Shadow Borne by Angie West Page B

serious.
It had been at least six months since I'd even seen him crack a
smile. I couldn't remember the last time I'd heard him laugh.
    As for myself, I was handling our current
situation with my usual grace and aplomb–with an outward sigh and a
subtle inner shoring that I doubted Juliette and Aranu were aware
of; Claire and my aunt were the only two people to have ever
remarked on what aunt Ingenia had called my 'brace yourself' face;
Claire called it 'Aries's commando mode'. Both terms were accurate
enough.
    Inside, I was every bit as contemplative as
Juliette and sometimes even as grim as Aranu, despite the fact that
it wasn't always visible from the outside. One particularly
annoying emotion I was wearing, and close to my sleeve no less, was
reluctance, fear. I'd been painfully obvious about putting off
going back to Claire and Mark's house, though it was doubtful Aranu
knew the true reason behind my procrastination this morning; I was
certain Juliette knew exactly why I wasn't eager to return to the
'big house'.
    Around here, it was common knowledge that
Mike Roberts and I used to have something going on and surely by
now Julie and many of the other nymphs had noticed the way I
avoided all mention of it or him.
    We rounded the slight curve in the long
driveway and came to a stop in front of the packed house. There
were people everywhere. Some were ordinary looking, like Claire,
and a few more than that were nymphs like myself and Juliette, but
most looked more like Aranu–tall, broad shouldered fighters in
rugged garb that Marta would have called 'various stages of
undress'. She wouldn't exactly have been wrong; Mark's crew, the
famed warriors of the ruins, were dressed sparsely in the way of
clothing, wearing only breech cloth type garments and arm
bands.
    My people, Aranu's tribe, wore coarse, brown
pants made from animal skins; a few, Aranu included, also wore
shirts.
    Julie shrank back a little, inching closer
to Aranu when she took in the sheer size of the crowd gathered
before us; soldiers and warriors and nymphs filled the front and
side lawns to near capacity and there were even several people
milling about on the wide front porch. I noticed a group of sprites
clustered near the azalea bushes and waved at the fierce looking
women.
    "Looks like the whole gang is here." I
remarked pleasantly, weaving through the crowd and up the porch
steps when I spotted Claire and the kids.
    "Aunt Aries!" Ashley, at the age of
almost-seven, was Claire's youngest daughter and in recent months,
the most exuberant member of the family.
    I dropped to one knee and caught the dark
haired, doe-eyed girl's flying tackle. "Hi." I grinned, kissing her
soundly on both pink cheeks before peering around her to motion
Sienna forward. "Come on, you might as well get it over with,
Sienna, I'll have a hug and a kiss from you too."
    Claire's oldest stood a couple of inches
taller than Ashley and trudged forward with all the enthusiasm of a
prisoner headed to the guillotine, but beneath the solemn facade
she looked almost content and the faint beginnings of a smile
lurked behind her serious dark blue eyes. "There you go now." I
laughed, and snatched her to me, still holding onto Ashley as I
rocked both little girls back and forth.
    "Will you stay after the meeting?" Ashley
asked, turning her small face up to mine once I'd released them and
stood up to greet a tense looking Claire.
    "Sure."
    "Good, because you have to come up to our
room. I made a picture on the wall."
    "You did?" I glanced quickly at Claire.
    "Yep. With paint." The child proudly
confided.
    "I made one, too." Sienna added.
    "Great. I can't wait to see them." I
smiled.
    "Go and find Marta now, both of you," Claire
said, attempting a smile that fell just short of convincing. "I
heard she's baking cookies this morning."
    Within ten seconds, Claire and I were alone.
"My God Ari, are you okay?" She snatched me to her slightly shorter
frame and held fast for a moment before holding me