the Forest of Emmitaenu

Like Mother, Like Daughter

[Cover art by Illiyana Omareva]

David was leaning against the wall, looking at his wife from his daughter's living room archway. Triauve, or Tria as she most often went by, was indeed a remarkable woman. He looked on as she tucked Lara in snuggly beneath the sheets and plush comforter. Lara had fallen into a deep sleep before they had completely left the forest of Emmitaenu, and with his leg injured, he was unable to carry her up the stairs to her bed. She didn't seem to mind sleeping on the sofa, considering she hadn't stirred even once since they laid her down.

While Lara was sleeping, he and his wife lingered in the kitchen over two steaming cups of tea to talk about how they were going to handle the most pressing situation. It had already been a long day for both of them, what with the airports, flights, and cab rides sapping a great deal of their energy before they reached home and discovered Lara was missing. She should have left a note, that was their first thought, but they couldn't find one. When she didn't answer her phone they tried calling her friends but neither Eli or Chris had talked to her since they left school on Friday. Fear escalating, they checked the house for signs of a break in but there weren't any.

Tria started to suspect the truth but David didn't see how it was possible. Then she confessed that she'd chosen their wedding date based on her anniversary in his world. It had been a sentimental choice at the time, significant for the opening of the veil between the two realms, a phenomenon that made it possible for the two of them to meet. David was both touched and terrified, all things considered. When asked how long the veil stays open, Tria simply responded we don't have much time.

Tria rarely ever mentioned Emmitaenu. She transferred to Darby Dale late in the semester their junior year, and it wasn't until close to graduation that she confided her origin story to him and him alone. As close as they had become, it was still difficult to accept as true, and it might have been impossible to believe at all if it wasn't for her 'affinity'. That is why they made the unified decision when they got married to buy the lot and build their home on top of the gateway; to keep anyone else from crossing between the two worlds. The issue hadn't come up since. At least until earlier this evening when they were desperate to find their daughter.

Tria had not wanted him to come, but he had argued that it was his little girl as much as hers. She told him her homeland was brutal, and for the first time he understood why she was so determined to escape it as a youth. He would have pitied her if he hadn't seen the way she armed herself back there. Everything about the way she stood against the nightmarish beasts tonight had awed and frightened him. He had feared for her life.

He had never been to Emmitaenu before tonight, and after what he just experienced in that land, he never wanted to go back. How long had Lara been there? They had no way of knowing. He and his wife left early Friday morning and hadn't seen or heard from Lara since. It was hard for him to accept that he had been there at all. It was so unreal that even now he wondered if perhaps he w was only dreaming. Then again, dreaming was never this painful. Experimentally he tried to bring his good knee to his chest so he could try standing on his bad leg on its own. He couldn't do it.

"I'll call a doctor for your leg." Tria offered.

"We can call a doctor in the morning," he countered. She crossed her arms disagreeably but he continued. "I can't stay awake any longer for one to look at it anyway. We can drive to the hospital in the morning when I'm feeling more coherent and have a good excuse for what happened. Trust me," he threw in those last two words, and they worked just like he expected. She had a soft spot when it came to giving and receiving trust. Tria caved in and uncrossed her arms.

"Victory," he yawned, spoiling the sweetness of the moment just a little.

She had saved them all in the end. David suspected no one else had put the pieces together and he was glad. The last thing he wanted was for them to build any kind of connection between their world and his wife. It was behind her. And whether Lara understood why or not, it was behind her as well.

He and Tria agreed before turning in that it was in everyone's best interest if they never returned to Emmitaenu. Not one of them, and that was something they would have to explain to Lara in the morning. While Tria didn't want to tell her everything, (David was pretty sure there were details she had yet to confide to him) she would tell Lara enough to make her point. They had to make it clear to her that she could never go back, and unfortunately, there was a good chance she would object, recalling her last words to the demon, nomad, and witches. Regardless they would have to make her see. They were her parents, and they would not let her go back.

He gazed back into the living room and smiled at his wife. She kissed Lara's forehead and draped the red embroidered moon and stars cloak over the chair at her bedroom desk. She had taken it off of Lara before laying her when they brought her inside. They decided to let Lara keep it, it would be precious to her now that it was all she had left of her friends from the forest.After Lara was tucked in and they were both convinced she would be fine for the night, Tria helped her husband to bed.