Macha's Journey

The head of the household, Xuanwu, had never been a good businessman. He tended to be too risky. This led him to be the head of their house in name only. All of the business affairs shifted onto the eldest child, Royce, who laid the foundation for many of the businesses that were still around. Much to everyone"s dismay, Royce died in a shipwreck hundreds of years ago and Tai Shan took over the supervision of the family"s businesses.

Tai Shan was a conservative businessman. Under his care, the family"s shipping company grew slowly but steadily. Xuanwu respected his son and trusted in any decision that he made. This blind faith extended to Tai Shan"s request of accepting Macha into their family.

Standing in front of Xuanwu, Macha smiled nervously. The man had an air of n.o.bility surrounding him, similar to Hrod. He possessed a high hawk-like nose, grey eyes, and black hair. His very presence commanded attention. "h.e.l.lo, it"s nice to meet you. I hope it isn"t an inconvenience to you..." she started.

The woman ended up being much smaller in person than he imagined. He easily recognized her from the tournament. Back then she sat beside the King and at Jarnvid"s trial, she sat next to Lord Valois.

At first, the peculiar looking woman"s presence left him at a loss for words. After she began talking, he realized he had been rude. "I"m sorry, I was just caught up in the moment. Come, you are our only daughter now. Don"t be nervous, we"re family. Call me father."

Macha"s heart beat against her chest. "F-father, I," speaking the familial words made her full of emotion. "I"m thankful for your acceptance. I will try to be a good daughter."

Xuanwu hugged her and led her to the dining room. "Just be you. We"re all imperfect from time to time. Tai Shan knows that I have many faults," his confession made him chuckle. He would be the first to admit that he was not perfect. "What is important is as a family, we make up for each other"s weaknesses. Come, sit next to your brother. This will be your seat from now on."

Dinner did not feel awkward at all. They all got to know each other and conversation flowed freely. Xuanwu asked many questions about Macha"s past. The fact that she came from another world that was not the demon realm fascinated him.

As the night progressed, the elder Swat excused himself, he wanted to get something upstairs. While he was gone, Macha asked Tai Shan, "What did father mean by me being the only daughter ????"

This question caused his smile to fade. His lashes lowered, and he twitched his lips. "I had a sister before, but her husband beat her to death. Our family had many unfortunate deaths in the past. As you know, I"m the second son, but elder brother died in a shipwreck. We also had thirteen other siblings, but they were all stillborn."

"Oh. What happened to your mother? Is she away right now?"

"Father actually had three wives. When Royce died, his mother committed suicide. Another pa.s.sed away during labor and my mother asked for a divorce." Explaining the family"s past caused him to feel ashamed. "I"m sorry, I should have explained our history before we performed the blood bond. Do you regret joining the family?" He held his breath, afraid of what her reaction would be.

Macha gazed tenderly at Jóhanna, who slept on the sofa between them. "No, I was just curious. I don"t see anything wrong with our family. All families are different." From what she saw of Tyr"s family, the Swat family seemed normal.

The sound of heavy footsteps entered the room, causing the two to turn. A bakeneko slave came in, leading Tyr into the parlor. He bowed gracefully, his calico fur was well maintained, and he kept his tail low. His voice purred, "Lord Valois," as he introduced Tyr into the room.

Tyr held a few bags in his hand that contained high-quality teas, chocolates, and other things. When Macha requested that he pick some gifts up, he decided to get items he liked. He was not familiar with the elder Lord Swat, so this was the best he could think of. He moved to sit next to Macha and handed her the bags. Giving her a light kiss on the top of her head he asked, "How was dinner?"

As she rifled through the gifts, Macha responded, "It was good. Oh, maybe not this one." She took out a feminine soap from the bag. She pa.s.sed the bottle to Tai Shan, "Jóhanna can have this one. We didn"t realize father didn"t have any wives."

He took the soap and sniffed it. Handing it to a slave he thanked her. It smelled like Macha and he was sure his daughter would love it.

A little while later, Xuanwu entered the room. It surprised him to meet Tyr at this time, and he gave a deep bow. "Lord Valois, please excuse my clothes. I did not expect you to come." He felt embarra.s.sed to discover such an honorable guest visited his house when he was dressed casually.

Tyr stood up, aware that this was important to Macha. "It"s fine. It is past visiting hours anyway, I came to pick Macha up and deliver the gifts she ordered. Thank you for your kindness towards her."

Xuanwu smiled. Lord Valois did not seem as cold as he imagined he would be. Many rumors circulated about this man being difficult to deal with because he possessed a short temper and sharp tongue. Not wanting to invite that ire, he continued, "I see. I shall not detain you, but before you leave, I wanted to give this to my daughter."

He took out a ring and handed it to Macha. It had a large citrine that had an intaglio of their family crest in the middle. Diamonds and pearls surrounded the gem. "This is not a new ring, but I thought you could use it until we make you one of your own."

Her hands shook as he accepted the beautiful ring. "Oh, I love this one. Please, I don"t need another." She never expected to get such an expensive gift upon meeting them.

Tai Shan saw that it was his mother"s old ring. "You deserve a better ring than that. We can afford to get one that is made out of more expensive materials now." Back then their family did not possess as much money as it did now. He thought his sister deserved better than his mother, who abandoned them.

"No, I love this one," she gave Xuanwu a hug. "Thank you."

On the way home, Tyr glanced at the ring that Macha slipped on her finger. It was too big and needed to be resized, but she wore it anyway. "We can go to get it resized tomorrow."

That night as they showered, she hugged Tyr. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s pressed against his hip as she asked, "When did you get this?" She held the Abyzou pendant in her hand. It had been fashioned out of black coral and had a serpent engraved on it. When the light hit the onyx material, the pendant shone with a dark purple sheen.

When she inquired about the pendant he wavered, unsure if he should tell her the truth. Today she seemed so happy to be around a child. He put his face under the falling water to wash his hesitation away, "It"s so we don"t accidentally conceive. I ordered it before the war." The water dripped down his jaw as he stared at the ground, waiting for her reaction.

"Oh, should I get one too?" Macha understood that they were not married, so it would be bad for them to conceive a child by accident. As far as she remembered, he had never alluded to marrying to her and she did not want a pregnancy to pressure him into it.

Her question confused Tyr and he paused, "No, just one of us needs to wear it." He moved behind her and put shampoo in her hair. "I always thought you wanted children," he brought up, seeing if she would explain.

"I do, but I"m not married. So..." her voice trailed off. She did not want to seem like she pressured him into marriage, but she was unsure how the people in this world treated unmarried mothers. So far she only knew of Kurbiika, who had a child while unmarried. That woman"s situation differed from her own because she did not find men attractive, but wanted to have a baby. Her mother was also a guild leader.

Tyr"s jaw tightened. Her eyes remained closed because he was putting the shampoo in her hair, "If you were married, would you expect to have children?"

This caused Macha to turn around and clap her hands together. Her eyes were still closed, "Oh, I"d want to have at least two." It was always her dream to have a son and a daughter. The thought made her smile while she rinsed her hair. She thought how Hrod was so lucky to get Tyr and Luna at the same time.