Seeking Solace by T.N. Watson

Author:T.N. Watson [Watson, T. N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: T.N. Watson Publishing

Chapter 15

If I were an observer looking through the window, I might think that this was a family gathering. Some sort of special occasion, a birthday perhaps, maybe a reunion of family members who had spent years apart. I might think we had all come here voluntarily and by invitation to a dinner that had been planned months in advance, to sit around a table together and rekindle old memories of one another, and perhaps create new ones. And in a way, that was exactly what we were doing. But in the end, it all boiled down to perspective.

For Sloan, this was the first time in years she would sit down to a meal and be able to see the person who sat across from her. For Sol and Jovi, it was an opportunity to return to the village they grew up in and visit with family and old friends. For Thadeus, it was his chance to ensure that mistakes made the last time I had come to Obsidia would be rectified.

And while I was not sure what this evening signified to Kassius, for me it represented the last supper. To be less dramatic, it was the last night I would have with Kassius before returning home.

The decision had already been made to strip my memories and return me back to the portal I had come through only days ago. Both Kassius and Thadeus had already made the decision before I could have any input. To be fair, that had been my plan from the beginning, but the words Sol spoke earlier continued to nag at the back of my mind.

“Lexi, did you want any more salad?” Sloan asked as she held a bowl out to me.

Her question brought me back to the conversation being carried on in front of me. I waved my hand over my plate. “No thank you. This was wonderful, but I think I’m full.”

“Okay,” she said as she passed the bowl along. Her smile didn’t quite cover up the concern I knew she felt for me.

I tried to focus my attention back to Jovi as she recounted a story from her childhood about her pet goats.

“So finally, I found out who my father sold them to, and I snuck into their field right before dawn.” A giggle slipped out as Jovi spoke. “I was able to tell them apart from the other goats, of course, and I rounded them up and walked them all back home.”

“She left out the part where she paraded them through the main street of Praesidium,” Kassius added. “All thirty-two of them.”

The table erupted in laughter. I tried my best to smile along with the others, but I still felt like I was an observer—standing on the outside and looking in.

When dinner was finally over, Sol stood up and placed his napkin on the plate in front of him. “Well, Jovi, it’s getting late. Shall we head home?”

“You’re leaving tonight?” I said. “I thought you guys were staying here.”

“My family lives just outside of the village,” Jovi said.

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