"Mother, please…" Keles murmured, her voice tinged with shy embarrassment as she allowed herself to be guided.
Nana pulled her closer and eased her down onto a bed of blooming flowers, arranging her with the practiced care like someone who had done this countless times before, though never quite like this.
Ikenga watched in silence, a faint smile tugging at his expression. Ikenga at the same time found his gaze drifting across the realm. The land responded to his presence as it always had but something was wrong.
Someone was missing.
His siblings were not here.
They should have felt it by now. His return, Keles's return, such events would ripple through the realm like a bell struck at its core. Yet the space remained strangely empty, untouched by their familiar presences.
Turning back to his mother, who was still fussing over Keles with barely restrained excitement, Ikenga asked "Where are the others? They should have known about our return."
