Salvage Mother by Kevin Steverson & Kacey Ezell

Author:Kevin Steverson & Kacey Ezell [Steverson, Kevin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Theogony Books
Published: 2021-09-13T22:00:00+00:00

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Chapter Nine

The Rock

Known System

Snow flew in from all directions, stinging Siva’s face in tiny pinpricks on skin already icy and raw. She pulled in a breath like a sob and cradled the crying babies next to her. She had to keep moving. Her legs felt like lead, burning with the effort it took to trudge through the ever deepening snow. She knew the ‘port was out there, she knew it…

But it kept getting farther away.

A figure loomed out of the darkness at her, wearing Arik’s face with a maniacal grin, hands reaching for the babies…

Siva sat bolt upright, screaming in the darkness. Her hands clenched at the bedclothes, searching for her dagger, even as her eyes adjusted to the dim, flickering firelight. The hearth, the table…this was the little house she’d been given. She wasn’t on Terryn’s Moon or the Leviathan. She was on the Rock, the large asteroid in an otherwise uninhabited belt. She was safe.

They were all safe.

She swallowed hard as the memory of the nightmare faded and patted the bed next to her, desperately seeking the warm little lumps of her children. It wasn’t light out yet, but she could see through a crack in the window shutters that the black night sky had begun to fade to the gray of false dawn.

Siva’s hand came down on a small, squirming body. One thin wail rose from the mattress beside her, followed by another. She grimaced in the darkness. Found them.

“Hush, sweet babies,” Siva said softly as she snuggled down into a half-lying position and pulled the infants close. “It’s all right, little loves. Mama’s here.” Dania hadn’t been lying when she’d said it got cold. The air had a definite bite, and Siva briefly considered getting out from under her warm blankets to go stir the fire.

Maxon’s hungry rooting convinced her to stay put. She bunched up the blankets and pillows to support him as he nursed and felt the last vestiges of her night terror disappear.

Siva nursed Maxon into insensibility, then repeated the process on the other side with his sister, Marya. Then she got up out of the bed, chafing her hands over her arms and quick-stepping across the frigid floor to stir the banked fire back to life. She changed both diapers, congratulating herself on doing so without waking the babies, then headed into the bathing room to clean herself up as well.

She was drying her hair with a rough cloth she’d found on a shelf when Dania rapped lightly on the door and pushed it open.

“Good morning,” the woman said. “I see you found the bathing room. Did you sleep all right?”

“We all did,” Siva said with a smile. “Thank you.”

“Good. I brought tea and breakfast to share. Let’s sit?”

Siva nodded and then found herself seated at the table, while Dania bustled about, pouring tea and setting out the folding chair and items she’d carried over in the large basket hung on her arm.

“Now,” Dania said once she’d taken a sip.

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