Sometimes earth witches could take far too long to get to their point. She gently poked a finger in his ribs.
“It was the look on my dad’s face. I’ve never seen him scared, Sophie—not like that. He was terrified. Mom was awesome, but Dad was a mess. What if that’s me?”
She hadn’t met his father yet, but Sophie knew her man. He’d hold steady to his last breath if that’s what she needed. And according to Nell, birthing circles had evolved some in the last thirty years—now they supported the fathers-to-be as well.
“If anyone gets to be a mess, it’s me.” She laid his hand on her belly. “But that’s a long time from now. Seedling’s got a lot of growing to do first.” Mike’s breath slowed as he dropped into light healing trance to check on their baby.
Sophie grinned as the slight cramping in her left calf muscle disappeared as well. He really was a good guy to have around.
~ ~ ~
Sean looked around the beach. “We gotta find the prisoner, matey. No one is allowed to escape the great pirate Darth Vader and live to tell about it.”
Kevin waved his new light saber in the air. “We’ll find her, Captain. And we’ll make her walk the plank when we do. Right after the great swordfight of doom. She doesn’t stand a chance.”
Sean cast out with mind power, trying to find their prisoner. His brother elbowed him in the ribs. “That’s cheating, Sean—no mindseeking.”
“We’re pirates. We’re supposed to cheat. Besides, Lizzie’s using magic, or we’d be able to find her.” The girl could make herself invisible anywhere near water, which is probably why she’d insisted they play on the beach. She might be small and kind of annoying sometimes, but she wasn’t dumb.
“We could use stealth, Captain.”
Sean sighed. Stealth wasn’t nearly as much fun as swordfights, but when you were playing with a girl, you couldn’t fight all the time or they complained it was boring. “What your plan, matey?” He growled for good measure. If he had to be a boring pirate, at least he could sound good.
Kevin grinned. “Mom sent chocolate cake for snack.”
That would totally work. Lizzie was a sucker for cake. “Fetch the supplies, and let’s have ourselves a pirate lunch.”
“What about the prisoner?” Kevin spoke in a normal voice, but mindbroadcast just enough that Lizzie would hear.
“Har,” roared Sean and waved his light saber. “No chocolate cake for the prisoners. Let them eat sand.” He thought that was a pretty inventive line for a pirate.
Lizzie’s head popped up from behind some driftwood. “I’m not eating sand. You hafta share; it’s a rule.”
Sadly, she was right, but Mom had probably sent enough cake for three. She was pretty smart that way. He waved his light saber at Lizzie. No point letting her off easy.
She just rolled her eyes at him. “Pirates don’t use light sabers, silly.”
“They do so. We’re modern pirates.”
Kevin held up two pieces of cake. “Eat. Fight later.”
Lizzie reached for her cake, then sat down, clutching her head. “Ow. My head hurts.”
Sean could feel her pain beating against his own mind. She wasn’t kidding—it felt like someone had poked her with a light saber. A real one. He looked at Kevin. “Go get Elorie, quick!”
~ ~ ~
The sudden pain in her head had Moira stumbling off the path and into one of her flower beds. She lowered to the ground as quickly as she could, heedless for once of the plants she crushed.
Fear. Rolling waves of it mixing with the pain. This was very bad.
She reached for power and struggled to drop into healing trance. It hurt. Oh, her head hurt. Fighting through the pain, she tried to scan her own head. Feeble old witch. All she could see was the roiling red of pain. She tried to move her scan in closer and got washed away like a pebble hit by a rogue wave.
Her brain was fighting. And it was dying.
You can’t fix this, old woman.
She could feel her hold on consciousness slipping. The pain slipped away as well, replaced by a numbness that was far from comforting. Time seemed to slow and she could hear the gentle breezes, feel the flower petals under her fingers.
The flowers. Her flowers. She’d spent a lifetime filling her garden with the magics of healing. With the very last of her power, Moira reached out.