Welcome to Chapter 13 of my story.
In this chapter, Ronderu and Zilku have a short conversation about the war during Zilku's bath-time and Nemka thinks about what the most recent years have brought her.
As always, I only own Zilku and Nemka. Ronderu and Qymaen belong to George Lucas, Abel G. Peña, Disney and LucasArts.
Without further ado, please enjoy Chapter 13 of Zilku: Daughter of Grievous.
Chapter 13 - Bath-time
While she now understood why they were necessary, Zilku had never liked baths from the day she was born. So, to pass the time and distract the child, Nemka and her parents would talk to her. Today, Ronderu was given the honour.
"Mama?" Zilku asked as Ronderu was finishing the bath by washing her hair. "Yes, my daughter." Ronderu replied absent-mindedly. "Can I ask you something?" The child asked. "Of course, my child, what is it?" Ronderu asked, finishing off the girl's hair and putting soap behind her daughter's bat-like ears to clean them. "Last night, Grandmama and I were discussing the gods and she said they were our ancestors. She said all Kaleesh become gods when they die." Zilku explained. "That's right, child. Does this have something to do with what your question is?" Ronderu asked as she poured water over the child's head.
Zilku spluttered briefly from the water and continued apprehensively "Does that mean they know what's happening in the war?" Ronderu paused before saying "Yes, child, they know that we are under threat by those cowardly bugs. They also know that, for now, we are winning." Zilku looked confused as her mother took her out of the bath, dried her and began dressing her in her nightclothes. "What do you mean 'for now'?" she asked, a little scared of what she might hear. "With the Huks attacking Shrupak, it means they're getting bolder and could be looking to turn the war over in their favour." Ronderu replied solemnly as she finished dressing her daughter, trying her best not to scare her.
Unfortunately, Zilku developed a panicked look on her face and asked "Does that mean something bad could happen to you and Papa? Will they come after me and Grandmama? What if you all joined the gods and I never saw you again?" "Calm yourself, Zilku. Nothing's going to happen to any of us. I won't allow it." Ronderu replied, giving her daughter a determined stare. Zilku turned around, tightly hugged her mother and asked "You promise?" "I promise. I'm sorry I scared you." Ronderu replied calmly. "It's okay, Mama. I was just being foolish. I know we'll all be together forever." Zilku said, relaxing a little.
"Even if anything did happen, we would always be with you in your heart and you need only go to the temples or look up into the stars to seek our guidance." Ronderu explained. Zilku looked up at her mother and said "Really?" "Yes, my child, always." Ronderu replied. Zilku smiled and hugged her mother even tighter. "Thank you, Mama." she said, fully calm once again. Ronderu also smiled and said "You're welcome, Zilku. Now, off to bed before your Grandmama comes to check on us."
The end of the day continued like any other night, with Ronderu and Qymaen telling their daughter about past victories before they and Nemka bid her goodnight and left to allow the child to sleep.
After leaving her granddaughter to sleep and bidding her son and daughter-in-law goodnight, Nemka entered her room and prepared for bed, all the while thinking about the past and about what the most recent years had brought her. She thought to herself how lucky she had been to have her family and how, after the sorrow of losing Qymaen's father in the war, the gods had blessed her with a daughter-in-law and then a granddaughter.
At times, she thought that her late husband had been responsible for guiding Ronderu to their son and for giving Zilku her extraordinary gift and as she got into bed and went to sleep, Nemka found herself wishing that her husband could be with her to watch their granddaughter grow up.
It was of little comfort to both her and Qymaen that he had died the honourable death of a warrior, especially as it was those cowardly insects, the Huks, that had killed him. They had both found comfort in the fact that his legacy lived on through Zilku. Her final thought before she fell into a deep sleep was that she would care and protect her son and his family for the rest of her lifetime.
What a delightful evening. What will the next day bring?
As stated above I only own Zilku and Nemka. I do not own Qymaen and Ronderu.
I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and I hope to have the next chapter posted as soon as possible.