Page 53 of Dark Destiny: The Turning Of The Loom

"That is a diplomatic response. You were always diplomatic despite despising everything that had to do with politics." Toven leaned back in his chair. "I know that you do not remember me, but that is all right. We can become friends once more."

"I would like that," Khiann said. "Annani told me that we liked each other."

"We did. We were not close, but I was not close to anyone. It is just not in my nature. I can tell you that I approved of Annani's choice."

"Thank you. I assume that you did not get along with your brother."

Toven laughed. "Fates, no. Mortdh was power-hungry, ruthless, and not entirely right in the head. I avoided him as much as I could, and so did our father. When Mortdh was tried in his absence, both of us voted him guilty."

"As it turns out, he was not guilty of my murder," Khiann said. "I am not dead. The witnesses lied."

Toven shrugged. "He intended to kill you, and the only reason he did not was that the earthquake got you first. I have not the slightest doubt that he would have beheaded you if he had found you, or he at least would have tried."

Khiann did not know how he felt about that. Mortdh had been a bad god. That much was undisputed. But should he have been entombed for a crime he had planned but not committed? It was not that he changed his mind. Circumstances had foiled his plan.

Still.

Khiann decided to do the diplomatic thing and change the subject. "You and your son look so much alike that it is easy to confuse you."

Toven cast Orion a fond look. "That is genetics for you. My daughter Geraldine took after her mother. Wait until you see my granddaughters, Cassandra and Darlene. They are half-sisters and look nothing alike."

Khiann turned his head toward the end of the table, where Kian sat with Allegra in his lap. "There is a good reason why your son looks like you, but Annani's son looking like me is pure coincidence."

Amanda laughed, but it sounded forced. Syssi looked at her plate, and Toven's eyebrows rose a fraction and stayed there.

"I have noticed," Toven said. "I guess Annani has a type because Amanda also looks a little bit like you, and Sari has your coloring. Only Alena is different."

Khiann had noticed Kian's resemblance to him the first time he met Annani's son in the clinic, and again on Sunday over cake. Kian's hair and skin colors were a shade or two lighter, and he was taller, but the bone structure was similar.

Was Toven right about Annani choosing the fathers of her children based on how much they had resembled him?

She had only told him that she had been with mortals, and it had been just thrown into the mix among all the other things, so he had not dwelled on it because he was much more concerned with the Eternal King and his assassins.

Now, surrounded by family who were all connected by blood except for him, he wanted to find out more about Kian's father. He wanted to know about all the fathers of Annani's children.

On some level, it was strange that he wanted to hear about his wife's lovers, and he was sure that there had been many more than just the five who contributed their essence to the creation of Annani's children. But those five had left their mark on her life, and they would forever be part of it through the children they had fathered.

Still, that was not the only reason he wanted to find out more about them.

Annani had chosen those men because she could not have him, and if he knew what she found with them, what pieces she had appreciated and which she had not, he could mold himself into the perfect male for her.

He was building himself from scratch, so why not make himself to order?

"Gapa," Allegra called from Kian's lap, her voice pitched to carry. "I like your hair. It looks nice."

The earpieces caught it and translated the words into a small girl's voice, not exactly Allegra's but close enough.

"I am glad that you like it." He lifted his hand and ran it over the fuzz that was no longer just fuzz.

"I told you it would grow." She turned to Toven. "Gapa had no hair because he slept for too long and it all fell out. Now he has some back. Mommy says that mine is not going to fall out even if I sleep for a week. She says Gapa slept for thousands of years."

"So I have heard," Toven said. "I am very glad his hair is growing back. It is a very nice chestnut color."

"What is chestnut?" Allegra asked.

As Toven and Allegra continued their conversation, Khiann took the opportunity to look at Mia.

She was petite and delicate, nearly as small as Annani, with short dark hair brushed back from her face.