Can't believe it's been a year. I'm really sorry. To those of you still reading, Thank You.
Daughter of Three Suns
Chapter 35
Ward shifts, transforming effortlessly from one form to the other before I reach him. Pulling the folded fabric from the woman's shoulder, he wraps it around himself before picking me up and spinning me, laughing as I scream his name. My cries bring the others, and soon Edward, Esme, and Mother join me in welcoming our son home.
When we've settled, Ward hugs the woman quietly watching us from his side. "This is Kenna," he says. "My mate."
"We welcome you, Kenna."
She starts to answer, but movement behind me captures her attention. Her eyes widen in shock as she whispers to Ward. "Who is this?"
"My Auntie Alice," Ward replies. "I thought I told you—"
"You didn't say she was the White Seer," Kenna interrupts. Seeing the confusion on our faces, she continues. "Our people have a legend of the White Seer who will come before the Uniter, the one who sets the world to right. She will have a great one as her companion."
Glancing back, I see Alice, with Jasper beside her, standing in the shaded area of the island's opening. "A sand cat?"
"Yes. They are revered by my people."
Seeing them reminds me of Jasper's warning. "Your people? Are they the ones hiding beyond the dunes?"
An embarrassed glance passes between Ward and Kenna before he answers me. "Yes, we didn't know if we should bring them closer. Kenna's island is dying. The water barely flows, and there isn't enough food to feed everyone. We came here, hoping for something better, but we can leave if there isn't enough."
With a huff, I start to speak, but Edward wraps his arm around my shoulders, hugging me and stopping my scolding at the same time. "Everyone is welcome here," he says. "There's plenty of room, and we'll share what we have. Go get your people, Kenna, and tell them their new home is waiting."
Kenna's people suffered in their long journey. The women are thin. Their clothes mere rags. Several need help to reach the island's entrance. Edward and Ward carry some of the weaker women. Their basherti are no better. Feathers dull and lifeless, wings too feeble for flight, they cling weakly to their mates' shoulders.
While Kenna leads her people to our island, Edward, Ward, and I follow and help those who struggle. By the time we reach the entrance, everyone is seated in one of the bigger underground rooms. Mother, Esme, and Alice are busy passing out dried fish, fruit, and water.
They eat and drink slowly. Each one feeds her basherter small pieces of fish and tiny sips of water before taking another bite. Watching them, I realize there are no children or seers in the group, only women and their mates. I wonder if they perished under the heat of Daughter Sun. The thought is frightening, and I turn to Kenna, who is standing nearby.
"Where are your children, your seers?"
She shakes her head sadly before replying. "We've had no children in many turns. With our food supplies so low, it was probably for the best, but it's a great sadness. Our last seer died before we left. She told us it was time to leave, that we would have to make a great journey to find the one who unites the people and sets the world to right. She said a messenger would lead us." Kenna glances at me shyly before her eyes return to Ward. "He found us lost in the desert. We'd never seen a basherter like him. When he landed on the sand and shifted form, we were astonished, but I knew he was the one the seer said would come. He led us here to you."
Ward is busy refilling water gourds. As if feeling our gaze, he glances at us, smiling when he sees us watching him. His eyes lock onto his mate. I know the look she returns is just as loving and appreciative as the one on his face. My son left as a boy but returned as a man. Defined muscles stretch the skin on his chest and shoulders; his jaw and cheekbones are just as sharp. He's thin, though, and needs food.
"Ward won't eat until you do. Go. Eat, drink, and regain your strength. You're home now, my daughter."
We found space for Kenna's people. Caves were shared, blankets and pillows distributed. Ward and Kenna moved into his old room. I was relieved to have one of my children returned, but my heart longed and worried for my missing daughter. When I had a chance to ask Ward about Hope, he was surprised to find her still gone.
"We flew together for a long time," he says. "I felt my mate's attraction and turned away. When I looked back, Hope was still hovering in the same place. She sang her goodbye, then rose higher in the sky and flew in the opposite direction. I hoped she would be here with her basherter."
When I share my worries with Edward, he comforts me as only he can. Holding me against him in our bed and whispering reassurances that our daughter will return. I cling to his support.
The times that followed were difficult. Everyone worked to harvest as much food as possible. We ate enough to ensure our strength and health but stored everything else. The water was carefully rationed. Kenna's people became our own as we worked together to survive.
Daughter Sun left, and Mother rose in the sky once more. The plants slowed their growth. Worry and hunger creased our faces. I turned to Alice for advice, hoping that Grandmother Spirit would tell her what we should do.
"What good was fulfilling the prophecy to change our world if we die of hunger and thirst, Alice?" I demand. "Do you speak to her? Have you told her of our need?"
"You worry too much, sister," she answers. "We have much to do before we seek the sands, and the prophecy is not yet finished."
"But I thought—"
Alice stands before I can finish. "Rosalie and Emmett are here." Hand buried in Jasper's neck ruff, she leads me to the island entrance.
One look at my older sister tells me all I need to know about the conditions at her island home. Rosalie is thin. She doesn't look unhealthy, but her face is drawn, and we can see shoulder and collarbones. The same is true for Emmett. "Your island home is dying."
"Yes. We've come to tell you we're leaving, but we wanted to share our plans with you and say goodbye first."
News of Rosalie and Emmett's arrival spreads quickly. Mother and Esme, then neighbors and friends, and finally Ward, all eager to hear news from another island, surround us as we lead them to one of the larger underground caves. While they eat and drink, Ward introduces Kenna and her people and tells of their journey to find us.
"Our island is dying, too," Rosalie begins. "We've decided to separate into small groups and find somewhere else to live." My sister picks up a piece of charcoal and makes a small mark on the table in front of us. "This is our island," she explains. "The island where we grew up is here." This time the mark is a little above and to the left. "There was no one there the last time we visited."
"What?" Mother's shocked voice interrupts. "My sister Charlotte and the cousins? Where was everyone?"
"I'm sorry," Rosalie answers. "We hope they went in search of another home, but we couldn't find anything telling us what happened. There are more islands here, and here, and here." She makes more marks on the table above and circling back to the right. "Emmett has explored those, but the water is gone and the plants are dead. He's seen more islands in a long line here."
More marks, each one below and slightly to the left of the ones above it. "This last one is where you live," she explains, pointing to the one she's made directly beside her home island. "We're going to explore these and hope to find a new place to live."
"It will do you no good. There's nothing left alive there." This time it's Kenna's voice that interrupts us. "When we left our island ring, we came through those. Her finger follows the string of marks Rosalie just added to her map. "There's nothing there, no water, or plants, or fish. Everything is gone." Her words bring a gasp of despair from everyone gathered around the large table and defeated silence fills the room.
Something Kenna said is troubling my mind, though, as I stare at the marks on the table in front of me. "You called it a ring, Kenna, and Rosalie's marks are in a circle. Why is that?"
"All the islands are arranged that way. They form large circles."
"There are more?"
"Yes." With the charcoal stick, Kenna adds to the map Rosalie has made. "Our home circle is here," she explains as she draws a large ring above ours. "There were ten islands in our circle. All have died."
"Where are the others?" I ask.
"Here and here." She draws another large ring beside hers, and then one more to the right of our home. "This map was on a wall in our home island. The seers said that people once lived in all of them."
"But not anymore?" She shakes her head at my question.
"Why are they circles though?" I mutter to myself while I study the map on the table. "Why would they be arranged that way?"
"Because," another voice interrupts from the doorway. "They're all that's left of the great domed cities that were built to protect us when the rogue star we call Daughter Sun passed by our world."
Startled, we turn to see who's standing there. With a cry of happiness, I'm on my feet,
running to greet our daughter, Hope, who has finally come home.
AN: Many thanks to Sally for cleaning this up. Almost finished.
