Named
1066 Words
Named~
Tobias Buchanan
Etowah, Este
Tobias stretched out on the bearskin rug and combed his fingers through the baby’s blonde ringlets. She rubbed her Buchanan blue eyes and started to fret. He patted his pockets looking for the maplewood whistle he’d started this trip.
He found the toy squirrel with a bushy tail curled up its back. The squirrel held an acorn he’d whittled to float free between its paws. Tobias blew softly through the whistle, and the acorn danced. His daughter chortled and reached for the toy. She promptly stuck the squirrel’s head into her mouth.
Tybetha pulled a kettle from the fire and poured tea.
“What a clever design,” she said, blowing across her steaming cup. “You carve with the skill of an artisan.”
Tobias whittled when he was bored. It was something to do on the trail. Toys made good calling cards when he needed to win trust in a new town. The toy in his daughter’s hand should have been one of dozens he’d carved for her by now.
“Why would you hide her from me?” he said. “You left without so much as a word.”
“I didn’t hide her.” Tybetha sat cross-legged beside him. “I had a dilemma, so I went home and let the elders decide what to do with a pregnant shaman. It was an unusual puzzle for them.” She stretched out her legs and flexed her toes. “It took them a while to figure out what happened with us.”
“The sages of Crystal Springs. What great insight did they come up with, pray tell?”
“The Joining,” she said. “The fruition of a dream.”
“Should that make sense to anyone beyond the Nunyaehi’s rose-colored halls?”
“They may occasionally stray from reality, but they are my people. Be nice.”
“Be nice.” He grunted. “Tell me then. What ancient wisdom explains this impossible child lying here between us gnawing the head off a squirrel?”
“Impossible? Don’t be coy,” she said. “Rhynns and nenes are bearing children in Innis, too. Your own nephew’s wife and children?”
“All right, so I knew it was possible,” he admitted. “But years, Tybetha. We were together for years.”
“For a few short weeks at a time. Fertility cycles. Timing. You aren’t naive.”
Tobias opened his mouth and stopped before the wrong words slipped out. He worked harder on the phrasing.
“Growing the company meant visiting many towns,” he said. “Certain hospitalities are expected to be enjoyed when offered.”
It still sounded wrong, sounded like he meant it for her. He didn’t. Tybetha was different.
“You noticed there were no blue-eyed children in the many towns you visited through the years,” she offered her gentle acceptance.
“I noticed. I assumed I couldn’t father a child.” It hadn’t troubled him much. Building the company kept him too busy for a family, and New Rhynn was his legacy.
“You were wrong.” Tybetha sipped her tea.
“Yes, I figured that out a little while ago,” he said. “You could have told me.”
“I agonized over telling you. But I knew how much you grieved your sister Thea. Ahyota’s death only added to your misgivings. You’d learned to dread childbirth.”
“So, you decided you’d keep the worry for yourself. Do you think me so weak?”
“Weak? Tobias Buchanan? Hardly. But the elders didn’t think I would carry her to term. If anything had happened… well, I couldn’t do that to you.”
Tobias reined in his temper. What was done was done. But he would have her promise.
“Never shield me, Tybetha. Whatever the challenge, whatever the fear, swear you will share it with me. I need to hear this from you.”
Tybetha sighed. “Agreed. Whatever the challenge.”
Their daughter rolled to her belly and closed her eyes, still clutching the slobbery squirrel. Tobias stroked her back as she drifted off to sleep.
“Well, look at that.” He lifted her tiny foot in his palm. “She has the stubby toe.”
“Stubby toe?” Tybetha frowned. “There’s nothing wrong with her toes.”
“On her right foot, the second toe is shorter than the third. The Buchanan stubby toe.”
“You’re an odd bird, White Hawk. But I’m glad you’re pleased with her. I didn’t know how you would take the news.”
“Noya knew I’d melt like butter the minute I saw her. It took some prodding to get me close enough. I don’t handle the jilted lover role well.”
Tybetha reached for him. They shared a long kiss. He’d missed her more than he’d let himself admit.
“Let me move her to the cradle,” she whispered. “Your pride could use more soothing tonight.”
“It could. And the sages of Crystal Springs have spoken.” He nuzzled her neck. “The Joining. I’ll dedicate myself to the cause.”
Tybetha scooped up their daughter. A sudden determination to protect them both swelled in his chest. He wanted them close. He wanted them in Buchanwick. Tobias was accustomed to getting what he wanted.
“I don’t even know her name.” He followed Tybetha to the bedroom.
“Alyssa,” she said. “Do you think it suits her?”
“Alyssa. Alyssa Buchanan.” He rolled the name over his tongue. “I like it.”
Tybetha tucked Alyssa in the cradle at the foot of the timber-frame bed. Tobias pulled the only nenan in Etowah into his arms and breathed in her sweet evergreen scent.
“Tybetha Buchanan has a nice ring to it, too.”
“No, Tobias. A shaman can’t marry. You know that.”
“Let me give her a name.”
“She has a name. Alyssa o’Tybetha, born of the Wind Clan.”
“She is mine, too. You can’t expect me to let my daughter go through life a bastard.”
“A bastard in Innis. To the Este, she is mine. To the Nunyaehi, she is mine. Her mother gives her a name.”
“She belongs to us both.” He’d already decided. When he left Etowah, Tybetha and Alyssa would leave with him. “Marry me, Tybetha.”
“Tobias, I love you. But I know you. You are already married. Your very demanding wife is the Southern Hawk Trading Company,” she said. “And I am married to the responsibility of being shaman to Etowah and counselor to Malatchee Mico.”
“Alyssa changes everything. It’s time we settled down.”
“I don’t want you to settle down. What you’re doing is important.”
“It’s a foolish dream.” He regretted ever telling her why he’d stayed in Tallu, so far from his home and his clan.
“There’s nothing foolish about New Rhynn. You’re building a haven for your people. Buchanwick is a fine start, but until the Este accept you as they accepted the Nunyaehi, you’ll only be guests here.”
“Your Nunyaehi got a few thousand years’ head start on me,” he said. “They could help if they would.”
“My Nunyaehi are preoccupied with trying to spark the Awakening in the Este. I can’t imagine why they think they need a contingency plan. Your Rhynns are always so very accommodating.”
Tobias frowned. She irritated him, as she’d often done through the years. She was as bullheaded as anyone he’d ever met. Tybetha could take a perfectly sound argument and turn it on its head. But this time, she was right. They both belonged on the paths they’d chosen. He wasn’t done negotiating, though.
“Alyssa Buchanan o’Tybetha, born of Wind Clan, for Hawk Clan.” he countered. “You said it yourself. Her mother names her.”
Tybetha smiled. “And so I name her. But it’s a long name to shout when she’s late for supper. Do you suppose we should call her Stubby Toe instead?”
Chapter 5
- Writer
