“Don’t feel bad.”
Elksia sniffed as she stared at the egg sitting in her little nest.
“You know I feel bad. I messed up.”
Sini shrugged. She was hovering by the door, looking in. Tenuk was sleeping in Elksia’s bed, and most of Savepoint seemed to be in night mode currently.
“I don’t think you messed up.”
“I made everyone angry. Made them want kids. You heard what Arky did? Stopped Kuta and Ret making a mistake.”
Sini shrugged some more. “That’s fine. Arkay just delayed something until they were both ready.”
“I still affected everyone.”
“Only briefly. You now know what you were accidentally doing and now you’ve stopped it though. Things are fine now. You don’t need to worry any more.”
Elksia sighed. She was still focused on her egg. It was warm in Elksia’s room, she had a little heater keeping things cosy. And Tenuk’s little snores of content did make Elksia smile a little.
“I’m gonna worry. It’s a big thing. Didn’t realise how big it was. And how scary. I’m sitting here wondering if I’m ready. I don’t know if I am.”
“I think you are!” Sini smiled, pausing to glance behind her, back outside. She could see the guard tower where Sini was now taking shifts with Thassalin and Arkay. For a moment, Sini found it amusing that both she and Elksia considered Arkay to be their little brother, despite him not being genetically related to either of them. But Sini was picking up that Arkay didn’t really like working as a Time Drake and was impatiently waiting for his shift to end so Thassalin could take over.
“I don’t feel like it.”
“Well, of course not. You’re about to wander into the unknown. You’re taking the first steps into a permanent commitment where you foster the next generation into a brighter future. Elksia, my dear, you’re terrified. But you’re allowed to be scared, because you’re also brave enough to go ahead with all of this. You have a plan, you know what you need to do and you have the resolve to do it. And when that egg hatches? You’ll jump right into it.”
Elksia clicked her beak several times, a bid to release some of her stress. “I am scared.”
“It’s fine. Fear is normal.”
“Is it? Are animals all like this?”
Sini nodded. “All creatures fear the unknown. It’s a sense designed to protect you. If you don’t know what something is, you fear it and thus avoid it in case it’s dangerous. When it comes to babies though, it’s not just fear, it’s anxiety, because your brain’s lower instincts are getting into gear and preparing you to look after two people, not one. You’ll be fine though.”
“You keep on saying that…”
“Because it’s true. We’re both Time Drakes. We’re both attuned to the Forward Flow. We can both see that you’ll be fine. Sure, neither of us can see THAT far ahead, I can see far ahead enough to know that the egg will hatch, it’ll be healthy and you’ll immediately start looking after it no problem.”
Sini’s words didn’t really seem to cheer Elksia up. “I guess. Like, I can look after a baby. But after that? What about school and stuff? I can teach him or her to read and write. We can teach it maths and stuff. But what if they want to become a doctor? Or a lawyer? And… and what if they are not as long-lived as me and Tenuk? What if it is just a Decayon? Not a Time Drake? What if… what if it just dies out here?”
“It won’t die.”
“It will one day…” Elksia sniffed. “I’m a Time Drake. As long as I don’t do anything dumb, I’m infinite. Out of everyone else here? Outside of you, only the Raptors have a chance to be properly immortal. Can still be killed though.”
“Elksia, my dear, you are trying to look too far ahead. You know that only causes you grief. Inaccurate grief.” Sini trailed off, then decided to alter the conversation a little. Elksia needed distractions. She needed positive things to think about. “So, what are you going to name the kid? I assume you’ve already peered forward and seen the gender.”
“I have, yeah. Vexer already gave me two middle names, one male and one female. He doesn’t know yet. I’m not telling him until the egg hatches.”
“You going to invite him here?”
“Yeah. Arkay said that I should tell him in advance. So he can send a ship to grab Vexer. Bring him here before it happens. He won’t be allowed in the room. No one will apart from me and Tenuk. But he’ll be outside. So he can see.”
Sini smiled. “Ah, good. What middle names did he pick?”
“Vedarus if it’s a boy, Eliza if it’s a girl.”
“Those are good names. I assume you’ve decided too.”
“I have, yeah. Not saying though!” Elksia started smiling as well. “I haven’t told anyone. Tenuk doesn’t know. I think Arkay is pretending he doesn’t know. Thassalin and Elkay are too. They’re being good to me. Everyone is being good to me.”
Sini nodded in agreement. “Of course they are. You’re a good person, Elksia. And you are making a dream come true. And, of course, Arkay in particular, he wants to help every way he can. He’s our little brother, after all.”
“Yeah. Retty and Psiksi are also being protective. Retty’s protection is obvious. Psiksi though, he’s being good. Makes sure we’re all happy and healthy. Also makes sure Retvik and Tenuk and Arkay take breaks. And I think he wants to help in other ways.”
“Psiksi will be a good teacher. He’s secretly very good with kids, mostly from his gladiator days. And you have Kayel here as well, who was actually a teacher when he was mortal. Plus, Vikalos seems to know everything, and I’m happy to help as well. Your kid will be fine. I keep on telling you this because it’s true. My little time sister, you are fine. You are wonderful and powerful and you will be an amazing mother. And Tenuk will be a pretty good dad for a Kronospast.”
Elksia suddenly giggled. “You’re absolutely right! And I won’t be doing this alone. Tenuk will be by my side my entire time.”
“Not just him. All of us. Even me. We’re all in this together.”
Elksia smiled, properly this time. “Yeah. I’ll be fine… I know it.”