no need to say goodbye [j]

Nayru · 01-08-2012, 03:24 PM

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Nayru had said nothing when Saul guessed the name of the father. It had only been once and the memory was a hazy one at best. The good hearted man was kind to her, even still, but she denied his help stubbornly. Nayru did not wish to be tied to any one man again, the suffocation she had felt under Gideon, the dissatisfaction at their relationship and lack of passion, clung to her. To live with another, have him be father to her child? It was unthinkable. No, better to be under the care of X'yrin, and accept that of Saluce, who seemed to take more offense to Nayru's single motherhood than she did herself. So simply she nodded, a small indication that she wished to say no more of the matter.

Yet other questions came forth, naturally, jumbled in with Saul's own story. Nayru tried to slip in the words, and they both spoke at a slow and steady pace. There was no rush within the walls of the den. As Saul revealed the boy's name, Nayru looked closely at the face, trying to put the two together. Temeraire. Yet as she glanced down at the boy's face, the names she spoke had nothing to do with him. "Melee and Range both still live in Ichika, though I see then hardly at all. Melee had been coming now and then to help in the winery, but when she learned I became pregnant, not by Gideon, she came less and less." The girl had always been so sensitive about the relationship surrounding Nayru and Gideon. Finally she had accepted their mateship, and then it had fallen apart on the girl. Range was more resilient, but rebellious in his own way and simply made himself scarce. The two Soul children wandered about Ichika like ghosts, reminding Nayru very much of her own youth in Dahlia de Mai. There but not.

At Saul's next words Nayru grew embarrassed, but allowed the child finally to receive what he had been asking for most demandingly. As the boy found the woman's teat he knew precisely what to do with it and Nayru did not look at Saul as this happened, only let his words wash over her as she cradled the eagerly feeding child. It was evident he had not eaten in far too long. "I… I can raise him with Kahlo…" Of course she could, and would, though as she looked down her heart sank. Not Siku's then? She thought of her ivory friend, what had become of the girl? But it did not matter. Not Gideon's. Not Siku's. Nayru's and Saul's at least. That was enough.

More questions came and Nayru was glad of the distraction. Of course Saul would ask after Saluce, and Nayru smiled then, warmly at Saul in an ironic way. "Saluce? He returned nearly right after you went away. He asked about you, but I didn’t know what to say. Only that you'd probably be back." And the man had come back and Nayru smiled warmly at who she still considered her brother. Saluce would be happy to come home and find the man sitting in the den with her. And surprised too to find little Temeraire alongside Kahlo. Nayru laughed aloud at the scene that would surely unfold soon enough.

The happiness she felt at the reunion of Saluce and Saul quickly left her as Saul spoke the other name. Gideon? He had seen Gideon? Nayru had thought of the boy often, but hardly with any real feeling. She hadn't allowed that. Hadn't allowed to try and work out what had gone wrong, and when exactly or why. Only that he was gone and that probably he would come back. Yet Saul's words spoke differently and a sting came to Nayru that she didn't think she would feel again. Why had her best friend abandoned her? Yet she could not ask, did not show any hurt in her own voice, but merely nodded, her soft voice as soft as ever. "Okay." And that was that before moving on, or rather backwards to, what was for her, a happier conversation. "Saluce may be home any moment now."

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