A while later, James found her sitting in one of the arm chairsn n the library. An open book in her hands, but her eyes were closed and tears slowly inched down the grooves on her cheeks. He closed the book and lead her to the couch. He sat with her leaned against him as he continued reading the book he had started when she was unconscious."James..." Lilly interrupted after a while.
"Yes, Lilly?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yes. Are you?"
"I… I don"t know."
"Lilly," James said, turning her chin to look at him. "What"s wrong?"
"Would you ever… disappear on me?"
"What do you mean?"
She turned into him and her hand moved to his side. He moved it and held it to his chest.
"Lilly…. I don"t know…. This change I feel… if it continues… then it will only end up causing you more…."
Lilly"s eyes filled with tears and he stopped.
James pulled her close and kissed her.
"Do you really want to get rid of me that quickly?" she asked quietly.
"No, I just... can"t stand to have you look at me differently."
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"James, I love you. No change will stop me from loving you." She kissed him and snuggled closer. Then she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
James moved hair from her face, the light from the lamps cast shadows on her face with the grooves. He held her for a moment then carried her to bed. He laid beside her and soon fell asleep. When he woke he found his shirt had been removed and Lilly"s hand rested on his side that had burned her hand. He rolled over and check her hand. There was no burn.
"Lilly?"
"Hmm?" she asked, keeping her eyes closed. He brushed her cheek and her eyes opened. "Is something wrong James?"
"No, I..."
She smiled and moved closer.
His arm wrapped tighter around her and he kissed her forehead. "Are you okay?"
"Just fine."
James shifted enough to look at her face. He looked at her, watching for the look of horror that had briefly crossed her features when she saw the patch of Gerrabella skin on his side. As he watched her, he saw nothing but love and acceptance in her gaze as she had once his battle wounds were completely healed. Her hand rested against his chest and she fell asleep with a smile on her face. Once he knew she was asleep he got up and sat at the table. Carthago came in and sat the two of them talked softly while Lilly slept. They talked about how things were going with their spouses then it turned to the Gerrabella war.
A horn blew in the distance and startled both of them.
"An attack already?!" Carthago left the room.
The horn blew again and Lilly sat up.
Carthago had already left and James stopped in the doorway.
"Lilly?"
"Just a messenger," she said with a furrowed brow.
"Lilly?" James asked, sitting next to her. "What is it?"
Her arms wrapped around him and her energy flowed around them. James arms tightened, and he didn"t realize she was looking for the change. It was gone completely. All that remained was a patch of skin.
He lifted her chin and kissed her tenderly. "I need to see what"s going on. Will you be okay?"
"Yes, Love. Be safe."
"I will." James kissed her once more before slipping on a shirt and leaving.
A good sized group of Adremedians and new replacements were just leaving his room when James returned. He watched five Adremedian couples and five children leave before looking at Lilly. She sat in a black dress by the table. Her gaze turned towards the window.
"What"s going on Lilly? Why are there so many new Adremedians?"
"They will be needed when the fighting starts again," she replied, not turning.
James sat across from her to see her face. The grooves on her face had a red shimmer to them. Much had happened with Lilly as well since he met her and he wondered if there were times when she wondered if her changes would be enough to make him leave her. Even as he thought this, James realized that he loved Lilly too much to let her go. Her hand rested on the table and he took it in his own. With a gentle pull, she moved from where she sat to his lap. He kissed her pa.s.sionately. Human children would be needed as well, and now he wished they developed as quickly as Adremedian children did. His kissed moved down her neck until she moved away a little so she could look at him.
"There is something you need to know, James."
"What"s that, Dear?"
"If we are able to have children, and that child has a Human voice...either we would need to give them to another couple...or I would need to silence their voice with poison."
James studied her face. "You mean kill it?"
Lilly shook her head. "Silence the voice. It would cause the child a great deal of pain."
"But if the child is entirely Human, then how will it communicate?"
Her hand rested on his chest. "The same way I started communicating with you."
"That"s all well and good with us, but what about their fellow Humans? How will they communicate with them?"
"I honestly don"t know, James. For even though I am part Human, my voice was silenced soon after birth and voices that I should have been able to understand became noise and detrimental to my health." Her hand lightly caressed his face.
"Does this mean that a Human child"s hearing will change as well?" He looked at her, not liking where this was going.
"It shouldn"t unless they are part Adremedian."
"How will we know?"
"How long they stay inside of me. Adremedian children are born in a matter of moments; Humans 9 months; Mixes will be somewhere in between."
"There is still so much I wish I knew about the mixes or how Human children will be able to interact with their own."
"I do not have those answers. I"m sorry. Even my mother did not have them, since I was her only child born of a Human man before she died."
James traced the grooves on her left cheek with his thumb. "If you do have to silence their voice, how long will they be in pain?"
"It would vary from child to child. Mixes will take longer, Adremedians nothing at all, as for Humans… I don"t know." Her fingers moved across his still bare head.
"How long did it take for you?"
"Ten minutes. Felt like ten days."
"I guess it is a chance we"ll have to take." He kissed her and the Human pa.s.sion stirred.
Lilly moved off his lap and pulled him from the chair. They returned to bed. He felt the first stirrings of life within her, but then it faded and was gone. It puzzled him, but he didn"t let it stop him from making sure she knew of his love. When he lay beside her once more, James wiped a blood tear from her face. Tears came to his eyes, but he was quick to kiss her so she wouldn"t have to see. As much as he wanted a child, even a mixed child, he felt it best to wait. Give them both time to accept that they would never have strictly Human or Adremedian children.