9781631055577NiKohsChosenMichaelsNC (7 page)

“I
am starving. RaKel let me exercise the
panneis
this afternoon, and I had forgotten h
ow hungry I get afterward.” GiNae entered his line of
sight. “Why is the door open?”

ViShe
turned her back to NiKoh.
Damn her; she knows I will not eavesdrop
on a private conversation.
Just hearing GiNae’s brief account was enough to cheer him
up. NiKoh re
ached for his fork and tasted the zesty
vegetables for the first time in weeks. He saw GiNae move around her mother and
approach the smaller table.

“Greetings,
NiKoh. All is well with our planet security?”

NiKoh
chuckled to himself as he returned her gree
ting.
“There are always a few mishaps, but nothing out of control. Are you enjoying
your work with the animals?”

GiNae
took her seat and said a quick blessing over her food. To his surprise, NiKoh
silently joined in respectful silence.

“I
love it. Neither
RaKel nor I ever have a dull
moment.” She began to eat, telling NiKoh of the various antics of the animals
and relating anecdotes of clients. One story reminded NiKoh of a childhood
memory and soon all three were laughing at the thought of BaRok running th
rough the forest with his tattered pants flapping around
his knees.

NiKoh
swallowed the last bite of his dessert from his plate and drained his goblet. A
burp caught him by surprise; it had been weeks since he’d eaten everything set
before him. He patted h
is full belly, then stood up.

“Thank
you, ladies. I enjoyed your company this evening.” NiKoh smiled, then retired
to his study.

A
holographic image soon appeared. “Greetings, NiKoh. Am I interrupting?”

“No,
Mother. How are you?”

“I
am well. BeHah has info
rmed me of a family who
recently lost everything in a fire. Would you be willing to donate some of
BeSai’s things?”

Anger
welled up. “Another woman wearing my mate’s clothing? I think not. How dare you
ask me that?”

“Patience,
my son.” ReNei remained calm.
“If you are not ready,
then I will take my leave. It is not good to hang onto such things, NiKoh. You
need to let go. Remember, others are not as fortunate.”

“Maybe
I could donate a few things,” NiKoh relented. He blinked back tears which tried
to blur hi
s vision. “I will have them ready in the
morning.”

“Blessings,
NiKoh.” ReNei blew a kiss before her image shimmered and disappeared.

NiKoh
dropped his head into his hands.
Do I have the courage
to enter that room again? Mother is right; I will have to let
go of her eventually. Others could benefit from her
belongings; BeSai would want that.
He finished going over the household
accounts, amazed at what little needed to be paid.
I
did not realize how much we used to spend on gardening supplies. Maybe I need t
o venture out and look at our garden.
NiKoh left his study and ascended the
stairs. Taking a deep breath, he entered the master chamber, wrinkling his nose
at the musty interior.

ViShe! I have made a mistake. Can you
come up here?

Certainly.

NiKoh
strode
to the window and opened it, letting the late
evening breeze waft through the room, bringing the scent of roses. ViShe
arrived with a duster and went to work on the furniture.

NiKoh
paused beside the closet, then flung open the doors. He fingered each
tunic, skirt, and dress in turn, remembering the last time
he had seen her in each. The lesser worn garments he laid on the bed, but her
favored pieces he left inside. He hesitated with the items in the drawers.

ViShe
touched his shoulder. “Let me clean ou
t those for
you. If I find anything I think you would like to keep, I’ll let you know.”

“Thank
you.” NiKoh tried to swallow the sudden lump in his throat.

“Going
through a loved one’s belongings is sometimes tough. You do not realize the
memories attached
until you see them.” She patted his
shoulder as he turned back toward the bed.

“Mother
will be here in the morning to get the things on the bed. Will you see they are
bagged and ready for her?” NiKoh’s eyes swept the rest of the chamber. He
swallowed and e
ntered the washroom, looking only at
the sink area. BeSai’s hair things and other female items remained. He turned
and went back toward the sitting area. “You can also donate everything in the
washroom. I have no need of it, so take anything you like.” NiK
oh left the room and went to his own, wiping his forehead
in relief.

*
* * *

ViShe
watched him leave and shook her head. At least he had taken the first healing
steps. Every time she had tried to clean the room, NiKoh had snarled, so she
had obeyed his w
ishes and left it alone. The fact he
was now willing to donate most of BeSai’s items was a good sign. She called
down to GiNae to bring up some bags, and together they went through the drawers
in the closet.

“What
made him decide to finally do this?” GiNae
folded
undergarments, socks, and hosiery.

“There
was a fire on the other side of town. I suspect his mother contacted him about
donating, since she has wanted to clean out this room ever since the funeral.
ReNei is a take-charge woman, who believes in get
ting
on with life, instead of hanging onto the past.”

“Is
that why you got rid of Father’s items so quickly? I remember we gathered in
your room with the aunts and piled everything on the bed, then chose what we
wanted to keep. I still have the shirt he al
ways wore
when he would make things out of wood or putter in the garden.”

“Yes.
Not everyone is that way though. Will you go check the contents of the
washroom? NiKoh said he did not need anything in there.” ViShe opened another
drawer and sighed. Here was
the jewelry ReNei had
asked her to check on. Not knowing exactly what ReNei was looking for, ViShe
gathered all of it and put it into her pocket, then opened the last drawer and
gasped. Inside lay a journal and a photo album. These ViShe gathered and took
downstairs for ReNei. When she returned, GiNae had
finished her task in the washroom. After closing the window NiKoh had opened,
they took everything downstairs and placed it beside the front door.

“Thank
you for your help, GiNae. Go on to bed now.” ViSh
e
kissed her daughter, then followed her back to their quarters. She closed the
door to her chamber, then dumped the various rings, necklaces, and earrings
onto her bed. ViShe sorted them into pil
es
and
 
placed
them into separate small bags.

The
next morn
ing, after both GiNae and NiKoh had left for
work, ViShe teleported to ReNei’s home and rang the bell. After being admitted
and dropping the bags of clothing by the door, ViShe greeted ReNei and
presented the jewelry to the older woman.

“Thank
you, ViShe.
Here are the Bonding Necklace and rings
my son chose for her, and the pin which stated her rank in the Council, plus
OkVei’s christening necklace, and the set I gave her for their anniversary. The
rest I will present to the girls, and anything they do not
want will be donated. You say you found a journal?”

“A
photo album also.” ViShe handed the items to ReNei, who opened the journal.

After
a few moments, ReNei closed the book. “I will save this for OkVei when he gets
older. This is full of her delight in hi
s first few
years of life, as well as her sorrow at losing all five babies.”

“Five
babies?” ViShe looked up in surprise. “I thought she only lost two.”

ReNei
shook her head. “No, she didn’t want NiKoh to worry about her. This last one
she managed to carry
longer before she miscarried.”
She opened the photo album and smiled. “Here are she and NiKoh on their Bonding
Day, and OkVei’s baby pictures. I will set these aside for him also.”

“I
am happy I found them for you. Blessings.” ViShe stood up to leave.

“Ble
ssings.”

ViShe
went outside, then teleported back to NiKoh’s house. She brought in fresh
flowers and tidied the downstairs before heading back to the kitchen and
preparing the evening meal.

She
set out NiKoh’s fermented beverage for him a few minutes befor
e he was due home and propped open the kitchen door. ViShe
ladled hot soup into a tureen, placed the vegetables into a bowl, and pulled
hot bread from the oven. She heard NiKoh enter the dining area and hurried to
set out a small bowl of soup in front of h
im, along
with two slices of bread.

“Greetings.
The meat is nearly finished, so here is something to tide you over.”

NiKoh
quirked his eyebrow at her. “I told you the world would not end if you
conversed with me last night.”

ViShe
narrowed her eyes. “I am
only doing this because I
have been with you for over
fifteen
years. Do not get cheeky with me.” She picked up the
carving knife and attacked the roasted
neichi
.

“Especially
not when you are wielding a knife. I learned my lesson the first year you were
her
e.” NiKoh’s voice held a hint of humor.

ViShe
arranged the meat slices in a pattern on the blue-rimmed platter. “I was not
expecting to find you in my kitchen, sampling dinner before it was on the
table. You deserved to be stabbed in the hand.”

“You
stabbe
d NiKoh in the hand?” ViShe turned to see GiNae
in the doorway, dusty from her day.

“I
deserved it,” NiKoh called from the dining area, his mouth full of food.

“You
have straw in your hair. Go, wash up. NiKoh desires our presence again.” ViShe
motioned
with her hand, then picked up the platter
and went to the table. “What is the world coming to? I am caught by my own
daughter breaking the rules.”

“I
have never stood on ceremony, ViShe. I have always thought those rules
antiquated and stupid.” NiKoh took
a large drink of
his beverage. “BeSai was always too busy thinking of plants and soil to worry
about what was proper. That looks delicious. Thank you. I will take more soup
after GiNae returns.”

ViShe
said nothing, but turned and fixed a plate for herself
and for GiNae.

*
* * *

GiNae
plucked the straw from her hair and ran a comb through her unruly pale blue
locks. She grimaced at her image in the mirror, then bundled it back into her
usual ponytail. Wetting a cloth, she wiped the dust from her face and changed
her tunic, then tr
ied to calm her shaking hands. What
was happening? Her mother had told her, over and over, Domestics did not mix
socially with their employers. Yet here was her mother, treating NiKoh like her
son and consenting to eat the evening meal at the same time.
At
least we are not at the same table, but we might as well
be.

Then
there were GiNae’s nightly dreams. They had begun quite innocently, with dreams
of being kissed by a faceless man, then sitting on his lap. However, last
night, she had woken up with her n
ightdress
unbuttoned to the waist while her own fingers curled around her breasts.
Is
this what Maturity
means?
Dreaming about my
Chosen
?
GiNae smoothed her green tunic and returned to the
kitchen.

“Are
you going to fill me in on why you stabbed NiKoh?” Gi
Nae
slid onto the stool opposite her mother.

“After
I moved in and hired your mother, I came home early and was hungry. My brothers
and I were good at sneaking bites of whatever Cook had on the counter, so I was
confident I could do the same to your mother
. As I
found out, I was fast, but ViShe was faster, and when I swiped a chunk of meat,
a fork landed on the back of my hand. That was the day I learned she had known
I was behind her, but she was not going to let me get away with it.” NiKoh
picked up his g
oblet and saluted.