfun than I’d had in a long time.
For the past few years, my life had revolved around my wife and children. They truly were the lights of my life, my reason for being. But I rarely got to gather with all my friends anymore, and this was a nice change of pace.
The twenty-four of us had spent hundreds of thousands of years together. After all, we’d practically made this world. Once we’d created the billions of souls who inhabited it, they took up a fair bit of our time.
But that was a few hundred thousand years ago. The people we’d created required less maintenance than they once had. As such, we all went on our own paths. Some of us went east, others north, some south, and some west.
Getting us all under one roof was nearly impossible, but here we were. Everyone except for Véa. But I saw her every day, and I almost never saw my sisters anymore.
“This is nice, isn’t it?” Rion asked as we walked. “All of us together.”
“We should make an effort to do it more often.” I peeled back the fabric of his tent to let him through. “I know we’ve all got shit to do, but I miss everyone.”
“Aww.” He smiled at me as he lay Aurora on his cot. I shot him a universally inappropriate hand signal, and he chuckled as he straightened. “No, I do too. It’s just tough to get everyone together.”