Fate Forgotten (3 page)

“I would not dream of imposing on your hospitality.” It was something of a relief not to have to worry about keeping himself sober enough during an Olympian feast to avoid any further complications. Dionysus had a way of making one forget his vows. And he had no wish to hurt Athena so cruelly. “Call for me if there is anything I can do for you, Athena. Please.”

“Of course.” She waved him away. “Don’t let me keep you from your duty.”

He nodded at her dismissal and stepped back. He closed his eyes and thought of Eve’s family, Eve’s House of Lions, and took himself from the grove.

When the lightning struck, it wasn’t a boy who came running, but a girl dressed in the Roman style. They were so much less isolated now than they had once been, and she showed no fear at all when she saw him standing in the field. No more than ten, she looked at him and smiled.

“
Tonitrus!
”

He tripped over the Latin for a moment. Were they that involved with Rome, now? He supposed they must be. In the last century, hadn’t the Romans even taken that northern island belonging to the Celts? Britannia?

“
Salvē,
” he said, offering the little girl a bow with his greeting. She had Eve’s smile, though that was all the resemblance left.

She seemed delighted. “
Venī mē! Venī!
” Then she took off at a run, back to the large house she had come from, shouting for her mother.

He followed, as she had asked him to, or at least he hoped she had said he should come with her. It had been some time since he’d used this tongue, and he hadn’t pulled the language from her mind. Adults had a broader understanding of the nuances of meaning, and he did not wish to make a fool of himself so soon.

A woman stood at the door when he arrived. She studied his face, and he took the language from her while she did so, relieved to know he had translated things properly. “Greetings,” he said again. “I’ve traveled from the North.”

“Thor?” she asked.

He smiled. “You know the stories.”

“My grandmother told me about you. She told me you gave us the truth about the prophet and our God.”

“And your first mother, Eve.”

“Yes. And you come when we call for you. When we ask for your help. You bring us rain in drought and sun in flood.”

“I promised your people my help, yes. My protection. For Eve.”

“Grandmother thought that you loved her.”

He laughed, though it made his heart ache. “You’re grandmother was named Julia, wasn’t she?” The woman nodded. “She had Eve’s perception. What’s your name?”

The woman smiled, dimpling. “Flavia.”

“Flavia is lovely, though I’m sorry that you’re not an Evaline. It has been a long time since there was an Evaline in the House of Lions.”

“I’m Evaline!” It was the little girl, peeking out from behind her mother’s legs.

Thor smiled and crouched down, beckoning her forward. He kissed her forehead and whispered a prayer to the True God.
Watch over this child, and love her family. Give her a good life among her people, a good husband who will not chain her, but liberate her. Give her your Grace, and let her know her duty, her purpose and pass it on to her children.
He promised himself he would watch her, too. “Bless you, Evaline. Wear your name with pride.”

“Will you stay with us for dinner?” Flavia asked. “And tell us the stories, our history. For Evaline.”

He closed his eyes and looked for Eve. She was far in the east. Within Shiva’s power. And her brother Adam was in Rome. He would not be neglecting his duty to stay. And he owed these people this much. To give them their history. He owed Eve this much, if he could do nothing else. At least her family could know him. Odin had not taken that much from him. He opened his eyes. “Your hospitality would be appreciated. Thank you.”

Evaline took his hand, and he let her lead him into the house.

Chapter Two: Present

Eve told no one of Michael’s visit, striving instead to settle into motherhood without worry. The archangel had made his point, reminding her of her vow, and as long as she kept it, there was no reason for fear. She would never let Adam have her body. She would never give Adam a child. Why bother Garrit with hypotheticals? He worried enough already, besides, and now they had a child to raise together.

Unlike his ancestor, the Marquis, Garrit had no aversion to keeping his children close, nor did he argue with Eve’s desire to care for her children personally. He offered to hire a nanny to have on hand during the first few months, but she dismissed the idea before he had time to press the issue.

“If you insist on believing I’ll need help, I’d prefer you ask your mother, or your aunt. Family is always better than hired help when raising a baby, but I’m more than capable of caring for one.”

“Abby, I’m not questioning your proficiency, I just don’t see any reason why you should run yourself ragged and be up all hours of the night if you don’t have to. We have the means, why not take advantage of it?”

“Just because you have the means to do something doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. If you don’t want to ask your mother, I could always ask mine.”

Of course, he called his mother at once. Juliette was happy to be on hand, and she not only agreed to help with the baby, but also to order the household.

“I know how you hate having a staff, Abby, and the fewer strangers around the house bringing in germs the better off you’ll all be. I’ll take care of things, and Garrit can fight with me over whether or not to hire a nanny, instead of you.” Then she smiled. “I promise he’ll lose.”

The nursery was installed in the next room, adjoining their master bedroom. A remnant of the days when a husband and wife didn’t always share a bed, or even a room. And Juliette and René settled back into the house without the least disturbance.

Juliette’s first act was to forbid the rest of the family, not already present, from coming to see the baby until he had a few months to settle in.

“The parade of DeLeon well-wishers, family or not, is only going to be a vector for disease.”

Eve was relieved beyond measure to not be required to create or enforce that edict herself. “Maybe Brienne will pass along the word?”

Juliette laughed. “Brienne may have the weight of being matriarch behind her words, but no member of this family would dream of intruding on you or your son once your wishes were known. They have too healthy a respect for their Lady Eve. You may yet thank your Lord Ryam for that.”

She grimaced. Ryam, she thought privately, had done more harm than good with the information he’d gathered during their life together in the fifteenth century. Would she ever have a DeLeon husband who was not overprotective? “I do prefer a little bit less reverence.”

“Those of us who matter already know, my dear, and as a DeLeon in name only, I fully intend to treat you merely as my lovely daughter. But trust me that the aid of being who you are will make things that much easier on you now. I can’t tell you how many people were in and out at Garrit’s birth. It was exhausting, and René was no help at all. So proud to show off his son. It was one of the reasons I only gave him the one child. I couldn’t bear the thought of going through it all again.”

“Ryam was the same. But there was a certain amount of social obligation then, as well. I wonder if half the reason the mortality rate was so high wasn’t because of all those people coming in to chuck the children under the chin with their grubby hands.” Eve sighed at the memory. “It’s so nice that people bathe with regularity now. That was a difficult time to live through. I still don’t take indoor plumbing for granted.”

“Tell me at least the DeLeon ancestors had the decency to keep themselves clean?”

She laughed. “Oh, they did. It was one of my first acts as Ryam’s wife. At least weekly baths were instituted for everyone. More frequent for the family. I was already in trouble with the Church, so I figured I may as well go for broke.”

Juliette wrinkled her nose. “That anyone could doubt cleanliness was a virtue, I’ll never understand.”

Alexandre was a pleasant baby, and not only because Eve was so able to anticipate his needs. He rarely fussed without a reason, and he rarely had a reason to fuss. Motherhood had become more routine than instinct over the course of several thousands of years, and Eve had always loved her children. There was something refreshing about listening to so pure and innocent a mind. Something fascinating about witnessing that development from barely conscious of more than her warmth and her milk, to recognition of Mother and Father, to pleasure and love and joy.

Of course, this particular baby was doomed to be spoiled by his overeager DeLeon family. She hadn’t realized at first the significance, outside of the continuation of the direct line. Any baby born to Garrit would have been celebrated, but that it was Garrit’s child by herself increased this celebration to exultant proportions.

“Garrit, would you please tell your family to stop treating me like some kind of divine being. Anyone can have a baby. And look—his eyes are already darkening. I wouldn’t be surprised if you contributed more genes than I did, to this one.”

“I haven’t stopped trying since we married, Abby. I’m afraid that it isn’t within my power, but I’ll speak with Brienne again. Perhaps this time will be the charm.”

She handed him his son when he rose from one of the large armchairs to meet her. “Your family is going to spoil him into arrogance. This can’t go on. No son of mine will suffer from the affliction of pride. Remind them of that.”

“They might listen more effectively if you told them yourself.” He cradled Alex against his chest, and watched her as she paced the library. “It will be fine, Abby. Even if they do dote on him, we’ll raise him properly. And he’ll have brothers and sisters to bring him to heel if he forgets.”

“For an only child, you certainly seem determined to breed.”

He laughed. “I may be an only child, but I was raised with plenty of family. If we don’t give him siblings the closest family he’ll have are second and third cousins.”

“Mia will have children eventually. He’ll have first cousins too.”

“Hm.” He grimaced. “Adam’s children, you mean.”

“And cousins, all the same, when they arrive.” She stopped before the window, letting the sun warm her face. Adam’s children would have been her nieces and nephews regardless, though it had never occurred to her before to consider them such. Brother and sister were just convenient terms to describe a relationship that had no equivalent, but even God had named them twins, once. “Twice-over, when you think about it.”

“Have you heard from him?”

She shook her head. “Not since he left at Christmas. I really don’t make a habit of reaching him, and I have no reason to expect he’ll be contacting me anytime soon.” Or ever, if those last emotions had been any indication. Adam had seemed resolved, determined not to hurt Mia.

“He didn’t even check in on you after the birth?”

“No.” She wasn’t sure why it rankled her, but it seemed to offend Garrit, too, somehow. “Why would he? I’m sure Mia told him the baby was fine when she got home.”

“I would think that as interested as he’s been in you, he would express some concern for your physical well-being.”