fandomania | The Adventure continues... (Reply)

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Our eggs:

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Our hatchlings:

“You are alive! You are alive!” I cried as I kissed, hugged and sobbed in Donal’s arms. I was almost hysterical with joy. “I thought you were dead! Oh, but you are alive!” I hugged him tightly again and kissed him passionately once more.

“Of course I am alive, love! Did you doubt me when I told you that I would return? I am sorry that I am so late, but the search and that fricking North Lag Pass are to blame. I can tell that you worried about me because you look so pale and thin. You needn’t have worried! I am fine! And I am back now. I don’t ever intend to leave here again. Calm down, love! This can’t be good for you or for the babies.”

Donal looked perplexed as I broke down and sobbed hysterically into his chest. I heard Aunt Suthi come up behind me and she said matter-of-factly, “Patra miscarried the babies five weeks ago.”

Donal looked at me in shock and then tightened his hold on me. “Oh, love, no wonder you look ill. And I wasn’t there to help you through this. I am so, so sorry, love. But I am back now and we are both still alive and together!” He let me cry for a while as he continued to hold me. Eoin and the others had dismounted and were greeting their families.

“Where’s Father?” I heard Eoin ask Ferrell.

“On his way home from Shiangkau. Last message from him stated that he would be arriving next week.” replied Ferrell.

“Did he say why he left?”

“No. Does he ever?” remarked Ferrell.

Eoin sighed. “Good point. I am exhausted. I need to bathe and to sleep for a week.” The others agreed and started to wander off. Eoin gave Donal a look, which signaled something to him, because Donal loosened up his grip on me and asked, “Love, are you calmer now? I have two young men here who I want you to meet.”

I took a deep, calming breath, wiped my tears with my sleeve, and then nodded yes.

Donal let go of me, went over to Eoin and brought back two little boys about four years of age. One was blond, brown-eyed, with a serious face and a sturdy little body. The other was a red-head, with blue eyes and a round, ruddy face. As I looked at him, he looked somewhat familiar.

Donal squatted down between the boys. I joined him on the ground. Donal put his arm around the first boy and said, “Patra, love, I want you to meet Maxel, my son. Maxel, this is your new mommy.”

Maxel looked skeptical and then hid his face in Donal’s chest. Donal sighed. He then turned to the other boy, “Patra, love, I want you to meet Sammy, Nora’s youngest son. Sammy, this is Patra. Do you remember her?” Sammy nodded his head ‘yes’ and when I opened my arms he gladly came to me and hugged me.

“Are you gonna be my new mommy?” Sammy asked quietly.

“Do you want me to be?” I asked. Sammy nodded again. “Well, then, of course, I will.”

I looked questioningly at Donal, but he shook his head and said, “later” to me.

“Would you like to come and meet your new brothers and sisters and see your new rooms?” I asked both boys. Sammy nodded ‘yes’ enthusiastically, while Maxel had to think it over, but eventually said ‘yes’.

I took Sammy by his little hand, while Donal took Maxel’s and we took them inside to the nursery. There we introduced the boys to all the other children. The older children definitely remembered Sammy, while Loysa and Jayzon were not so sure. But we stayed while the children started to play together. Even though Donal was very tired, he stayed with his son, until he felt that Maxel was comfortable enough and involved in the game enough that he wouldn’t notice when Donal left the room. We went to our bedroom suite. I called Donal’s manservant and told him to draw a bath for Donal and left him alone for a few minutes until Nichol had left the suite. I then stripped naked and returned to the bathroom.

Donal was already half asleep as he soaked in the hot water. I took some bath mitts and soaped them up. I kneeled by the bath tub and began to wash Donal from head to toe. He half opened his eyes as I began. He smiled sleepily and obediently moved whatever part I asked him to move. Although he seemed tired, there was a part of his body that came alive as I washed and caressed his body.

“Hmmmmm…” Donal moaned. “Someone is wanting your attention, love.”

I smiled. “So I can see.” I continued to wash his legs and feet.

Donal moaned again. “Please? Your attention is desperately needed.”

“But your legs and feet are very dirty. I am not finished with them.” I protested.

“Perhaps this will motivate you to work faster.” Donal replied, as his fingers found the intimate parts of my body and began to massage them until I found it difficult to concentrate on my chore.

“Come here, woman!” Donal ordered, laughingly. “You are making me wait too long!”

He pulled me down into the tub with him and made me straddle his body and take him slowly, ever so slowly, inside me as he continued to massage and caress me. Once ensheathed, he then moved himself in and out as I moaned in ecstasy and my body moved in rhythm with his. It didn’t take long for me to reach my pinnacle and I found my release as many times as he made me do so. He then allowed himself to find his own pleasure and release. Afterwards, we lay together arm in arm in the slowly cooling water. Eventually, when we realized the time, we got out, dried off and redressed.

We returned to the nursery to find the children still playing together. Maxel and Sammy had not even noticed that we had been gone for a while. I requested Chef Ifon to send our dinner to the nursery, so that we could all enjoy it together and allow the two boys some time to feel comfortable with their new surroundings before we subjected them to a huge family dinner with all of the extended family involved. When it came time for bed, there was some anxiety and drama, as neither Maxel nor Sammy wanted to stay alone in the rooms assigned to them. Eventually, it got worked out that the two boys were happier when they shared a room and when Donal and I stayed with them, singing to them and telling them stories until they both fell asleep.

When we finally returned to our room, Donal told me the story of his journey.

“Getting through Tuščia Žemė went as planned. However, the road we took to get to the pass, the section that travels through the Mahajatma desert, was unbearably hot. We had to slow down so much so as not to overheat the horses. We then tried traveling at night, when it was somewhat cooler, but there was no moon at that time and it proved to be difficult also. We eventually traveled from sunrise until mid-morning and then again from sundown until it was too dark to see. This added about four days to the journey.

“Getting through the pass was easy. It was very busy and we had a lot of company sharing the trip. Once through, we waited until sunrise the next day to ride through Riverford. I didn’t want anyone recognize me there. It took another day and a half of riding to get to Haven.

“Haven was a shambles even three years later. Some rebuilding had happened, but at least half the town was still in ruins. There appeared to be some attempt at a government, but it wasn’t the same leaders that it had had before. The town was very wild and mostly lawless.

“I found where the apothecary shop had been, but all that was left was burnt timbers and rubble. We questioned the neighbors about Baskin and his family, but no one knew anything for sure. Several people thought that they had all perished in the fire, while others thought that they had seen Silpa and our son flee just before the fire started. We searched the town and the refugee camp outside of town for weeks, with no luck. Finally, we met someone who lived well outside the town who told us of a farmer who took in orphans and forced the children to work long days in his fields. He thought he remembered seeing a blond boy amongst his orphans. He gave us directions to the place, and we decided to try there, as we had no luck in Haven.

“It wasn’t hard to find the farm and the farmer. He was hostile to us at first, but when we started showing him some gold, he changed his attitude. It wasn’t hard to find Maxel amongst all the dark haired boys. And surprisingly, I also found Sammy, with his bright red hair. I paid the farmer a fortune for both of the boys, and managed to get what I hope are the true stories about how the boys got there. According to him, Silpa was passing by and was in desperate need of money. She sold Maxel to the man for two gold pieces, if the farmer is to be believed. I don’t know what to think about that. He also said that he bought Sammy from the orphanage/workhouse in Riverford, saying that his mother had died in jail. He didn’t know where Sammy’s brothers were.

“We went back to Riverford and Uncle Eoin made inquiries about his ‘niece’ Nora. He eventually found out that she had been arrested the day we left there. She had been questioned as to your whereabouts and then tortured. Apparently, according to the jailors, she eventually died while in their custody. Her former neighbors said that her children had been sent to the orphanage. When we made inquiries there, they claimed to have no knowledge of any of her children. We searched the premises, but we could find no boys who looked like either of them.”

“Oh Nora! Poor, poor Nora!” I started to cry. “She didn’t deserve that! And certainly her children didn’t either!”

“I know,” continued Donal. “I feel very bad that we left her there. I should have made her come with us. I feel very responsible for her death. How could I have known what bastards those people were? Anyway, I couldn’t leave Sammy in the hands of those monsters, anymore than I could have left Maxel.

“It is going to take a while for the boys to recover from their abuse and become happy children again. I know that this means more children for us to raise, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t shirk my responsibilities. I hope that you understand?”

“Oh, Donal! Of course I do! You know me. I would have done exactly the same… Well, not exactly the same. I probably would have tried to free every child that that farmer abused and taken every child out of that orphanage. If I had gone in your place, we would have had hundreds of extra children and not just two.”

“Ah, yes, love. My sweet, tenderhearted, little mother. Pahpey would have had a heart attack if that had happened. Although I am sure he would have succumbed to your persuasions. I have noticed that you can get him to do things no one else has managed. I think that he is kind of sweet on you … in a grandfatherly sort of way, that is.”

I felt myself blush, but didn’t say anything.

“Anyway, when we started for home, it was already starting to rain in the pass. The higher we got, the colder it got. The summit was actually starting to snow a bit. We were totally unprepared for that. I have never been so cold in my entire life. But we had to keep going forward, or else we would have been stuck in that ghod-forsaken valley for another year.

“We finally found our way down the mountain and to that monastery we stayed at last time. They took us in again and kept us a week to make sure we had no lingering problems. In contrast, the road through Mahajatma was still as unbearably hot as it had been when we went through weeks before. Once we reached Tuščia Žemė, we found better weather and pushed ourselves as much as the boys could take to get home.

“I am so glad to be home and in the arms of my beautiful, sexy wife!" Donal gave me a big kiss.

“While I am sure that you have a lot to tell me about what happened here while I was gone, I am only awake right now by shear will power. I am sorry, love. Do you mind telling me your stories tomorrow? I am not sure I can stay awake another minute.”

“Of course, sweeting! I totally understand …” But I didn’t have to go on any further, because Donal was already asleep and snoring.