Secrets of Sarai by J M Thomas

Author:J M Thomas [Thomas, J M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781792127199
Published: 2018-12-27T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7 – Learning

Erys finally broke away from his unceasing familial and business duties and came to visit Kestra at her little house on the canyon’s edge. The only surprise he found was that she had taken over official care of Zahn’s two little siblings. The nobleman’s son raised one eyebrow at Kestra, his stern look asking her if she knew what she had gotten herself into. He watched her stretch up to her full height and widen her stance, as if to literally rise to meet his challenge.

He smiled conciliatorily and watched as Kestra bustled around the house, tidying the children’s things while they napped. He wondered how the children would respond to him when they awoke. The last time they had seen him, he had yanked them from their burning home and left them in a strange hospital with no familiar face and almost nothing to call their own. He felt terrible that he hadn’t come back to see them, but he had elected not to tell his family what transpired or his role in it. He had no excuse to go back to Issachar nor the rural area beyond it.

Erys squatted and picked up toys with her, gently placing them back into the basket she kept in a corner. Wolf whimpered in his sleep, and Kestra went in to lay next to him to soothe his nightmares. Erys could hear her humming a lullaby to the little boy and recognized it as one his own mother had often sang to calm the twins when they were cutting teeth. He hummed along from the other room as he waited.

When Kestra returned, she explained. “I know how he feels when he has his bad dreams. In a way, I am the best person in the world to care for them. I have an unusual insider’s view of their home, of living in that place of horror and pain, if only for a few hours. I have suffered more of their fate than anyone else, and now I can soothe them with compassion and empathy.”

“Most people would run far away from the task of seeing their own trauma in front of their eyes every day,” Erys admitted. “You are truly courageous.”

Kestra gave Erys a look of warning. “I wouldn’t ask anyone to choose this. But, having them here, caring for them, seeing myself reflected in their eyes…” She trailed off for a few moments and Erys gave her time to resume her thought. “It gives me some hope that all that insanity wasn’t pointless.”

“But it was pointless!” Erys snapped, his whisper harsher and more emotional than he intended it to sound. “There was no reason they should have been forced to suffer, just like there was no reason you should have suffered.”

“Not like that,” Kestra countered. “I just mean it feels redemptive that I should be involved in their healing.”

Erys assented with considerable hesitation. “Maybe.”

“What? You think I should have left them there to be someone else’s problem?”

“No, not at all.

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