The priest’s path was blocked briefly by two children who had taken up positions in the hall trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on in the room. “Petronin, Elmin downstairs…now. Sorry about that, you know how children can be.” The elder led him down the stairs to the front door while still cradling the now quiet child. “Yaeby be with you father.”
“And you as well Mrs. Averitt.” Father Perkayin mounted his horse, still confused about what had happened only a few moments ago.
Bryana Averitt took a moment to study the bundle she cradled gently in her arms. She carefully brushed the soft black curls of hair on his head while studying the shape of his face and nose. His size alone told her he was definitely a member of this family as he easily outweighed any of the other new children she had seen in the village recently. Her voice was quiet and motherly. “It will be fine child, they will love you in time. You have so much to see and do.” A presence behind her caught her attention. “The child will need feeding soon.”
“She won’t have him.” Lericanis Averitt stood at the foot of the stairs watching his mother cradle the child. His emotions were mixed as he tried not to look at the baby.
“He is her child!” Bryana’s voice was incredulous as she held the baby in front of her son. “Look at him.”
“Look at him!” she demanded.
Lericanis looked up into the child’s face. The nose, the hair, even the shape of the face all fit but he could make himself accept the baby. She stepped closer holding the child out in front of her forcing him to take a step back. “Don’t you do this! Don’t you forsake this gift. He is your child and I will not have you acting otherwise. Is that understood?” She waited for a response.
“Do you hear me?” her anger was beginning to show as her face began to turn red and her nostrils flared. Lericanis began looking for a place to flee.
He stood helpless barely able to mutter a “yes” as a wealth of emotion overcame him. In an instant Lericanis stood upright and wiped away tears with the back of his hand. “I will not have that…that thing in my house!”
Bryana began backing away as anger flashed in the young man’s eyes and he began stepping forward with a menacing look. Fear began to fill the woman’s mind as she watched him approach and then suddenly cower again as the front door was flung open. The shadow cast into the room was long and wide as a lone figure filled the doorway. Becan Averitt glanced to his wife and the bundle she protected then to his son who was frozen at the foot of the stairs tears streaming down his face. “You listen to me boy. You will raise the child because he is one of us. I don’t care how he came to be but you can clearly look upon him and see this family in him. Do I have to knock some sense into you for you to see that? Do I?”
Lericanis fell backwards upon the stairs as his father loomed over him. Suddenly the realization of what was happening sunk in and he began to sob. The events of the past several months began to overwhelm him as he curled up on the floor and continued crying. “I couldn’t protect her…she was screaming for me and I couldn’t protect her.”
Bryana handed the child to her husband and knelt next to her son to comfort him. Becan stared at the child in his arms and felt a warmth that hadn’t consumed him for some time. Gentle hands rearranged the blanket as the child began to calm down since the yelling had stopped. He stared lovingly at the dark hair and pink cheeks and was reminded of the day Lericanis was born. He couldn’t remember a day that had felt better in his life. He had a son, a legacy. It was almost as if his purpose in this world was complete though he knew that wasn’t true at all. He did know that if he did die in the service of the Emperor that his life was complete somehow and for that he was grateful. He thanked Ahrus for that everyday.