Page 82 of The Last Hunt
“What’s got you wound up so tight?” Aethon asks. She glances at him and he pries her hand off his wheelchair, threading his fingers through hers.
“I don’t know,” Maeve replies. “Everything.”
“It’s going to be ok,” Aethon says. “My parents are going to love you.” He presses a kiss to the back of Maeve’s hand and some of her tension eases.
They get off the mag-rail after half an hour. It slides away, revealing a gorgeous view of the ocean. They’re on a cliff overlooking the beach, coniferous forests surrounding them. The sun sparkles on the water, and they can hear the waves crashing on the shore. Maeve takes a deep breath, the salty breeze filling her lungs.
“This house we’re going to,” she says. “Is it where you grew up?” What must it have been like to grow up on a planet like this? She looks back toward Rendar, but the city isn’t visible over the tall trees surrounding the mag-rail platform.
“We lived closer to the city,” Aethon replies. “I’ve never been to this house.”
“Aethon!”
Aethon whips his head to the right and pushes himself up out of the wheelchair.
Two people are sprinting toward them on a paved path that winds into the forest.
“Mom!” Aethon shouts. “Dad!”
He limps slowly towards them and Maeve watches, emotion tightening her throat. She reaches up to touch her croi crystal necklace, only to realize yet again that it isn’t there. The loss is comparably small, but it feels enormous to Maeve. Besides her mother’s scarf, she has nothing to remind her of Tellamar or her parents.
She watches as Liadan and Nikair Trell engulf their son. Aethon is taller than both of them and he laughs, the sound echoing, as they exclaim over him. His mother presses his face between her hands, and his father claps him on the shoulder. Then Aethon gestures at Maeve and they all walk over to her. Her heart flutters in her chest and she leans on the vacated wheelchair with one hand.
“This is Maeve Bladesbearer,” Aethon says. “She’s my partner.” He offers Maeve his hand and she takes it. His grip is firm and warm and she hangs onto him.
“Thank you, artrenn,” she murmurs.
Liadan’s brows rise. She has dark red hair streaked through with white, a larger white section at her right temple. “Tellamari?” she asks, her green gaze serious.
Maeve nods. “Yir, vai’a.”
Liadan’s eyes flick over Maeve in an assessing way and she nods sharply, like she approves of what she sees.
“O’drenn a Freehail, Maeve,” Liadan says. Welcome to Freehail. She raises a hand and Maeve automatically raises her own. She feels hot tears behind her eyes as Liadan greets her in a traditional Tellamari way only used by family. They press their hands together, palm to palm. When they let their hands fall, Liadan smiles. Maeve feels like a vise has been removed from her chest. She breathes in deeply and smiles back, her other hand still tight in Aethon’s grip.
“Yes,” Nikair adds. “Welcome! It’s wonderful to meet you.” He has the exact same eyes as Aethon and his hair is all gray.
Maeve inclines her head. “Thank you for having me.”
The Trell family home is a gorgeous refuge. Set into the hillside below the cliff, the house blends into the nature around it. It has huge windows, solar panels on the roof, a family room looking out at the water, a galley kitchen, and three bedrooms.
“We kept a room for you, Aethon - always,” Nikair says as they tour the house.
Aethon swallows hard as his father leads them into a bedroom next to the living room, also overlooking the ocean. It has an attached bathroom as well. Art lines the walls - abstract and bold, but somehow calming. Maeve has never stayed in a place that feels this intentional or well cared for.
“Thank you, Dad,” Aethon says, his voice rough. “And Mom.”
Maeve wraps her arm around his waist, partially for emotional support, but also for physical support as Aethon stubbornly refused to use the wheelchair in the house.
“Do you have an AI security system here?” Maeve asks Liadan. The older woman is fussing with the blue bedspread, pulling it tight across the bed.
She shakes her head. “No, not yet. We’ve been thinking about it though. Even just an AI system to help with a few technical things around the house would be nice.”
“Well,” Maeve says, pulling her tab out. “How do you feel about meeting TAI and CAL? They’re our ship AIs, but TAI has expressed interest in learning how to be a house AI.”
Liadan looks at Nikair who shrugs. “Go for it,” he says. The couple exits the bedroom and walks over to the kitchen toward a computer terminal set into the wall.
“They’re going to be obsessed with them,” Aethon whispers to Maeve.