Episode 250: News (Indigo)

Indigo counted down the hours she had left with Zero. By midday, they would be separated, she would occupy the wrong body.

It was a clingy, close morning, as much as they could afford with everything else going on. She stayed by his side. She didn’t paint, because she didn’t know if it would annoy Jade to have little spots of oil paint on her hands and forearms, so she was listless in the kitchen with Zero and the kids, until Talise dragon-called them.

They dropped Silas off at childcare, because Talise must have had something important to say…otherwise, why would she have called Indigo? Zero took care of most things.

Aadya was missing, and Talise now had called them to talk with her. Indigo’s core was tight, anxious; if something happened to Aadya, it meant something had also happened to Rhyss, since they were last seen together.

The attack might have begun.

That was the real reason they’d taken Silas to childcare; security plans would keep the kids safer than the adults, during the attack.

When they went into the room, Talise wore one of her signature cotton tunics and leggings.

Niels wore swim trunks and a towel over one shoulder.

He was so human. What did he think he needed a towel for?

Indigo hid her smile and waited, at Zero’s side. “Is everything okay?” he asked Talise, then Niels.

It was one of her favorite things about Zero – though he came from a patriarchal society, he’d adjusted easily to Elesara’s matriarchal customs.

“Yeah.” Talise shifted on the bed, and Niels reached for her hand. “We just needed to talk to you and Indigo for a minute.”

“Okay.” Zero glanced at Indigo. He was probably even more worried about Rhyss than she was. Aadya too, but Aadya was an adult and they hadn’t just found her after years of thinking she was dead. It was different.

“So.” Talise folded her arms, somehow still gripping Niels’s hand for comfort. “We have received more information on the upcoming attack and we want to share it with you, before others find out.”

“What did you find out?” Zero asked. He put his palm flat on the small of Indigo’s back.

“It’s about creating an army of dragon heirs,” Talise said, as if that wasn’t insane.

Indigo looked at Zero, whose jaw had set in understanding. “Creating how?” she asked. She was sure he knew.

“Magically?” Talise intoned. “By death?”

“Is that possible?” Indigo asked Zero, but she could see from his tense shoulders and wary expression, that it was.

He breathed out his frustration. “It’s dangerous magic, but it is possible.”

Niels pulled Talise’s hand up to his chest. “Is she in danger from it? More than we already guessed?”

“The danger is most often to the one doing the spell, but there are risks. If she’s dying, I would say she isn’t in any other danger.”

Talise flopped against the pillow, propped against the wall. “Oh, good. That’s good news.” Indigo thought she might cry, but instead she turned and looked at both of them, more focused. “So, your turn for good news: You’re having more grandchildren.” She threw her hands up

“Already?” Indigo asked, before she could sort out what Talise even meant by the declaration. Talise and Spence hadn’t been together in years. There wouldn’t be any more grandchildren from her.

Talise nodded her head, like it was normal. “They’ll be four, like Fort and Emma, and they’ll be Spence’s and Sawyer’s and Rhyss’s.”

Sawyer? He was eleven!

She looked at Zero, wrapping her mind around the spell. She knew enough about wicca magic to understand how much intent mattered, but their attacker was taking them against their will, so his intentions would be battling theirs.

But…making heirs. Taking mothers of the dads of those heirs, she realized. That was who was on the list. “Wouldn’t he need three of me to do that?” she realized out loud.

Zero pulled her against him in a tight embrace that promised safety he couldn’t offer.

Sawyer.

How could he possibly have kids?

How could Talise have managed to have kids with almost all of her sons, in different realities.

“I didn’t ask,” Talise said. Indigo couldn’t even remember what question she was answering, or whether it was Indigo or Zero who had asked it. “You should know how many new grandchildren you’re having. Probably twelvish.”

Maybe there was a way to keep Sawyer from knowing he had kids. Indigo wasn’t interested in lying, but Sawyer would never consent to Indigo and Zero adopting his kids so that he could finish his childhood.

“Niels is having kids too?” Indigo asked, to confirm her earlier theory. “That’s why Giana is involved?”

She didn’t point out the very obvious, Aadya is involved as well.

One of the dads, possibly more, was a Talise sibling. Inbreeding. The family couldn’t escape it even when they tried.

“Except she’s missing,” Niels pointed out, “so maybe none for me.”

“Or,” Talise argued, more hopeful than certain, “you don’t really need the mom of the guy and you’re,” she nodded to Indigo, “only dying once, as like a symbol of magic power.”

“We’ll speak with someone about the specifics,” Zero promised. Indigo wondered whether he meant Sam, or a book, or whether he was going to stretch far out of his comfort zone and consult his father.

“Great,” Talise said. She bit her lip and added, “So can you send Sawyer in?”

“We’ll send him in later,” Zero promised.

It was a tough call, whether to talk to him first themselves or let Talise break the news. In a way, it would be worse for Talise if Sawyer went in already knowing. She would lose the shock value and be faced instead with an onslaught of questions and, possibly, a marriage proposal.

“Thank you for the forewarning,” Indigo said.

“No problem. Keep it secret,” Talise ordered.

It was the first time Talise had ever ordered Indigo to do – or not do – anything. Indigo bristled and then relaxed her shoulders. She was going to have to adjust to the idea of Talise being in charge, and probably soon.

Indigo nodded. “It’s not something that would ever come up.”

“Oh,” Talise said, glib. “And when someone asks, Maelchor is a very generous god and he has blessed me, or something, in the face of a population crisis.”

Almost. That was almost right. Indigo laughed. “Maybe we need a new god, named Lavesque.”

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