Lucas immediately turned bright red, and spun around. “I PROMISE I DIDN”T SEE ANYTHING!” he said in a very, very alarmed tone.

The assassin rolled his eyes, and with a bit of expert baby balancing, took off his cloak and wrapped the naiad in it. “I’m not sure how cold you can get, since you live in the water, but it’s probably a good idea to at least get you some clothes.” He looked at the girl curiously, trying to understand what she was saying. It wasn’t exactly that her common was bad, but more that it was broken and almost…confused.

“So let me get this straight,” Lewis said as he knelt down. Simone. Southern canals. Got a….strange one. Bring some basic clothes. A size down from Lucas…I think…might be a good idea to grab Leilah as well. “You…don’t know what you are, or where you came from?” The girl nodded in response. A simple answer for a simple question. “Lucas. You can turn around now, she’s covered.”

Lucas sheepishly turned around, but his face was still flushed. “I-is she going to be okay?”

“Probably,” Lewis said. “Little one. I don’t know how much you understand, but…I can take you somewhere safe. A place to call home…if you want. At least until you can remember something more, if need be…”

The girl looked up at him and tilted her head, “See… What?” She was kicking the water with her feet before Lewis covered her up. She snuggled up into the cloak and nodded.

“I’m on it. I’ll be there in five minutes at the very latest.” Simone was always very prompt when she gave her time tables. They always found their kids this way.

The girl tilted her head letting her odd colored eyes look directly at Lucas. “Home? What’s a home?” She was confused. “I was…” She looked mad for a moment at herself. “I… was born on a kelp bed three days ago. I drifted into the river at some point… and the big mean floating buildings almost hit me.” She pouted up at Lewis and Lucas.

Simone opened a gate and came through with Leilah. “Oh!” Simone was shocked at the sight of her and it looked like she had clothes for a girl and boy. “Here let’s get you dressed.” Simone ushered her where she and Leilah could hold up her cloak and allow her to get dressed. Simone helped her into a plain dress before they brought her back over.

Leilah looked her over and studied her. She let Lewis fill her in. “You said she melds with the water? She was born three days ago…” She thought hard and had Simone gate them back to the shop. Leilah was going through all of her books having the girl sit in front of her.

“AH! I know what she is,” She flipped through the book to a picture and showed them. “She’s a naiad. A water spirit. They can spontaneously be born so it’s not shocking she doesn’t know who she is or what she is.”

The girl tilted her head and Simone bounced Alshaya for a moment longer before humming, “Ezili.” Everyone looked at Simone. “Ezili. It means a goddess from Benin. A water goddess in a story I don't know if she was real though. Ezili is perfect.”

“Ezili?” The naiad tilted her head and pointed at herself. “I’m Ezili? I like Ezili!”

Lucas wasn’t too sure what to do with himself. The adults seemed to be talking quite a bit about things, and the girl was just sitting there quietly, interesting in what was going on, but she barely even knew of her own existence, let alone what the complexities of them were. So Lucas found himself staring at the girl who he had found.

Her eyes were pretty, he thought to himself. I hope she’ll be okay.

He realized that she started to say something. Ezili. Her name.


“I think it’s great,” he said almost immediately. When everyone gave him a look, he sheepishly hunched down and tried to make himself small. “I mean…it’s a good name.” He wanted to disappear.

Lewis looked to Simone, “Well…it’s up to her if she wants to come with us, but…something tells me she won’t say no.” He smirked and looked to the girl. “Ezili. To answer the question you asked a while ago, a home is a place where your heart feels at ease, and you can rest without worry. It’s a place that you are always welcome, and a place you can return to whenever you need.”

Lucas heard the words, and looked down. Is that what…Lewis and Simone are truly offering me?

Ezili’s hair was drying thanks to Simone’s fire and it revealed she had long spiraling curls in her hair. Her hair was full of volume and bounced as she bobbed her head.

“You really like it?!” Ezili squealed at Lucas and Simone smiled a bit. Maybe Ezili was what Lucas needed to get over his fear of women. Once she heard about the offer on the table to live with the Terrowins she tilted her head. “Is there a lot of water?” Water was something she felt was very important to her.

Simone smiled and got down on her level, “We live on an island in the middle of a lake. There are ponds on the island too~ I think you would really like it Ezili.”

Ezili’s opal eyes flickered up at Lucas. They were big and curious as they drank his presence in, “Is Lucas there too?”

Looking back at Lucas Simone shrugged, “If he wants to be, he hasn’t told us yet if he wants to stay.” Ezili had a disappointed look on her face.

“Oh…”

Lucas looked away, and cleared his throat. He hadn’t decided on staying, but he had at least made the promise of staying for awhile longer. But this, it kind of changed things. He felt the tiniest bit responsible for finding Ezili, but he wasn’t entirely sure how or what he could do to help. Yet, the look on Ezili’s face was something that was too hard to ignore.

“I guess…I could stay…for awhile…” Lucas said softly. “I do like the library…” His mind was far from the library, though. At least until Ezili is settled. Maybe then, I’ll leave…

Lewis looked at Lucas, and then Ezili. His eyes showed nothing, but Simone knew what he was thinking. There was something between the two, even if neither of them had a grasp on what it was. Ezili was absolutely enamored by Lucas, and from what Lewis could gather, the boy felt as though he had to be there to help the naiad.

“Well…I guess we better get back and prepare a new room.” Lewis sighed. “It’s just one after the other, isn’t it?” Despite his tone, he was happy. This was what they had wanted. Their family was growing, and thriving.

Ezili perked right up when Lucas said he would stay. “Then I’ll stay too!”

Simone took a sigh of relief. She was scared that the naiad would try and stay in the rivers of Jayou. She would have been hurt. “This means I have to get a hold of that tailor from Sularia… What was his name?”

“Kite, I can contact him. I bet he would make the cutest dresses for Ezili!” Leilah was excited a bit. “She would look good in blue or silver~”

“Let’s get her home and settled first before you try finding her a husband,” Simone sighed a bit and Leilah tilted her head.

“Oh no, I just plan for Everett,” Leilah chuckled a bit. Simone paid for the shell and handed it to Mira who was happy to hold it. The little girl was excited about Ezili too. Something about being a water friend.

Once they were back at the castle Ezili was looking around and the house help were excited about her. She immediately got overwhelmed and took Lucas’s hand. Simone looked at their hands and looked back up at Lewis. It would be something to watch. “We have a pretty room over looking the lake would you like that Ezili?”

Ezili looked up and nodded. It was a purple room with soft shades of pink. Ezili spun around in the room and looked up at Lewis and Simone, “I really like this.” Simone watched as the girl almost danced.

“Do you like dancing Ezili?”

“What’s dancing?” Ezili was confused as she stopped.

“What you were doing with your feet?”

“Oh… Yes, they were doing it… the other day. I like it.” Ezili was blushing.

“We could probably find someone who would come to the island to teach you… Would you like that?” Simone looked at Lewis as she nodded. “What do you think Lewis? I wouldn’t trust taking her to Benin and leaving her there.”

When it was said and done, Lewis and Simone took the family back to the castle. To make it a bit easier on poor Ezili, he made sure to start from the beginning, and they gated to the entrance. When they entered the main foyer of the castle, the help greeted the new girl enthusiastically, which overwhelmed her almost immediately. Between Lewis and Simone, they managed to scatter the help, promising proper introductions later.

Lucas was surprised when Ezili took his hand, and it took everything he had not to run away. She was looking to him for support, and he had to be strong, at least for the moment. Still, when she finally let go as Lewis and Simone took her to her new room, he felt the tiniest bit relieved.

When Simone showed off the room, Lewis watched as Ezili spun around excitedly. When she was asked if she liked dancing, her entire mood lit up.

“I’m sure we can arrange something. Benin is probably too much for her right now. I’m sure after awhile, though, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get her out of the house.” The assassin crossed his arms. “We’ll have to vet them pretty hard though. Maybe Lady Angela or Lord Raith might have suggestions…”

Ezili had thought of Lucas as her protector since the moment he stood up for her. Sure Lewis had coerced him into doing it but Lucas had been the one to try. Simone had gone into mother mode instantly and told them that Ezili was shy and she hadn’t had the chance to be around a lot of people yet.

Simone nodded, “Now that I think about Lady Angela did have a daughter who was a bard… I bet she would help if we asked. It would be better than asking a stranger.” They were both concerned with Ezili’s safety. “After all… Ezili is very beautiful Lewis… She would fetch quite the price for noblemen.” There was concern in her eyes. “A mistress for a noblemen’s son is what they would try to do,” Simone whispered to her husband. “We’ll have to be very careful.”

She patted Lewis on the shoulder. “I have to get all the kids bathed. Ezili will you be fine to be by yourself? You can explore.”

Ezili nodded and spun around in her room before leaving to check things out.

“Master Lucas your bath is ready,” the butler came to tell him. “Lady Simone says the oils and soaps are there for you to use if you wish.”

Lucas was caught off guard when the butler came for him. It wasn’t something that he was used to, and it took him a moment to register what the man had said. “Oh…oh!” He did a quick bow, thanking the butler before making his way to the bathroom that was closest to his room. He almost opened the door, and then paused.

“Oh, right…clothes.” This was all new to him. He slid into his room real quick, and stripped himself down. There was no reason to take the dirty clothes with him. He grabbed a fresh pair, and took a peek out of his room. It was just a few quick steps, and everyone else was preoccupied. No one would notice, so he took several steps out, and slid into the bathroom.

The steam was warm, and there was a set of towels laid out for him. He was excited for his second ever bath. He had loved the first one, but due to the rushed nature of the situation they were in, he had to cut it short. At least this time, he’d have a chance to relax and enjoy it. He walked over, and dipped his foot in tentatively. It was the perfect temperature.

Slowly, he eased himself into the warm water, lightly splashing it.

“Ahhh….that’s…that’s the spot…” He wondered what oils that Simone had left out…

—

Lewis wandered the halls, curious. He hadn’t seen Ezili for a moment, and while she was allowed to explore, he was usually pretty good about knowing where the kids were exploring. As an assassin, it was something he was used to doing. But he couldn’t sense Ezili anywhere.

“Odd…Simone, have you seen Ezili?”

Simone looked at Lewis, “No, I haven’t seen her was busy getting the oils for Lucas’s….” Her face went white. “…for his bath.” There was a look on her face. “Ezili is in the bath. LEWIS, she is going to scare the shit out of Lucas.”

Ezili had wandered around until she had heard the sound of water. She saw the butler leave and tilted her head. Making her way inside she found warm water which was new to her. Her eyes got big and immediately she was out of her dress and in the water. When the door suddenly opened Ezili melded with it because she was scared.

It was Lucas! Maybe he would want to play in the new water with her! Once he was in the tub she slowly melded up and handed the oils to him. “They smell like flowers… I smelled flowers once before they screamed at me.”

That was when the screaming started.