I then harkened back to all the things I had heard of Serena of the Nadirii before I had come to know her and wondered if she might not understand how a loved one worrying would come about.

I allowed what I said to settle before I went on, “And I am glad you’re here. It gives me the chance to tell you that your training has been very helpful these last days.”

She turned her head from watching the lane we were on that traced the city to the side at the base of the incline to the cliffs that surrounded the Bay.

She looked at me, now appearing surprised.

I smiled at her. “We are no Nadirii warriors, but please trust in the fact it helps my state of mind having the skills you’ve taught me as we face what we might be facing. Thus, I must give you my gratitude for your time and sharing of expertise.”

“I enjoy doing that, the training, so there is no need to express your gratitude,” she replied.

“What you give is what you know. What I received is what I need,” I returned. “Thus, I disagree. Gratitude should be expressed.”

“Well,” she shifted in her saddle, “you’re welcome.”

I looked away, smiling at the lane and enjoying the air, which was becoming saltier the closer we got to the sea.

“He wishes to make children with me.”

Serena’s words, sounding forcefully divulged, came to my ears, and I looked her way again.

“Pardon?” I asked.

She turned her eyes to me.

“Chu,” she pushed out. “He says he wishes to make daughters with me.”

I smiled tentatively at her. “Are you not…at that point in your mind with him?”

She cast her gaze forward. “I would give him a dozen children, if this was his wish.”

I felt my brows go up.

“I am no longer me,” she whispered.

“I am no longer the me of yesterday either,” I shared, and her head whipped around to face me again. “This is best, if we are to learn and grow, that every day we wake up a new person, learning from the day past, going into the future smarter and stronger.”

“This is wise,” she stated, like she did, as well as didn’t quite believe her words.

“Well, I hope so,” I replied with humor.

“I wish sons. Or at least one son,” she said.

“It’s my understanding you can magick the sex in your womb, so have a son,” I returned.

“He does not wish sons.”

This surprised me. “Truly?”

“He has…family issues,” she muttered, turning her face away.

I studied her profile.

Then I noted carefully, “You wish very much to have a boy child.”