At least the screaming was over.
Leigha was still holding on to Nrolin's shoulder with a grip far greater than any infant should be allowed, but she was no longer pairing the literal nails in her shoulder with the figurative nails on chalkboard that was her crying.
Nrolin was still whispering her soft shushes and comforts while Berloin and Luonim poured their drinks. They were in one of the palace's guest bedrooms, mostly to give everyone else a break from the woes of raising an infant.
Their loss, far as these three were concerned. Every moment with the baby was one they would miss when she was grown, either screaming or not. Of course, though, only the grandparents would know that, so the grandparents were always the ones giving their family a break, as if it were a burden.
"Would be a fonder memory without the screaming, to be sure," Luonim said with a grin. Nrolin stuck her tongue out at her. Just because I can't hit you right now doesn't mean you can read my thoughts.
Leigha grabbed her tongue and made a curious sound.
After the other two had stopped laughing and Nrolin had stopped cursing she finally started rocking Leigha to sleep. Which meant, unfortunately, they had to talk telepathically.
Berloin jumped in first, Hit me this time. I dare you.
She wasn't going to do anything with a baby in her lap and knew it, but she couldn't let that stand. If I scare her because I have to hit you for your teasing, you're rocking her screams away.
He just chuckled fondly without reply before noticing Luonim looking at Leigha mournfully.
Lu? Whats wrong?
I was thinking of Kriplun, Lapdin, and Milkon.
Berloin reached for her hand while Nrolin tried not to tighten her grip on her granddaughter. They'd all been there for Kriplun and Lapdin's wedding. They'd all held Milkon as an infant. He had died that way, early into the War for the Sun. As had his parents.
Milkon had grabbed everything he could see when he was around the same age Leigha was now. Usually he'd then stick it in his mouth.
She should not have made the age comparison to Leigha. She couldn't get the picture out of her head of Milkon and his parents dying, except with Leigha and her parents in their place.
Berloin whispered verbally, jolting her out of it: "Remember when Calchoras tripped Fealron off of the sun?"
He was clearly trying to distract Luonim from her own thoughts, probably unaware Nrolin had begun to spiral, but it helped her too. Wait, he tripped her while in the sun or actually tripped her into falling off? Trying to prompt the story.
Luonim smiled softly and started it. They were standing on a side balcony, one of the ones without bars for flying through, just outside our rooms, and she was teasing him for his dancing abilities. She was doing a bad reenactment of his Omnanu when he kicked his foot out in front of hers. She fell over a thousand feet before her wings and instincts caught up with her.
Nrolin bit back a laugh. Serves her right. Fael had always been a tease, and still is to this day in Blonicku. Nrolin herself was the usual target of this teasing.
Berloin picked up Freya was livid, but Aegir calmed her down before she threw him off too.
Nrolin's mouth dropped. Freya was livid?
That thought came with no small amount of indignation and shock that both Berloin and Luonim picked up on. Luonim answered though, grinning, Screaming and stomping around, almost looked like she was gonna fight him. I sense a story now, though.
Nrolin could not wait now for the next time she saw Freya, if it would ever happen. She had so much to beat her to death for. Around year 20, Ashnir, Freya, Vlorindul, and I were on top of Vunil mountain. We were all drunk, and Freya decided to sing. You know what Freya's singing is like drunk, though, so while she sang we were trying not to laugh, and once she was done Ash and I imitated a few of her more interesting hiccups and voice cracks. She picked up the wind and blew us in a whirlwind off the mountain while screaming at us from behind. We flew to the ground and Vlor had to convince her to have the wind pick us back up since we weren't able to fly up there so drunk. She never apologized.
Berloin was biting his cheeks and Luonim doubled over to keep from laughing and waking up Leigha, who Nrolin just noticed was no fully asleep. Both her arms were held up though, doing the strange infant thing of not needing to be entirely limp to be asleep, so one of them was a few inches off her own face and one was flung out to the side but still held up higher than her body. She now needed to hold in her own laughter, which drew the attention of the other two to Leigha. Luonim squeaked and Berloin had to walk out the room to keep from waking her up. She looked like she was covering her face while flinching from something trying to hit her, but she was sound asleep.
Eventually, Nrolin cracked and fully giggled, immediately waking Leigha up. She went back to sleep within minutes, not even with a scream, but the elegance of her previous position was lost; one arm was to her side in between herself and Nrolin and the other was a few inches above her chest.
A travesty worthy of song. Berloin joked, sitting back down.
They settled silently after that, just watching Leigha sleep and remembering rocking their own children the same way. Eventually, Nrolin broke the figurative silence with another Blessed Years story.
Did you ever hear of Mithlond's first death? This one was mostly directed at Luonim, as she was entirely certain Berloin- being an elder who knew Mithlond- had.
Berloin grinned, and Luonim shook her head, so she began: In year 25, he and I were walking through those woods next to the westernmost shores. We were heading for Verlon's house for a party when he decided to show off some flying tricks. Without any warning to me, he spread his wings and took off. I flew up to follow him before I realized he was just showing off and landed on one of the trees. I had realized that he was just showing off because he had done a loopty-loop and came dangerously close to a tree's canopy. He then started spiraling through the air, going up then down then up then down again, before returning to the original loopty-loop, this time with more confidence after the last scare. This time, the tip of the same tree caught him right in the stomach at full speed. His arms were spread out above his head, and his legs were spread to either side of the tree, hitting him full body. He slowly peeled off of it and fell to the ground while I tried to catch up. By the time I was there, between his incredible landing and then his impact with the dirt, he'd broken his spine. I decided it'd be easier to just let the Nuthri revive him, as I couldn't heal him and no one was around who could, so I burnt him completely. I waited a few minutes before Freya came down in the same clearing with a re-materializing body that was slowly beginning to resemble Mithlond, and she just screamed at me, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" Apparently she could see in his soul all the injuries his body had sustained, and his only explanation for how he died had been "Nrolin did it" so she thought I broke his spine, bruised his entire frontal body, and snapped his neck, all at slightly different times. I just said "Braggarts get what braggarts get" and walked away. He had to run after me once he'd materialized, I didn't look back even with Freya screaming at me.
Luonim was, again, doubled over to keep from laughing. She hadn't met Mithlond many times, but the few times she did he'd come off as entirely arrogant. Sometimes that arrogance was justified- he really could drink a Nuthri under the table- but usually he was just bragging for the sake of it, so that his first death happened purely because he couldn't help himself but to show off was completely fitting. She'd have to find him and see what he had to say about it tomorrow.
Nrolin was still holding sleeping Leigha in her lap. She'd long ago stopped rocking her, and it looked finally like she was going to stay asleep.
Berloin thought to get in on the story telling, since he'd started it in the first place. Did I tell you I was able to talk with the Watcher once?
Now this was a surprise. The Watcher had intentionally avoided both her house and the Nulilil house since the beginning, even before her house had a name. They could never tell why, since he didn't avoid talking with anyone else.
Leigha stirred for a second, opening her eyes and babbling before going back to sleep.
Nrolin shook her head finally and he began. 5 years after he showed up from wherever-the-fuck, I caught him in the sun's forges. He didn't see me, only hearing my footsteps, so he called out "Aegir if you're here for the necklace again I'm throwing you out of the sun."
Necklace? Nrolin asked. No one even knew what the Watcher's Skill had been, so she'd take any hints she could get. If he was making the necklace, that'd imply he was a jeweler, or at least a smith.
Berloin resumed his story without pause, though a hint of impatience to his thoughts. I cleared my throat and he almost jumped out of his robes. Spinning on his heel, he looked at me like I'd just tried to stab him. "Necklace?" I asked, though I didn't think he'd actually answer. He relaxed though, and actually waved me over to look at it.
Berloin's eyes got misty for a second, remembering that necklace. It was a masterpiece. Mostly made of gold though with outlines of silver around many small bezels, with a larger circular one at the bottom around the size of a walnut, which was clearly where the main gem was meant to be. None of the bezels had any gems set in them yet, except the first few at the top, which seemed to be going in a rainbow ordering, beginning with red rubies and then some kind of orange gem. The lowest few put in were yellow gems, only one of those were put in, it's equal on the other side he'd been setting when I'd interrupted him. I've still never seen jewelry better than that half finished necklace, not one of Blonicku's jewelers or our own work has come close.
I stood there silent with my jaw dropped, while he just grinned at me. I could sense, with both our minds unguarded, just how smug he was to have a Lililnu's awe. After a while, he asked me "so what do you think?" as if he couldn't see my expression. I spluttered for a moment before giving up on describing it, so I just asked the safer question, "who is this for?"
He laughed for a while at my shock before answering. "Keep a secret?" I nodded grimly like I'd been trusted with a deadly confidence, so he went on "I don't know yet. This kind of necklace will not be make-able for long, so when I had the idea-- no I won't tell you what the whole idea is or why it won't be make-able one day, no matter what look you make at me-- I had to start working on it. I don't know if I am going to wear it or who I will gift it to. I keep giving the Nuthri vague answers, though, which is why you must keep this secret: all four of them think it's for themselves."
Knowing the need for the secret I decided I'd tell no one but my family that this entire conversation even happened, and I am only telling you this so long after our kids married because I forgot to before, so don't give me that pouty face, Lin.
Luonim interjected. it probably doesn't matter, now, with the limbos and all, but if the prophetic Watcher says to keep a secret, you keep the secret.
Nrolin was able to accept that reasoning, though she couldn't resist, You knew the Watcher's Skill the whole dammed time?
Berloin grinned at her and then continued his story. After that he said "Since we're keeping secrets, here's another for you. I keep my Skill hidden so it's harder to figure out where I come from, but it's not so important as my name or family. My Skill is forgework, and I love specifically jewelry. I have made things even your family would be proud to see, outside of jewelry, if only I could have brought them here, but jewelry is my pride. This will be my masterwork, though; I don't think I will ever exceed it."
Nrolin wanted to punch him now. She'd speculated multiple times within his earshot what the Watcher's Skill was, and he only remembered now to tell the story. He picked up on this thought. Every time you said something, there were people who weren't family around, and by the time we were alone I'd forgotten again.
He shared with them the memory of the moment, then, before she could insult his memory in general, and it took all Nrolin had not to gasp and wake Leigha up. Berloin's description didn't come close. Every gemstone was clearly meant to have it's equal on the other side, beginning with two reds, then two orange, and so on, all of them same height as each other and going down to meet at the larger one at the bottom. She wasn't holding in a gasp for the beauty, though, but because she had seen this necklace before.
Freya was wearing that when she visited! She shared with them the memory of Freya walking into her throne room wearing a golden necklace outlined in silver, with all the colors of the rainbow going down from the top in gems, and at the bottom was a larger jewel of greater beauty than the rest, glowing unlike the others with it's own light. Freya told us that jewel at the bottom is the last light of the True Sun, captured in crystal. She didn't tell me who made it, just that it was a gift from a friend.
Luonim's mouth dropped just at the memory of the sight, while Berloin looked like he was choking on something. The words "This kind of necklace will not be make-able for long" echoed from his mind, and they all grimaced. Luonim was the first to say anything. He knew the whole time Thribruthku was going to destroy three of the thrones, and never did anything?
Luonim and Berloin had a closer attachment to the sun than most, since they had created it. Those three thrones now destroyed they had poured years of theory and sweat into. She knew the answer here, though. Freya told us the Watcher already knew all that would happen in the first Blessed Years, as well as a little beyond it, and though she wouldn't tell me why, he couldn't change it. She wasn't angry at him.
Luonim still grumbled for a while, though she knew if Freya was accepting of his reasoning it must have been sound, so she didn't argue further.
Leigha started screaming, and their conversation was lost in the efforts of calming down an angry sleepy infant.