Waymakers (Champions of the Crystal Book 9)

Chapter 5.3

Dinner was unexpectedly small. Cynthia wasn't back from helping the Harileys, but she'd sent word for Asdis to bring Corbin and Nera there. Scotty's kids were still with him and Aurora, and Seuréa was apparently still with her mother.

As Ford, Sabrina, and Lily seated themselves, Ford said, "This might be the first dinner we've ever had with just the three of us."

Sabrina smiled. "It might well be. But three and a half of us."

"Of course," Ford smiled back, dishing up food on Lily's plate and setting it in front of her before holding out a hand for Sabrina's.

Lily pushed some of her food around her plate, looking dubious. "But only three of us are eating," she said.

"Well, two of us, anyway," Ford chuckled, handing Sabrina a heaping plate. "Aren't you hungry, Lily?"

"I had a snack earlier. With Corbin and Nera." She looked at him. "Are they coming back?"

Ford hesitated. "I don't know. That will probably depend on whether their mother comes back to work. But your cousins and Uncle Scotty will be here soon. So you'll still have playmates."

"How come everybody else gets to go visiting?"

"They aren't visiting. They're home," Ford said, serving himself. "When they're here, they're visiting."

Lily frowned at him. "But I never get to go visiting to their home."

Sabrina stifled a sigh. "When you're a little older, sweetheart. Right now you stay with us or Asdis."

"It's not fair," Lily pouted.

"Maybe not, but it's the way things are," Sabrina replied.

"How old until I go visiting?" Lily asked.

Ford and Sabrina exchanged glances. Ford thought, We may actually want some peace and quiet when it's time for Rose to arrive. We could ask Selémahs.

Just for one night, Sabrina thought, feeling a pang of anxiety.

Yes, to start, Ford agreed. Surely we can't be so unlucky as to pick the day of the next invasion to have the baby.

I certainly hope not, Sabrina thought fervently. "Soon," she told Lily. "You can visit your cousins in a few months."

Lily brightened, as she always did when she got her way. "One month?"

Ford chuckled. "We'll see. Of course, only good princesses get to go visiting. And good princesses eat their dinners."

Lily gave her father a look that said she knew exactly what he was up to, an exact replica of her mother's. But she stopped moving food around her plate and began eating it.

Sabrina grinned at Ford before taking her next bite of food.

They were silent for the next few minutes as they ate, but Ford reached under the table and twined his fingers with Sabrina's. This is what I imagined our family life would be like, he thought. Quiet. Comfortable.

She chuckled. Not our usual circus. Enjoy it while it lasts.

As if on cue, the hallway door opened and Seuréa hurried in, pulling out a chair and dropping into it in a very unprincess-like manner. "I'm exhausted," she announced. "And starving!"

The service door opened, and a server quickly laid a place setting just before another arrived with a pitcher of water and a fresh basket of bread. Since this was an informal meal, they left quickly afterward as Seuréa filled her plate from the platters on the table.

Ford said, "Welcome back. Where did you leave Mother?"

"She's still working at the infirmary, but she sent me back to get some dinner and sleep. Growing girls need both." Seuréa grinned as she took a drink.

"True. Especially if they're working hard at their lessons," Ford agreed.

"I was. Mama says I have a real talent," Seuréa said proudly. "By the time I'm grown, I should be a full-fledged Healer. I just needed a teacher."

Sabrina tried to reason away her feeling of guilt. She could not have taught Seuréa something she didn't know how to do herself, after all. And she hadn't been the only one keeping healing off the curriculum; there had been general agreement that it was dangerous to attempt without an expert to supervise. "That's great! I'm glad you'll be able to learn how."

"I should have been learning all along," Seuréa grumbled.

Ford cleared his throat. "You know why you weren't."

Sabrina could feel his annoyance even through her own sadness. "How much does Mara think she can teach you before she has to leave?"

"Once I have learned the necessary degree of control, the Conservator can supervise me," Seuréa replied. "Now that we'll have one. And I can ask Cynthia if I have questions."

Cynthia would be excited to finally be allowed to teach Seuréa some medical skills, Sabrina reflected. Between the physician and Mara, Seuréa wouldn't need lessons with her anymore.

"Mama says I have a lot of control for my age, so it won't take me long," Seuréa continued. "I guess moving all that space junk around was good for something."

Ford said, "Besides clearing our orbital space so supply ships could reach us and bring us food and medicine, you mean?"

Seuréa rolled her eyes at him.

It was true that Sabrina had often focused their lessons on what seemed most urgent, not on Seuréa's interests or even a coherent idea of how skills built on each other. But she hadn't realized Seuréa had disliked it so much. "Well," she said brightly, "I'm glad you'll be able to have some fun now."

Ford said, "And Sabrina will have one less job, which is a good thing."

But I liked that job, she thought miserably. She put her fork down. "I'm tired again—I think I'll go lie down again for a while."

Ford looked at her with concern. "I'll send a tray up in a little bit. And I'll handle bedtime."

"Thank you." She laid a hand on his shoulder as she headed for the door.