A/N:
One very clever reviewer alerted me to the fact that I said Lyell's eyes were blue in the first chapter, and gray in the second. Lyell's eyes are, in fact, gray. I did a bit of fact-checking between those two chapters and found out that Wanda's eyes were gray, and that's what I was trying to base it on. Thanks for bearing with me. :)
"Hello, Ma'am." said a burly seeker, stepping towards me. He had a mildly texan drawl. "What's your name?" My eyes roved around the crescent of seekers that surrounded me, searching for a way out of this mess. "Ehm- Deep Song," I said uncertainly.
"Well, Deep Song, I'm going to have to ask you to come with us." said the seeker. "And your- er- son."
I frowned. "Have I done something wrong? On what grounds are you- arresting- me?" I stumbled over the unfamiliar word. Could they really take me away just for that, for Lyell? And seekers didn't even arrest souls. They arrested humans. So were they actually arresting my child?
The seeker frowned. "You have kept a human child." I bit my lip. "I have seen other human children. I wasn't aware it was an issue." I replied, trying to stay calm. Another seeker pulled out a notepad. "Is your child a girl or a boy?" The new seeker, a very average-looking woman, disregarded my remark. I felt my fright grow.
"A boy. His name is- Lyell." I hesitated for a moment. I had been inclined to use a fake name, but why bother? It wasn't like I was pretending he was a soul. That cat was already long out of the bag. "Age?" I glanced nervously around. "Er- five months." The seeker scribbled in her notepad. "Where was he born?"
My heart thudded. A question I hadn't anticipated, under the circumstances. I could have said a healing facility, but what if births were recorded, or monitored. "At home. My husband is a doctor." The seeker looked up, straight into my eyes, her intense, suspicious gaze seeming to bore a hole in my forehead. I remembered too late that I had told the healer my partner was an artist. Was it possible that she had told the seekers even that detail? Very, I thought.
After a moment, the seeker's gaze darted back to her notepad, and she continued scribbling. "Have you taken your baby to visit a healing facility before?" I shook my head. "There was never any reason to." The seeker hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Have you ever had any contact with humans besides your son?" her gaze moved slowly up to my face. "No." I lied flatly.
I realized a moment later that the answer might seem odd from the seekers perspective. I had forgotten to act scared, or surprised that she would ask. "Why? Have there been sightings?" I asked, to cover up the mistake, but it came too late. I could tell my awkward question had been noted. I cursed myself mentally. I couldn't afford stupidity.
The smaller seeker still stared at me, but the burly one stepped toward us. "I'm sorry miss, but I need you to get into the car now." he said, indicating the open door of a human police car. Not daring to disobey, I walked slowly toward the car and eased myself into the black plastic of the backseat, still holding Lyell. At least, I thought, they hadn't handcuffed me.
The burly seeker got in the front with the seeker that had been questioning me. The other seekers filed into their cars, and they pulled out onto the road. Lyell had begun to cry, obviously sensing that something was wrong. I set him on my lap and lifted my shirt a fraction, leaning down so that he could nurse.
Ian would worry, I thought. Ian had probably long been worried. But there was nothing I could do as I watched the medical facility grow farther and farther away, fading into the black night. I only wished I knew where they were taking me.
IAN
I paced the caves, sick with worry. I knew it would be fine. How could anything go wrong? I wished Wanda and Lyell were home, back in the safety of the caves. I wished I hadn't let them go on their own. Please, I thought, if there's a god, or something, up there, let them come back safely. I heard footsteps and stiffened, a hopeful spark passing through me. Were they home?
But no, I realized. I would have heard the commotion if they had already come. Someone was just coming to check on me. It was Sunny, who had become very close to Wanda in the year plus that she had been here. "Hey, Ian." she said, as she approached. "You okay?"
I sighed, and shrugged helplessly. "You know. Not really. Not until they come back." Sunny gave a little half smile and moved closer. "Of course you're worried. But it's alright. Remember, we can't even expect them for another half hour or so." I nodded tightly. "I know. I just wish it was over already." Sunny nodded in agreement. "Me too. But hey, while we're here, should we try to take our minds off it a little? How about a story?"
I smiled. "Sure." Sunny was an amazing storyteller. And why not, as she said, try to pass the time with something other than anxious waiting?
Sunny's story had me almost forgetting about Wanda's predicament. I was enraptured with her tale of sculpting the ice, of the colors she described in fabulous detail that shone out of the enormous works. When it was over, I felt marginally more relaxed. The half an hour was almost up. I should be seeing Wanda and Lyell in just a little while.
I felt an odd wave of happiness. When it was over, when Lyell was cured, we could go back to the way it had been. We would live peacefully here again. I would never let Wanda alone on another raid. Life would be sweet as it had been just a few days ago.
Sunny smiled at my own smile. "That's it." she encouraged. "They'll be home soon. Now how about we get a little dessert? There's cookies." she wheedled. I managed a little laugh. That did sound good. It had been a while since we lived only on chunky wheat bread and thin soup, but it wasn't everyday there was something that sweet or decadent.
By the time we had finished dessert, though, my anxiety had returned full-force. Wanda should have been back fifteen minutes ago. Sunny, and everyone else in the vicinity, kept telling me not to worry, that they had probably just had to wait at the healing facility, but it didn't help. I chewed my lip and paced more, unable to stand sitting still to wait.
After nearly an hour, I could hold it no more. "Where could they be?" I cried out, giving my small audience an agonized look. I felt cold, but my palms sweated. They should have long been back. My heart thumped like a drum in my chest. Nausea overtook my stomach, and worry my judgement. "I'm going after them." I said suddenly.
Mel jumped up from where she was sitting. "Ian, be reasonable! We're all worried, but we're letting this get out of hand. They probably just got held up." I glared at her. "You just don't care what happens to her." I flung at her. "She tried to sacrifice herself for you, but you still don't care." I felt a pang of regret at the shock and anguish in her face. "Ian..." she started, softly.
Then Jared stood. "Mel's right." he said fiercely. "You need to get a hold of yourself. We all care about Wanda and Lyell, of course we do. Now we need to calm down and think this out. If they're not back in a little while, we'll send out a search party, but we have to use logic. It could just aggravate the situation to rush headlong into it. They're probably heading back already. Let's just wait a little longer."
Jared was right, of course, but I couldn't agree with him. "You wait. I'm going after her. If she's on her way back, then no harm done. If she's not..." I trailed off as horrible scenarios sprang to mind. "I'm going." I said firmly. And with that, I turned to leave.
"No, Ian, wait!" cried Sunny. I stopped, but didn't turn around. "If you have to go, at least let me come." I did turn then, my eyes softening. "No, Sunny, you stay here. If something's happened, it'll be too dangerous." Sunny frowned. "Ian, I'm a soul. It's not dangerous for me. I can help you." The logic of this quickly overtook any gentlemanly chivalry I had. "Okay. Let's go."
