Pomegranate Seeds ➸ Alistair

i

Duty, Alistair thought to himself, was the only reason he found himself here. He was standing awkwardly in the sitting room of a human family, a family to whom a debt he regretfully owed.

"Much has changed since your last visit, Alistair," said William Byron. The last time Alistair had seen him, he had been but fifteen.

"Oh?" Alistair did his best to feign interest in the trivial affairs that humans found to be so important.

"Father regretfully passed away," William said, "and I wed a lovely woman not a year ago. I believe you met her during your last visit; her name is Mary."

"I am sorry to hear of your father," Alistair said. That statement, at least, was truthful. William Byron's father - and his grandfather, who had died some years ago now - was one of the few in the Byron family he could truly tolerate or respect.

"Mary is expecting." William forged bravely on, attempting to fill the awkward silence with words.

More humans, Alistair though dryly, ones that he could not eat. Fantastic. Still, from what he remembered of his own human years, new life was supposed to be cause for celebration. So to appease him, Alistair said, "Congratulations."

"She will be pleased to know you've come for a visit again at last. I'll send one of the servants to fetch her presently," William said. Alistair wondered absently if this was supposed to impress him.

"What have you been up to these past years?" William asked, when it was made clear that Alistair had no intention of replying to his previous statements.

Alistair looked away from the painting he had been examining, red eyes settling on William's tall form. "Wandering, as I always do."

"Well you're always welcome here," William said, though it was clear that he was rendered uneasy by the cutting crimson of Alistair's irises.

The door creaked, breaking through the uncomfortable silence that ensued, and a very pregnant young woman walked through.

"Mary!" William beamed, taking his wife's arm. "Alistair, may I introduce you to my wife, Mrs. Mary Byron."

"A pleasure," Alistair said, nodding at her. She curtsied clumsily, off-balance with the weight of her swollen stomach.

"I remember meeting you when I was just a girl," Mary said, her hand on her belly. "It is an honor to see you again."

Alistair recalled the crystal-clear memory of a girl much younger, with chestnut hair and still-rounded cheeks. "Franklin, your surname was."

"Yes," Mary said, taking a seat. She seemed delighted that he remembered. "I'm due next month."

Alistair had no clear idea of what this had to do with him.

"Would you come back soon after, meet the baby?" She requested.

"If it isn't too much trouble, of course," William inputted.

He didn't want to, but he did owe them, so he agreed. "If it pleases you."

"Oh, it would!" Mary said, practically glowing.

"Would you like to hear the names we came up with?" William asked.

Alistair merely inclined his head.

"If it's a boy, Henry William, Henry after my father and grandfather," William said.

"We cannot decide on the girl's name," Mary said, sounding displeased. "William insists on Margaret Elizabeth, but it's such a mouthful. I prefer Eloise Elizabeth, it's so much sweeter. What do you think?"

Alistair's eyes slid from Mary's face to her belly, where he could hear the baby's heartbeat drumming steadily along. "Eloise," he said, though he wasn't entirely certain why he had said anything at all.

Mary beamed and looked triumphantly at her husband. "Eloise Elizabeth, then, if it's a girl."

"I am hoping for a boy," William informed Alistair after Mary had left the room to rest. "To carry on the family name. But Mary thinks it is a girl."

"I suppose we will soon find out if she is correct," Alistair said.

"What do you think?" William asked.

Alistair was silent, now gazing out the window. It was cloudy, so no sun streamed through to reflect against his skin. "Either is just as acceptable, is it not, so long as the child is healthy?"

"Well, yes," said the man, caught off-guard. "But it never hurts to guess. Surely you have an opinion, one way or the other."

"Girl," Alistair finally said, and once again, he was uncertain as to why he had spoken at all.

~~❀~~
Here's a new project for you! It's fully written, so I'll be posting chapters every few days. Enjoy!