Disclaimer – I do not own BMT world – it belongs to Trudi Canavan

Home Again

Vinara stared at her patient, taking her time, assessing all the outward signs. She moved quietly around the bed, moving in more closely to carefully examine Sonea's face. When she had satisfied some internal criteria, known only to Healers, she gently laid her hand on the girl's forehead and closed her eyes.

Akkarin watched the Healer, although Vinara was practised at hiding her reactions, he could identify small clues to what she was thinking, and as far as he could tell, she was worried about something.

Sonea remained still, her face pale against the pillows, the dark circles under her eyes no better, despite a reasonable night's sleep. She had shown little interest at being back in her room in the Residence, still exhausted after all she had been through in recent weeks.

Getting her back home had been relatively easy. Akkarin had got rid of the innkeeper by offering him some money "…..to thank him for his trouble…." The purse was generous and the man had gone away satisfied. The High Lord was sure that there would be no trouble from him in the future. Besides, as far as he knew, a wealthy man had come looking for his pregnant servant who had run away. Akkarin was not certain the innkeeper believed the story about her being the favourite servant of his wife, but he was sure that the man would soon forget the details once he was spending the money.

Akkarin had arranged for Takan to bring a hired carriage to The Merry Maid and they managed to get her inside the Guild and back to the Residence without creating more than a passing interest from a group of novices. Once in her room, Viola had disposed of Sonea's old clothing, bathed her and settled her in bed. Through it all, Sonea had barely spoken, merely saying "yes" or "no" at appropriate gaps in the conversation. He had sat with her while she slept, holding her hand, just as he had done after the battle. In many ways, he was more worried now than he had been then. A battle injury was one thing, but the malaise of spirit, which now affected his wife, was something else entirely and he was not certain how anyone was going to deal with it.

Vinara was murmuring to Sonea, asking her the usual Healer's questions about how she felt. Sonea's voice was low, but Akkarin was pleased to see that she answered without hesitation and her conversation had moved beyond one-word answers. He wasn't close enough to hear what was being said. Vinara had insisted that he stay out of Sonea's line of vision during the examination. He hadn't asked why, as he was not sure he wanted to know the answer.

It seemed a long time to him, but at last, Vinara was finished. She said a few more words to her patient, smiled at her, patted her hand, then turned towards Akkarin. She said nothing, but gestured to the door. Akkarin silently followed her out of the room.

"Well?" Akkarin said impatiently as Vinara stood in the corridor. She hesitated for a moment, then assumed her objective healer's manner.

"Sonea is, naturally, exhausted after the hard physical work she's been doing in her condition. She hasn't been sleeping very well, as far as I can make out. Added to that, the meals she's had were not the best in terms of their wholesomeness, and this has not helped. I've given her something that will help her sleep, hopefully for several hours. Luckily, the babies seem well enough. She was a bit vague about how long she has been pregnant and I didn't want to push her too much. There will be time enough for that when she's stronger."

Akkarin's face showed his surprise, "Babies….?"

Vinara smiled, "Yes, my boy, Sonea is having twins."

"But magicians don't have twins, Vinara! Are you sure?" He couldn't disguise his shock.

"Yes, I'm sure, Akkarin. You know female magicians control their bodies and only have babies when they want them. Part of that control involves the number of babies born at the same time, so you are right, very, very few magicians choose to have twins. Sonea has been unable to access her magic since the balefire took hold, so any control she had was lost. You are going to be the father of twins and you had better get yourself ready for that!" Vinara patted his arm, all the time, a beaming smile on her lips. He had the strong feeling that she was laughing at him.

They spent a few more minutes discussing Sonea's health, before Vinara went off, promising to return in a few hours. Akkarin returned to the bedchamber and took up his familiar position by the side of her bed. He reached out and took possession of her hand. She turned her head on the pillows to look at him. He could see unshed tears in her eyes.

"It's all right, Sonea," he said softly. "You're home now, just rest."

Her voice, when it came, was a mere whisper, "I'm so sorry, Akkarin."

He brushed her cheek with his hand. "We'll talk about it later, when you are feeling better.

"Do you mind? About the baby, I mean?" He could hear the undercurrent of worry in her voice and realised she thought he would be angry with her.

He smiled, "It was a bit of a surprise at first," he said. You are the master of understatement, he thought wryly to himself. "But I'm getting used to the idea and it feels right."

Her eyes closed in relief for a moment, "I wanted to tell you, when I found out, but I couldn't, not after writing that letter and going away. I didn't know what I was going to do after it was born…" Her voice trailed away.

He watched as the sleeping potion began to work and she drifted off. He remained still for a while, holding her hand and thinking about what would happen next. He had already entered her mind earlier, when she had been sleeping. The balefire was still there, creating an even stronger barrier between Sonea and her magic, the purple tones in the light deeper than before. Unless Rothen comes back with an answer, he thought, I can see no way of stopping it.

He refused to think of what that might mean. He thought instead about the babies. It was obvious that Sonea had no idea she was expecting twins and he wondered briefly how she would take the news. He wasn't really sure how he felt about it all.

First, it was an enormous surprise to me to find myself with a lover I wanted so much. Then I took a wife, something I never expected to do at all. Now I am to be a father, not only a father, but a father of twins. And all this came about because I took on a Novice! I really can't believe any of it!

He reminisced for a while, remembering all those passionate nights he had shared with Sonea and how alive she had made him feel. Pictures of their enthusiastic lovemaking flashed through his mind. He thought again of their shared studies of black magic and development of their Warrior skills, the long training sessions with Yikmo and Sonea's student Warriors. He remembered the battle and her willingness to risk death to save him. She has made me a better person, he thought. She has made me whole. I can't imagine a real life without her. These last few months have been terrible.

He smiled to himself. I don't regret it, not any of it. I shall be a better father to my twins than ever my father was to me! I shall be a better husband to my wife….