Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Sometimes.
“Fate is ecstatic for the ball,” my brother says, laughing quietly.
“I heard. And apparently, costing you a small fortune in dresses and gowns because she and her mother can’t make up their minds about what to wear.”
Walking—and even running—comfortably now, my niece, while still breast-feeding and napping a good portion of her days away but not yet talking more than a few words, reminds me so very much of my sister that, the more time I spend with Fate, I often wish for Ila to be home with us. Soon, I tell myself. I will get my sister home very soon.
Already wise beyond her years and knowing of things other children her age wouldn’t, Fate is the constant reminder of another Mina we are without, and who won’t be here to see or enjoy the hard work Luna put into the ball meant to bring Hallans and their mates together.
Bothaki grins, clearly unbothered by the expense of dressing his mate and daughter for the ball. “I think it’s the influence of so many different females that she’s like this … Fate, I mean. Not that I’m complaining, but she sees one lady wearing this, and another that, and when we walk through the market, all she does is reach for anything pretty. We take walks by the river, and she tells her reflection in the water that she’s beautiful every time she wears something new.”
I, too, have seen my niece do this.
It is beyond cute.
Bothaki shrugs, then. “How am I to say no?”
Well …
“You don’t,” I murmur.
We were not made that way.
“I’m building another closet, by the way,” he grumbles.
That makes me laugh hard. Hard and loud enough that I finally gain the attention of the people within the great hall who have finally completed one of the last projects leading up to the next moon change, a new moon once again.
And the ball will finally begin.
A celebration meant to bring Hallans from afar and the new human females together in a way that also commemorates and recognizes what finding the human women and Earth meant to our planet and species. With the number of mates already found and confirmed pregnancies, some as far along or very near to Luna’s, we could almost dare to say we are no longer a dying race.
They should be thanked.
From within the hall, Luna waves to me as if to say she’ll be out in a minute. I only nod back, fine to stay where I am until she’s sure she is finished and satisfied with the work she will leave behind. Come the many moons the ball will stretch on for, I only want her to relish and indulge in the beauty and entertainment she worked hard to make come to fruition.
I nod my head toward my brother, gaining his attention, and saying, “Father would be proud that all your time spent being educated in stone work has been put to good use once Selina arrived to you, brother.”
“I bet he would, too.”
The very mention of our father brightens Bo. Maybe time has made the wound of our father’s loss alongside our mother’s easier for us to talk so easily and openly about them without pain following behind. Whatever it is, they’re included in our conversations and thoughts more often than they aren’t … and always with a happy fondness. They are dearly missed, and will always be, but the joy of our beginnings have soothed the grief in its own way. Another thing to be grateful for where these human females are concerned.
Our mates.
“Bothaki,” comes a call of my brother’s name from down the hall. We turn to find Zarah leaning out of a stairwell with a smile. “Selina is looking for you.”
“My cue,” Bothaki murmurs to me, stepping away.
I turn back to watch the sight of my mate coming towards me now. “I will catch up with you again soon, brother.”
His footsteps recede while mine take me closer to Luna who cradles her rounded stomach even as she comes to a stop in front of me. There’s a sway of her shoulders and a twinkle in her eye as she grins at me, and then turns back to look up at the ceiling of the grand hall.
“Well, what do you think?” she asks me.
“It looks better than I’ve ever seen it,” I answer honestly.
I have the memories to prove it, too. My own, and those of my family going back generations when this hall was used for a great many things. Yet, it’s never looked as beautiful and welcoming as it does now.
When she turns back to me, there’s a spark of nervousness in the way she bites the edge of her lip. “You think?”
No, she didn’t need help at all to plan, see it through, and ensure it all would happen. She made her own appointments with merchants for everything from the entertainment to the decorations and spent many days in the kitchen with the royal chefs to be certain the dining hall would be full—and stay that way—with everything a Hallan or human might want to find on a dinner table.