[Legacy of a Martyr #2] Liberation from the Masquerades (A Key Keepers novel)

Episode 57: My Little Firebird

I was sitting at my desk right now. I had just told Eni a bit of the story of Alice in Wonderland. It was the first story that came to mind, and I wanted to get my baby brother to sleep as soon as possible. I didn't get very far into it, but it didn't bother me. He needed rest if his fever was ever going to break.

T went to Eni's room to call Noelle. We didn't want to bother her when she was so far away, but she would want and needed to know about this. Noelle might be able to give us suggestions on how to help Eni recover, too.

There was something I could do, but I felt iffy about it. I could take some heat or some of his fire. That would hopefully help his fever even if it wasn't much of a change.

I kissed the top of his head and ran my finger across his cheek. It went against my instincts to not jerk my hand away. I took an ember from him. It felt nothing like my own embers. I'd never come across embers like it in campfires or other people. I'd only felt them in... in the kitchen...

T came into our room and got a hair tie out of our bathroom. She pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail. "Annie should be here soon."

I nodded.

"She wants to look at him. We shouldn't do anything else until she gets here. We'll have a better plan of attack then."

Too late for that... Oh, well... It was just an ember. What the girls didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

"Why don't you go out for a bit?" T smiled. It couldn't get more fake if she tried... "Weren't you saying at breakfast that you wanted to go buy a new book?"

"Kaze..." I drew a long breath. "I can't even think about doing that until we know for sure what's wrong with Eni."

She put her hand over mine. "We'll know as soon as Noelle gets here. I really think you should go once we know."

My eyes must've been huge. "Right now, that is near the bottom of my list of priorities."

"Ali." Hands on my shoulders, Kaze made me look her in the eyes. "You need to take care of yourself. I know you've been focusing all your attention on us since we got back from that battle. You need to do something for yourself."

How could I do that when Eni needed me? T may as well have been asking me to move the ocean...

"Let me take care of you. It's only fair when you did the same for me."

The door to our room creaked open. Noelle evidently decided to do that to avoid spooking us.

"Tia, Alain, how's he been holding up?"

There was something about seeing Noelle again. I just wanted to cry. I wanted to be the little boy who could cry into his mama's shirt again.

"This is all we've done for him," T said. "Ali got him to sleep while I was on the phone with you."