Atara plummeted, and Stefan screamed.
"No!"
Alemeth kicked Romulus into a dive, and the cryovon flew straight down, screeching in a very un-lion-like sort of way. He seemed to gain speed and momentum at a startlingly fast rate. Stefan almost passed out. In front of him, Torin's head lolled forward.
Behind him, Alemeth slid backward. With the uneven weight, Romulus tilted sideways, and Stefan held on for dear life, his heart pounding like a drum. He couldn't breathe for the gusts of wind suffocating him. What was Alemeth doing? If they didn't pull up soon...
Romulus swooped forward, and before Stefan knew what had happened, Atara dropped from midair onto the cryovon's back, splayed out and panting.
"Hold on, we're going down!" Alemeth gripped her tightly under the arms, and Romulus headed for the ship, barely shuddering from the weight of four people on his back.
As soon as the winged lion's paws touched the deck, all of its passengers fell off. Breathing hard, Stefan tried to right himself, but tripped and landed on his knees. He was so dizzy, he couldn't think...
The last thing he remembered was Da's face coming into view above him, and he said something that Stefan never thought he'd hear again. "Stefan! Torin! Are you alright?"
()()()
Stefan watched Da pace around the captain's cabin, not saying a word. His father been completely baffled when they had tumbled from the sky on a cryovon with their nanny and a strange Tisidoni man. Stefan didn't remember much that'd happened after getting on the warship Seabright a few hours ago.
Atara and Alemeth sat at the oak table in the corner, both bearing sheepish looks. Since being hastily introduced to Alemeth and barely recognizing Atara, Da hadn't said two words to either of them. Torin was still unconscious, laying on a pile of blankets. Stefan had only just awoken with a racking headache and an upset stomach in time to hear Alemeth tell his story.
"So. Let me get this straight." Da turned to face Alemeth, his steely look just short of a glare. "You are an acclaimed Tisidoni bounty hunter and escort for the royal Malaaca family. You purposefully join up with bands of slave traders and lead them to towns to kidnap and steal, making them believe you're just a guide. You then foil their plans with your flock of winged lions and turn them in to the local government?"
"That's about it. Sire," Alemeth added as an afterthought.
"Good. Since you say that these cryovons are extremely smart and listen only to you, I shall send you back to Semora and tell my soldiers to detain the slave traders. There will be a reward coming to you for organizing their capture."
"My beasts will keep them at bay, Your Majesty," Alemeth chuckled.
Da glanced at Atara. "And you. You took the boys on a picnic in the woods. It was by a waterfall?"
"Yes, your Highness."
"Might I suggest that when you picnic again, you take some protection along with you?" Da spoke with the tone of a concerned friend, not as the uptight father Stefan had known him to be.
Atara lifted her chin ever so slightly. Her momentary meekness had faded. "I had a knife with me, sire. I wouldn't have hesitated to use it, but the attack was unexpected."
"And you are alright? You were not taken advantage of?"
"No, my lord. They shoved us around, but we'll recover, I'm sure." She cast a relieved smile at Stefan.
Da fell silent for a few moments. Torin stirred then, mumbling in his sleep. Da rose, kneeling by his youngest son and ruffling his golden-blond hair. Stefan saw Atara watching them intently, almost as if she were recalling some distant memory. Sometimes she just looked so sad. He wondered what could have happened to her before that made her so worn.
"Atara, I'd like to have a word with you in private." Da was slightly uncomfortable, rubbing his thumb across the fingers on his right hand, a telltale sign of nervousness. Stefan felt his chest swell. Maybe, just maybe, Da would talk to Atara about getting married... why, then he and Torin would have a mother again!
"Of course, sire." Ever the devoted servant, Atara bowed her head. Alemeth beckoned to Stefan, turning to go. As they left the room, Stefan glanced back at Da, and was almost shocked to see a hint of a smile directed his way. Da hadn't smiled in a long time.
The bright sun and a fresh breeze hit Stefan as he stepped onto the ship's deck. He breathed deep and prayed that the impossible could happen.
()()()
Da had not asked Atara to marry him.
When Stefan had first received that answer from Atara on the Seabright, he'd been saddened. Da didn't intend to ever marry again, and neither did Atara. Stefan had spent the morning roaming the palace hallways, scuffing the marble floors with his shoes and generally feeling mopey. But it was such a nice fall day that he supposed it would be a shame to waste it feeling sorry for himself.
By the time they'd sailed back into port in Semora by way of a friendly merchant ship, Mem had heard of their escape from the slave traders and their near-death ride on the cryovons (though Stefan thought she was overreacting). She'd hugged both boys until they could scarcely breathe and gave them each three cookies for being so brave. A total of seven times, Mem called Atara an absolute angel.
"If you hadn't been with them, the Master only knows what would happened to our dear boys!" Mem exclaimed. She shook her graying head, either in disbelief or fear of the unknown.
Atara bit back a smile and winked at Stefan. "I'm certain they would have gotten back without me."
"Nevertheless, you truly are the princes' angel!" Mem had insisted, grasping Atara's hands with her dough-covered fingers.
Skipping up to their playroom later in the day, Stefan paused outside the door when he heard muted voices.
"Atara?"
"Yes, Torin?"
"I, um... I want to say... I'm sorry." It was the first time that Stefan had ever heard his little brother talk to Atara without sounding angry.
"Whatever for?"
"I haven't been very nice to you," Torin admitted gloomily. "You were just trying to take care of me, like Mem told you to."
"And I know that you miss your mother very much." Through the gap in the door, Stefan could see Atara sitting on the floor next to Torin, her arm around his thin shoulders. "I hope you know that I never meant to take her place. I just saw two wonderful young boys who needed someone to love them."
"Do you think my da loves us?"
At this, Stefan made a face. He hadn't really thought that maybe Torin felt as unwanted by their father as much as he did.
"Of course he does." Atara sounded as certain as the tides. Smiling, she patted Torin's cheek. "Sometimes he just hasn't known how to show it."
Stefan lapsed into his own thoughts. Was that really true? That Da loved them, but he didn't always know how to display that fatherly love?
Maybe he'd just have to ask Da himself. But later.
Atara took him and Torin down to the shore that afternoon, as the sun made its daily descent toward the endless blue ocean. Gulls dove over the waves, shrieking with those melancholy cries. Stefan sat down and buried his toes in the sand. He watched Atara as she loosed her braid and let her earth-brown hair fall down her back.
"So, if Da didn't ask you to marry him, then... what did you talk about?"
Atara let a breathy laugh slip out. "You don't give up easily, do you Stefan?"
"Guess not." He felt his cheeks grow hot.
"Your father wanted to make sure that I am the person I said I was." The way Atara said it, like she had disappointed someone, made Stefan stop.
"And are you?"
Atara bit her lip and didn't reply.
Stefan didn't know what to make of this. What did it mean, then? Had Atara lied to him? Why would she have done such a thing?
"I am Atara, and that is all that matters." She turned her head to look at him. Tears made a trail down her cheeks, but she didn't give in to weeping. "I wish I could tell you more, Stefan, but... it would be dangerous if I did."
Stefan didn't understand, but he nodded nonetheless.
"Someday, princeling, you will know. But the last thing I want to do is bother you with more worries. You should run, play, laugh." Atara let the wind toss her hair, closing her eyes as though the breeze could carry her away. "Don't let the world steal your joy, Stefan. Be a candle lighting up the dark. Trust the Master, and He will show you how to be happy."
"Did He show you, Atara?"
"Yes. He did." She smiled at the sight of Torin, kneeling in the swelling tide and holding pieces of sea glass up to the light. "He showed me that there is hope, even in troubled times, and that I could find another family, even if they are not my real kin."
Both of them dropped into silence. Then Atara said, "What did the Master show you, Stefan?"
He hadn't thought about it at all before now, but the answer suddenly slapped him like the breakers along the cliffs.
"That I need to talk to Da again."
()()()
Da was staring out the study window, lost in contemplation. Stefan stood frozen in the doorway, simultaneously wishing that Da would hear him, and ignore him. It was only when his foot bumped the coat rack that his father acknowledged his presence.
"Sorry, Da," Stefan mumbled, fully ready to be scolded for disturbing Da's work yet again.
"Come here, son." Da took a seat on the sofa and gestured to the empty spot. Slowly, Stefan crossed the room and perched on the cushion. He played with the cuffs on his sleeves, all the words he wanted to say sticking to his tongue.
But all of them were completely pushed away when Da enveloped him in a hug. It was warm, strong. He smelled just like Stefan remembered... like ink, bootblack, and the cologne that Mum had always insisted he wear. A burning sensation lodged in Stefan's throat as he realized this was the first time in two years that Da had even initiated affection with him.
Da's face was wet when Stefan finally glanced up. His father's hazel eyes, once so hard and unfeeling, were filled with remorse. "Your mother... would not be happy with me," he confessed. "I left you boys on your own when I should have helped you grow up. We should have mourned her and the baby together. I shut myself away, hoping that I could drown myself in work and forget. But I should have known better."
He paused, reaching into the breast pocket of his coat and pulling out a wrinkled, blotchy note.
Stefan's note.
He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Somehow, Da had found his note, the one he'd written in his frustration that his father was ignoring him.
"A guard found this in a bottle, washed up on the rocks by the turret bridge a few days ago." Da's hazel eyes found Stefan's. "I assume you wrote this for me?"
"I didn't want you to see it." Stefan's words betrayed him even as he spoke, as did the messy handwriting on his letter. "I... was angry. But I thought it floated away."
"This is what made me see my faults, son. It was the wakeup call I didn't know I needed." A smile, bigger than any Stefan had seen on his father's face, shone through Da's watery eyes.
Stefan had a sudden realization. Da didn't know what they'd named his little sister. Swallowing fear that Da might not approve, he murmured, "We named the baby Liesl... after Mum."
Da blinked away tears. "That... is a good name." He studied Stefan with the gaze of a proud father. His big hand, calloused from years of practiced sword fighting and gripping a pen in the late hours of the night, rested on Stefan's shoulder.
"Stefan, will you... forgive me? For not being a good da to you?"
Stefan didn't even have to think twice about it. "Yes, Da," he whispered.
"Thank you, son."
For a few moments, Stefan leaned his head on Da's sturdy arm and felt safer than ever. And then he recalled the question that he had yearned to ask Da since the day Mum had died.
"What color were Mother's eyes?" When Da looked at him in surprise, Stefan rushed to explain. "I forgot... what she looked like. I thought...you might know."
"They were gray." A touch of a smile showed through Da's bittersweet memory. "Just like yours."
THE END
I hope you guys enjoyed this novelette as much as I enjoyed writing it! It was fun to get away from the larger plot of my novel and just write a side story without much of a structure.
If you liked it, definitely leave a comment or vote on the chapters... I'd love to hear your thoughts about it!
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