"Poppa, she's not doing so well." Mena sat at her mother's bedside and tried to get her to eat, but she refused almost all requests, cajoling, and even threats to force it down her throat.
"She's lost her will, Mena. That can't be restored with food or water." Mena's face closed up, and her eyes took on the look they had gotten used to.
"This is Kivi's fault!" She didn't use the past tense. His shadow still loomed large in her life, and caused her no end of the guilt she faced every day. Her mother still shouldered the worst of the pain, and slowly withered away, but she knew it was a knife she had put in her mother's heart. It was easier to blame the one who would never do what she had done.
Banus shook his head. There was no way he was going to keep banging his head against a wall. She refused to see that she was the problem. Her and her unreasonable hatred of the one who loved her beyond reason. To Kivi, Mena was his big sister, and so much smarter and wiser then he was. Mena had a very convenient memory.
Banus went outside and found Juuka walking through the village.
"Juuka! Might I have a few words with you?" The Mirri turned towards his human friend, and mused silently about his tone. He appeared to be disturbed, but that was natural if you considered the fact that he now watched his mate slowly die before his eyes.
"Yes, Banus?"
"I need to take my wife away from the place where our son died. I don't know if it will help, but her heart is slipping away! I can't sit here and do nothing!" Juuka nodded, then watched as Mena came out of the house.
"Poppa! She's talking!"
"What are you doing, Kivi?" He smiled softly and lightly petted Thea's mane.
"Its called Dream Whispers. I'll be asleep for a little while. Please don't try to wake me."
"Alright, but may I stay?" He nodded.
"North.....north.....go north! Come to find me, mother." She appeared to be feverish, with sweat beading on her brow. He knew that wasn't the case though. Her face wasn't flushed, so there wasn't any heat. She was dreaming.
"Mother? North?"
"What's going on? Is she feverish?" Banus shook his head.
"No, she thinks she's talking to our son. She thinks he's whispering in her dreams. Calling her home." Juuka lowered his eyes.
"I see. She wants to die." Banus sighed. It would be difficult to explain to the Mirri man that their son was a special sort, and one who could do many things that no one else could do, including whispers within a dream. However, its been almost a year since their son died, and he didn't believe that Kivi could still be alive, and talking to his wife.
"Is there a place we can go in the north? I noticed that not many patrols bother heading that way."
"That's because the north is controlled by the Hukka. The Wolf Kin. We don't enter their lands, and they respect ours." He breathed a bit heavily, then thought for a moment. "Wait, there is a place just north west of here. A widow and her daughter live there. She might put you up until you decide what you wish to do." He thought for a moment. "The only thing is that you should not go empty handed. Take some supplies with you. And be polite! Their protector is quite a.....I don't know how to explain it so you might understand! He's already utterly destroyed two southern units that came up against him, and though it cost him for several days, his abilities are frightening! He will not stand for any insult or threats to those he protects!" Banus nodded, but felt a chill go right through him. If he didn't know any better, that sounded exactly like his son.
"As I've taught all who work with us. Honor the door and the roof of those who live there." Juuka smiled.
Just as they have here.
"We have guests coming, Thea. I'll finish up the other home over the next day or two." Thea frowned.
"Guests? Who?" Kivi drew her close, lightly ran his hand down over her mane.
"Old ghosts and memories. Tell your mother to come and talk to me when she has a chance. I'll be outside breaking stone for the house." Thea looked a little uncertain, but waited until Kivi was outside before she went for her mother. She didn't want to admit how her knees seemed to shake whenever Kivi petted her mane.
The two of them had grown closer in these last few months, and his touch made her feel warm. She had no experience with men to tell her what that meant. She hadn't even told her mother, though she was sure her mother already knew.
"We are almost there, my love." He sighed sadly. "Just over the hill and we'll be at that farm Juuka told us about." He wanted to tell her, but he still wasn't sure himself. It would kill her if he said her son was alive, but it was someone else. Then she began to thrash in her sleep.
"Kivi! Kivi! I can't hear you!" She lifted up onto an elbow and opened her eyes. "I can't find him!"
"There they are, my love." He took Gita's hand and lightly petted her mane.
"Are you sure you're alright with this?" He asked her, still a little concerned. As soon as his hand ran through her fur, she started to purr a bit.
"We are. We've already discussed it. Its time to put these old memories to rest, and bring your mother home." He nodded.
"Go greet our guests. I'll call to my mother." Gita smiled.
"I wish I could whisper with you, even if I can hear it now." She touched his cheek. "You're stronger too. The last time you worked that hard, it drained you for four days." She smiled saucily. "I'm glad to see you on your feet." He chuckled.
"Yes, yes, you'll see me on my back tonight. Be good, kitten." She chuckled and walked towards the wagon as it approached. He heard Banus's voice and felt a shiver go down his spine. It was a reminder of who he left behind, and how much he missed them.
"Alright, mother. Time to wake up." He closed his eyes.
"Kivi!" Her head thrashed from side to side.
"Poppa! She's getting more upset!" She then watched as her mother lifted herself up onto an elbow again and saw her eyes more wild then ever.
"Kivi! Please!" She implored. "Whisper to me!" Mena frowned.
"Wind whispers?" She watched as her mother forced herself to sit up and stuck her head out of the front of the covered wagon. She watched her father fall backwards on the cold ground and openly weep.
"Its him! Its really him!" Was all he said. She then heard a familiar, yet stronger voice, that sent chills down her spine, and made her extremely angry.
"Hello, mother. I see you haven't been eating."
Mena seethed with rage as she watched her mother gorge herself on bread and meat dipped in gravy. All that she had to do was see Kivi and her spirit was revived. Gita offered it to her and she felt starving to her core.
Gita could feel the happiness roll right off of Kivi's mother, and a deep sadness from both his father and the Mirri woman known as Jaana. Nothing but black and angry thoughts from the younger girl. It was something the Mirri could feel more keenly then other races, but Kivi was a master of the scents far beyond her. She couldn't stand it for very long before she pinned a glare of each of them.
"I'll not have you staring at my husband with such hatred in his own home! It was that hatred that drove him into the water in the first place!" Banus sat back on his heels in surprise.
"Husband?" Thea giggled a little before her own face closed up.
"Yes, our husband. We are Mirri, and we have mated with the Stone Man." Kivi smiled only a small smile, but it was devoid of emotions.
"My mates are naturally concerned about my emotions. They pulled me from the water nearly dead over eight months ago, and I've felt a responsibility towards them ever since." His face then reflected an inner anger that made even Banus question his son's restraint. "They've been forced from their lands, and attacked twice already! I've killed to prevent it from happening, and I will kill again to protect them!"
"I understand, Kivi. I also protect my family....but why not tell us you were alive? Your mother.... she's fine now, but....." Kivi held up his hand.
"You know why. I will not explain my reasons." He lifted his eyes and looked directly at his sister. Her black hatred was still there plain to see. "And if she does not like being in my presence, then she can leave. This is MY home." He got up and went out the door.
"Kivi!" His mother lifted her hand to stop him.
"Do not worry so, gentle mother." Gita said softly at her ear. "He is just going to prepare your home by starting a fire in the fire pit. We didn't get the time to make furniture, or beds, but there are plenty of furs to keep you all warm tonight." She looked at Jaana who only sat quietly, her eyes sad. She left her home and went after her husband.
"He's married." She said softly. Thea put her hand on her shoulder.
"Are you Jaana?" She lifted her eyes.
"You know me?" Thea smiled.
"He spoke of you a few times. He missed you." She lifted her chin.
"He did? But....he's married now." Thea giggled.
"Yeah, to two Mirri women." She cocked her head. "You don't know that among the Mirri there is no jealousy? As long as the husband agrees to treat his wives properly, we are happy." She sighed happily, and laid her chin on Jaana's shoulder.
"Really? How can you share him like that? Knowing that another woman also has his affection?" She smiled.
"How can you let him go so easily even if he loves another? He said he loved you as soon as he saw you. Are you not Mirri as well?" Jaana blushed.
"He was only a child when I came to know him, and....that's all I ever saw him as. A child." Thea smiled.
"Really? A child? Did you ever see him move faster then a shadow across a field? Or watch him lift a stone larger then himself? Did you ever see him pull iron right out of a stone and make an ax, or a knife with it?" She smiled again. "I did, and I never saw him as a child after that." She got up and went to the door.
"When you've eaten, you should grab a torch and come to the house just to the right of the door, a little bit down the hill. He built that for the family that he was sure would come here. Something about wind whispers. I never really understood what he meant by it, but I think you do." Jaana lowered her eyes.
"Wind whispers?" She watched Hella continue to gorge herself, content in the knowledge that her beloved son was alive, and much stronger then she remembered.
Kivi had taught all of them about the meaning of whispers in the wind. The wind could talk if you listened hard enough. If you did not listen, it was like any other lover. The wind would ignore your call until you let her in your ears with an open heart.
Both Jaana and Hella knew they had stopped listening, and since Kivi stepped into that water, so had everyone else.
"Jaana, go talk to him." Hella smiled and let herself fall back against her husband. "We'll be there soon." Her eyes traveled to her still silent daughter, but Jaana understood the reason immediately. Things had to be said before Mena said something improper in Kivi's home.
Something that would drive him away again. Or do something far worse, like drive Mena away when she was not ready to protect herself.
"Mother, how can you forgive him so easily?" She said in a furious rush of words. Hella looked at her daughter and right through her facade of anger. She was angry, but filled with a new, and uncomfortable bitter jealousy.
"What? Forgive him for surviving?" She asked. Mena opened her mouth, then closed it.
"What? No! For jumping into that river in the first place! For making you worry like that!"
"Should I forgive him?" She shook her head.
"No!"
"So that means I shouldn't forgive you for driving him into that river with your hatred then." Mena's mouth fell open.
"What? I didn't....."
"You hated him, and wouldn't forgive him. But I am asking you what did he do that made you hate him so? What was so horrible that dying would be better then facing you?" Her mouth closed, and she looked ready to go on one of her tired tirades, so Hella shut her up quick. "If my son had not died before I found you, would you have hated him to the point that he would rather die then be around you?"
"What?" She asked in a small voice.
"Kivi didn't jump into that river because he did something wrong. He did it to get away from your hatred. To get away from you." She let that sink in for a minute or so, but she could see her daughter shrink in upon herself. She didn't want to face the truth.
"When I think about all the pain you caused me, it should make me hate you." Mena's mouth fell open again, and tears formed in her eyes.
"Caused you? But I love you!"
"And yet you knew how empty I felt when I lost my son, and then you drove my other son away from me! Did you consider how that would make me feel, or did you just think of yourself?" Banus looked uncomfortable now.
"Hella, love, please....don't say something you'll regret."
"No, I regret not speaking up when I had the chance! He's alive, but different now! He's now a man, with wives, and responsibilities! And I missed that! I missed seeing that happen!" She started to cry. "My daughter, whom I love so much drove my adopted son away and I missed how he grew up! I saw everything up until now! Everything!" Tears rolled down her cheeks, and Mena had to watch as her beloved mother fell apart.
"I had to watch while the one he loved more then me drove him away with nothing but hatred!" Mena's heart stopped.
"What....did...."
"Don't act like you didn't know! Kivi loved you! Jaana had to watch him trail after you, day after day, with love in his eyes that would just not die no matter how much poison you spit at him! She loved him too!" More tears followed the first. "He loved you so much that when you wanted my attention, he would go to Banus! When you wanted your father's attention, he went to Jaana. And when you wanted Jaana's attention, he came back to me, or went off by himself to sit in the trees, and watch over you!" Mena felt her world shake and crack all over again. Her mother was alive, and coming back to life with more vitality then she had showed in months, but her words were like stones thrown from a catapult.
"He was a boy, becoming a man, getting more and more powerful with each passing year, and each operation we went on, he made sure you were safe!"
"What?" She cried out.
"He put you high enough in the trees that no arrow could reach you! He put you behind cover, and killed anyone who dared to target you! Just....." She laid her head in her husband's lap. "Just how much can one little boy love a girl and she not even notice?"
"That's not possible! He took you away from me at every turn! He moved me back so he could be near you!" Hella laughed sarcastically.
"Is that what you believe? Doesn't matter now. I've seen the results. The boy I knew died in that river. The boy who loved you is dead." And the words that fell out of her mother's mouth struck her harder then anyone had ever dared to before.
"My Kivi is a man, and I'm not sure there's room for anyone else in his heart." And finally, Mena knew the truth.
No one had ever hurt her before because Kivi killed everyone who dared to try.
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