Book 4

Siha: Rise of Rakhana

Part II

They leave the ship through one of its bottom holes, touching down on the beach…It runs from them, spreading from their view with the dots of other ships docked, both seaworthy and air-space capable, nestled in the secluded harbor of Suiaghana's jungle-ridden and mountainous terrain.

Tetonbaum follows behind, his leg favored as he walks.

Casnar throws his arm over his wife's shoulders, and they mingle among others, heading into the fortress among the cliffs ahead…Tides of the evening slosh at their feet and boots, as they all make for the mountainside's safe harbor not far from the shoreline wherein hides food, family, respite and comforts…Braith leans into her husband's chest and kisses his mouth as he turns his face, bumping his nosebridge against hers…

Tetonbaum looks out at the sea, hearing the crash of waves as well as chitterings among rachni moving to and from ships with durril and stock from the sheer cliff-face—tall, backwards-walking scorpion-like creatures running over white pebbles and dark ochre rocks.

…Braith smiles at her husband as they ascend the worn, sea-washed steps together, disappearing into the first mouth of the dark cracks among the cliffs of their current home which will later be marked by festive lights from torches, lit by Ylyssus, and the rest, waiting for their warriors and loved ones to return from the fighting across the Beirchardt...She sighs against her husband, "…I can't wait to see them." She feels his chuckling, his arm tightening around her shoulders. Braith looks briefly behind them to see Tetonbaum coming up the steps—at a bit of a drag until someone else assists him with an offer.

Tetonbaum glances up at her, meeting her eyes…He declines the aid of the assisting burrell and simply moves faster…

He is capable of walking on his own, but moves at a reduced pace…due to her and Casnar above.

Casnar glances behind them, too, to check on his half-brother, and sees he is managing the steps well. He assumes all is fine and as it should be.

She can feel them, both trying to surprise her as she enters the warm and familiar passages that wind within the mountain's fortress that drell and rachni may navigate with ease, "…Jen-ner," her voice sing-songs without waver, "…Jas-pin…"

The twins' groan as they emerge from the hidden clefts and claws of dark stone, Braith approaching their tall forms as they come towards her, and Casnar, on the steps made years ago…Casnar shakes his head at his sons' larger physiques, "…They've grown more since we've been away," he chuckles.

Jenner hangs back as Jaspin—with his crests fully-formed, magnificently ridged with sharp prickings of horns at the edges of his patak, the backs of the trails of crests upon his neck—picks up their mother with a great, enthusiastic hug by golden-copper arms wreathed with muscles around joints like an Adonis of Earth, and trilling neatly in her ear, his tebris vibrating in its violet sheen, "…Mum! Papua!" He sets her down, looks her over, thrilled with their being in one piece, and looks to his father, Casnar, "…You're back, and whole," he says, the voice of a young man-drell blooming into his own destiny of a body, "…Where is Uncle Tetonbaum?"

"Where is your father," Braith asks aside, looking beyond him, and Jenner's tall head—smooth-crested as Casnar's—but not seeing Ylyssus, "…Isn't he with you?"

"He'll be along, Mum, no doubt," Jaspin moves to his father and embraces him, "…You both look in good health, a bit soiled, but I gather it went well…You smell healthy."

"We'll declare what has happened at the next meeting, tonight, after some rest and dinner, of course," Casnar shares with them, "…But not before the others have arrived."

"There's a lot to process," Braith looks to her son, Jenner, hanging back still. "Come over here, you," she faces him, reaching for his patak…Jenner leans his head, freckled skin into her palm, "…You," her grays appraise her sons deep eyes of shades darker than her own, "…you have met someone," she tilts her face, lowering her hand from his angular chin.

Jenner smiles and winces his eyes slyly, "…Whatever do you mean, Mumma…" Running her hand over her hair, Braith removes the rubber that releases her long black mane to fall about her shoulders of the glossy blue-silver skinsuit, shaking it some with her fingers massaging her scalp.

"Whatever do I mean…Please!" She rolls her eyes, "…When will we get to meet her…Tonight at dinner, I hope?…As soon as possible," she adds with a hint of command, "…Jenner…"

Casnar's eyes widen as Jenner's tebris folds close to his neck, and pulses nervously under his parents', brother's grins and stares.

I should ask you when I may meet the new devil who made your heart pound…He speaks through a flicker of incomplete images in her mind…Will you be taking a fourth mate?

Braith's smile evaporates, and her expression would appear ashen were it not for the darkness of the space.

Jenner shifts his thonged feet, dressed in the fashion of drells among the Suighan with longer robes and more colorful, complicated designs reflective of the diversity on the continent, …I don't know who you met…

She sees in her mind passing images of colors and shadows, experiences the anxiety, rush, and pleasure again of the kiss…

…I cannot see him nor his face, but for bits and pieces here and there…

Braith's heart races once again…

…I am sorry…I didn't mean to anger you…I'm trying hard not to witness what you and I may share…My power is getting stronger, Mumma…He agitatedly flutters his tebris and rubs his palm over his eyes, settling his fingers to rest across his fine nosebridge...Your response is…You are angry…with me?…I'm sorry…He seemed familiar, not a stranger…You were excited—

"Enough," she utters in a horrified whisper…The secret closely-held…Jaspin and Casnar have been holding their own conversation about the latest drellahnas Jaspin has invited to a trip to the springs later…Now both look to Braith's back, Jenner's face…"You've certainly grown," Braith acknowledges, her expression hidden from view of her husband and the elder son, "…In ways not so obvious to others' eyes," she smiles then to ease Jenner's guilty discomfort, "…Let's talk later, you and I." She nods to Casnar as he comes up, a curiosity in his expression.

Jenner had always been the strongest among the twins' capabilities inherited from their genes—morthwyl, Braith, Casnar, Ylyssus…His ability to share and feel what sights and experiences are contrived from his mother's own life's have been most impressive…

…Particularly now, she thinks.

Jenner may feel her emotions. Sometimes see her dreams, but he cannot decipher yet who or what causes any of these experiences for her, why or how it happens to come about for him...

Braith is relieved Tetonbaum is not present…Her feelings may be seen to correlate with Casnar's half-brother's proximity, and Jenner would know then what was happening...It would not be too far for him to guess and the problems that stemmed from such a revelation…Not good…

He switches topics. "If you want to meet the one," he ignores his father's prodding smile, "…you'll need to change out of that obscene skinsuit you wear, Mumma…Change, and find me at dinner this evening."

"I will," she says with a glance to herself, "…I do look dressed borderline indecent for you two, but then you have both seen me naked as I am your mother and gave birth to the both…raised you in a shower—"

"Don't remind us," Jaspin moans and looks away, covering his eyes with a big copperish hand and melodramatically raising the other as if to shield himself.

"I couldn't wait to see you all," Braith says in self-defense—of not having changed first before seeing them, "…I—

"Neither could I," a taller figure ducks down from a set of carved-out stairs made in the rockface, and leading higher into the dim passages lit by delicately-wrought sconces of Blue Durriya, set at even-enough intervals apart, "…Good to see you made it home, all for the most part in one piece," Ylyssus takes Braith's arm, pulling her up the stairs to kiss her cheek in front of Casnar, Jaspin and Jenner, "…You look wonderful to me…Will you be needing a bath anytime soon?" he adds hintingly, and Braith chuckles into his strong binding arms, covering her shoulders to draw her closer to him—so he may kiss her a real Welcome-Homer on the mouth as she replies.

"Coincidentally yes, my love," she kisses him a little too eagerly back, in front of everyone, and they hear Jenner and Jaspin hiss and boo at the affectionate display.

"I know what they're going to do next," Jaspin says with a cringe, "…Jenner, run..."

Ylyssus breaks off early to nuzzle Braith's nose as she turns a cheek. "Yes, run off, you two, and be glad your fathers and I are still able to—"

Jaspin covers his tenesses with his hands and starts to sing aloud—vociferously and forcefully—to curtail his mother's declaration. Jenner shakes his head and follows down the steps, passed Casnar—but not without giving his blood-father a hug, a pat from the parent on his back covered in sleek robes that barely hold in the younger twin's developing brawn, "…We'll leave you three to yourselves, Papua," Jenner says, and squeezes his father's arm, "…but welcome home…We've missed you and Mum."

"Everything okay, Jenner," Casnar asks, trying to decipher the look in his son's eyes.

Jenner is not easy to read, but a certain telltale folding among his lower eyelids can often give Casnar a hint that his son is concerned and anxious by something…Could be he's dealing with that power of his, and maybe seen some of what happened to us, Casnar glances upwards at Braith…Her eyes are smiling as she watches Jaspin and Jenner depart and Casnar hears his son reply as he does so.

"…All is well, Papua…See you in a bit, we're going to find Uncle Tetonbaum…"

"He'll be having his knee attended lower down in the infirmaries," Casnar says—missing the look in Braith's eyes—as he turns his face towards Jenner and Jaspin at the bottom of the carved stairs. "Don't be too rough with him, Jaspin," Casnar warns the elder of the two, "…He needs to mend first…Jenner—see that your brother behaves around his uncle, and now…Where were we," he looks up at Braith again, alone soon and within Ylyssus's arms, appearing quite the contented woman—in need of a bath indeed—and hungrily Casnar purrs, "…Your mother and we have some catching up to do…" Braith leans her head under Ylyssus's jaw as her nearest husband nestles closer, and Casnar steps up the stairs towards them as the twins' shadows evade view in the warm tunnel-way bored through the mountain by rachni and drell. "They are blissfully safer here, Braith, moreso than anywhere else," Casnar assures her worried expression, misinterpreting this for her hunted sons, herself included, "…You might relax for a time, knowing we have struck the enemy hard today." His palm slides up her back, up over the gloss of her skinsuit. "Let's refresh ourselves. It will be a time before we must meet with the others to review their progress, too, against our own…"

"Jenner's met someone." She feels Ylyssus nod to confirm this, her gray eyes seeking upwards under his jaw. To Casnar, he sees Braith's eyes are warm in the shadow of the other's head, sconces lighting them from above, "…I think he's fallen in love."

"Oh?" Casnar glances at Ylyssus, then back to their wife, "…I hope he's met someone high tierrea enough to appease his parents, and ornery old grandparents," Casnar chuckles, "…Were you able to get a glimpse of the assumed beauty through your shared perspectives?"

Braith smiles, though it smooths into a shallow frown, "…Not really," she admits, moving her head away to look up at Ylyssus, "…Jenner's developing the capacity to partition from my sight, his own."

I need to be able to do the same, she thinks.

Ylyssus's turn to frown downward, "…He has?"

Casnar's expression is amazement, and Braith's smile returns as he and Ylyssus wait to hear more about their son's development.

"He's been working at it," she explains, happy to inform them about Jenner's talents, "…He's not great about it yet, but he will be…"

"If he has the time to advance himself," Ylyssus says, "…We will see to it he does have that time, yes?"

Braith nods her support of this wish for their children's future.

"If only Jaspin could advance in his mental powers," Casnar laments, "…Other than his muscle and confidence," he sees Ylyssus chuckling, "…I can't help but wonder if we need to separate him from Jenner, send him where he can learn without being distracted by the proximity to his brother…and whatever drellahnas he's been fancying lately…"

"Have you met her?" Braith asks Ylyssus, "…Jenner's significant interest?…Not Jaspin's entourage," she jokes warmly.

Ylyssus shakes his crests. "I have not been able to catch them together, which is something...He tends to disappear more often lately, and I find him—but no sign of this drellahna who has his eye…Jaspin's easy to seek but he hasn't anyone he's serious with, Lover," he looks at the both of them, "…Maybe we will meet the elusive mystery female tonight…"

Braith's thoughts wander to the sudden, unexpected kiss from Tetonbaum. Since Kasumi's passing away, she thinks, worrying too about Jenner, …he has found himself with a strange fixation on me…It is grief, but an odd way to hold onto someone, or the memories of someone…Braith can recall her own addiction to Tyrannus venom that led her to not only Casnar but to Ylyssus's arms…The poisons go both ways…

She feels Ylyssus move against her, "…You still with us?"

"I was thinking about something…Distracted was all."

"You need a different distraction from whatever it is," Casnar kisses her neck from behind, "…and I have something in mind for all three of us…Let's get out of these skinsuits, find that hot spring we like to bathe in…Get some of that R and R after a long mission…" He presses his hands into her thighs, letting her know how he wants to hold her in that future mountain spring in their caves...Braith has something else in mind, too, and turns from Ylyssus—ensnaring Casnar's neck with her arms, she moves her lips to his while her second husband drops both hands to her waist.

Casnar's hands rise to hold her face and touch her skin as he tastes her mouth. Smiling, "…Me, Braith?…" He angles his head and gently sucks her bottom lip as she lifts her chin, "…or Ylyssus first…"

She sighs as he grazes the corner of her mouth with his gentle teeth, and lowers his nose to her neck, "…Choices," she murmurs, Ylyssus scenting her hair with a contented hum, a thrum from his belly, "…Such difficult, difficult choices…" She laughs suddenly as Ylyssus picks her up underneath both armpits, and Casnar lifts her beneath her thighs to carry their wife up the stairs, the rest of the way to the upper caverns they have set aside for their private use.