Page 55 of Xel: Broken Bond
Yona made a derisive sound, then turned back to me. He watched me for a long moment, and I waited, knowing that this entire plan largely depended on his cooperation. Neither Rohinavon nor Aiden would forgive me if I fucked this up.
“There is one thing that I want,” Yona said, and I braced myself for all manner of outlandish requests. Money, weapons, rare tech or minerals; I could think of a thousand different things a smuggler might want to get their hands on.
“And what would that be?” I asked, when he didn’t continue.
Again, he hesitated. “I want…” He shuddered, looking around nervously. “I want you to… When you set up this nursery for the children. I want you to take… I want you to make a place here for one extra child. Not a Vangravian one.”
“What sort of child?” I asked warily. This was certainly not what I’d been expecting him to say.
“An Anicrian child,” he said, body tense, his hand on the butt of his weapon. “My son.”
His what? “I see,” I said slowly, though I really didn’t understand. “Why do you want your son to live here? How old is he? Where is he now?” I had so many questions, but tried to keep a lid on them so as not to overwhelm him.
“He has not been born yet. But he will be, in about two months. Anicrian culture is very complicated. I have been outcast from my family – hence my occupation,” he added, with a snarl, “so the authorities will take the child and give him to my older sister. She is not a nice person. My son will not be safe with her in charge.”
“What about his mother?” I asked, baffled by the explanation. “Doesn’t she get a say in this?”
“She will be executed. For breeding with an outcast.”
Holy fuck. Now I had a mountain more questions. Did Yona love this woman? Had she fallen pregnant deliberately or accidentally? Why had he been outcast in the first place? And had that happened before or after he’d become a smuggler? This wasn’t a part of Anicrian culture that I’d learned anything about in school.
But before I could sort through the quagmire of swirling questions, Xel asked a very simple and very sensible question. “Will you be bringing your son’s mother here as well? Or just the child?”
That, it seemed, honestly hadn’t occurred to Yona. “You would… accept his mother as well?”
“It would be better if his mother came,” I said emphatically, giving Xel a grateful nod. “We’ll have to find surrogate families to look after the Vangravians, but if your son already has a mother, that makes things a lot easier.”
Yona bowed suddenly, as low as he could manage, with his eyes firmly on the floor. Wow. That was quite a change. In less than half an hour, he’d gone from threatening to shoot us to a heartfelt display of trust and gratitude.
“I would be most grateful,” he said, when he stood up. “If you will do this, then yes, I will do everything I can with the rest of your plans.” Then he suddenly announced, “I need to go. I have deliveries to make, and you are clearly not ready for the babies yet. Aiden or Vonnie can contact me when you need me next.”
“Okay,” I said, scrambling for a reply as he scampered for the door. “Well, thank you for coming. We’ll be in touch!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
XEL
After Yona left, I offered to go and get started on cleaning the kennels. My master seemed rather overwhelmed by the whole situation, and I wanted to do whatever I could to ease his concerns.
“Yeah, thanks,” he said distractedly. Presumably, he’d need to report back to Aiden, and perhaps discuss more of the details with Rohinavon. I gave Mr Beans a quick pat, then took Bribie over to the reception building. He could come with me while I cleaned the kennels, then sit with Bo when I went to do the barn.
I didn’t see my master again until I’d finished feeding Huckleberry and Clyde. I was relieved to see that the two donkeys had become fast friends, and I hoped we’d find a new owner for them who was willing to take them both. I watched as they gallivanted around the paddock, chasing each other the tossing up clods of dirt with their hooves. Huckleberry’s feet didn’t seem the least bit sore, which was as good an outcome for him as we could have hoped for.
I headed back to the cottage, and as I came up the path, I saw my master sitting on the porch, deep in conversation with Aiden, via his comm. I decided to leave him to it, rather thaninterrupting. He could fill me in on all the details later, and in the meantime, I could clean myself up a bit, then make us all some lunch.
As I closed the front door behind me, I listened for the pitter-patter of feline feet. Mr Beans was usually quick to come and say hello when we got back from any of our chores, so I was a little surprised to hear nothing. “Mr Beans?” I called, cocking my head. Still nothing. Hmm. I headed down the hallway, meaning to wash my hands in the bathroom, then check the rest of the house… but the instant I passed the kitchen doorway, I yelped and leapt a foot in the air as Mr Beans leapt out from behind the door and hurled himself at me. He landed squarely, then raced away down the hallway, disappearing into my bedroom. And then I heard a chuckle coming from the kitchen. “He’s been doing that all morning,” Rohinavon said, from her seat at the kitchen table. “Seems thoroughly pleased with himself every time he’s managed to scare me.”
I grinned. “Perhaps that’s something his previous owner taught him? He seems to have a few tricks up his sleeve.” Which had included tipping his water bowl over to get attention.
“By the way, Cole said I could order some clothes on the grid,” Rohinavon added. “There should be a delivery coming in about an hour, if you could let Bo know?”
“Of course.” I sent a quick message to Bo – we’d explained to Rohinavon how most of the orders for the property were delivered to reception – and received a cheerful acknowledgement just as quickly in reply. “All good,” I said to Rohinavon. “She’ll let us know when it arrives.”
I padded down the hallway in my socks, anticipating that when I got to my bedroom door, I’d get…
Yup, a little ball of grey fur careened into my legs, chirped, then took off into my master’s bedroom this time. “Very funny,”I called after him. “I thought you were supposed to be old. Don’t you need a nap at some point?”
By the time I’d washed my hands and prepared some lunch – a salad with chicken and bacon pieces sprinkled over it – my master was still talking to Aiden. I ducked my head outside and made an eating motion, and he nodded, holding up his finger in a ‘just a moment’ gesture.