Residents of Amber

The hour was late as Susan slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb her husband. She pulled on her robe and quietly left the room. While Corwin had been gone she had found herself, during the sleepless nights checking on the children quite often, now that he had returned she slept much better but still, at least once during the night she would rise to make sure all was well with her family.

Her first stop was at the door of the nursery, she smiled as she looked at Daire, even in his sleep he had a lot of energy, constantly turning and throwing the blankets off. At two, he was already asserting his independence and resisted the cuddling that Susan had always lavished on him. She moved to tuck the blanket back over him and kissed his cheek, then sighed wistfully thinking that soon he would be too old for the nursery and it would stand empty.

Before she gave way to sentimental tears, Susan closed the door, moving on to Moira's room. At age five, Moira was quite the little lady, shadowing Susan every waking moment. There were none of the tom boy tendencies with Moira, she enjoyed her dolls, tea parties and dressing up in the old gowns Susan let her have. Susan smiles and quietly closed that door.

Next on her rounds was Brittany's room, at age twelve, she had become a very wise young lady. Her perceptions of those around her and her empathy for their feelings amazed her mother. She had learned to compensate for her disability by communicating through her signs and for those who did not understand she used the slate that she carried with her. Susan brushed the golden curls back from her daughter's face then moved back into the hall.

She resisted the urge to go check on the "older children." Rohan, not their son of blood but of heart, whom they had come so close to losing and had in fact lost in some ways. Susan spent time with him each day and thought he was always polite and tolerant of her presence there was no recognition in his eyes. She only prayed that he would some day remember those that loved him.

As she reached the small sitting room off the main hall she lit a lamp and sat down, her thoughts turning to Keera. From the time Keera was born, eighteen years ago, she had been very passionate in her feelings and moody, neither of which she had learned to control. All of her life Keera had sought to be loved, thinking she had to earn love and not accepting it when it was freely given. She thought she was unlovable and therefore did things to make it seem true. Susan had truly believed that Rohan would be the one who would make Keera accept that unconditional love existed until circumstances had demanded he be called away and unable to return for their wedding. To Keera, another sign of what she already believed.

Susan sighed and then felt a pair of strong hands on her shoulders. She smiled moving one of her own up to cover one of his. Corwin leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I woke and missed you," he whispered.

"I was just getting ready to return," she smiled up at him. "I just needed to assure myself that all was well."

Corwin moved before her, drawing her to her feet, his arms sliding around her. He looked into her eyes and then smiled, "I am home now Susan. Together we will handle whatever comes up and we will win against whatever foes attack." With that he kissed her and led her back to their bedchamber.