This whole situation was completely alien. He was talking to his father as if they hadn’t been estranged for seventeen years. He had watched his mother in complete disarray. He’d watched her fall apart. He’d watched her turn into the woman he’d heard his grandfather speak of so fondly, the delicate, timid Marina that gave shy smiles and rarely engaged in conversation with anyone but Viktor. She had depended on that man, Anton had told Elijah. What he hadn’t said was why she’d changed. No one seemed to know, no one but his father who didn’t even believe her.
“What happened?” Elijah asked quietly, half-listening to Robert in the background. “‘You know what’ – what did she mean by that? What happened?”
“A story for another time, Elijah.” Viktor said simply.
With Robert’s aid and the support of his father, Elijah quickly found himself back in bed with his chocolate and the ball which he started to throw again, the tail appearing once more. He broke off a piece of the chocolate and beckoned Chase to him, holding it out for her to take. It was sweet, horribly so, but maybe Kitty would share his love of sweets. Then again, maybe she wouldn’t.
“As long as Khaat doesn’t sit on me like a mother hen then I’m good with whatever she does. Too much hugging could get a bit weird too...” Elijah said thoughtfully to Robert. “Wait...who’s visiting?”
“PAPA!” Fauve’s voice made Elijah sit bolt upright and his eyes immediately fell on Camille, Thierry and Fauve. The little girl bolted away from the Frenchwoman and slid under her grandfather’s legs before throwing herself at Elijah. He caught her in his arms, letting out a gasp of air when her knees made contact with his ribs. He collapsed against the pillows and she bounced around, jumping either side of him on the bed before settling atop his chest as she did when she was smaller. She jingled the bracelet over him and Elijah caught her wrist in his hands. He held it up and fingered the charms dangling off of the chain. He touched the one that had been added by Kerri.
Elijah took Chase’s hand and felt for the love knot which he slipped off of her finger. He held his index finger up, miming for her to wait and held the ring against the charm. “Fauvie...you are a very special girl aren’t you? Your Grandfather is either idiotic or trusts you very much.” He leaned over and slid the ring back onto Chase’s hand. He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. He squeezed it and released her hand, turning back to Fauve who was looking through all of her charms.
“Grand-Papa said that all of the charms are from the women of the family. So...do I add it?” Elijah nodded. “I add mine...but how do I get it?” she frowned.
“Don’t frown, sweetheart, you’ll wrinkle. It is a story. It’s a saying within the elders of our family, although most of them thank Merlin are dead by now.”
“Elijah!” Viktor scolded.
“They were old and nutty, Fauve. They’re not go0d for you. Not if you want to stay even remotely sane.”
“Too late,” Thierry snorted, jumping onto the bed and sitting by Elijah’s legs. He handed the pocket watch to Elijah and asked, “What’s the story behind this, papa?”
“One story at a time, Thierry,” Elijah smiled. He looked at Fauve and rolled some of the charms over her wrist. “They used to say that in the mountains there was a woman. Or rather, there is a woman still walking up there. She is called the mother of family because that is what she is. She was destined for a Krum, one we have no record of. He courted her, he romanced her but they could not marry. No, he was removed from her company and was married to someone else at the request of his parents. She was a beauty like no other. Every other woman paled in comparison to her but they say that she was not beautiful.”
“Wait...” Thierry’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “How is she beautiful but...not?”
“No one looked at her Thierry, not really. They saw no further than the curves of her breasts or the size of her waist. Even in those days when people traded in spices, beauty mattered. Her beauty was unparalleled. Her beauty was in here,” he tapped Fauve’s chest, “and it mirrored on the outside. But it was subtly done. She did not have the long luxurious hair that so many in the village had. She was not tan. She did not have ebony hair and ebony eyes as were the typical genes and pickings for our family. No, she was from Western Europe, an outsider. She was fair, she had hair of fire they say and eyes as blue as the sea. Her smiles stopped people in the streets, prompting others to walk into the frozen forms of the men. Women were jealous of her. So many vied for her attention...”
“...but..?” Fauve prodded.
“Of course she was in love with him. They were in love. It was the perfect bond. Something did not go to plan though. Something changed. They’d taken leaps and bounds that others courting each other at that time would not have taken in a million years. They were ripped from each other. When news of the wedding came and the eventual news of the pregnancy of his wife, her heart broke. They say it is her heart that makes up the bits of this chain. She is the mother of our family Fauve. Krum and his branch succumbed to disease. What she had was something special. She had fallen pregnant with his child. She retreated to the mountains with nothing but a donkey and it was there that she raised her son until he chose to take a wife. She told him one thing and one thing only and that was to marry for love. When a Krum does that now, the woman is presented with one of these. She knows neither where she gets it from nor how but all she knows is that it is hers and it must go onto the bracelet.”
“Will I get one?” Fauve asked, nibbling on her lip. Elijah nodded. She brightened slightly.
“The girls born into the family receive on when they are of age. So you will receive one yes. The girls get one because they are born out of love. The lads get the nigh on impossible task of finding someone to continue that.”
“But I’m...” Fauve looked down at her hands. “I’m not...”
“I truly doubt she cares, Fauve. You are every part of me that Thierry is. You are everything,” he whispered the last two sentences to her.
“But we’re not like...like your baby.” She protested quietly.
“You are my daughter, Fauve, and therefore one half of me. It does not matter what journey you embarked on to get to me now. You are my daughter in every sense of the word. Magic works in strange ways, my love.”
“Does...this...this lady love us? Like she loves her son?”
“She travels the mountains and waits for us to make our way. Call her the deity of the family if you wish. Thierry knows what that word means, Fauvie, don’t worry. She ensured out survival. She ensures so much. Even if it is an old wives tale, magic is so much more than what comes out of your wand. It is everything this world is. You would not be here today without it; you would not be with me or with Chase. Neither would Thierry. I wouldn’t be here. I should have died down there but I didn’t did I? I’m here. So much should have happened that didn’t because of magic. Who is to say she isn’t real? That she isn’t still walking among us?”
“How does she make them?” Thierry asked, glancing between Viktor and Elijah.
“Magic...” Viktor chuckled. “No one knows really I do not think. I should have asked my mother when she was alive.”
“So they just...appear?” Fauve asked.
Elijah nodded. “Pretty much. Yours will be the most beautiful I think, Fauvie. These are all out-dated. They look old.”
“That’s because they are old aren’t they?” Thierry asked, clambering forward to look at the bracelet.
“As old as time itself.” Elijah answered.
“That is one old woman then...” Camille joined in, moving inside to stand beside Viktor. “How are you, Chase?” she asked conversationally.
by 
