"Greetings and welcome to you all," the giant tree said to them as Matt and the kids joined Alejandra and the others where they stood near the trunks.
Even with Allie having prepared him for the sight and spectacle, he felt himself off-balance at the rustling words and the idea that the tree itself was not only alive but also a person.
Granted, being in possession of a talking sword had helped soften the blow somewhat.
"Ah! A seedling of the Kel'Darshein!" Toraline the sword said in a pleased tone. "Thank the gods, not all that was once of the Empire has been lost."
"Buenas tardes, mi corazon," Allie said, smiling a sort of dazed smile at him as he walked up to her. "Look who followed me home."
"That is so intensely cool I can't even think," Olivia said, staring at the massive tree, which was rustling and its branches waving in a way that for some reason Matt's brain interpreted as 'bashful'. "Hi mister tree! I'm Olivia, what's your name?"
"This one has no name, Consul," the tree said, rustling more. "I am of the third seeding–"
"Tell me you brought some food with you guys," Bel interrupted the tree, marching up to Matt. "I'm starving."
Matt just handed over one of the last sandwiches he had made, and then handed the other to Dinah, who had come up wordlessly beside Isabel and was standing swaying slightly, eyes unfocused.
"Consul, please place my blade in direct contact with the seedling's trunk so that I might communicate with them more effectively. We must begin rebuilding immediately, and a Kel'Darshein seedling will be instrumental in–"
"Wait, I do not know who you are." The tree rustled. "Please do not speak about me like I'm not here. That is very rude. Consul, would you please–"
"Stop."
The single word came up from the bottom of Matt's soul and out into the air like it weighed a thousand pounds. Instantly both the sword and the tree cut off, their strange not-speech fading away instantly. The rest of the family reacted in various ways, from a simple tired blink from Lucas to a full body turn-and-stare from Isabel, who now had about half of an entire roast beef sandwich in her mouth.
"Listen," Matt said quietly, but firmly. "I know things are strange for everyone right now. Toraline, I know you've just had a big shock and are trying to figure out how to deal with it. And you," he added to the tree. "I don't know everything that's happened to you, but I know you're probably in the same boat as the rest of us. Scared, confused, probably a little angry, and maybe a whole lot worried. But…"
"But," Allie said, stepping up next to him and reaching over to take his hand, "we are exhausted right now. We have been running full tilt for days, we have been sleeping poorly, we too are confused and scared and," she chuckled softly and glanced out the corner of her eye at Matt, and he felt his heart beat just a little bit faster at the warmth there, "perhaps a little bit angry as well."
"Not to mention we literally just finished a life-or-death battle with demon bugs," Olivia added, coming to stand by–and then to slump tiredly against–Matt's side. He wrapped his free arm around his daughter, marveling again at how in the world she could already be taller than he was.
"Who," agreed Hoolio tiredly, nuzzling into Olivia's hair like a blanket.
"So," Matt continued, eyeing first the talking sword and then the talking tree, "while I get that you're anxious to get stuff aired out… We need rest."
"And more sandwiches," Isabel added, all of her food gone. "And like a million more calories. And something sweet to drink."
"But mostly bed," Dinah said, coming to slump against Olivia's side, and thereby putting more pressure against Matt. He managed to bear it up without much extra effort. "Bed. Please."
There was a chorus of general agreement with that particular sentiment.
"Of course, Consul," Toraline said, the sword's metallic voice sounding contrite to Matt's ears. "Forgive me. Current circumstances have made me… Less observant than I might once have been."
"Forgive me as well, Consul," the breathy leaf-rustle voice from the tree came as well, and if anything sounded even more apologetic than the sword. "I did not think. Looking at you now, it is obvious you and your companions–"
"Family," Isabel corrected firmly. "Not companions. We're family."
"Ah? Yes, of course. It is obvious that you and your family are in need of a place of safety and security where you may recover from your trials. Please, allow me to provide you with such a place."
The tree shuddered, and with a quiet rumbling noise several of its double-dozen trunks shifted in the earth, opening a doorway into a small sheltered clearing within.
"I greet thee formally, Consul to Caesar and Rome Eternal," the tree continued, its diction becoming much more formal. "Enter into the shelter of this one's boughs and take thy rest. I swear upon the Oath Eternal that no harm shall come to thee or thine as long as soil and sunlight sustain."
A sensation like a summer's breeze passed over Matt's skin, and he felt a tiny amount of the weariness suffusing his bones fade away. He looked at Allie, still holding her hand in his, and raised his eyebrows in question. Can we trust this thing?
She considered it for a long moment, then nodded slowly.
"I think it speaks truth," she murmured. "Certainly while I was speaking with it, I had no sense of enmity or duplicity. And…" she paused and glanced at the kids, all of whom were starting to look completely out on their feet. "I think it's our best option. I don't think it means us harm."
"Means you harm? Lady Consul, that one is of the Kel'Darshein." The sword buzzed in Matt's hand, feeling almost offended. "There can be no safer place in the empire, except perhaps under the watchful gaze of Caesar himself, than resting within the heart of a Kel'Darshein grove. Even with its power diminished and its… Apparent youth," it added with an uncertain buzz, "it is the equal of the strongest foes of the Empire. There is a reason mighty Caesar planted them at the heart of his great cities."
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"Oh, uh, thank you." Allie blinked and Matt chuckled softly as he saw her try to keep from staring at the talking sword that had just addressed her. "Uhm… Do not take this the wrong way, but I'm not quite ready for a prolonged conversation with a talking sword yet. We will talk later, si?"
"Si, lo entiendo." The sword said.
In perfect spanish.
Matt and Allie both jerked at that, eyes going wide and staring–And then almost at the same time they both shook it off. No, now was not the time to be distracted. Not yet. All of that could come later, once they were…
Safe.
"Okay then, that's our goal right now," Matt said, pitching his voice to carry his Foreman's Command in it. "Everyone, back to the clearing for our sleeping bags and stuff. We'll pitch camp inside the grove, and after that we'll figure out our next move."
There was another chorus of agreements, and they all set off at a slow walking pace. No one was moving quickly, and a couple of them–Lucas and Dinah most noticeably–seemed on the verge of collapse.
It took maybe twenty minutes to get everything moved and situated. The clearing in the center of the big tree's multiple trunks was quiet and cozy, with soft grass underfoot and an already-extant fire pit in the center, surrounded by fallen logs that were quite obviously meant to be used as seats. It even came complete with cords of wood ready for lighting. It looked like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting, only missing a troop of cub scouts with marshmallow roasting equipment.
"I am going to sleep for a week," Lucas announced through a series of huge yawns as he lugged his sleeping back and the small medikit over near the fire pit. "I don't even care if I'm sleeping on rocks."
"Oh, you will not sleep on rocks, Consul," the tree rustle-said, and Matt blinked at the sound of a grin in the voice. "Allow me to at least contribute in that small way."
"Huh?" Lucas said, then the entire family blinked as the nearest trunks of the tree rippled. Small branches grew out of them at speed, entwining with others and spreading out… Until, like magic, a series of nest-like platforms were formed, suspended between two or more trunks each. Enough for every family member to have their own, if they wanted it.
"Please lay thy head upon my boughs, Consul," the tree said. "I promise, it will be the most comfortable rest you have had since reaching the shores of Seroco."
They approached the bed-nests tentatively. Lucas was the first to hop up into the leafy twiggy platform. And as soon as he sat down, his eyes bugged out wide.
"Holy cow," he said, stunned, "this is like one of those memory-foam mattresses! Bel, Liv, Dinah, you guys gotta try this out!"
The dam broke, and the kids all rushed forward, each one claiming a nest for their own, and each one letting out surprised sounds of pleasure as they discovered the truth of Lucas's words.
"Oh yes," Bel moaned as she snuggled down deep into her nest, pulling her sleeping bag over her. "I am going to sleep for years in this."
"I can't believe how tired I am," Olivia said, laying spread-eagle on her nest. "It's not even noon, is it?"
"Little before," Matt said, glancing at his watch. "Assuming the same time periods apply, anyway."
"Feels like I've been awake for years," Olivia murmured, her eyes closing. Beside her, Hoolio hopped into his own much smaller nest and made sounds of enjoyment as he ruffled his feather and settled down.
Matt felt Alejandra's hand land on his shoulder, and the touch sent a warm flush of electricity down his spine. He reached up and laid his hand on hers.
"Let them rest," she said quietly.
"Are they going to be okay?" he asked, the worry he'd kept bottled up finally starting to leak out now that the danger was finally, finally over.
"Si," Allie said simply. "They are young, and tough. It will hit them when they wake, and they will need us. But until then, sleep is the best thing for them."
"Will you take your rest also, Consuls?" the tree asked, and another pair of nest beds formed nearby.
Matt looked at Allie, and found the same answer in her eyes that was in his mind.
"No," he said for them both. "We'll stay awake for a while." Because as friendly as you seem, I'm not ready to let my guard down around you yet. And if you decide to try something that could hurt my family, I want to be awake and ready for it.
It was probably paranoia. No. Let's face it. It was definitely paranoia. If he truly thought the tree was a threat, he never would have allowed his children anywhere near it. At some point, he simply had to let go and leave it up to the Almighty.
But here, now, in this world that kept trying it's damnedest to kill them all, paranoia didn't seem like such a bad skill to cultivate.
"Come, sit with me," Allie said, taking his arm and leading him towards the log seats around the fire pit. The sun was still high in the sky and the air was too warm to start a fire, but the canopy overhead gave the grove a gentler light and protected them from the worst of the sunshine.
They sat down on the log, Alejandra pressed against his side, her hand in his, almost like they were teenagers again. Matt drew in a deep breath through his nose, savoring the spicy scent of exotic wood on the air and the quiet earthy smell of the soil underneath them. And, for all that his paranoia was jangling at him to stay on guard, he felt a quiet sense of peace steal over him.
And that was when he started to shake.
It started in his hands, just the slightest of tremors. He could have dismissed it as fatigue from what had to have been the longest day of his life, except that as soon as he noticed his trembling hands, it got worse.
It went from his hands to his arms. And then his legs. He felt himself curl in on himself, his arms wrapping around his middle as his entire body started to shiver like he was naked in a blizzard. His heart rate skyrocketed, and he saw the edges of his vision go dark as tunnel vision started to set in.
"Easy big guy," his wife's quiet voice was like a ball against the storm roiling inside him. Her arms went around him, and she held him close against her as the storm raged in his body.
"W-w-was it th-this bad f-f-for y-y-y…" he couldn't get the last word out. His jaw didn't want to work right, and his lips felt like they were icicles.
"Worse," she said gently, still holding him. "I threw up all over my lieutenant. And then *he* threw up all over the colonel." There was a smile on her voice that he could not see because his vision has faded down to a pinprick. "They put me on KP for a week."
Matt blinked, unable to see anything except the fire pit in front of them. "F-f-for throwing u-up?"
"No, corazon. For throwing up chocolate chip cookies."
"I d-d-d-don't…"
"The only chocolate chip cookies on base that day had been raided from the cook's special "officer" stash," she said, and this time the grin held a hint of devilish mischief.
Matt gasped out a laugh and closed his eyes against sudden tears that had nothing to do with feeling happy or sad.
"S-s-sorry f-for…"
"It is okay, mi corazon. You have nothing to apologize for. This happens to all of us, in some way or another."
"N-n-no, f-for…" Matt swallowed and forced the words past his lips one at a time. "For… not… understanding."
There was a bear of silence, and then something warm and yielding pressed against his lips, and the world faded away into the kiss his wife shared with him. And when it returned, he could see again. And the first thing he saw was the smile on Alejandra's face.
And he fell in love all over again.
"What was that for?" He asked, his own smile appearing–slightly more stunned–on his lips.
"Nothing," she said, eyes sparkling. "And everything."
They kissed again. And it was a long while before either of them had need to speak again.
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