Way of No Return (Champions of the Crystal Book 8)

Chapter 24.3

"Zeph!" Sabrina smiled, holding out her hands to him. "Welcome! I'm so glad to know you're okay."

Zepharan took her hands and squeezed them, smiling at her. "And I'm glad to know that all the rumors are untrue. You look far too healthy to have been through half the ordeals the gossips have invented!"

Sabrina's smile faded a little. "I'll tell you all about it sometime, and you can judge for yourself."

"I insist on it," he said.

"Zeph," Ford said, coming over to the bed with the baby in his arms, "this is our daughter, Lilonwy Anatobia ya Tassan nar Devon."

Zepharan beamed at the baby, reaching out a finger to stroke her cheek. "Hi, little princess. She's beautiful, Ford."

"She has my eyes and her mother's smile," Ford said, his gaze focused on the baby.

"So, do you have the sponsors picked out yet?" Zepharan asked.

"Ah." Ford looked up. "Sorry, Zeph. Given the circumstances of Lily's birth, we've decided to name the people who were with us at the time her sponsors. Though some of them will be posthumous, and one in absentia."

"I understand. I'll take the next one," Zepharan smiled. "Anyway, I had the honor of being one of Annamarie's sponsors, so I can't claim to be left out of the family."

The baby made an odd snorting noise, and Ford looked down in concern. "Sometimes she has trouble breathing," he explained. "I'll go get the oxygen tent."

Sabrina didn't seem alarmed, though she bit her lip as Ford and the baby left. "Is she healthy otherwise?" Zepharan asked.

"Yes, amazingly so considering how early she was. Ford and I have done what we can through the Crystal, but neither of us are experts." Sabrina seemed to turn her attention back to him and patted the bed. "Come tell me how you've been. Where were you when the attack started?"

"Zarn, getting ready to leave for Deltarr," he replied. "We didn't see much action there, though we had to evacuate the spaceport, of course. How are you doing?"

"Oh, all right. I'm getting stronger every day—I can walk quite a ways now without having to stop. I work a few hours a day as well, though without a secure console there's only so much I can take care of. And I want to be involved in the palace restoration, but without being on site, that's been difficult as well."

"Why don't you go visit, then?"

Sabrina sighed. "The baby needs fed every few hours, and I can't take her with me. The air isn't healthy enough there."

"You could take her to the Academy Hospital and leave her with her nursemaid. That's only minutes away," Zepharan suggested.

"I'll talk to Ford about it."

"You don't need his permission, do you?"

"As Prince of Bathir, no. But as my husband and Lily's father, it's more complicated. Maybe I don't need his permission, but I need him not to strenuously object. Besides the fact that transportation's a problem."

"A solvable one. But if you're enjoying your seclusion, please don't feel I'm pressuring you."

"No." Sabrina sighed. "I actually am tired of being stuck in the middle of nowhere. Well, with you here to mediate, maybe Ford and I can have a reasonable discussion about it." She bit her lip, then burst into tears.

"Sabrina," Zepharan said, reaching for her hand and patting it comfortingly. "There's nothing to cry about."

"I know. I'm so tired of all this, Zeph. Cynthia says she thinks it's post-partum depression, and maybe she's right, but I don't know what to do about it!"

"Fortunately you now have a live-in counselor," Zepharan said. "If we need to do some medical tests, we can do that at the Academy. But I think what you mostly need is someone to talk things out with. You and Ford are both wrestling with a lot of changes, and maybe you've sometimes forgotten to be kind to each other."

"Oh yes, I've been a perfect shrew sometimes," she admitted. "But he thinks he's king of the household! And I'm tired of being treated like an invalid!"

"Then stop acting like one," Zepharan said. "But we'll work on all this tomorrow. You need your sleep."

"Yes, I can't wait for Lily to sleep through the night. But Cynthia says that probably won't happen until she's three or four months old," Sabrina said, despair shading her voice. Then she let out a long sigh. "Zeph, do I sound like a terrible mother? I know I should be grateful she's alive at all. That we both are. It was close."

"You are not a terrible mother," Zepharan assured her. "All new parents have to adjust to the challenges an infant presents. I'm sure Aurora has told you that."

"We haven't had much time to speak recently, and Selémahs is taking care of the kids so I can't talk to her either, the way the coms are." Sabrina wiped at her tears. "I miss Ranja."

"Then you should go see her."

Sabrina nodded. "Yes. Though she isn't conscious yet, so it's not like I can talk to her."

"But it will help you believe that she is coming back."

"Yes. Kendara probably isn't, though." She drew a watery breath. "And I have no proof that Scotty and Tirqwin and Khediva will either. Or Mara for that matter. We only know she must be alive."

"We must focus on the things we can affect," Zepharan said gently.

Ford came back into the room, cradling a baby seat with a clear bubble around Lily. He set it in the cradle in the corner of the room and fiddled with the settings, then laid his hand on it for a moment.

"How is she?" Sabrina asked.

"Better. It was just a little apnea," Ford replied. He walked over to the other side of the bed and sat down. "How are you?"

"Why do you even ask that? You already know," she complained.

"To demonstrate my caring and concern," Ford said, keeping the irritation in his voice to a minimum. "Regardless of what you seem to think, I do care about your wellbeing. I'm not your jailer, Sabrina. If you want to go visit the palace, I encourage you to do so. The staff would be greatly relieved to see you."

"You've changed your tune since yesterday," Sabrina said, surprised. "Zeph, you're a miracle worker."

"I don't take credit for this," Zepharan smiled.

"You can have some of it," Ford admitted. "Your lecture in the flyer about my becoming a control freak in response to stress had some merit. Not nearly as much as you think, but some."

Zepharan chuckled. "Good. And while I am in both your good graces, this seems a good time to ask where I am to sleep."

"Cynthia has volunteered her room," Ford said. "She's going to bunk on a pallet in Seuréa's room."

"That's generous of her," Zepharan said.

"Be warned," Ford said. "Cynthia's room was a pantry before she took it over. There's barely room for the bed. I doubt you'll be able to stretch out."

"I won't complain," Zepharan said. "Remember that time we got locked in the gardener's shed at Dansestari? We managed to sleep in there, somehow."

"We were much smaller then," Ford mused. "Come on, Zeph. I'm tired too, and I have to be back at work in a depressingly few number of hours."