Chapter 362

Leesa met Ralin for real on a sunny afternoon in mid-April, almost six months exactly from her wedding day.

Knowing the baby could arrive any day, she and Rave spent their time at home in the company of Balin and Kaila, a volkaane mid-wife almost as old as Balin who had delivered scores of volkaane babies over the centuries. Kaila looked enough like Balin to be his sister, with the same gray hair streaked with dull copper highlights and a similar lanky build. Since no one knew precisely what to expect from the magical human/volkaane hybrid child, they thought it best to be prepared for anything. Balin and Kaila did not mind sleeping on mats spread out on the floor of the living room, when they slept at all. If Rave’s nocturnal habits were any indication, Leesa suspected that most evenings the three volkaanes probably spent a significant portion of the night watching her sleep. She felt self-conscious at the thought, but there was also comfort in knowing they were there