Ellis was again utterly confused, but Nana seemed to know what she meant.
"Yes, child. Nienna, hear me…" It was then that Ellis realized why she was speaking to Nia so formally, it was a result of the woman's own anxiety about telling Nia that her father was dead, "Dear, that man…"
"I know already, Nana!" She cried, a bit too happily, "He was like me! He has powers like me! I never thought I'd actually meet another one. That's so amazing, that he could control trees like that…"
Ellis looked away when he saw Nana reach forward to Nia, grasping her hands softly, "Yes. That's true.” The old woman struggled for a moment before continuing, “Nia, we believe he was your father."
Nia didn't seem to hear, "Being able to control wood is a special talent, Ellis!" She refused to look at her grandmother, "I've only heard of a couple elementals being able to do it."
But Ellis saw the glitter of tears behind her eyes, and he was sure that she had heard, and he was sure that she was heartbroken.
"Nia…" Nana murmured, words and face full of the expression only a grieving grandmother could show.
"My…my father….he….he could….he was supposed to teach me too!" She was still smiling at Ellis, clinging now to her grandmother's hands, but the tears were beginning to drip down her face like thick raindrops.
Nana gently pulled Nia against her, silencing her and rocking her softly while Nia cried over the father she had never gotten a chance to know and who had never gotten a chance to really know her.
It was only then that Nana saw fit to explain it clearly to Ellis.
"Trees are quite the exception when it comes to being able to control the earth." She said with a sigh. "Trees live for quite a while and their roots are very deep in the ground, they're quite stubborn creatures. Very few elementals are ever able to gain control over them, but Dag managed to do it before he was even a teenager."
She laughed and stroked Nia's hair, "He was very skilled."
Ellis nodded and watched them, feeling very out of place and uncomfortable. The pair seemed so close, and Ellis couldn't remember if he and his family had ever been like that.
"I want to know exactly what happened at Nia's village." Ellis whispered, and his words hung in the air, burning.
But Nana eventually nodded and stared at him intently, "Yes. I suppose you need to know."
The old woman quietly stroked Nia’s back as the girl listened to the story she’d memorized by heart. All in the household were all too painfully familiar to this tale.
"George was in the village for months before the initial attack." Nana repeated, still cradling her granddaughter to her side, "I did not live in that village, but my two children did. I moved to this village after they both reached adulthood. It was only a few days' walk away, after all…I thought it would be fine."
The old woman had never seemed more old, "I have no idea how he hid, where he hid, or what he did. I also don't know why their village was targeted. But he was there, gathering information and finding their weak points."
Nana hesitated, making sure Ellis was keeping up, and he stared at her intently until she decided to continue.
"Then, it just suddenly happened. Nia had yet to be born, but it was getting very close, so her mother was relaxing at home with a friend of the family. Dag was out working in the forest, he was a carpenter…we assumed he was one of the first killed by the incoming army that George had summoned… now, I suppose he was only taken captive."
It was here that the older woman again paused and held her grandchild once again, remembering the painful events leading to her birth and how she was brought to her home, afraid that her mouth would not be able to tell the remainder of the story.
"It was a complete massacre. Everyone who George's army came across was murdered where they stood. Children, women, parents, everyone. The girl with Nia's mother, the family friend I spoke of, was such a smart girl, so clever. So she took Nia's mother out the back of the house and escaped into the forest. They were trying so hard to make it to my home. Along the way they ran into my oldest daughter's son…who had also tried to escape…but he was so hurt…." She hesitated and cleared her throat and kissed Nia's forehead, but she did not cry.
Her lips quivered as she continued, "They were half way here when my daughter went into labor. Lili tried so hard…" Ellis assumed Lili was the family friend, "…but the poor girl was only fifteen, she didn't know what to do, and Nia's mother was already weak…and she was lost during labor. It was a miracle Lili even managed to keep Nia alive for the rest of the way here. But they both made it, safe and sound."