Part 27 (1/2)
His inner lids came down. ”Impossible.”
”No.” She willed him to see the truth. ”I know you sense the baby's mind.” The mental bond he had formed with Eldrin at the birth was undeniable. Kurj treated him with a gentleness Roca had never seen him show anyone else. It gave her hope for both of her sons.
”How could it be?” Kurj said. ”It means his father carries the genes of a psion.”
Her gaze didn't waver. ”Yes.”
”That barbarian can't have them.”
”Why not? What does his culture have to do with his DNA?”
His jaw stiffened. ”It's too incongruous.”
”Nevertheless, it is true.”
He looked away, out the window.
The walk through Valley soothed Roca's agitation. The beauty of the secluded vale, with its pastoral hills and glens, comforted her. Sky arched far above, a rea.s.suring blue, the Sun Lamp halfway from its zenith to the horizon. Kurj walked at her side, silent, as the two of them had often been with each other these past few days.
They went to the house where Roca lived when she visited the Orbiter. Entering the front room, she saw a ma.s.sive gold man standing at a table by the far wall, glancing through a holobook she had left open there a year ago, the last time she had been here. She had an eerie moment of dislocation, entering the room with Kurj only to find him already here.
Then her mind readjusted and her mood warmed. ”My greetings, Father.”
Jarac turned with a start. ”Roca!” He strode forward-and stopped halfway across the room, staring at the bundle in her arms.
Eldrin stirred and opened his eyes, trying to look around.
Roca's father blinked, his uns.h.i.+elded eyes like liquid gold with black pupils in the center. ”Is that the baby?”
”Your grandson.” Roca's pulse leapt. Would Jarac accept him?
Her father came the rest of the way over to them and peered at Eldrin. ”He certainly is small.”
Roca smiled. ”That he is.” Especially compared to Jarac.
Her father poked a finger into Eldrin's fist. The baby looked up, his big blue eyes scanning the gold face above him. Jarac spoke in a kind voice. ”What do you see, little man?” His words took on a singsong quality. ”Do you know your grandhoshpa? Well, you are a fine boy, eh?” He waggled his finger in Eldrin's tiny grip.
Kurj made an exasperated noise. ”I have never understood why otherwise rational adults speak gibberish to babies.”
Roca slanted a look at him. ”I talked that way to you when you were a baby.”
Kurj cleared his throat, his cheeks reddening under their metallic cast.
”Look at that.” Jarac beamed at his infant grandson. ”He turns his head to watch my face when I move.”
Relief flowed through Roca. Her father wasn't rejecting Eldrin. It had probably helped that she sent messages ahead, letting her parents know she was alive-and a mother again. She could tell how much her father wanted to press her for news about what had happened. That he approached the situation with such tenderness made her want to hug him.
”Well, so.” Jarac laughed as Eldrin gurgled at him.
Roca extended her child to her father. ”Would you like to hold him?”
Jarac hesitated. ”He's so small. I might break him.”
Roca couldn't help but laugh. ”I've seen holos of you holding me when I was this size. You never broke me.”
With great care, he took Eldrin into his arms. ”Well, and look at you, eh?”
She glanced around the room. ”Where is Mother?”
”In the web.” Jarac smiled at Eldrin, the lines crinkling around his eyes, more wrinkles than Roca remembered. With a start, she realized how much gray threaded the bronze mane of hair that swept to his shoulders. It was the most noticeable difference between him and Kurj; his grandson kept his hair clipped close to his head in metallic curls with no trace of gray. She would never understand how her older son and her father could otherwise look so alike and yet be so different. As a small child, Kurj had been similar to Jarac in temperament, but the years had hardened her son in a way that had never happened to her father.
Jarac tickled Eldrin's nose with his huge finger. To Roca, he said, ”Your mother doesn't know yet that you've arrived.”
”Actually, she does,” a regal voice said behind them.
Roca almost jumped. Turning, she saw her mother, Lahaylia Selei, in the archway of the room. Gray streaked the black hair that fell to below the pharaoh's hips, its length a trademark of Ruby Dynasty women. She resembled a Majda queen, with her high cheekbones, slanted eyes, and elegant nose, but her eyes were vivid green instead of black. She came forward, willowy yet strong, with an imperial carriage.
”Mother.” Roca went to her, wanting to throw her arms around this woman who had held her as a child.
The Ruby Pharaoh's ingrained formality discouraged shows of emotion, but for all her mother's reserve, Roca felt her love, and her grat.i.tude that her daughter had come home. It flowed over Roca.
”I am glad to see you, Daughter,” her mother said.
”And I you,” Roca answered.
Lahaylia glanced at the baby that Jarac held. ”You have brought us a grandchild.”
Roca tensed. Would her mother also accept Eldrin?
Lahaylia went to her husband, and Jarac beamed, showing her Eldrin. ”Look, Lahya. He is beautiful.”
The Ruby Pharaoh gazed at her grandson. ”So.”
”I named him Eldrin Jarac Valdoria,” Roca said. Then she added the last name, her voice firm. ”Skolia.”
Jarac froze, his smile vanis.h.i.+ng. Kurj stiffened at her side, even already knowing what Roca believed.
Lahaylia didn't move.
Then, slowly, the Ruby Pharaoh turned to her. She spoke in a deceptively quiet voice. ”What did you say?”
”Prince Eldrin Jarac Valdoria Skolia.” Roca used the t.i.tle deliberately.
Anger flashed in her mother's eyes. ”The Skolia name may be taken only by a Ruby psion. For anyone else to dare claim it is a grave insult to our family.”
”He is my husband's son. That makes him a member of the Ruby Dynasty.” Roca's stiffness eased.