monitor, she accessed the call.
A woman with familiar features and the same dark-brown hair that Reeda saw in the mirror every day appeared.
“Good evening. My name is Ald-Byuth. I am the Avatar of Renning Cross.”
“I am Reeda Rrkra, Guardian of Ryamash III.”
The woman swallowed and nodded. “I guessed as much. I am your father.”
Her surprise must have shown on her face.
“I apologise for the confusion, but the folk of Renning Cross can change their gender at certain points in their lives. I was still male and had just become the Avatar when I met your mother. Byuth prefers to have female Avatars, so I began the transformation into this current gender when I returned home, only learning after the change was complete that I had fathered a child. Byuth was devastated.”
“Why?”
“You are the only child that Byuth has been part of in two eons. Your mother was exceptional, and I lived and loved a thousand years in the four days we spent together.”
There was something in the reference to time that caught Reeda’s attention. “A thousand years?”
“I can stretch the perception of time. A little forward, a little backward. With your mother, I could see all the way to eternity with her in my arms. Byuth regrets not allowing me to remain male, remain with her, but hindsight does no good. We must move forward and act on what we see, not what we feel.”
Reeda swallowed in surprise at the practical words that echoed her own personal beliefs.
“I thank you for making the call, and I thank Byuth for participating in it. I wish you could tell me about my mother. Rrkra saw her through the multifaceted eyes of a friend, not a lover or companion. If your talent is like mine, you saw all that she could have been the moment you saw her.”
Ald-Byuth smiled slowly. “I did. You... you are saying you would meet me? Even as I am?”
“Of course. Personalities don’t change with gender, only your way of looking at the world is altered, and your world has learned its lesson. If you want to come and visit, I would be happy to meet you.” She had a thought and laughed.
“I am glad that you are willing to meet, but what was the laughter?”
“If you ever meet Rrkra, you now have a much larger chance of getting out alive. A father would have been considered food, but a mother can be forgiven almost anything.”
Ald-Byuth smiled. “I will make the arrangements with the Ryamash III government. Thank you for this opportunity.”
Reeda paused. “How did you know where I was?”
Ald-Byuth chuckled. “Rrkra told me. You are correct. A male would have been eaten alive, but she understood what happened and welcomed me to stand at her side as mother if you would have me.”
“I will begin with friend. We will work our way up to mother. You will have some big shoes to fill.”
They laughed, and she smiled into the slightly different version of her own features. The image filled in the blanks left by the single image of her birth mother. She favoured the Avatar of Byuth and that was not a bad thing.
After the call, she sat back and felt a chirp in her ear. She turned on the com and got to her feet, heading for a fire on a vessel at sea.
She grinned the whole way to the disaster with her team behind her. If Bilro thought Mother was scary, what was he going to think of the father that was a mother that carried the mind of a planet in her body? He had no idea what he was letting himself in for way back when he chatted with her on Balen. He was going to pay the ultimate price for flirting. He was in the running to become family.
Author’s Note
The fine art of debate is up for discussion when our heroine finds her love for Arguing the Basics is an actual talent that can challenge physics and unravel time.
It’s a fun premise, and I think I will enjoy writing it.
Thanks for reading,
Viola Grace
http://www.violagrace.com
About the Author
Viola Grace (aka
A woman with familiar features and the same dark-brown hair that Reeda saw in the mirror every day appeared.
“Good evening. My name is Ald-Byuth. I am the Avatar of Renning Cross.”
“I am Reeda Rrkra, Guardian of Ryamash III.”
The woman swallowed and nodded. “I guessed as much. I am your father.”
Her surprise must have shown on her face.
“I apologise for the confusion, but the folk of Renning Cross can change their gender at certain points in their lives. I was still male and had just become the Avatar when I met your mother. Byuth prefers to have female Avatars, so I began the transformation into this current gender when I returned home, only learning after the change was complete that I had fathered a child. Byuth was devastated.”
“Why?”
“You are the only child that Byuth has been part of in two eons. Your mother was exceptional, and I lived and loved a thousand years in the four days we spent together.”
There was something in the reference to time that caught Reeda’s attention. “A thousand years?”
“I can stretch the perception of time. A little forward, a little backward. With your mother, I could see all the way to eternity with her in my arms. Byuth regrets not allowing me to remain male, remain with her, but hindsight does no good. We must move forward and act on what we see, not what we feel.”
Reeda swallowed in surprise at the practical words that echoed her own personal beliefs.
“I thank you for making the call, and I thank Byuth for participating in it. I wish you could tell me about my mother. Rrkra saw her through the multifaceted eyes of a friend, not a lover or companion. If your talent is like mine, you saw all that she could have been the moment you saw her.”
Ald-Byuth smiled slowly. “I did. You... you are saying you would meet me? Even as I am?”
“Of course. Personalities don’t change with gender, only your way of looking at the world is altered, and your world has learned its lesson. If you want to come and visit, I would be happy to meet you.” She had a thought and laughed.
“I am glad that you are willing to meet, but what was the laughter?”
“If you ever meet Rrkra, you now have a much larger chance of getting out alive. A father would have been considered food, but a mother can be forgiven almost anything.”
Ald-Byuth smiled. “I will make the arrangements with the Ryamash III government. Thank you for this opportunity.”
Reeda paused. “How did you know where I was?”
Ald-Byuth chuckled. “Rrkra told me. You are correct. A male would have been eaten alive, but she understood what happened and welcomed me to stand at her side as mother if you would have me.”
“I will begin with friend. We will work our way up to mother. You will have some big shoes to fill.”
They laughed, and she smiled into the slightly different version of her own features. The image filled in the blanks left by the single image of her birth mother. She favoured the Avatar of Byuth and that was not a bad thing.
After the call, she sat back and felt a chirp in her ear. She turned on the com and got to her feet, heading for a fire on a vessel at sea.
She grinned the whole way to the disaster with her team behind her. If Bilro thought Mother was scary, what was he going to think of the father that was a mother that carried the mind of a planet in her body? He had no idea what he was letting himself in for way back when he chatted with her on Balen. He was going to pay the ultimate price for flirting. He was in the running to become family.
Author’s Note
The fine art of debate is up for discussion when our heroine finds her love for Arguing the Basics is an actual talent that can challenge physics and unravel time.
It’s a fun premise, and I think I will enjoy writing it.
Thanks for reading,
Viola Grace
http://www.violagrace.com
About the Author
Viola Grace (aka
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