Ides of the May (Children of the May 2 - updates weekly)

Chapter Fifteen: Natalie

I dismounted, and walked towards her.

‘The others can go,’ said my sister. ‘But you stay, shrimp. I will not let you leave and put Natalie in danger.’

She was quite serious. There was love in her such as, I thought at the time, I had never witnessed in the eyes of any of my family. There was no way I could reason with a mother’s overwhelming love for her child, but I tried anyway.

‘Y-Y-You think you c-can keep her safe without M-M-Mother here? W-Without Neave, if Mother’s c-c-c-correct and she’s alive? W-W-Without Neave’s boy, and with Nemone’s p-p-p-p-power gone? I-I-I saw Merlin at the b-b-boundary of the Lake; it’s only a m-m-m-matter of time before he c-c-comes for you and Natalie and Mother.’

‘Mother will bring Neave and the boy back,’ she said. ‘And then we’ll be complete, and we’ll be safe.’ She stepped towards me, and touched my cheek in an imitation of affection. ‘Drift, we have been cruel to you, I know. But that can change now. It will change. Think of what’s gone before as... as an initiation into the family. We wanted to make you tough enough to be one of us, you see. It was nothing different from what I, or Neave or Nemone experienced. We do love you; we always have, dear Drift. It was all a game, just a silly game. I’ll tell you your real name, the name we always planned to give you when you came of age. You were to be Neptune. You are Neptune.’

And then my sister smiled at me, and I felt such a longing in my heart. For my whole life, for sixteen long years, I had hoped for a single word of kindness or affection from them; I had prayed to all the gods and to none for it. Here was my eldest sister, giving me everything I had ever needed: a kind touch, a soft tone, an explanation and an excuse for everything they had put me through.

‘Mama?’

Natalie had toddled out of the castle in her nightdress. Nerina’s eyes broke from mine, and –

I ran to my niece and scooped her up, as she had asked me to in the wood. She giggled and grabbed my hair with her little hand.

‘M’Uncle,’ she said.

‘I-I-I am,’ I told her. ‘I’m Uncle D-Drift.’

‘Put her down, Drift,’ said my sister softly. ‘She should be in bed.’

I shook my head sadly. ‘I-I’m sorry, s-s-sister, but I’m n-n-not a child anymore. You’re not going to f-f-f-f-fool me like that ever again. I-I-I-I only have to see you with this one to know y-y-y-you’re lying to me.’

Nerina reached out for her child. ‘Then give her back to me and go,’ she said sharply. And then I knew for certain I was right. She had been making a fool of me, as my mother, she and my other sisters had so often before.

I smiled at Natalie. ‘Shortly, N-N-Nerina. F-F-F-First I’m going to t-t-take my niece for a quick n-nighttime ride.’ I tickled Natalie under her chin, and she giggled. ‘You’ll like that N-N-Natalie, won’t you?’

‘Off,’ said Natalie, trying to push my fingers away from her neck.

I walked towards Tommy, and mounted with Natalie still on my hip. ‘Open the g-g-gates,’ I said over my deformed shoulder.

My sister, her eyes always on her child, clicked her finger and thumb and the gate mechanism reversed, opening the heavy wooden doors. Brunor was outside, staring up at the doors as they swung open.

‘I-I-It’s alright, Brunor. I-I-I was just saying g-g-goodbye to my sister and m-my niece.’

Tommy took me to Brunor’s horse, and the two beasts nuzzled each other. They had become good friends on the road, those two.