Luminescent (Inheritance Cycle and Beyond)

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Blinding

Of course, Fen only talked with those she absolutely trusted like Murtagh, Yirlitá, and me, but to hear her voice was a gift unto itself.

"Does that include Thorn?" I nodded with a smile.

"No boys allowed," I announced. "That includes Dragon's."

A wicked grin spread across Fen's face shortly before she wiggled back out from the bed and trotted into my closet.

"Grandma Yirlitá said you're in my care so there I get to pick out what you wear today!" Fen called out as I struggled to pull myself into a sitting position. After what felt like a million years, even though it was probably only a minute, I got myself into a sitting position.

With a hand on my belly, I swung the covers off my legs and slowly eased my legs onto the floor. With slightly stiff limbs, I pushed myself to my feet and went to make sure that Fen didn't pull out anything too outrageous.

I found a giggling Fen riffling through several maternity tunics. She occasionally stopped to consider a choice before shaking her head and muttering to herself before continuing her search.

She eventually pulled out a tunic that matched Alethea's scales and thrust it in my face before diving into my pant collection. At least Fen had the sense to keep the stacks of clothing neat as she decided on the color.

She ended up pulling out a pair of brilliant blue pants and black boots. I will admit, the seven-year-old was good at picking outfits. I slowly switched out my nightgown for the tunic an pants and sat on the end of my bed to pull on my boots.

By the time I finished dressing and had made the bed proper with a flick of my fingers, Fen was vibrating with energy again.

"Child, where does your energy come from?" I asked her as we left the bedroom and traveled to the kitchen. Fen shrugged before she started skipping ahead. I followed her into the kitchen where Murtagh had left out a tray of my usual breakfast.

I grabbed two plates from the kitchen cabinets and placed them both on the small table in the kitchen before I lowered myself into one of the chairs.

"I am getting too big to move," I groaned to myself as Fen climbed into her own chair and reached for the pile of berries we had gotten in the habit of reserving for her. While Fen dug into her berry pile, I reached for my usual bread and jam.

Fen and I ate a quick breakfast before cleaning up and heading for the dining room, our impromptu tutor area. Fen was a surprisingly fast learner, getting her letters down first, her reading area was improving with every scroll I had her read and the ancient language I taught her came to her like second nature.

"Okay, now what are the vowels?" I asked her, drilling her once again on the ancient language. Fen listed off the vowels for me before going in-depth on the differences. Sometimes this child made me wonder if she was even human.

A knocking on wood drew our attention away from the math sheet we had been covering to see Yirlitá standing in the entrance of the dining room.

"Grandma!" Fen exclaimed. "look at work!"

"You are improving quickly, young one." Yirlitá praised her as she walked over. Yirlitá turned her eyes to me. "and you look like you are ready to strangle your mate."

Fen looked between Yirlitá and me, confusion stretched across her features.

"Why would she want to strangle Murtagh?" Fen asked, cocking her head to the side. She clearly did not understand the true meaning of Yirlitá's words.