Disclaimer: Don't own the World of Two Moons.
This is the second of three prologue-like chapters, providing information for later in the story.
Two
Twin Destinies
"Well, it makes sense," Sunstream said, his smile wider than one would have thought possible. He gazed proudly down at the bundle he held, and at the one his mother Leetah cradled. "Both Brill and I are twins, so why would our children not be?"
"Fair enough," the dark-skinned desert healer chuckled. "I'll check on Brill again." Her son carefully took the bundle from his much shorter mother. He maneuvered his twin daughters to rest one in each arm, gazing at them proudly. "Go show off your children," Leetah advised, smiling up at him. "You can come back in, just give her a moment to recover." She winked. "I almost slapped your father when you and your sister were born, but you were worth it."
Sunstream sighed, smiled fading slightly. He gazed on the sleeping Wavedancer maiden lovingly, worriedly, eyes tracing over her form and the spray of hair. The young mystic elf hadn't expected this to be so hard for her. "I didn't want to-"
"She'll be fine," Leetah said patiently. "Just give her the chance to catch her breath."
"All right." Sunstream looked down at the two tiny forms in his arms and his broad smile returned. At last he stepped out of the small chamber in the Palace of the High Ones to greet those who waited eagerly. A surge of his relatives and friends pushed forward, and he had only a chance to nod gratefully to Cutter before he was surrounded; his father had guarded the door, leaving only Leetah, as healer, and Sunstream, as lifemate, to attend the birth of Brill's child- correction, children. Twin daughters.
Even as he held the two small bundles for the others to see (they were careful not to wake the tiny sleepers) Sunstream gazed down at them with fierce pride and love. One babe had perfect bronze skin, slightly flushed, and a spray of deep blue hair; the other moon-pale skin and silver hair just tinged with blue. Earlier, when their eyes had been open briefly, he had marveled at the identicalness of the clear violet; now they were asleep.
"Have you been thinking about names, Sunstream?" Cutter asked, coming over to hold his granddaughters for the first time.
"Crescent." The others looked up in surprise. Dart stood slightly apart from the group; now he came over to gaze at the silvery child his friend held.
"What?" Sunstream asked.
"Crescent," Dart repeated. "Her name." He smiled down at the newborn. "She is the one my sister Crescent is waiting for; she should share her name." Then Dart turned away and left, all the others staring after him.
Sunstream looked at his daughter, who squirmed in her sleep. "Crescent," he whispered.
I am with her. He looked up; the young maiden's spirit form glowed from inside the crystalline wall of the palace.
"Is it your wish that she bear your name, Crescent?" Sunstream asked.
It is. I am watching over her; it is only fitting.
"Fitting indeed," someone murmured from behind Sunstream. He turned to see his mother helping a pale Brill sit on a bench. He quickly stepped to her side, wishing he could put a hand on her shoulder but with his arms full of his daughters. She smiled up at him reassuringly, if a little tiredly. When he looked up, Crescent's spirit was gone.
"Why would she take special interest in our daughter?" he asked, half to himself.
"The ways of all elves are a mystery to me," someone said softly. Shuna, the human Sunstream's parents had adopted, had hung back to be one of the last to greet the new arrivals; even after so many years with the Wolfriders, she was still unsure of her place with them. Now she gently reached out to brush the pale baby's hair from her face.
"The ways of elf spirits are even more mysterious," she continued. "I think I shall never grow accustomed to your speaking with those you say have been dead for thousands of years. In any case, the spirits have never led you astray, and Crescent has already saved my own life once, in warning her parents of the dangers of the old troll caverns. Spirits –living or dead– have their own ways of doing things. But they always mean well." She smiled as the newborn turned in her sleep and clasped her finger in a tiny fist.
Sunstream regarded his tall human sister for a moment, then turned to his twin, his elven sister. Ember nodded, smiling encouragingly. "She would not lead you wrong," the flame-haired elf said, "but this is your choice. Brill?"
"If it is the will of the spirits of the Palace of the High Ones, then let it be so," the Wavedancer said.
Sunstream nodded. "Then so be it." He looked down at his unnamed daughter and went over to Brill, who gently took the blue-haired babe from him.
"What will you name her?" Cutter asked. He and Leetah stood together, watching Sunstream and Brill, reliving glorious moments of their own.
The two looked at each other. "I think that she is a Wavedancer," Sunstream murmured, sliding onto the bench next to her. "You choose." He wrapped her free arm comfortably around her shoulders.
Brill smiled down at her sleepy daughter. "Seaflame."
"It's a lovely name," he whispered into his lifemate's hair. They sat close together, feeling utterly content. They were surrounded by Wavedancers, Wolfriders and Sunfolk, each and every one close kin to one of the new parents. The love they all shared was almost tangible in the aura of the palace's magic, and they were content.
"Crescent and Seaflame," Leetah said. "Welcome to the World of Two Moons."