Episode 196: Danija Home (Telek)

Some people might not have been able to sit back and trust that the right people were doing the job, but Telek did just that. He didn’t see how any of his skills would make him more able to rescue Daninja than the skills of people trained in rescue and negotiation.

Still, it hurt. He knew he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if the people he was trusting failed.

When his mom called him downstairs later that afternoon, to her private office that overlooked the valley behind the mountain, he went down with some trepidation. He knew she wouldn’t keep it from him, whatever news she’d gotten, even if it was bad.

But it wasn’t his mom who stood in the hall outside her office; it was Danija. She smiled when she saw him and ran to him. When she hugged him, he picked her up and swung her around, kissing her before he put her down.

“You’re okay!” he breathed. “I was worried you wouldn’t be.”

She pressed her cheek against his; the coolness of a water fairy that contrasted with his heat, balanced it. “I was married to a sea prince,” she apologized. “But he brought me here so I could be with you.”

The sea prince clearly had no idea what a find Danija was. “Is that why the bond broke?” he asked. It was better than the alternative, that she had died.

She looked up at him, her eyes soft with relief. “Yes. But I only have our bond, again. The sea prince is very nice.” She lowered her eyelashes, chagrined. “I should have warned you about my parents.”

No, she shouldn’t have had parents like that, to warn him about. He felt his lips spread into a thin, worried line. “I haven’t met your dad, but your mom is in Keshmar staying in one of our downstairs rooms.” He stroked her hair, tucking a stray piece to the side of her face. “You’re really okay?”

Rather than answer, she laughed. “Downstairs rooms?” she teased, skeptical. She leaned into him. “I’m okay. I’m free of them, they have no claim on me now.”

“We want to get your dad still, if we can,” Telek said. He couldn’t decide if he was asking her permission or informing her, so he changed the subject. “Do you have siblings who are young? Or are they all grown?”

“I have younger siblings,” she worried. “Young siblings. Basically, every two or three years they have another.”

And fairies supposedly had population problems. “Do you want them?” he asked. They could raise them, here, almost as their own. No heir status, but they would be safe, and loved.

“Yes. They need to be away from my parents.

Good. They could keep them safe, until they were adults, offer them homes here where they had family. “Do you know how to find them?”

“They’re spread out, mostly in Angmaan,” Dani said. She paused in thought and then added, “I know where some are. The others, no. Isolating us was the goal. But they used to keep the youngest of us in a house with our aunt.”

There were more people involved?
Keshmar didn’t have the biggest army, the most resources, but he wanted her family to have a chance at normal… “Where? And does she get income from this?”

She cringed against his chest. “Sort of. They take our wages.”

The worst part of this was, they probably weren’t the only family. For this to work it would have to be culturally endemic, socially acceptable.

New laws would be necessary. Maybe if they banned dowries and bride prices, or offered a universal gift to couples just starting, or…there had to be a way to stop this.

He was frustrated – not for the first time in his life – that he wasn’t king. He wasn’t even heir to the throne, really. His parents were so content with status quo, with the fact that their lives were better than their parents’ lives, especially on his mother’s side, that they forgot about progress, about needing to help their kingdom mature past old habits.

The Dells was moving forward; why couldn’t they?

He put his arm around Danija again, determined. He would find a way, be more involved in politics, protect his people.

As for Danija…he knew the bonds would make their marriage easier than the average couple’s, but it would still be work for both of them. It was work they could do together, something they could build.

There would be good days and bad, easy days and hard, but in the end he knew Danija was the one who could face those challenges with him.

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