Page 48 of Dark Chains: First Link
"She was extraordinary," Eluheed continued. "Intelligent, spirited, and completely unsuited for the life she was living." He looked at Syssi with so much warmth and longing in his eyes that it took her breath away. "Is it possible that you are my great-granddaughter? Is that why Elu brought me here?"
The question of her grandmother's paternity was not straightforward. Rosa might have miscarried Eluheed's baby. It wasn't uncommon back in those days, when conditions had been harsh. Her first or second husband might have been the father. Without genetic testing, there was no way to know.
But if Eluheed was the father, it would explain the sense of recognition she had felt when she'd first met him, the inexplicable familiarity that went beyond simple affinity between immortals.
They were also both seers.
"I think that we should do a genetic test," she said.
Kian nodded. "If there's a biological connection, a DNA test would confirm it."
Eluheed's expression hardened, the openness and awe that the conversation had produced closing up.
"I can't do that," he said.
"Why not?"
"My DNA may contain markers that are not human. I'm not ready to reveal my origins to the rest of the clan yet."
Syssi understood. Eluheed's immortality was still a closely guarded secret. A DNA test processed by the clan's doctor would raise questions that Eluheed wasn't prepared to answer.
"I doubt your DNA is significantly different from a human's," she said carefully. "Even immortal DNA is so similar that a regular genetic test would not uncover the differences. We know that the gods seeded the galaxy, so the genetic foundation is shared across all the species they created, and the differences would be minimal. That being said, the Kra-ell are markedly different."
It was as much as Syssi dared to say without revealing their secret connection to Ani, the queen of Anumati.
"Even if the differences are minimal, they might be detectable," Eluheed said.
"Bridget would never disclose anything without your consent," Kian said. "And if I ask her to keep everything pertaining to you a secret, it will be so."
Syssi leaned forward. "Right now, she's busy with Navuh's recovery, but when she has more time, we could discuss it with her. She could design the test to look for specific markers of relatedness without a full genomic analysis. That would answer the question about our connection without exposing anything you're not ready to share."
Eluheed was quiet for a long moment, his eyes focused on the party beyond their table, watching the village residents dance and laugh and celebrate a young couple's happiness.
"I'll think about it," he said.
"There's no rush," Syssi said. "Although I would love to find out if you are my great-grandpa. That would be one heck of a coincidence."
"There are no coincidences." Kian finished the rest of his drink. "This has the Fates' fingerprints all over it."
18
ELUHEED
Rosa.
The name echoed in Eluheed's mind, the reverberations reaching places that hadn't been disturbed in decades.
Syssi was telling Kian about the windmill her great-grandmother's family had owned, about Yanek and Boris Dorjinsky, the cousins who had married the sisters, and their emigration to America.
Eluheed was sitting in a chair at a cocktail party listening to a woman who might be his great-granddaughter, piecing together a history that he had buried so deep he'd convinced himself it no longer mattered.
It still mattered.
Rosa with the wild spirit and the furious eyes. Rosa, who had walked into his life like a storm and walked out of it like an earthquake, leaving destruction that he deserved and damage that he hadn't known how to repair.
They had met in the market. He had been buying grain, keeping his head down the way he always did in the village, performing the role of the quiet foreigner who kept to himself and caused no trouble. Rosa had been at the next stall, arguing with a vendor over the price of something with a ferocity that was entirely disproportionate to whatever was being sold. He had watched, amused, and when she'd turned and caught him looking, she had smiled at him with the reckless warmth of a girl who hadn't yet learned to be cautious around strangers.
That smile.
