The Rising (The Rising #4) - Kristen Ashley Page 0,82

you are steeped in magic.”

Serena appeared confused by this for a moment, and I did not understand her reaction.

I then harkened back to all the things I had heard of Serena of the Nadirii before I had come to know her and wondered if she might not understand how a loved one worrying would come about.

I allowed what I said to settle before I went on, “And I am glad you’re here. It gives me the chance to tell you that your training has been very helpful these last days.”

She turned her head from watching the lane we were on that traced the city to the side at the base of the incline to the cliffs that surrounded the Bay.

She looked at me, now appearing surprised.

I smiled at her. “We are no Nadirii warriors, but please trust in the fact it helps my state of mind having the skills you’ve taught me as we face what we might be facing. Thus, I must give you my gratitude for your time and sharing of expertise.”

“I enjoy doing that, the training, so there is no need to express your gratitude,” she replied.

“What you give is what you know. What I received is what I need,” I returned. “Thus, I disagree. Gratitude should be expressed.”

“Well,” she shifted in her saddle, “you’re welcome.”

I looked away, smiling at the lane and enjoying the air, which was becoming saltier the closer we got to the sea.

“He wishes to make children with me.”

Serena’s words, sounding forcefully divulged, came to my ears, and I looked her way again.

“Pardon?” I asked.

She turned her eyes to me.

“Chu,” she pushed out. “He says he wishes to make daughters with me.”

I smiled tentatively at her. “Are you not…at that point in your mind with him?”

She cast her gaze forward. “I would give him a dozen children, if this was his wish.”

I felt my brows go up.

“I am no longer me,” she whispered.

“I am no longer the me of yesterday either,” I shared, and her head whipped around to face me again. “This is best, if we are to learn and grow, that every day we wake up a new person, learning from the day past, going into the future smarter and stronger.”

“This is wise,” she stated, like she did, as well as didn’t quite believe her words.

“Well, I hope so,” I replied with humor.

“I wish sons. Or at least one son,” she said.

“It’s my understanding you can magick the sex in your womb, so have a son,” I returned.

“He does not wish sons.”

This surprised me. “Truly?”

“He has…family issues,” she muttered, turning her face away.

I studied her profile.

Then I noted carefully, “You wish very much to have a boy child.”

“It is not very Nadirii of me, but he is handsome. He has…has…well, he has a manner about him that is unique. I simply enjoy watching him walk or contemplating his face when he is thinking. I would give that to a son. Or I would watch Chu teach a son to be thus.”

“And you worry because of his…issues he will refuse this.”

She didn’t reply.

“Tell him how badly you want it,” I advised.

“There are reasons behind why this is not what he wants. Reasons that I cannot deny, especially for him.”

“I am certain,” I replied. “I still think, if this is something you want badly, Serena, that you should talk to him.”

“I do not want…”

She didn’t finish that.

“You do not want?” I prompted.

She still didn’t share.

“If you don’t wish to talk about it,” I murmured.

Again, she gave me her gaze. “I almost lost him once for doing something he did not like. I do not want to lose him again.”

Ah.

Understandable, but not recommendable.

“That is no union,” I told her gently.

She stared at me.

“He cannot have all he wishes just because you desire greatly not to lose him,” I told her. “You will lose too much of yourself in that and either become a shadow of what you once were, or your love for him will dim before it entirely fades away as you begin to hate him for the things you cannot have, for you have given so much to him.”

Her gaze drifted down to the mane of her mount.

“Serena,” I called, and watched as it took some effort, but she again looked to me. “I do not know Chu hardly at all,” I said. “But from what I have seen, especially when he is with you, he strikes me as a man who not only would want to know your desires, but also