Winna shivered a little, staring out contentedly at the early morning scene before her. The end of summer was quickly approaching. The days were still lovely and sunny and hot, but the nights and mornings were very cool.
Fog clung to the gentle rolls of her front yard like a soft, fluffy blanket. The barn, though not actually very far from the house, was rendered into some large, looming shape that she pretended was a sleepy dragon. Like Windscale, who was a very nice dragon, so the thought wasn’t frightening.
Cool, foggy mornings made her grateful she had a porch to sit on, where she could rock in her rocking chair, drink a nice, hot cup of tea, and turn buildings into dragons with her mind.
Both Diana and Lou had elected to join her, but since her lap was taken up with her very round, pregnant belly, and therefore unavailable to be occupied by either of the two kitties, both cats were sitting in the other, vacant rocking chair.
Lear’s chair.
Hopeful he’d be home soon. A terrible dread had slowly begun to fill her that she’d go into labor before her husband returned.
It had been such a sudden mission. Important, of course, or he wouldn't have left his very pregnant wife in order to deal with it, but sudden nonetheless.
Before Lear had left, he had promised that he would be back before their baby was born. Gods help him if he wasn't! She’d never forgive him. It was their first child, and she needed him there with her.
Would she be alright without him? Sure. She’d have all the help she needed between Pima, Ena, Bekka, and the local midwife, but she still wanted him there.
Her heart ached. Gods, it would be good to see him. He’d only been gone about two weeks, but still.
She sent up a silent prayer to Marna, the goddess who’s mark she bore on the back of her left hand, that he would return soon to her, safe and sound.
Taking another sip of her tea, the human mage inhaled deeply, taking in its lovely, delicate fragrance. Lear had brought it back from a visit to the feylands. It was some kind of expensive tea that she’d never had before, and it was delicious.
Goodness, he really did spoil her.
“Winna!” Mira’s little voice called, breaking the silence of the day.
“I’m here!” Winna replied.
The little faun girl appeared through the fog, and scampered up the steps. “Good morning!”
“Good morning!” Winna smiled at her little friend.
“Mama said I should come check on you! I went ahead and came cause I knew you’d be up. Do you need me to take care of the animals this morning?”
“No, honey, Willowdown and Tark said they’d be over sometime to help. But thank you! You can certainly help them when they get here, if you’d like.” Willowdown, a pixie, and Tark, a firebug, had been so kind to her since Lear was called away, coming over most days to help her with the chores.
“I might! They’re nice to me.”
“Because you’re a very sweet little girl!” Winna giggled. “Do you want some tea? There’s plenty still in the pot.” she motioned at the tea tray sitting on the small table between the two rocking chairs.
“Yes ma’am!” Mira chirped.
“Go get yourself a teacup. You can reach them, right?”
“I’ll use the step stool!”
“Alright then.” the human mage nodded.
The little faun disappeared into the cottage and returned quickly, holding a teacup gingerly in her hands. Winna had realized the child very much liked the ‘fancy cups’ as she’d called them at first, that Lear had brought back from the feylands.
Her husband had enjoyed bringing gifts back each time he visited his homeland, and though Winna already had everything she could possibly want or need, she didn’t stop him, seeing how much joy he took in presenting her with whatever he’d brought with him each time he came home.
The tea was still hot as Winna poured Mira a cup, though she’d been sitting outside for a while, slowly making her way through the put. The tea set Lear had given her had special runes carved into the bottom that kept any beverage inside the cups or the pot good and warm. They weren’t dwarven-made, which he hadn’t been best pleased about, but he’d liked the floral pattern so much he couldn't not choose that one over the more plain dwarvish teapots. The set did still work very well. He reasoned that he could simply get her another one when it did break or stop working, which had amused her greatly.
“Can I have sugar and some milk?” Mira asked, eyeing the sugar bowl.
“Of course. Just a little sugar though, I know your mom prefers you not to have a lot!”
“Okay!” the little faun giggled.
“You can squeeze into the chair with those two silly cats, if you want!” Winna smiled at the little girl.
“Yes! I love sitting with the kitties!” Mira grinned brightly, then set about carefully shifting the cats.
Seeing what was wanted, Diana got up and made room for her, while Lou, who was soundly asleep, barely stirred as Mira picked her up and set her down on her lap.
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Now settled, Winna’s little friend picked up her teacup. “There! I like sitting with the kitties!”
Diana maowed.
“What’d she say?” Mira asked eagerly.
“I expect she said that they like sitting with you too.” Winna guessed. Lear wasn’t there for an exact translation.
Diana purred loudly, meaning the mage had at least gotten close to whatever she’d actually said. Winna had gotten better at guessing what her familiar was saying the longer she’d been around Lear. That said, it made her a little jealous that he could understand what her cats were saying. Then again, he could turn into a cat, so it made sense he’d be able to understand them. That said, Lou had very little in the way of sense or brains, being only a normal cat as opposed to Diana, a very powerful familiar. It was very rare that she couldn't guess exactly what Lou was thinking, anyways.
Winna and her young little friend sat there for a while, enjoying the early morning air.
-
Suddenly, the human mage could see shapes making their way the fog-shrouded path that led to the cottage. Tark and Willowdown weren’t that big, and would be flying, anyways, not walking, so it certainly wasn’t them.
“Who’s there?” She called. Though the area was peaceful, thanks to the powerful protective runes her family had carved into the mountains surrounding their home centuries before, it never hurt to be careful. Bad things did still happen, and sometimes evil beings still found their way into her otherwise peaceful domain.
“Winna!” A familiar voice called, it sounded relieved. “I knew you’d be up this early!”
The pregnant woman blinked, then smiled, and put her teacup down. She struggled slowly from her seat as she called, “Arden, honey, is that you?”
“Yeah!” The half-elvish young man’s white head bobbed into view, his golden eyes crinkling as he smiled through the fog at her, waving.
“I don’t think we were expecting you back so soon!” she laughed, slowly going down the stairs, one hand on her very round belly, the other on the handrail. “Who are your friends?”
There was a centaur and a…mermaid with him? She hadn’t realized he’d be bringing anyone back from his mission. That said, she never knew exactly what their missions were, given her husband’s entire squad was always up to things that had to be kept very hush-hush, and the fewer people who knew details, the better.
“This is Rowan and Marri.”
Mira got up, carefully deposited a still-sleeping Lou onto the seat, then scampered down the stairs, and flung herself into Arden’s arms. “Arden!” she giggled.
“Hey there!” Arden said, his smile tired as he hugged the young faun.
“You look exhausted, sweetie. Why don’t you all come inside?” her sharp brown eyes had spied bandages wrapped around the mermaid’s middle. “It looks like Diana and I have some work to do!”
Diana, hearing her name, maowed, stretched luxuriously, then hopped down from her perch on the seat. She came down from the porch and brushed against Arden’s legs.
“Hey there, gorgeous!” Arden bent and scooped the sweet, fluffy familiar up and buried his face in her fur. “Will you help my friend here? Her name is Marri.”
“Marri is like Mira! But switched around!” Mira giggled.
“It is, isn’t it?” the centaur, Rowan, laughed.
“Marri is short for Marrina.” the mermaid explained kindly, smiling a little.
Arden put Diana back down on the ground, then held out his arms to the mermaid. “Here, I’ll catch you. Then we’ll go inside. Winna has a bathtub you can soak in later, if you want.”
“That’d be really nice, honestly.” Marri nodded, still smiling.
Something about the tone of their voices, and the way Arden and Marri’s eyes lingered gently on one another made Winna pause, and study the pair closely. Yes. That was a very sweet look passing between the two fey folk.
A smile spread across her face. Arden deserved to be happy. He was a good young man, or rather, she thought of him as young even though he was technically older than her, as was Mira, but he had such a sweet heart and a kind soul. It was a little odd to her that he’d found himself a top-tier spy and assassin, but sometimes strange things happened.
A sharp pain tweaked through her lower back, and she grimaced, rubbing her tummy. “Not just yet, alright? Wait until your papa is home.” she murmured.
Diana walked over to her, and maowed softly.
“I know, honey, I know.” Winna smiled at her oldest and dearest friend, then told everyone, “Let’s get inside!” That exclamation would give them all permission to enter the cottage, she knew. “I’m getting cold out here in this fog! Mira, my love, will you bring the tea things in?”
“Yes ma’am!” Mira chirped, scampering up the stairs to go ahead and do just that.
The pregnant human mage slowly made her way back up the stairs. Arden, arms full of the pretty young mermaid, frowned, “Let me get Marri in, and I’ll come back and help you, Winna.”
“No, it’s fine!” Winna waved away his concern.
“Let me.” Rowan came up beside her and helped her up the steps.
“Will you be able to get through the door?” Winna asked, frowning at the door in concern. The centaur was really very tall.
“Yes! I’ll need to duck, but it’ll be fine, otherwise!” Rowan said cheerfully. “How far along are you?”
“Oh, I’m about to pop any day now!” Winna laughed, then sighed. They made their way inside, and she asked, “Arden, I know it’s a long shot, but have you heard anything from Lear?”
Arden blinked as he sat Marrina down on the cot Winna had for patients, then looked up, frowning. “No. Should I have?”
“No, I guess not. He got called away about two weeks ago on some important mission. He said he’d be back before the baby was born, but…well, I haven’t heard from him, and I’m getting anxious.” Winna settled into the seat beside the cot.
“I should have realized he wasn’t here. I can’t feel him at all.” Arden frowned, shaking his head.
“Should I bring Lou in?” Mira asked.
“Yes please! She’ll run off if I’m not out there, the silly cat.” Winna smiled.
“Okay!” The young faun went and brought the silly, white-socked cat in. “Here she is!”
Lou maowed sleepily, then struggled, wanting to be put down, so Mira did.
The ridiculous feline bebopped around the room, sniffing everyone briefly before hopping up onto the cot and loafing on the mermaid’s tail.
“Sorry!” Winna grimaced.
Marrina giggled, “It’s absolutely fine! I love cats!”
“Me too!” the human mage smiled brightly at her guest.
Diana maowed, and hopped up into Winna’s knees, though there was barely room for her to do so.
“Yes, I think it’s best if you help. I’m sure I’ll be alright, but it never hurts to have help.” Winna told her sweet familiar, scratching between the cat’s ears. “I hate to ask, but Arden, can you get the bandages off? It’s a little difficult to lean over when I’m as big as a whale!”
“A very small whale.” Arden snorted.
“Shut it, you!” Winna rolled her eyes, but was smiling. “And don't let your captain hear you saying that!”
Arden grimaced, “No don’t worry, I won’t! Don’t want him angry at me…although it wasn’t an insult. I was joking.”
“I know, sweetie.” the mother-to-be giggled.