Chapter 4

I pulled the door open, in a rush to get back to the living room, only to find my path blocked by Tishrana, whose hand was poised in mid-air, apparently caught in the act of knocking.

"What!" I snapped hastily, before I could stop myself. I did not like the idea that Tish might have been eavesdropping on my little family discussion.

"Um, sorry," he mumbled, abashed. "I was just going to tell you dinner's ready." From his expression it was clear he had not, in fact, been eavesdropping.

"Thank you," I replied, contrite. "Sorry," I told him silently. "Problems."

I stepped out into the hall and waited for my parents to follow on out, which Tish held the door for them. To my mind, they ignored the courtesy quite pointedly.

One they reached the living room, ahead of us, Tish kissed me on the cheek. "Poor, Dera, " he whispered into my mind, "put upon by everyone." He reached over and took our son. "Least I can do," he said, to which I smiled. He was a very good father.

Shridan and Xela were both smiling and friendly with Fafara and my other sons, I noticed as I followed them towards the savoury-smelling dining room. Seating themselves at the oval table, they took the two spaces at the end, so that Adelna and little Ilish were to their right, leaving Tishrana and I to sit at the opposite end. Was this adversarial arrangement intentional, I wondered?

As I took my seat, Tish pulled the cradle over from the corner and put it down between our chairs. Devath fussed briefly, but a quick touch to the forehead from his father, no doubt filled with calming energy, was enough to settle him down, hopefully for the duration of the meal. Tish sat down and with that, we were ready to eat.

The meal went by fairly pleasantly at first, I must say. I haven't always been good about communicating with them, but in general we got along very well and I think they were trying to live up to that past harmony, if only for the benefit of the family as a whole. They did reserve most of their conversation for Fafara and Adelna, however.

When I turned to Devath to feed him some food off my plate, spooning some mashed sweet potatoes into his greedy but smiling mouth, Tish touched my elbow. "Don't let them get to you," he told me silently.

Kardaram was bringing out the desert before Xela finally directed some attention to my end of the table. "So, Tishrana, how's bookselling?"

Eager to please, as well as honestly enthused about his business, Tish smilingly shared with them his pleasure at a recent surge in sales, thanks to some contacts that my parents had provided some months earlier. "My client base is expanding quite a bit actually. In two weeks, I'll be traveling to Jael soon. If I can hook up with some of their presses, it will be fantastic. And if that weren't enough, Adelna is actually going with me."

"Oh?" Shridan asked. "As an assistant?"

"Well, that's some of it... but more importantly, I'm trying to arrange for him to visit with some of the artists," he explained, beaming at what was in effect his stepson. "If possible, we may try to arrange an apprenticeship. Adelna's very gifted."

"A credit to his parents, I agree," Shridan said, "although I expect the artistic talent can easily be traced to Dera."

For all it was a compliment to me personally, there was something proprietary about this statement that I didn't quite like, and I soon found out what it was. Presentiment.

"Yes," Xela said, "Dera's always had a gift. It was lovely to see him grow into it as a harling and move on to becoming a jeweler, especially when he became so successful. A pity he's had to give it up, isn't it?"

Anger shot through me but before I could even vent it, my father dared expand on this offensive line of conversation. "It could be very good for his business, travel to Jael. Even so, I expect he'll enjoy seeing all the art."

I looked to Tishrana, who blinked and let his mouth open for just a moment before speaking. "Actually, Dera's not coming with me."

The meltdown after that came swiftly. "Oh? Why is that?"

Tishrana, not knowing of the conversation in the study earlier, answered the question honestly. "Well, we've discussed it and with little Devath come along, we think it would be better if he stayed here. Besides, he's offered to help manage my business affairs while I'm away. We'll be gone for over a month."

My parents glanced at one another, exchanges silent words, I am sure. They pushed away their desert dishes. "Tishrana," my father asked quietly, "could you please come with Xela and I for a little chat?"

It was the straw that broke the camel's back. Devath began to cry immediately. I went to shush him but found my own eyes filling with tears as well. With a mumbled "Excuse me," I stumbled out of my chair, scooped up the harling and abruptly left the room.

"Dera!" I heard them call -- Tish, my parents... all of them!

Without turning my back, I headed to the bedroom, where I could cry in private. Before closing the door, I shouted down the hall: "Tish, why don't you chat with my parents about what hotel they should stay in tonight before they leave tomorrow?!"