Chapter 76. Sabina

etter Teleri’s rage and grief than another minute in the Realm of Torment, Mabane decided as they filed through the garden into the warm air of Krytan spring time.  The wildness of Lyssa’s Aura lifted a little and made the world around him sparkle with newness and beauty.  He pressed against Armand, overwhelmed with relief and wonder.  They all paused to breathe in the good air and bask in the fresh light of morning.

But they had lost so much and he could no longer sense Pendaran’s emotional state. His master was locked in a slumber so deep he seemed dead.  Armand gently squeezed his shoulder as if sensing his dismay.  In motion once more, they moved together through the garden.  In the time that they had been gone someone had cleared the beds and filled the frames with fresh dark soil.  New shoots formed a faint green carpet on the fertile earth.  On they marched toward the great hall and Mabane saw how the steps rising up to the sweep of the garden door had been repaired and were standing open.  There were boxes and crates stacked up outside of it, recently transported via the sigil’s ornate pad.

The reassuring sounds of hammering and chiseling formed a counterpoint to the enthusiastic songs of the surrounding forest’s birds.  Mabane gazed up at the carpenters, masons and laborers moving over the scaffolding that lay against the building’s flank.  New glass glistened in the old broken windows of the lower floor.  It appeared they had been gone for a few weeks.  What must his poor mother have thought about his disappearance?

He had his answer moments later when news of their arrival reached the gathering of tents.  A crowd had assembled in the courtyard to greet them and there was cheering and exclamations of relief.  Clearly many had thought that they would not return from Torment.  Mabane smiled as he saw the familiar faces of the Dunvael rangers, many of whom he had played with and loved dearly.  He saw the orphans glowing with health and warmed with a golden tan from the abundant sunshine.  They curled around Lemony in delight and she hugged them in each in turn, her round face streaming with tears of grief and joy. With them came the kind servants of Master Bei’s house and they offered to prepare a feast and gather water for baths and perform a hundred small tasks to ameliorate the grief they saw in the eyes of the newly returned.  Finally he saw his mother clutching a wriggling bundle of pale cloth to her breast, her face gleaming with tears of delight and sorrow.  He rushed toward her, grateful for the warmth of her half-embrace and her words of tearful greeting.

“Oh my son,” she wept, kissing him on his forehead and gazing upon him as if she wanted to etch the memory of his face forever upon her mind.  It was then that he realized the bundle was his little sister and he sensed in his mother’s weariness that the babe was only days old. He kissed his mother’s cheek and squeezed her, standing up on his toes as he did so to look upon his sister for the first time.

“She is so beautiful,” he whispered, hoarse with an unexpected surge of emotion.  Her delicate little face and tiny hands disarmed him completely.  She had a faint sheen of russet hair upon her rose petal scalp, “What’s her name, Mama?”

“I called her Sabina for my mother and Helene for Pendaran’s mother,” she replied, her pride causing a smile to curl her lips.  And then she remembered herself and frowned at him, “I’ve been scared nearly witless while you were gone.”

“I know,” he replied, not letting go of her and finding that instead of being frightened by her anger, he was relieved by it.  She loved him, “I am sorry, Mama.  I should never have left you, but I’m home now and I promise I won’t do it again.”

“Ah, my son,” she chuckled, “I’ve learned such promises are pointless.  You’re Pendaran’s son now and I will just have to be content that you are home and whole.”

Mabane stayed beside his mother as she greeted the others and learned their sad news.  Uriel and Teleri had not been friends, even though the long animosity between them had been diminishing over time.  It was for her brother that she grieved.  Morisedd personified desolation, his joy and hope shattered forever.  He would not look upon his new niece and he avoided Teleri’s touch.  Without a word he departed with a group of Dunvael rangers.

“I will return to my bed now, if you do not mind,” Teleri said to the gathering as little Sabina made herself known with a sound like a lost kitten.  She rocked the little babe in her arms and smiled through her tears, “The first floor of the great hall is nearly complete.  They hurried to finish one of the suites so I could shelter there with my daughter.  If you could bring Pen to me when he’s cleaned up…”

“Of course,” said Xiang Yi when grief stole Teleri’s voice.  Mabane stayed with her as she made her way back to her rooms.  He could sense her weariness and pain.  She ached for Pendaran and longed to have him back at her side.

“Don’t worry, Mama, everything will be alright.  I know it will.”

Saying nothing, she drew an arm around his shoulder and squeezed him lovingly as she guided him to their new home.