“You look beautiful.” I told her. “Like a vision.”
Mother beamed. “I have you to thank for healing my body. I would still be in pain if not for you, my son.”
Father nodded as he put his arms around our shoulders. He was shorter than me but not by much.
“Do you want to know her name?”
Kol and I looked at Father and said, “Yes,” in unison.
“Surkah,” Mother answered with a smile. “The Elders say it was a glowing white plant on the old world. One would only have to look at it to be entranced by its beauty.”
“It is a fitting name,” I said. “She is a beauty. Our Surkah.”
Mother smiled, and even though she was no longer in physical pain, I couldn’t do anything to take away the exhaustion she felt. Her body would need a few terms for the swelling that I couldn’t reduce to subside naturally before it would revert to normal. Only plenty of rest would do that.
“Where is our new brother?”
We all looked towards the open door. Ryla’s booming voice filled the chamber as he and my other brothers entered our parents’ wing. I shook my head as they filed one by one into the bed chamber.
“Brother?” Mother looked at each of my brothers with a smile. “Don’t you mean your new sister?”
Each of my brothers’ expressions was hilarious. The shock each of them felt was washed onto their faces and made Kol and me laugh. Ryla was the first to go to our mother. He dipped his head and ran his nose up the bridge of hers and placed a kiss between her eyes. The mate kiss made Father rumble with approval.
“You have saved me from a very difficult job, little one,” Ryla said to our sister, making our father snort with amusement. Ryla turned to him and gave him a firm hug.
Until Surkah was born, Ryla had been next in line to become the next Revered Father as he was the eldest sibling. He often told me how it was not a role he ever wished to have because of its restrictions on his life. Ryla was a Master Hunter and loved being out in the wild. A Revered Father had to live a life within Royal City to oversee the people. I was happy for Ryla. He had just been given his freedom.
My other brothers followed Ryla’s cue. They gave our mother a mate kiss, our sister a mate kiss, and our father a hug. I looked at my mother when she called my name. She had finished feeding my sister and was holding her out to me.
“Can you check her again?” she asked. “Just to make sure she is really okay?”
She fretted about her young like all mothers did even though there was nothing to worry about. I moved to her side and took my tiny sister in my arms. I smiled down at her as she griped about being moved about when all she wanted to do was rest. I made sure I was touching her skin when I closed my eyes and focused my lissa. Almost instantly, something I had never seen before almost jolted me where I stood. All I could see was a bright white glow and nothing else. When I touched the light with my lissa, understanding and shock filled me.
I retracted my lissa and opened my eyes.
“I don’t believe it.”
Father got in my space, placing his large hand gently on my sister’s head.
“What is it, son? Is she well?”
“Very well.” I looked up and blinked. “Thanas blesses her. She is a healer.”
Father was dumbfounded, as was everyone else.
“But … But … there hasn’t been a female healer since the old world.”
“Having a female healer has been long overdue,” Mother whimpered. “My little princess is so special.”
“That is why we thought she was a male,” I said, understanding the confusion. “Our healers have only ever felt the lissa of another male healer, so we thought she was a male based on that.”
I looked down at Surkah and felt a great connection to her.
“Thanas blesses me with two young who have the gift of a lissa.” Father’s chest puffed with pride. “I am unworthy.”
I smiled and bumped my shoulder with his before I handed Surkah back to my mother, who was crying like there was no tomorrow. That was how the next ten days were spent. Mother remained in her bed chamber with Surkah for most of it. Father’s instincts could not allow others outside of our family in their presence yet. Not even the servants were allowed in their wing. Both Mother and Surkah were still too fragile and could be easily hurt. I spent a lot of time with Mother. She wanted constant updates on my sister’s health, which was perfect and never-changing. Looking at my sister as she lay flat on her back on the tenth morning after her birth, I was mesmerised by her.