* * *
He did.
I was better at packing anyway. He’d thrown in all the twins’ cute clothing; not the things they wore day to day. Nix may have been the best father I’d ever met, but he knew as much about clothes as fire knew water.
While I got our things together, I did what I always did when something awful happened. I thought of only the moment I was in and the task at hand.
I couldn’t fathom the thought that my brother, or my sister-in-law, or my father-in-law were gone. I couldn’t. It would hurt too much, and I didn’t have time for grief. Not if an army of Angels was determined to see me and my children dead.
With a few sacks around my shoulders, and my dogs’ leashes around my wrists, I ran downstairs. Nix had all four of the children in a circle, in arm’s reach. They were playing a game I didn’t take note of.
“Where’re we going, Mum?” Mirobhail asked, big blue eyes peering at me through his dark waves.
I looked to Nix for an answer.
“On a trip.” He forced a smile, a pair of shoes appearing in his hand. “Get them on, eh?”
“But we’re in the middle of a game,” Vanna said. “I was—”
“We can continue the game later, but this is important, and I don’t have time to argue with you about it, mil.” Nix reached over and tucked a curl behind her ear. “Please, don’t fight with me today, little one.”
It wasn’t like Vanna to only frown and do as she was told, but her shoulders slumped. As the shoes appeared in Nix’s hand, he passed them to her, and stood.
Heylel was seated on the sofa, brows furrowed in confusion. I supposed Nix hadn’t informed him. That was best. My nephew had a habit of crying and doing so in front of the babies would make them afraid of something that was out of their control.
“Go get your mums, eh?” I told him.
“We’re meeting at the Elder’s Hall.” Nix scooped the bags from my back and arms, getting them situated in just the right places before reaching down to lift Friel. Lifting Mirobhail onto his shoulders, he said, “I already sent a message to Rion and Luna, but if you could go around and lapse everyone to the hall, I’d appreciate it.”
“Me too?” Heylel asked. “Or is this above my authority?”
Hana was his aunt as well, Venark his uncle, El his grandfather, and the men who killed them were his brothers. Heylel deserved to know. “You too.”
* * *
No more than half an hour later, we all were gathered in the hall. I held both of my daughters in my arms, and Nix held our sons. Normally, they didn’t get more than a passing glance around the Elder’s Hall. It wasn’t the place for children.
Today, neither I nor Nix were letting them out of our sight.
I may have manipulated their minds into falling asleep so they didn’t hear what we were about to discuss, and the questionable morality of that wasn’t lost on me. But they did not need to hear that their aunt, uncle, and grandfather were dead. Not now, not like this.
Our dogs lay at our feet as well. Sadie beside me, and Sany beside Nix. Sadie was an average sized herding dog, while Sany was a little white fox nearly the size of a cat. They fit fine under the table, napping as though nothing was wrong.
Vinion and Ayla, Nix’s pterolycus, were just outside. If they were smaller, we would’ve brought them inside as well, but they would’ve taken up most of this space. With their wings spread, there wouldn’t be room for the rest of us.
“Alright, what’s this about?” Drogo asked, looking up and down the table. “We were just here this morning.”
“Aye, and I was a bit busy trying to heal one of the survivors from Morduaine.” Mum wiped some smeared makeup from beneath her eye. “Let’s get on with this.”
I looked at her, and for the first time since Nix told me, tears burned my eyes and coursed down my cheeks.
The worst news any mother could receive was that her child was dead. She’d lost her wife thousands of years ago, and I swore the only reason she’d been able to live with that pain was because she had me and Venark.
Now Venark was gone.
I’d tried to pull her aside when she arrived, and she’d said there was no use in repeating myself. I’d insisted, but she brushed past me and sat at the table, and now…
“What is it, Véa?” She tilted her head, studying me. “What’s the matter?”