Waking Christmas Read online

  “Huh. Okay.”

  The second ice sheet came down before she had even stepped toward the next tunnel. The fourth tunnel was blocked before she could take a step.

  Minya put her hands on her hips and sighed. “I am guessing that this is going to be a hint.”

  She had heard of the Drai, of course, she had. She knew that the sleepers had left their world before they could be locked in by the interdict, but he said he had left long before that. He had also stated that he was an elemental. She hadn’t heard of one of those before.

  Minya straightened her crown and adjusted her sash; it was time to meet her true host face to face. This was worse than her mom letting her take over a delivery. Less could go wrong, but it could have a far worse impact on her if it did.

  She set one foot in front of the other and kept a hand on the wall. The stone was cool but not as cold as the ice had been.

  The light behind her faded, and she was dependent on the illumination ahead of her. She moved carefully when the end of the cavern finally came to light.

  “I didn’t know what to expect, but this wasn’t it.” Minya murmured the words, and the huge creature ahead of her shifted.

  She could make out a body, a wing, and a long tail, all covered with a fine, white fur.

  He filled the cavern. Standing next to him, watching his sides rise and fall, she knew that the stone and ice had moved to surround him. Nothing else could have gotten him to fit in the space so precisely.

  Minya looked up through the ice above, and her heart sank. Night had fallen, perhaps for the second time since she crashed. Her family would be frantic. The festival in the capital was going to happen in three days, and their family celebrations would normally be in full swing.

  She heard the soft whisper in her mind again.

  “You are not afraid?”

  “I have met Drai and their descendants before. Not all can shift shape, but the feel of them is similar to you.”

  “There are more of my kind nearby?”

  She heard the hope in his voice. “I am sure my father could invite some. The Drai still don’t leave their world, and the vast percentage of them has lost the ability to shift into their greater forms, but there are members of the Citadel and Sector Guard who travel and do what they can to help people.”

  “I do not care for travel.”

  Minya smiled slightly. “As you have been curled up here for centuries, that much is evident.”

  She was going to continue her observations, but another wave of tremors ran through her.

  “What is going on?”

  She gritted her teeth and waited it out. “I got too cold. There isn’t anything around here on fire that I can use to warm me, and it is just going to take a bit of time for me to recover.”

  “Step under my wing.” A huge panel of fur expanded and blocked out the starlight.

  She sighed and took a step forward with caution until she could feel the heat radiating from him. To say that she jumped in to nestle against him was a slight exaggeration, but her feet did lift off the floor together before she struck the furry side of her host.

  “You are nearly frozen! How are you moving?”

  She chuckled and burrowed against him while the wing slowly came down and wrapped her in a wall of warmth.

  “I am moving because I have to. Quitting out here means death, and I want to live. My parents would kick my ass if I died, and then, they would burn down the dead zone.”

  She dug her fingers into his fur and held on as waves of shivers burned through her. The song in her mind soothed her and took over as her body fought to keep itself alive and functioning. She leaned against him and let her body go limp. He was going to monitor her. It wasn’t even a remote possibility that he wouldn’t.

  A soft whisper ran through her mind with the music. “I offer you the hospitality of my body.”

  She was thinking about taking him up on that if his two-legged form was as warm as his four.

  Chapter Three

  Tim’ha stared at the readouts and the sudden, shocking trajectory that his sister’s pod had taken. When the tumbling changed into a direct line toward the northern dead zone, he got up from his station and ran for the palace.

  The courtiers scattered as he thudded along the elaborate mosaics into the audience chamber. His mother grabbed his arm to keep him from making a scene. “What is it, Tim’ha?”

  He bent his head and murmured his concern. His mother nodded and walked gracefully toward his father. She pressed two fingers to the inside of her wrist, and he got to his feet, excusing himself and dismissing those who waited.

  Tim’ha waited until his parents passed him, and then, he followed closely.

  “Where did she disappear?” His mother’s tone was brisk.

  “At the edge of the dead zone. Her pod changed direction, and the wind pushed it into that space.”

  His father’s shoulders tightened, and as soon as they were in the family quarters, he gestured and displayed Minya’s path from the atmospheric entry until her disappearance.

  “What grabbed her?”

  “I don’t know, Father. It was strong enough to bend the weather to its will.”

  Master Elite D’hai Bosun turned toward him. “Did you feel any efforts from her to change position?”

  Master Elite Healer Myka Michaels placed her hand on her husband’s arm. “She can’t do that. She hadn’t touched down on soil that would nurture her.”

  He nodded. “Right. Call the others. We are going to get her.”

  Tim’ha nodded and swallowed. “How?”

  “We will transport to the last place on her trajectory, load up with supplies, and enter the dead zone.”

  Myka nodded. “I will get the cold-weather clothing and supplies arranged. It has been a while since I walked a distance on my own feet, but I would walk around the world to get my daughter back.”

  Tim’ha watched his father hug his mother, and then, he crafted the summoning glyph that would bring his two brothers and sister to them.

  The Bosun family was filled in, and they all agreed to the journey.

  Myka raised her hand. “Myetta, stay here. With us gone, a midwife needs to remain on duty.”

  “Mother, you are by far the better choice.”

  Myka raised her hand and stroked the hair back from Myetta’s forehead. “One of my babies is in danger. I have to go. We will be back with Minya as quickly as we can.”

  Tim’ha watched his mother and sister in their gentle tableau.

  Myka waited until her daughter nodded in agreement before she gave her a hug and finished the supply preparations.

  Myetta sniffed slightly and nodded. “I will keep the supplies in place for you. The moment you are out of the zone, you can summon them.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  “Now, Mom, I want you to bring my little sister home. It is nearly the longest night, and we need her here to start the fire. It is her turn.”

  Myka chuckled. “We will bring her home.”

  Tim’ha watched his father squeeze his mother’s shoulders in commiseration. “We will bring her home.”

  Minya had been missing for two hours when they transported to the edge of the dead zone. The cold lashed at Tim’ha, and he was relieved when his father transported in the cold-weather gear.

  Packs were handed out, and Myka used the last accessible energy to point the way to her child. With a silent nod, their family walked out across the icy wasteland that the planet had seen fit not to grace with the building blocks of magic.

  * * * *

  Minya was toasty warm when she heard a familiar sound from what seemed miles away. She fought her way out of her furry cocoon and swayed on her feet.

  “You should rest more.”

  “I heard a woman scream.”

  “You are not to concern yourself. Those who come here seek a life without complications. Interference in these matters is one of those complications.”

  She didn’t listen; she headed down the tunnel, past the food that was laid out for her, and into the space occupied by the colonists.

  Blank blue faces stared at her as she stood and waited. It took two more minutes before another scream rent the air, and she followed the sound of a woman in labour as quickly as she could.

  The guards at the door lunged toward her, but she ducked, kicked, and twisted and made it to the inner sanctum.

  The woman was on her back and writhing against the pulsing of her abdomen. The air was scented with fear and sweat.

  Finding a pitcher of water, Minya washed her hands.

  “Hello, I am Midwife Minya, and I will be bringing your baby into the world today.” Minya smiled as she got to use her Dremarai again.

  The woman struggled up to her elbows. “You can speak?”

  “Of course, but since they were going to help me as a stranger, it would be stupid to tell them that I was born here. Now, if you allow me to examine you, we can get you comfortable, and you can enjoy the process of giving birth.”

  “I am Ema.”

  Minya put on a friendly expression. “Pleased to meet you, Ema. Now, part your legs and think of the open sky.”

  It started an ordeal of hours, but after Ema had done her best, Minya eased Ema’s tiny daughter into the world and coaxed her to breathe.

  Ema cried as her daughter was placed on her chest. The afterbirth came in its own time, and Minya put it aside with the folded sheets that had caught the blood and fluids.

  “Right. Well, now that this little one is blue instead of purple, what are you going to name her?”

  Ema smiled. “My husband will name her, and then, he will take his next wife.”

  Minya stared. “What?”

  “We can only have one chi
ld. I will die soon, and my husband will choose another.”

  “Why will you die?”

  “We die in childbirth. The men then leave the community and walk to the edge, returning with their new wife.”

  “What if you don’t die?”

  Ema seemed shocked. “What?”

  “You are not going to die in childbirth. Your body is contracting, and there is no unusual bleeding. You will live.”

  Ema blinked. “Are you sure?”

  “I am sure. I have overseen thirty births here on Dremarai and many more in the stars. You are fine and getting better by the minute.” Minya grinned and stroked the little girl’s chubby cheek. “Did you want me to tell him?”

  “What?”

  “Did you want me to tell your husband that you are alive and healthy?”

  Ema blinked slowly. “Yes, please. His name is Hawdi.”

  Minya straightened, rubbed her back around the sash, and she headed out of the guarded door.

  Not wanting to waste time, she yelled, “Hawdi!”

  A huge man rose out of the communal mass of men hunkered near the fire. Hawdi’s eyes were bloodshot, and his skin was flushed purple from crying.

  “Are you Hawdi?”

  He nodded. “I am.”

  She could hear the murmurs of surprise now that the folk were actually listening to her.

  “Your wife is alive, she is going to remain alive, and will probably be able to have more children if someone is willing to attend her.”

  Minya smiled slightly. “You have a little girl by the way, and Ema will live to see her grow up.”

  He swallowed. “Can I see her?”

  “You can. Go on through.”

  Hawdi nearly knocked her over in his urgency to see his wife. The happy cries were what she was looking for. It was a relief to find two people who wanted to be together.

  She looked through the doorway to see Hawdi crying and looking at his daughter. She closed the door, and when she straightened, a man with rank marks etched into his features was glowering down at her.

  “Who are you to interfere?”

  Minya put her hands on her hips and was inhaling when a familiar voice rang out.

  “She is my child, and she is the most obnoxious busybody that you can imagine, but she does what is right.”

  Myka stepped out of the shadows, and the assembled men and women gasped.

  Minya grinned when her mother snapped, “Oh, get over it.”

  She ran over to her mother and hugged her. Her father stepped out of the shadows a moment later and picked them both up in his embrace.

  The muttering of folks who hadn’t seen a High Prefect in their lifetime became a roar. The headman who had been confronting her came over while she was hugging the rest of her family.

  “How dare you come to our lands, High Prefect?” The man crossed his arms over his chest.

  “I am able to travel anywhere on this world to seek my children.”

  “She isn’t yours.”

  Minya felt her father’s hands flex on her shoulders.

  “She is my youngest. My sixth child. My third daughter.” Her father was smug about that.

  Dremarai had a high mortality rate for childbirth. Even with highly trained midwives, only two in five mothers had an uncomplicated delivery. This was the reason that Myka had travelled through the stars and the reason she had gotten an assignment as one of the first aliens on Dremarai in recent memory. She was a midwife with a complete focus on her patient. She had taught Minya to bring the children into the world with the mother, not for them. It was a different experience that meant the chance of life was much higher. Of course, outside of the dead zone, she had the ability to heal by touch. That helped a lot, and since so many women died, having daughters was a sign of virility.

  Minya was surrounded by her brothers and parents. The headman had the backing of his people.

  “We live a pure life here without interference.”

  Minya elbowed her way past her brothers. “There is nothing purer than women helping women. No magic, no science, just knowledge of what is happening and the ability to share that information with the woman struggling.”

  Hawdi came into the space with a beaming grin on his face. His arms held his little, squalling baby. “I don’t care what she is. Ema is smiling, the little one has had her first meal, and my wife is discussing bringing my daughter a brother in a year or so. This is a miracle fit for the shortest days of the year.”

  The headman scowled and looked back at Minya. “You were here to tempt the sleeper. As you have failed, you will have to die.”

  Myka growled behind Minya, but it wasn’t necessary.

  “She did wake me.” There was a clear voice from the tunnel where they had stuck Minya, but the speaker was in shadow.

  The reaction of the colony was instant. Everyone bowed, and a few even knelt.

  The headman murmured, “Master Yuul, you have woken.”

  “I have. Your stranger was the correct one. Now that I am awake, she may go, as can her people.” He didn’t move out of the shadows, but he inclined his head.

  Myka grabbed her wrist. “Come on, Minya. Before anyone changes their minds.”

  Minya looked toward the shadows, and the owner of the voice waved farewell.

  She grabbed her parents, and they all rushed out of the caverns and into the icy air.

  Minya welcomed the wrap of the heavy cloak that her mother flung over her shoulders. With her family protecting her, she walked across the ice and snow until Tim’ha called out. As she watched, he shifted into his crimson eagle, and the rest of them rushed to catch up.

  One moment she was surrounded by ice and snow, and the next, she was in the comfort of her family home. Home, safe, and low on calories, Minya let herself faint.

  She could find out how long she was gone when she woke up.

  Chapter Four

  “Eat. You are so pale you are nearly blue.” Myetta grinned and put the tray across Minya’s lap.

  “Hah, hah. Too late for you then.” Minya smiled.

  Myetta looked at her hands. “Pretty much. It is nice to see you home, wee one.”

  Minya snorted at the nickname. “Thanks. I didn’t expect it to take this long.”

  “You were only gone for a total of three days. Did you really meet a Drai?”

  “Yes, but he was shifted at the time. I guess the dormancy capability is found in the larger dragon shape.”

  “Wow, that is clinical.”

  “Well, that was what I went to school for. Why didn’t you go?”

  Myetta shrugged. “I never really felt the urge to know all of that. I like being a half-assed medic and okay midwife. It leaves more time for fun.”

  Minya chuckled and ate her breakfast as neatly as possible while her stomach was snarling.

  “Do you think you are up to helping with the festivities?”

  Minya nodded. “Of course. Which comes first?”

  “The longest night will come first, so we can sneak Christmas in afterward.”

  Minya smiled. “I kind of like that Mom changes it up.”

  “Christmas takes more cooking, and the djinn weren’t around on Gaia for the first celebrations.”

  “I know. I know Mom’s stories just as well as you do, Mite.”

  Her sister stuck out her tongue and left Minya to get dressed. She yawned, stretched and flipped back the covers, using the lavatory before returning to think about what she wanted to wear. She could feel magic returning to her bones.

  Magic was a funny thing. Hundreds of species denied its existence, but once you had experienced it, there was no refuting that it was an actual force.

  Now that she had spent time without it, she enjoyed doing things for herself without the flick of a finger. Humming, she went to her wardrobe and found a suitable outfit for her new Master Elite status.

  It took three tries, but she finally picked out a gem-studded outfit of breast band, flaring skirt, and a sleeveless robe that hung to her heels.

  Her hair was wrapped in a gold net that kept it from getting too excited around magic, and she put on gold slippers that completed her ensemble.

  A lifetime of wearing the djinn clothing should have made her feel at home again, but the physical freedoms that had been offered by the bodysuits were a hard act to follow.

  Minya checked the mirror again, and she scowled at the small speck of something on her abdomen. She got closer and scratched at it. The fleck of green disappeared. Huh. Weird.