Private Tales Read between the lines

[Zana]

Zana leaned back into her husband when he stepped up behind her. For a brief second she shut her eyes and luxuriated in the simple feeling of comfort and safety such an embrace provided her. Or was it the twins? It was beginning to get harder to differentiate between them since she had noticed what it was they could do. She brushed a bit of hair back from her face and in doing so gave herself a creamy blemish from the paint.

"At least I can start painting the walls now," she agreed and glanced over her and the twins handy work. Most of the 'Grand Hall' had been done now as had the connecting open kitchen. "I was beginning to feel unhelpful," her fingers stroked over his hands where they rested on top of her stomach.

"The boys dropped off more timber for you - what else is there to do?"

 

[Talus]

Talus ran a hand through his hair. "The upstairs."

He had made sure to build the frame for it at the beginning. Getting a roof on the house had been his top priority. Apparently the mountains got a rainy season every now and again, and he'd wanted to make sure they would at least be safe from that.

Aside from that though the entire upstairs was a desolate wasteland of empty rooms with half finished floors. It wouldn't be too hard to put together, but...well right now it was nothing less than a complete mess.

"Put in some floors. Walls." He trailed off. "Ceilings too."

At least the downstairs was done now. "And you're never useless."

Talus said as he pecked her on the cheek.

 

[Zana]

The twins floated an equal mix of love and disgust at their parents public display of emotion down the bond and Zana laughed, turning her face to press a kiss to his cheek in return.

"A wise man compliments is heavily pregnant wife," she teased in a roundabout way of saying she disagreed but she didn't press it any further. Without her magic and unable to touch her toes she truly felt the most vulnerable and useless she had ever felt in her life that she could recall. It would be worth it though. For them.

"Start with the nursery," Zana suggested as she critically ran her eye over her now finished wall and nodded in satisfaction. "I think... the twins are going to come any day now. I've been having these slight pains and the magic is getting..." she motioned to the paintbrushes which were now casually duelling.

 

[Talus]

"Yes well." Talus said with a glance towards the paintbrushes. "Imagine what it will be like when they're here."

In truth, a part of him was still afraid of that.

Not of his children, not in the least. In a strange way he was more confident than ever that his children would do well in this world, well in the role that they would find themselves in. He had seen that future after all, had watched it with his own eyes.

He was more concerned about himself. What kind of father he would be. "I'll get started."

Talus mused.

"Though maybe I should have made it of Goresh Metal." He said with a roll of his eyes, invoking the all but impossible to find metal that supposedly nullified magic.

 

[Zana]

Zana begun to laugh.

"Vorak did offer to melt those bracelets down and make two tiny pairs," she mused, referring to the elven bracelets that they had used to curb her visions so she could sleep. It was Talus who had found a way to give her her first ever full nights sleep. She lowered herself awkwardly slow to put her paintbrush down and pick up the pot before she stepped in it.

"I still can't quite figure out what their magic is... or if this is... normal," did all children of two powerful mages exhibit every gift under the sun when developing? How long did it take for them to settle into their own gift? "When I ask them I just get... what I think is a laugh," her lips twitched into a distant smile.

 

[Talus]

Talus shrugged. "Don't know.'

Even the Proctors hadn't quite known how magic was formed in someone, where it took it's roots. There was always a sort of mystery about that thing. Sometimes magic just...happened. The parents influenced sometimes, and sometimes not.

Perhaps the Dreadlords could have looked into it, but as far as Talus knew such things were never much desired by the Houses.

"Seems their magic is...everything right now." He shook his head. "I suppose we'll find out the more they grow up."

Another mystery to solve. "But in the end...as long as they're happy...what does it matter?"

He asked with a smile.

 

[Zana]

Zana set the paint can back on the table which she'd laid a cloth over to protect it from any splashes. The two other brushes which had been fighting mid aid came to drop down beside the pot and she smiled absentmindedly.

"Yes, and they will be. Buuuut," she turned back to look at him with that determined look a woman got - a mother got - when they were discussing the future of something important. "It's important for us to prepare as soon as we can. How can we teach them if we don't know? You have your gifts you can connect with them but I..." she sucked in a breath and then shook her head. "Reading - learning - that's all I can do to help them," that, and though she knew they both wished it weren't true, she knew they would both need their powers in this world.

 

[Talus]

Talus nodded his head slowly. "Then we'll read."

Well, truth be told Zana would read.

Talus had never really been good at it, even as he'd grown older. It was something that he had simply learned to accept. He could still do it of course, but was notably slower than most people. Once it had bothered him, now it was simply part of whom he was.

"Maybe we'll take a trip." He mused. "There's gotta be a library somewhere around here."

Talus frowned. "Heard a rumor of a school once...but that was a long time ago."

What had it been called? Alt...alth...something. He couldn't quite remember.

 

[Zana]

Zana frowned as she pressed her lips together. The idea of sending the children to any school was a nightmare in itself for her with the memories of the academy. No, their children would learn at home. Where it was safe. Where they were loved. Where they wouldn't be crammed into a box for having magic people wanted to abuse.

"M-hm," was the only answer she gave and her eyes drifted away unable to hold his gaze. Both of them had their fears; which of them would consume their children? Zana counted backwards from 10 to calm the fear in her heart and the slight pain she had begun to feel then let out a breath once both had passed. "There is some cake still on the side, the lads didn't eat it all," she smiled faintly as she begun to clear away the rest of the painting equipment. Now the walls were done she could begin moving in the furniture she'd been stealthily gathering.

"There was a lot of open mouths when they came in to have a look at the place."

 

[Talus]

Talus sensed the spike of fear of course. Could sense it thrum along the bond. He thinned his lips for a moment, but decided not to say anything. Nor would be press it, not unless Zana wanted to talk about it.

"It's probably the biggest house any of them have ever seen." Probably the biggest that any of them would ever see.

There was a reason for that though. Zana and Talus had been confined within their childhood. The academy had not been a pleasant place to grow up, often times sharing barracks and single person rooms throughout their early lives.

It was how it had always been back then.

Talus didn't want that for his children. He wanted them all to have space, places to play, to run around in even on the days with the worst weather. More than that he wanted his own home to be spacious, to have all the room that he never had as a child. Perhaps a slightly selfish impulse, but one that he had earned over the years. At least in his mind.

"Maybe it'll inspire some of them." He jested. "Before long they'll all be building additions."

 

[Zana]

Zana's returning smile was soft; truthfully she hoped it did inspire them. The other option was that they became jealous and cold and giving up the tentative friendships she had begun to make here she didn't want them to sour. She enjoyed her life and what it was shaping up to be. At times she wondered what Sloan would have thought of her provincial life in comparison to what she had been before. The Dreadlord quickly dropped that line of thought when the echo of that scream begun on the edge of her consciousness.

"They were actually jesting I could set up my own little restaurant up here," she smiled and, gathering the last of her bits, made her way out of the Great Hall and to the smaller study area. She might even get the downstairs finished in terms of painting today. "It might be a nice thing to do once the house is built - throw a little party. A housewarming for everyone," she called through from the other room.

 

[Talus]

"Party, sure." Talus said with a smile. "Restaurant? No."

His head shook. "I don't need that many people in my own house all the time."

There was something about that which just made him uneasy. Not that he would reject anyone and everyone who came calling. A party was fine every now and again, hell, if it wasn't then half of his 'family' would likely beat the door down.

Dwarves weren't known for being kept out of places.

"I came to live in the mountains for a reason!" The former Dreadlord shouted with asmirk.

 

[Zana]

Zana's laughter was his only response.

The boys had given her another idea though. One she hadn't ever considered with her training and background; a bakery. She had always thought her path still favoured the route of something physical and demanding with an element of danger but what if she did something hard and demanding in a difference sense? Something that played on a passion she had kept hidden out of fear for years? It felt... It was a different kind of excitement. The excitement of having options.

She let Talus crack on with his next mission as she went about painting the smaller downstairs rooms and hurling the furniture in from storage. By the end of the day it looked like a home though the fresh paint smell still lingered. Thick rugs which had been gifts from her family lined the floors, comfortable sofas and wing-back arm chairs circled the large fire place which was burning. Books had now filled the bookcases and other little treasures from their trips had filled shelves and other spaces.

Zana was standing between two toy boxes already rammed with impatient gifts from Thror and her own long-lost family she had rediscovered in Alliria, debating where to put them.

 

[Talus]

Progress on the second floor went slightly slower than it had on the first.

That wasn't really the cause of anything of the second floor itself. It was mostly because he had to carry the material higher, and things had to be put together more carefully. The railings on the balconies got down though, as did the support beams and the rest of the walls between rooms.

By the time the sun was beginning to set the second story no longer appeared to be desolate an empty. There was still work to be done, but not as much as there had been before.

"There." Talus decided. "Done for the day."

Yesterday he had run himself ragged in a mad dash to finish everything at once, this time he was going to save himself some energy.

If only because they still had a few weeks left at least. "How are we looking?"

Talus called down from the balcony.

 

[Zana]

Breathe out... one... two.... three...

"We're good!" Zana called up once the pain faded enough to allow her to speak. She ran a hand along the curve of her stomach and pressed her lips into a thin line. The spikes were definitely getting sharper but they were still far enough apart not to worry her husband yet. The last thing Zana needed was for him to push himself getting the house finished before the dawn and the arrival of their twins.

She just had to keep the pain camouflaged as the usual pains of pregnancy.

"What do you think?" she asked as she finally settled the toy boxes by one of the windows. "I just need to paint their names on them when we decide..."

 

[Talus]

Talus frowned for a brief moment, his fingers twisting around the edges of the railing. For a few moments he lingered, and then he quickly made his way down the stairs.

It would have been easier, and quicker, to jump, but they had made a bargain against things like that. It was tempting to move as they had been trained. To do as they had been told for so many years. Yet it was important to take away the old life.

Mostly so there would be room for the new.

"I like them." Talus said as he stepped up behind Zana, eyes quickly looking her over.

After a moment he continued. "Names, huh?"

He mused. That had been a...sticking point. Not because of any real reason, but because they'd found landing on anything they particularly liked rather difficult.

"Could just wait until they're old enough to name themselves." Talus jested.

 

[Zana]

Zana pointedly ignored the look he gave her and fussed around instead with the stack of wooden letters she had. Once they'd chosen a name she would put them on the boxes. It was a chore that left undone would irritate her and it was being held back by a decision they both needed to make sooner rather than later. Then, the idea hit her. Slowly she straightened and looked at him in bemusement.

"Why don't we let them choose now?" they could clearly communicate love and dislike - that Zana had learnt pretty quickly when she had tried to eat tuna the other day only to hurl it and everything in her stomach up a short while later. She was sure they could let them both know whether they liked or disliked a name through the odd bond forming between them.

"Say a name," she raised both brows.

 

[Talus]

God he hated naming things.

Talus' grasp on any sort of vocabulary was always questionable at best, particularly when it came to naming things. He preferred to stay away from those sorts of things. If it had been his final decision the revolution would have been called "Operation cleaning house".

Something everyone would have objected to. "I Uhh..."

He tried not to let the nerves get to him.

"Bob." The name slipped from his tongue, though even he wasn't sure if he was serious.

 

[Zana]

The sensation of laughter trickled along the bond from that thread that vanished into a murky shadow. Zana's lips twitched as she struggled not to join in with the twins amusement. Instead she took Talus' hands and gently guided him to one of the long sofas that now occupied the great space.

"Breathe," she stroked her thumb over the back of his hand and then set their joined hands in his lap - there was no room on hers with her protruding stomach. "This isn't an assignment like in the Academy, it should be fun," she smiled and then decided to lead by example. Settling into the cushions she paused in thought and then offered up to the table.

"Eleanor?"

There was a pause and then, when Zana begun to doubt they would get a response, a sense of negativity wafted down the bond.

 

[Talus]

Talus frowned for a moment, trying to sort through all of the names he knew in his head. It seemed a silly thing, going through them all. He had never been much of a reader, nor did he have the depth of knowledge of different cultures and people's. It felt odd to try and pluck something from thin air.

Zana was right though.

This wasn't some sort of test or examination. There wasn't a way to do this incorrectly. No punishment would come for tossing out a few suggestions. A frown touched his features, fingers scratching at the beginnings of a beard growing on his chin.

"Let's see." He said consideringly. "How about…"

"...Brin." The name came from the man that had helped Zana and Talus in the past. General Brin Aldwaith, who had lost his life during the revolution. One of those whom had fought bravely, but had not made it through the chaos of the day. He'd been a staunch ally, and even a friend in the end.

Talus still wondered sometimes what he would have thought of the new Vel Anir.

 

[Zana]

A sadness touched the corners of her eyes when Talus put forward his next suggestion. The General had found out their secret romance but he had not known about the children. She had thought he would almost order Talus to have her kidnapped and taken somewhere safe and she had not wanted that. She would have not been able to sit by whilst others bled for a cause she had helped rally them to.

From the womb came a thoughtful pause. The silence stretched far longer this time and then, a hesitant, but definite no.

The pair went on for some time like that. Back and forth, asking the twins for their opinion on the names they would bear for the rest of their lives. Zana got the sense that the children did not want to cause sadness whenever their names were uttered or provoke memories of troublesome times for their parents. In the end she plucked random names she had heard on her missions or in stories, names that had meant nothing but she had thought pretty. The twins thought different.

"Lyra?" she asked flippantly, expecting another no. She had changed position to lay down with her sore, throbbing feet propped up on Talus' lap. This time however, back through the bond came happiness and warmth. Yes.

 

[Talus]

"Well that's one at least." Talus said as he tilted his head back and let out a long breath.

His head shook from side to side, and briefly he wondered if it was even worth having more kids if it meant that they had to go through all of this again. Finding a name that felt right was almost impossible. It helped that the kids could have input, but they weren't the ones thinking of the damned thing.

"Ones enough for tonight." He told Zana. "There's still time for the other."

A hand came to rub at his face. "Both my brain and body are tired."

Overly so.

Talus couldn't think of the last time he had done so much...thinking. A part of him felt as though he were back in examinations at the Academy. There was no wrong answer here, but still.

 

[Zana]

Another twinge of pain had Zana's fingers digging into the cushions of the sofa. They were most definitely getting worse but she pushed that thought to the side. Her husband could enjoy one more full night of sleep; who knew when it would happen again.

"Yes, let's go to bed," she concurred once the pain had faded and swung her legs awkwardly to the floor. It was only with Talus' help she would be able to actually stand however. A soft hiss escaped her lips as another pain rolled through her and she gripped his hands tighter. As the pain reached its crescendo something popped and before she realised what it was her waters broke.

"Really... you should get some sleep whilst you can."

 

[Talus]

Talus glanced down.

He might not have been a genius, or any sort of smart really, but he also wasn't a complete idiot. Along with Zana he had read the books, done the research, listened to the midwife within the town. Lips thinned almost immediately.

Panic raced through him, panic that she would feel through the bond.

Somehow though, through all that fear and rush of adrenaline he managed to keep a straight face. His lips thinned and he stepped over towards Zana. "You should sit down."

He said quickly.

"And We should send Grey into town." The wolf had served as a messenger before. "To get the midwife."

Talus himself wasn't entirely sure how he was keeping his voice so calm.

 

[Zana]

The wolf looked up at his name from where he had curled up by the roaring fire but Zana shook her head.

"Do you think that's... wise? I don't know how this birth is going to... go," she didn't need to say the twins magic. Neither of them had betrayed their gifts to the people of the town. As far as they were aware they were just a rich lord and lady who had moved from somewhere to the West to restart their lives and family out of the city. Most of the women in particular had agreed with Zana's choice and the majority of men for that manner too, but then the town were proud of their small and humble home.

"And walking helps with the pain," she smiled weakly and let go of his hands to begin a small pace of the fireplace.