to work?” I thought milk tended to dry up.
“Not really, but it will keep him happy for a little bit. If I did this every day, I would have more, but for now, he might calm down. When he’s not so frustrated, he might take the bottle.”
I’d noticed how over the past two years her breasts had become smaller. She said that they would eventually shrink back to nothing if she didn’t have another child. This had happened to Sheydu, which was why I had never suspected that Veyada was her son.
There was already a sign that the baby wasn’t happy with the offerings. He was starting to squirm again.
Thayu held out her hand. “Give me the bottle now.”
Nicha did, and Thayu inserted the teat in the corner of the little mouth. He latched on. His eyes widened as if in surprise. He drank in long, noisy gulps.
Nicha watched, fascinated, and Thayu’s eyes glittered while she looked down at the little helpless creature who was yet unaware of all the controversy that would break out over him.
“Have you named him yet?” she asked.
“Ayshada.”
I sat down on the corner of the bed. “Well then, Ayshada Azimi, welcome to my household.” I stroked the top of his head, warm and soft with almost no hair.
The first of the next generation. Things in our house would never be the same. And yes, we should get on with providing a playmate for him, or he was going to annoy Eirani.
When he had drunk his fill of milk, his eyelids started drooping. The little hand fell slack. Thayu rose from the bed and lowered him into the bassinet.
Nicha nodded at her. “I clearly have a lot to learn.”
He carried the bassinet with us to dinner and while we ate, I spotted him looking down at his sleeping son with a tender expression.
His mother, with whom he had grown up, was very sick. She had connections with the Azimi clan and even if Xinanu hadn’t been Nicha’s partner of choice, this child was probably part of a contractual obligation between the two clans that I couldn’t even begin to understand.
But despite the manner in which fatherhood had come upon him, he seemed to be enjoying it. He had been looking to have a child, and his agreed woman had broken her contract. Maybe he hadn’t walked into this quite as innocently as the stories let us believe.
Chapter 8
----
T HAT NIGHT, I discovered that babies don’t like sleeping when adults do. Twice, Nicha came into our room with the screaming baby for Thayu to calm down. Thayu, being Thayu, went back to sleep immediately, but I lay awake, worrying about things that might be happening where I couldn’t see them, things that would happen if I didn’t achieve certain other things, and things that had already happened, but I didn’t know about.
I worried about control of my gamra message account and messages Delegate Namion’s assistant said weren’t there, and potential ones that would be there and I didn’t want him to read.
The second time Nicha entered the room, I got out of bed intending to go to the kitchen to find something to eat, but when I let the door to our bedroom rattle shut behind me, I sensed movement in the hall. Someone was just shutting the door with a soft snick.
“Devlin?” The figure was too short to be either Evi or Telaris. They would be outside, and they would have let this person in, wouldn’t they?
“What is everyone still doing up?” a Coldi voice said. Young, male.
It was Reida. He found it necessary to make a subservient greeting. I touched him on the shoulder. Both he and Deyu had trouble dropping that behaviour, no matter how many times I told them. Maybe I should just ignore it and get used to it.
I said, “The baby has been keeping us awake. He needs feeding all the time and Thayu is helping Nicha with it.”
“Isn’t it in the contract that she should stay for a while?” I had sort-of expected him to make a surprised remark about the birth, but of course, being Nicha’s second, he would already know.
“That’s another
“Not really, but it will keep him happy for a little bit. If I did this every day, I would have more, but for now, he might calm down. When he’s not so frustrated, he might take the bottle.”
I’d noticed how over the past two years her breasts had become smaller. She said that they would eventually shrink back to nothing if she didn’t have another child. This had happened to Sheydu, which was why I had never suspected that Veyada was her son.
There was already a sign that the baby wasn’t happy with the offerings. He was starting to squirm again.
Thayu held out her hand. “Give me the bottle now.”
Nicha did, and Thayu inserted the teat in the corner of the little mouth. He latched on. His eyes widened as if in surprise. He drank in long, noisy gulps.
Nicha watched, fascinated, and Thayu’s eyes glittered while she looked down at the little helpless creature who was yet unaware of all the controversy that would break out over him.
“Have you named him yet?” she asked.
“Ayshada.”
I sat down on the corner of the bed. “Well then, Ayshada Azimi, welcome to my household.” I stroked the top of his head, warm and soft with almost no hair.
The first of the next generation. Things in our house would never be the same. And yes, we should get on with providing a playmate for him, or he was going to annoy Eirani.
When he had drunk his fill of milk, his eyelids started drooping. The little hand fell slack. Thayu rose from the bed and lowered him into the bassinet.
Nicha nodded at her. “I clearly have a lot to learn.”
He carried the bassinet with us to dinner and while we ate, I spotted him looking down at his sleeping son with a tender expression.
His mother, with whom he had grown up, was very sick. She had connections with the Azimi clan and even if Xinanu hadn’t been Nicha’s partner of choice, this child was probably part of a contractual obligation between the two clans that I couldn’t even begin to understand.
But despite the manner in which fatherhood had come upon him, he seemed to be enjoying it. He had been looking to have a child, and his agreed woman had broken her contract. Maybe he hadn’t walked into this quite as innocently as the stories let us believe.
Chapter 8
----
T HAT NIGHT, I discovered that babies don’t like sleeping when adults do. Twice, Nicha came into our room with the screaming baby for Thayu to calm down. Thayu, being Thayu, went back to sleep immediately, but I lay awake, worrying about things that might be happening where I couldn’t see them, things that would happen if I didn’t achieve certain other things, and things that had already happened, but I didn’t know about.
I worried about control of my gamra message account and messages Delegate Namion’s assistant said weren’t there, and potential ones that would be there and I didn’t want him to read.
The second time Nicha entered the room, I got out of bed intending to go to the kitchen to find something to eat, but when I let the door to our bedroom rattle shut behind me, I sensed movement in the hall. Someone was just shutting the door with a soft snick.
“Devlin?” The figure was too short to be either Evi or Telaris. They would be outside, and they would have let this person in, wouldn’t they?
“What is everyone still doing up?” a Coldi voice said. Young, male.
It was Reida. He found it necessary to make a subservient greeting. I touched him on the shoulder. Both he and Deyu had trouble dropping that behaviour, no matter how many times I told them. Maybe I should just ignore it and get used to it.
I said, “The baby has been keeping us awake. He needs feeding all the time and Thayu is helping Nicha with it.”
“Isn’t it in the contract that she should stay for a while?” I had sort-of expected him to make a surprised remark about the birth, but of course, being Nicha’s second, he would already know.
“That’s another
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