Her brows rose. "And why would you do that?"
"Curiosity," I replied. "Noc has explained that the two worlds are unbalanced in regards to that part of the equation. Noc and I both are interested in understanding, as we provide a kind of balance to the loss of Cora and the loss of the me of this world, how the situation with the Frey of this world and the Sjofn once of my own balances between the universes."
"The Frey of this world was in need of money to start his own custom furniture business," Valentine began to explain instantly. "Thus some time ago he sold his sperm to a sperm bank. Perhaps a rash thing to do, but with his IQ and other charms, a smart one for he was unsurprisingly remunerated very well for it. This sperm was selected by Sjofn and the lover she"s married since coming to this world, and it has been selected twice. They have a son, Viktor, and a daughter was just born to them, Aurora Eugenie, both children Sjofn carried. Quite the coincidence, unless you understand the destiny at work."
I stared at her.
She carried on.
"To fully a.s.suage your curiosity, Frey of this world lives in Boise, Idaho with his wife, who is barren. His custom furniture business is quite the success now that he"s put a goodly amount of time, effort and talent into it. He sells furniture across the country. And they"re raising three children, all of Vietnamese descent who they adopted from that land. He"s quite happy, quite in love and quite proud of his family, having no idea he has a son and daughter of his seed, nor will he ever know. However, Sjofn does know as she"s seen photos of the donor she selected, which was one of the reasons she selected him. If possible, balance must be maintained and that is not lost on our deposed princess."
"Well, that answers that," I murmured, and it did, even if some of it I didn"t quite understand.
"Now, if that"ll be all..." she trailed off doing it moving out the door.
If that"ll be all?
I hadn"t spoken directly to her in days!
I took a step toward her, calling, "Valentine."
She stopped, turned to me and again lifted her brows, doing all with clear impatience.
"There are things we must see to," I told her something she had to know.
"Agreed, and we shall, after I see to the things I need to see to," she returned.
"Can you perhaps share when you feel this would be?" I requested.
She tipped her head to the side. "Do you not have enough to occupy your time?"
"Of course I do, however, in the case of Circe and Lahn-"
"Yes," she interrupted me quickly. "If you"d like to carry on with that, be my guest and keep me apprised."
She finished that again turning to leave.
"Sister," I said sharply, keeping tight hold on my displeasure.
And concern.
She turned back on a sigh.
I held her gaze steady. "Things are not well."
I saw her jaw tighten. "I"ll not answer that again."
"Things are not well," I repeated.
"Franka, I have little time for-"
I took a step toward her and quieted my voice. "I know things are not well. I don"t know what is not well, but I know whatever it is is troubling you. And you need to know I know, so you"ll also know I"m here to listen and help should you have the need."
She turned her head away and it appeared she was collecting herself before she turned back and the remoteness was gone.
I did not have the Valentine I knew returned when she again gazed at me but at least she"d removed the shield she"d been holding up against me.
And what I saw made my breath catch, I couldn"t quite read it, but I most a.s.suredly didn"t like it.
"You"re right, ma pet.i.te sorciere," she said softly, "things are not well. I find I"m experiencing something I had not thought I ever would. And I"m having some difficulty finding my way around it. I wish to do that on my own, but," she lifted a hand when I opened my mouth, "if I should fail to find that way, I will take you up on your offer."
I nodded and pressed no more. I knew women of her ilk for, until very recently, I was just that kind of woman.
"You"re also correct," she continued. "You"re here and our plans for Circe and Dax Lahn need to commence. I just...I simply..." Again it seemed she was collecting herself before she finished, "This is not something I can do right now."
She"d been seeing to her business but she could not see to that business.
That business.
I studied her carefully and at what I finally read, I felt my throat constrict.
By the G.o.ds, she"d had her heart broken.
G.o.ds, the despair I now saw hidden deep in her eyes was that she"d lost a lover.
I took a step toward her, whispering, "Valentine."
I saw her body brace. "Please, Franka, don"t."
I stopped moving.
"All will be well," she lied.
I nodded and a.s.sured her of the only thing I could a.s.sure her of in that moment, or at least all she would allow.
"I shall begin with Circe and Lahn. I"ll keep you apprised."
She dipped her chin. "Thank you."
Before I could utter another word, without a glance back, she swept from the room.
I stood staring at the empty doorway for some time, my heart heavy for my friend, feeling some frustration her pride forced her to block the efforts of help of those who cared about her.
And it was not lost on me that perhaps, in the past, those who cared about me felt the same with my prideful ways.
If this was the case, it was good that Noc had delivered me of that on our first night of normal, for now I knew the pain of having pain without allowing oneself to seek solace was much akin to the pain of caring about someone who refused solace offered.
I heaved a sigh and moved back to my crystal ball, fluttering a hand over it to clear the blue smoke that drifted through it and called up the this-world Lahn.
When I did, regardless of how often I"d observed him, I found myself surprised at just how easy he was to observe.
Unlike losing my concentration earlier in attempting to understand the life of the this-world Frey, I got quite lost in watching the this-word Lahn.
So much so I jumped when I heard Noc"s voice saying, "Ready to go find a house, sugarlips?"
I looked to the door to see him sauntering through.
Therefore I smiled and rose again from my seat.
He walked right to me, smiling back, rounding me with an arm and dipping his head to mine to drop a closed-mouth kiss on my lips.
After delivering me that morning from his home so I could have breakfast with Josette and he could leave to give her and I time to spend together, as planned, he"d returned to take us, what he referred to as, "house hunting."
We"d been apart perhaps three hours.
I"d missed him.
"I"m ready, darling," I answered.
His arm around me gave me a squeeze and I could feel him preparing to let me go but I lifted a hand to his chest to forestall him.
"Before we go, you must know I have news," I shared.
"And that would be?"
Standing close together, I told him all I"d learned.
His joy at Finnie and Frey, Lahn and Circe and Apollo and Maddie"s news was unhidden, this one of the many things I loved about him.
There was no subterfuge with Noc. He did not feel it made him more of a man to hide his emotions. It was a thing of beauty, a gift he bestowed on anyone who was fortunate enough to witness it, and I treasured it for just that.
But when I told him of the Frey and Sjofn of this world, he burst out laughing.
When his mirth settled to chuckles, he said, "Well, that takes care of that."
"Although I do believe I can put it together, can you explain what a sperm bank is?"
He grinned and explained.
When he did, it was I who burst out laughing.
When my mirth had settled to chuckles, I wondered if I looked upon him with the warmth that he was right then looking at me after he did the same.
I hoped so.
"This world has many conveniences," I observed. "Many."
"Yeah," Noc agreed through a grin. "Now, after we look at places, we"ll go to the mall again. Get baby presents. See if we can wrangle five minutes with Valentine so she"ll deliver them."
"What a lovely idea," I murmured, not at all surprised that Noc had had it.
I had not shared with him about Valentine except to tell him I"d seen her and she"d given me the news I"d imparted on Noc.
I wouldn"t either, unless he asked about it.
That wasn"t what sisters did.
And I finally had sisters. I needed to take care of them.
And this, however I needed to do, specifically with Valentine, I would do.
"This is revolting," I said under my breath to Noc.
"This is suburbia, Frannie," he replied under his breath to me. "You told the agent you wanted greens.p.a.ce, you aren"t gonna find much of that in a city."
I tore my gaze from the personality-less room of what had been referred to as a "model home," though my understanding of the word "model" did not reconcile with anything to do with the home we were in, and looked to Josette.
She felt my regard, turned to me and curled her lip.
I looked to the agent who was pretending she wasn"t trying to listen and stated, "I"m sorry for taking you so far away from the city to show us this property, but I"m afraid it won"t do."
She forced a smile and moved my way, saying, "Well, now we"ve seen four properties so perhaps you can share what you liked, and didn"t, about each and maybe I can narrow my search."
What I liked was Noc"s home and not because I wished that for Josette and me.
I liked it because there was great beauty in having all that was Noc surrounding me, making me feel safe and warm and peaceful, none of which I"d ever had. I loved being in his home in a way I knew that could be my home, far less grand than any I"d ever known, but indisputably far better as well.
But I couldn"t request from Noc that he allow Josette and me to live with him.
Firstly because it was far too small. For Noc and I to have what I wished Noc and I to have when we had our alone times, Josette obviously could not be with us.
Secondly, because this was an intimacy I felt-for some unfathomable reason I still understood as accurate-was one Noc needed to invite.
And he would not do that with Josette accompanying me.
However, I was Franka Drakkar and I knew what I liked.
So I shared it.
"The brick walkways of the first property you showed us, as well as the drive and garage, for Mr. Hawthorne will need somewhere to keep his vehicle that"s safer than the street for when he"s with us, as will Josette and I when we acquire our own conveyances," I declared.
The woman stared fixedly at me, something she did often when I knew she found my speech odd.
I ignored it and carried on.
"The wrought iron around the veranda and balconies of the second, with the large tree in front that offered shade, its two stories and lovely cornices and ceiling roses. And the privacy and maturity of the garden in the courtyard of the third." I drifted out a hand. "Alas, I"ve nothing to share that I like of this, except the large lawns, which I do believe I may need to relinquish in order to have other things that are priorities."