5
(Rinday, cont.)
Joton, Kri’enden - West Joton Manor
.
Ada Raiden put the luggage on the darkened walk in front of the house, then lifted her five-year-old sleeping daughter off the hoverbus. Hira was getting so heavy, she realized anew, as the bus continued on its way.
Leaving the luggage where she’d dropped it, she carried the sleeping child into the dark house.
Into the hallway, she carried the child, wishing that Egan had been out there to greet her as he used to be after one of her trips to the Zley Falls – before the novelty had worn off – before she’d fallen pregnant with their child. She wondered if he was already asleep or if he’d had to work late.
But there was a rhythmic noise – beyond that which her daughter was making. Still carrying Hira, she walked a little further to where her room door was slightly ajar. She peeped in silently.
A nightlight gave just enough glow to see there was someone in there. She could see two very feminine, light-skinned legs wrapped around Egan’s naked back and butt. Ada nearly forgot she was holding Hira as she felt an impulse to find a kitchen knife and take care of the womanizer right there and then. But Egan had powerful friends who might very well come after her – the woman under him could be one of them.
She turned and took Hira back out of the house. She wondered how many other children Egan had other than the one that grew in her own womb. Perhaps this was how he had entertained himself during her other trips to see her cousins.
She shifted Hira off her rounded tummy which had tightened uncomfortably under the child’s weight. Her back hurt now, but maybe she could get to the neighbor’s house without getting Egan’s attention.
Ada pressed the bell at the neighbor’s house, grateful there was no view of her own bedroom window from the front porch.
“Blaise!” she breathed with relief when she saw her overweight, kindly neighbor.
“Come in! What’s the matter? Do you need Tom to grab your luggage?” The woman was considerably short and had the olive complexion of the Çtaráni, but Ada loved her from the first time they’d met about a year ago.
“Please,” Ada accepted with her normal air of calm.
She sank gratefully onto a couch with the still-sleeping Hira and launched into her story. “I wanted to kill him.” That feeling of hatred was the only one she’d allowed to show on her face or in her voice. A feeling that was too new and raw to deal with internally as her own mother had taught her.
“I would back you up!” Tom Tomson added, having brought the luggage in. “That man was never up to any good!”
Tom had the tall, dark body of a typical Kri’enden man. He towered over Blaise, making them a rather odd couple, but they’d been together longer than Ada had been alive.
“I just got back from Zley Falls too. I do not know what to do,” she stated calmly.
“Stay here tonight,” Tom invited. “We’ve always had those two spare rooms, but the kids never seem to make it back to Joton, if you know what I mean. Then, we’ll work out what to do tomorrow. Let me take Hira for you.”
“Thank you,” Ada replied. Then, she followed Tom to the guest room where Blaise pulled out a small bed for the child. Tom placed Hira in the bed, then retreated quickly.
Ada quickly tucked Hira in, then lay her case on the guest bed. She opened it to pull out her dirty nightwear.
There was a gentle tap on her door.
“Yes?” she asked.
“Just me,” Blaise said. “I thought you might like a mug of calming tea.”
“Thanks, I would,” Ada replied.
“Shall I run those clothes through the wash for you?” Blaise offered. “I can even grab you one of my daughter’s nighties. She’s almost as tall as you, so I think it would fit you.”
“Thank you,” Ada said, too tired to argue. Besides, she had the bad feeling she was going to need all the help she could get once Egan realized she wasn’t coming home.
She sipped the tea and rubbed her tummy to her baby’s movements. They were expecting a son in a few weeks. It had been generally assumed that he would be called Egan, after his father, but Ada realized that she would rather call him Andac, after the new chief of her tribe. The chief didn’t have any children, which was almost scandalous amongst the Zley. Despite her own history there, she would have gladly shared his bed with him had the handsome man asked her. She could have stayed, not even caring whether she became the chief’s wife, or just an occasional lover.
Instead, she was here, in Joton, still paying for a mistake she had made nearly six years ago.
Blaise came back in. “Here you go. You can keep it if you want. My daughter doesn’t ever visit anymore as you heard Tom say. The temptations of Irola! I’d never want to live there, mind.”
Ada smiled politely.
“I’ll leave you now unless you need anything else,” Blaise said.
“I’m good, thanks. Good night. Thank you so much!”
“I told you that we’re here for you. Good night, Ada.” The woman smiled and left, closing the door behind her.
Ada used the leya to flip off the overhead light. She then got up, stood at the window, staring at the house she had shared with Egan for the past year. It had all been a lie, she realized again, feeling bitter.
A single tear rolled down her cheek, but then she felt the rage fill her again. “Stupid man!” she seethed. She reached inside her and pulled out some words taught her by the old stella who had once looked after her and her siblings. “May you get what you deserve and deserve what you get, Egan!”
Then, she lay on the bed feeling strangely comforted before she drifted into an angry sleep.
♥♥♥
If you have enjoyed this book, I would be grateful if you could put your thoughts as a review on [Goodreads](coming soon) for me.
Buy at: (coming soon to Books2Read, Scribl, LBRY and Lulu - paperback.)
Other Chapters of this set
Birth of the Neví - Chapter 1 on Whaleshares
Name of the Neví - Chapter 1
Mind of the Neví - Chapter 1
Game of the Neví - Chapter 1
Maps and Guides
- Kri'enden & Joton - 830 TCE (New/imprived map coming soon)
- Character Guide and Image Credits
- Calendar and Glossary - for Name of the Neví but these two parts are true throughout.
Writing and artwork copyright myself 2005-2019 – all rights reserved.
If you are interested in helping me publish these works, please contact me on Facebook or Discord, viking-ventures#2883.
Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
verified author on Goodreads
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blogging on: Steem, Whaleshares, WeKu, Hyperspace
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