The Ether Witch Volume 2

"But no one would want to be friends with them!"

"You never know… We could always teach them to do it in private."

"It would also mean that they were licking themselves."

"Erm… I guess, yes."

"See? It'd be awful! Gods…"

Tam let out a long sigh before he took a delicious sip of coffee.

He and Eli were still deep in discussion on the issues that might arise if their future child was in any way part beast. In this particular instance, they were talking about whether or not the child would come out with fur, and therefore, cough up hairballs. While Eli had worked herself up to the point where her shoulders nearly touched her earlobes, Tam had adopted a far more relaxed air. There were a large number of troubles in their present, and he didn't need to borrow concerns from the future to increase his current anxieties.

"I don't think I should turn into my familiar form until after the baby is born," Eli announced, her hands gripping her teacup a little more tightly.

"Whatever you think is best." Tam nodded agreeably.

Eli's eyes snapped to him.

Tam had been about to take another sip of coffee, but the intensity of Eli's stare made him pause.

He gazed back at her patiently.

"You think we're going to be fine," she assumed evenly.

"I do."

"That's easy for you to say," Eli scoffed. "You try thinking about birthing something with claws."

Tam recoiled.

"See?" Eli emphasized triumphantly.

Tam leaned forward and hid his laugh behind a throat clearing before setting his cup down on the round table and leaning over to grasp Eli's hands.

"That does sound terrifying. And these are all valid worries…"

"You think I should focus on our other problems instead of this one?" Eli guessed knowingly.

Tam grinned.

Eli still had two cowlicks in her chin length hair that she had not been able to tame, but regardless of that, she looked beautiful to Tam with her periwinkle blue Zinferan dress dotted with red flowers.

Dropping his gaze to their joined hands, Tam rubbed his thumb over Eli's knuckles.

"You should think and worry about what you want. I can't imagine what it's like growing another person. But… upsetting yourself when there is nothing to do but hurry up and wait, might be hard on you, and I want you to feel comfortable."

Eli didn't speak straight away. Rather she looked like she was lightly gnawing on her tongue before she managed to respond with, "It's a shame you dislike being social. You're annoyingly adept at giving diplomatic answers."

Tam dropped his head with a quiet snort.

"There is a genuine worry that fits into this line of questions," Eli ventured on carefully.

Tam lifted his head, his good humor sobering in the face of her serious expression.

"If… If the child is affected by my having ancient beast blood in me, it is possible that it could change when I give birth. Cats give birth after only being pregnant a few weeks!"

Tam straightened.

That was a very valid concern…

"Wait." Tam paused, his eyebrow arching. "You said you didn't manifest your beast form until you were older."

Eli blinked at his recollection of her past. "Yes, that is true."

"So wouldn't it stand to reason that if that was the case for you, if our child inherits that ability, she or he would not have any kind of trait or transformation until they, too, were older?"

Relief seized Eli. "Gods, you're right." She closed her eyes and let out a long breath. "Alright. That does make me feel better."

Rising partially out of his seat Tam brushed a kiss over her forehead before settling back down. "I'm worried, too. Trust me. I'm relatively certain I'm going to be having a mental breakdown when you go into labor."

Eli smiled at him. "I'd like to see that."

Tam's jaw dropped in mock offense. "Gods, you wish emotional torment on me. Just whom have I agreed to spend my life with…?"

Eli gave a quiet cackle as she, too, eased back in her seat. "Don't worry, you haven't married me yet. There is still plenty of time for me to scare you off."

Tam slowly crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Eli. "I'd marry you this instant. But we're getting my parents together to attend. As you should know by now, I do my utmost to keep my promises."

Eli tilted her head, a warm glean in her eyes as she allowed the hand Tam had seized to drift back around her teacup. "I do."

Tam smiled once more at her. "You seem happy today. I like it."

Setting her cup down on the table Eli began stretching her neck side to side. "Yes, well. Aside from our persistently expanding horde of children, all we have to do today is force the Lobahlan's to tell us what they know about the device Wixim gave us."

Tam rose to his feet, and rounded Eli's chair to rest his hands on her shoulders where he pressed with his thumbs and began rubbing them in slow, careful circles.

"Oh." A groan of pleasure escaped Eli's mouth, which happened to have a very unrelaxing effect on Tam, but he shoved such thoughts to the side as he continued to try and ease more of the tension out of Eli's body.

"When did you want us to start working on prying that information out of them?" Tam asked while letting his sights glide over to Luca and Penelope who were subjecting the Lobahlans to their every whim, which included being pushed on the swing, playing card games, and the occasional bout of hide and seek.

"After lunch people usually are sleepy, and so they aren't as quick. We'll do it then," Eli replied while allowing her chin to drop to her chest as she continued to enjoy Tam's work on her shoulders.

"Alright, sounds like a plan." Tam bent over and brushed a kiss along the side of Eli's neck, making a flush of goosebumps appear. He smiled at the sight, and remained hovering around her.

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Clearing her throat, Tam noted the way Eli shifted. The sails slapped in the wind, but otherwise things were quite quiet on the deck.

"You know…" she started to say as the tops of her ears started to turn red.

"Mm?" Tam kissed her neck again.

"It's not like I can get more pregnant."

"I like the way you think there, Taejo."

"Ugh. I'm not the emperor's adopted daughter anymore, remember?" Eli's head swiveled round to stare up at Tam who let his hands slip to her upper arms.

"And so what name should the magistrate read out during our vows?" Tam heard the huskiness in his voice, and thanks to the fact that his mind was swimming with all kinds of private activities, he didn't particularly care.

Eli licked her lips. Evidently, she was not unaffected by the mood.

"Just Elisara… Maybe Harris?"

Stunned, Tam couldn't help but eventually give another short laugh as he dropped his head. "Oof. Mackenzie and Oscar Harris as your guardians? Harris is going to have a field day with my father…"

Eli bristled a little, but she did so with a grin of her own. "That sounds like their problem."

"Right. Well. I don't exactly feel like calling you Harris, so I guess I'll keep working on finding a good nickname."

"Do we really need one? It isn't like my name is difficult to say." Eli stood with Tam's help, and the pair casually wandered closer to the stairs.

"I'd like to have one. It's a name that only you or I could use which makes it fun."

"You want me to call you Ashowan…?" Eli wondered while glancing up at Tam.

Tam winced. "Too many people call my father that."

"Lin? From your full name, Tamlin?"

Tam shot a flat look in response to the suggestion, then made one of his own. "Your alias was Ellie in Zinfera, what about that?"

By this time they were halfway down the ship's passageway, and they had to slow as their eyes adjusted to the darkness. The rest of their stroll passed by quickly—though that was most likely because they both happened to be taking long, hurried steps.

"I'm not too fond of Ellie." Eli waited as Tam reached for their cabin's door handle and pressed the latch open so that she could step in first.

Tam followed her into the room and shut the door behind them.

"I could just call you 'wife'."

Eli folded her arms, her eyebrows rising. "But I'm not your wife."

Tam prowled closer, forcing Eli to slowly back up, her eyes blinking rapidly as she visibly struggled to hold Tam's gaze.

She jolted when the table hit the back of her thighs.

Tam stooped down and picked her up—making her squeak—and plunked her down on the table while slowly pushing her skirts higher to allow him to stand nearer to her.

He lowered his head, his mouth hovering over hers as he then said, "You will be my wife someday, and it better be someday soon."

They were so close that when Eli's breath hitched he heard it just fine.

"To be honest…" Eli had to pause to swallow. "I don't really care if we do or don't get marrie–"

Tam kissed her with a faint growl, cutting her off.

When he eventually stopped, he didn't fully pull away again, as he ended the discussion by saying, "Well I damn well do care. And you better get ready, because there are a lot more things I'm going to want to do with you after the fact."

Despite the flush in Eli's cheeks and glassiness in her eyes, she still managed to respond with a faint, teasing question of her own. "Oh? Like what?"

Tam smiled, his hands wandering up her sides. "You'll see. It's a surprise."

And then he was kissing her again, and both of their respective patience seemed to run out as they indulged in a leisurely morning of closeness that had them remaining in their cabin until lunch.

***

"Really?" Luca's smile made his entire face glow as he reverberated with excitement.

"Yes! But don't tell them I told you!" Penelope whispered while pressing her finger to her lips indicatively.

The two children sat on the deck with a pile of their playing cards messily stacked after they had just finished a game of Battle Eight. It was almost time for lunch, and the Lobahlans had retreated to the round table Tam and Eli had abandoned a while ago—for some unknown reason—to rest a little before they ate.

"Do you know what it is?" Luca persisted, leaning in conspiratorially as two sailors strode by and cast fond smiles down at them.

Penelope smirked and nodded, her eyes following the men to make sure they were out of earshot.

"Ooh!" Luca giggled, absolutely thrilled as he clenched his fists and proceeded to do a funny little dance one of the sailors had shown him the night before. "Will you tell me?"

Penelope tossed her nose in the air. "Maybe! Maybe if you do everything I say, I will."

"Aw!" Luca's jubilant mood dropped, but then he stilled, his eyes turning pensive. "If I tell you a secret, will you tell me?"

Penelope perked up interestedly for a moment before turning skeptical. "You don't have one. You're bluffing."

"I'm not! I swear!" Luca declared earnestly while nodding.

Penelope's eyes narrowed. "Really?"

"Really!"

She scooted closer to Luca. "Alright, if you tell me, I'll tell you."

Luca grinned again, and brought up his hand to whisper. "My bad dreams are getting better. I don't see sad things and scary monsters any more!"

Penelope pulled away, annoyed. "That isn't a secret! Why would it even be a secret?"

Hurt, Luca frowned. "Because I don't tell people about my dreams, and I don't get to be happy with anyone else about it."

Penelope scowled. She looked like she wanted to argue more, but against such a sweet confession that made her feel reluctantly special, she had no choice. And so she leaned forward with a sigh, cupped her own hand around Luca's ear, and told him a little tidbit of information about the future that she knew Tam and Eli would most likely want to know very, very much.

And when he heard the answer, he surged to his feet and started jumping up and down, unable to contain himself.

"YES!"

Giggling, Penelope joined him in standing, and unable to fully resist his infectious good mood, she too joined in on jumping and celebrating the secret news she had shared.