Page 46 of Prior Claim
“Then she should be calling you mommy,” Ash muttered.
“Alice is my big sister.” Dana glared at Ash. She handed the cup back to Alice. “Thank you.”
“So what am I?” Ash said, crossing his arms.
Dana responded without hesitation. “You’re the monster under my bed.”
Ash blinked, twice. “What?”
“The monster under my bed.” Dana wiggled out of Alice’s arms and went to Ash, leaning into him guilelessly. “You know, the ugly scary thing that’s actually really nice and helps you when you’re in the dark and want to cry. Like you helped Alice when the bad men were chasing us. You were in that dark room, with all the glowy things and you were whispering and you helped us.”
Dana grabbed his hand and started back toward her bedroom. “You’re my favorite monster. So you shouldn’t be jealous. Elli can’t be a monster. So I guess they can be a Daddy. Daddies can be scary too.”
“Why can’t Ellisandre be a monster?” Ash whined, letting her lead him away.
Dana turned around and wrinkled her nose. “Oh, because monsters have to be able to get messy sometimes, or dirty, but Ellisandre can’t. I think dirty makes them feel sick or something. They’re always cleaning Aunt Linda’s room.”
Linda caught Ellisandre’s eye. “You’ve disqualified yourself from something. I think that’s a first.”
Ellisandre’s lips twitched. “But I can still be Daddy.”
Linda dissolved into giggles, smothering them with her hand. Catching sight of Alice still in the kitchen, she tried to compose herself. Ellisandre twitched their eyebrow. Linda gave in, dissolving into laughter against the table.
Episode 3
Ellisandre
Ellisandre held Dana’s giant stuffed giraffe as the nine-year-old ran back and forth from Alice’s room to her own, checking for her favorite books. “Two minutes.”
“It’s under your pillow,” Alice called out to Dana, following the child. Her own bag was packed and hanging over one shoulder. She smothered a yawn as she went by.
“Oh!” Dana threw herself on her bed and reached under the mound of pillows, fishing out the book of myths. Perhaps it wasn’t strictly a child’s book. It wasn’t advised to give artfully illustrated histories of Nordic legends—all parts included—-to children, but Linda had only rolled her eyes once when Ellisandre had presented Dana the book. Besides, Dana didn’t believe in all the fairy tales anymore. She would never be a normal child. Why give her normal gifts?
Ellisandre moved the giraffe to under their arm and held open Dana’s bag, making space. “In here.”
Dana pushed the volume inside beside the five other books and looked up anxiously. “Is it okay?”
“It’s good.” Ellisandre nodded. “Now think about who you will be when you come back and how you will want your room. Is there anything that you will want to be different from how it is now?”
Dana scrunched up her face and flew around the room moving chairs into place, fixing her covers, and picking up her pajamas. “Are we coming home when it’s dark or when it’s daytime?”
“Probably before dinner, in a few days,” Ellisandre replied. “Not quite sleeping time, but not early.”
Dana put her pajamas in one of her drawers. “I want it clean, so I can do things.”
Ellisandre nodded. “Good planning. Is there anything else you need? We’ll eat breakfast on the road with Ash while we’re driving.”
Dana took a deep breath and looked around for Alice. She was just coming back from the kitchen, carrying the cloth-covered cooler of food for the drive. Linda was nowhere to be seen. She must still be getting ready for the office. Ellisandre checked her watch. Linda was certainly still getting ready.
Ellisandre grimaced. Linda needed more support. Before Dana and Alice, Ellisandre’s only focus had been Linda. Normally she’d be in Linda’s room picking out her jewelry. But now they were co-parenting two emotionally battered teens and one child with post-traumatic stress. Linda didn’t even know about Sevastyan. It was past time to pluck a few competent hands from various departments under Linda’s office and start plugging them into Linda’s schedule. It felt almost wrong, relying on anyone else to care for her. No one knew Linda like Ellisandre did.
But she doesn’t know you.
Ellisandre stared at that thought, rolled it around in their head while Dana gripped to Alice’s hand asking if they were really going to come back, then requested to see Linda before they left. Alice and Dana went off toward Linda’s bedroom.
Linda knows me. Just not all the story of me.
The taste of the lie was strong on Ellisandre’s tongue. Linda knew Ellisandre as a somewhat ruthless yet caring assistant who made problems disappear. She’d never known why Ellisandre had been happy to play a supporting role in her life, taking on whatever Linda pursued without question.
