“Okay, there is one aspect of my brother I never knew about,” remarked Edward.
Tatiana poked her head over their shoulders, “What was that all about?”
Zoë grinned, “Edward just found out his ‘perfect’ brother has his own issues.”
Tatiana shrugged, “We all comb our fur, why should he be any different?”
Edward laughed, “Because I’ve been too busy trying to be just like him, I never considered that he could have any faults.”
“Maybe you should just talk to your brother more. I mean just talk, nothing in particular, no agenda. He’s how much older than you? How well do you really know him? I bet you really know of him more than know what’s under the fur that makes up the man,” suggested Tatiana.
Edward laughed, “Yeah, that is pretty close to what Penn told me too at one point. Llewellyn is thirteen years my senior. I was five when he left Afon. I know he was running away from a bad situation, but I never really talked to him about it.”
“Maybe now is the time,” suggested Zoë. “I know after I lost Rachel, I’ve treasured every moment with my siblings even if we didn’t see eye to eye. I wish I had spent more time with Rachel so I’m sure as heck not going to lose my time with Ethan.”
“I’ll try and talk with him this afternoon. There should be some downtime before dinner tonight.”
Zoë and Tatiana both beamed.
“Oh, that is right,” began Tatiana, “we get to meet his entire family! This should be fun!”
Edward nodded, “Ivy has quite a pride.”
Zoë giggled, “A pride. Like a pride of lions. I never thought of that, but it’s a good description.”
32
The luncheon lasted well into the afternoon and Edward soon found himself being dragged across town with Gillian, Zoë and Tatiana. It had been decided that it was high time that Edward was made presentable in high society and thus he was given a whirlwind tour of several haberdasheries. Edward tried to protest, but it fell on deaf ears. Edward hated picking out clothes, but he had one simple advantage here: he didn’t care what he wore; it was up to the three of them. The only place he drew the line was at a kilt. His brother might wear a kilt, but that wasn’t for him!
“Hey! Llewellyn will wear one and you won’t?” teased Zoë. “So much for looking up to your older brother.”
“Yeah, ‘looking up’ is exactly what I’m trying to avoid.”
“You realize if you hadn’t said anything, the girls wouldn’t be combing your fur backwards about it now,” mused Gillian.
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Just pointing out the obvious.”
“She has a point,” agreed Tatiana, “Now I’m dying to see you in a kilt. I can’t get rid of the mental image. There is only one way to resolve this.”
“Back to the dressing room!” cheered Zoë.
“Tell Dad I expect to see him in a kilt, too,” groused Edward.
“That is an excellent idea,” agreed Gillian.
Several hours of harassment went by, but it was all in good sport; Edward was actually having fun being the center of attention, he just wasn’t going to tell anyone!
Edward stared at the fresh pile of clothes in his room. He had no idea what to wear that night, but that wasn’t what was on his mind. Not really. His brother was next door, and it was time they talked. He looked in the living room and found Llewellyn sitting in a corner napping in a sunbeam in front of a cold air vent. That seemed to be at opposite purposes! Edward grinned as he sat on the floor next to his brother. “You awake over there?”
“Sort of. What is on your mind?”
“Why did you leave the Highlands when I was little?”
Llewellyn smiled and sat up, “Fourteen years later and you finally ask me. I was running away. I was running away from caring. It didn’t work; I ended up finding people that I cared for with the 768th JSOG and they cared for me. In time, again I learned to care enough to let Ivy into my life.”
“Ouch,” said Edward solemnly.
“Yep. I was in love with Beatrice. Her family objected strongly to me, a Ranger roaming the outer lands, so the two of us were married in secret. That ended poorly.”
“Her family came between you two?”
“Yes, but not as you might expect. Her brother, who had always been a black sheep, had formed up a gang and was terrorizing the outer passes. Three of us went in and broke them up. We captured half the group, but in the midst of it all, I had to kill her brother. She never liked her brother and she hated what he had become, but he was still family. When she found out, well, things fell apart.”
“She left you?”
“She tried to kill herself.”
“Oh crap!”
“Yeah. Well her parents had our marriage annulled. For two months we were living on the top of the world in a little two room house and we didn’t care. And then the whole world fell down. She couldn’t be with me and she didn’t want to be with her parents, so Helen took her into her family.”
“That was right when Helen first became ambassador.”
“Exactly. That got her off world and away from her parents. Well, needless to say, I was a little put out, so I went off and joined the Shukurae. Never cared how hard I pushed myself because I’d already lost everything. Once you think you’ve lost everything, you are damn dangerous. In time, I started to learn I had friends around me in spite of my attitude. Friends take care of you, and in time I let myself start to care again.”
“That is when you met Ivy.”
“Yep, and the rest is, as they say, history.”
“So when we lost Helen, you finally lost Beatrice completely. I’m so sorry.”
Llewellyn smiled cryptically, “No, I didn’t lose her completely. I still have Dawn.”
Edward’s fur stood on end, “Um, Dawn is your daughter? I mean as in actually your biological daughter?”
Llewellyn nodded, “That is one of the reasons I could track her in that building. I know where all of my family is.”
“Does she know?”
“She suspects. She’ll find out soon enough.”
“It’s not like you to keep secrets.”
“If she were to ask a direct question, I would tell her the truth. If you want fun with secrets, you should see Dawn go flying around sometime.”
“Flying?”
Llewellyn smiled cryptically, “I didn’t stutter. Come on, it’s almost time to get ready for dinner. What are you wearing?”
“Well, I think the girls would freak if I actually wore a kilt, so I’m debating that.”
“Go for it. I am.”
“Yes, but you have always been a little weird.”
“Only a little?”
33
True to his word, Edward found himself standing in the reception hall of the top floor of an exclusive restaurant not two hours later, wearing a formal kilt. Beside him stood Zoë and Tatiana, both elegantly dressed in dresses that barely contained them. Both also wore the necklaces they had been given by Mr. York just days earlier. Next to them stood Gillian with Trevor hanging off her arm. He had never seen Trevor look so happy in his life. Heck, the pair of them looked positively radiant. Tazo and Kadu were both there as well. Kadu was mostly confined to a chair, but she seemed to greatly enjoy the company. Grand Centurion Toch the Red was there as well; he had known Llewellyn all those years ago. And it was the interaction between Toch and Llewellyn that was currently the source of everyone’s attention.
Toch handed Llewellyn a small red stone with a broad toothy grin, “How long will it remain dormant after this?”
“Approximately three days,” Llewellyn replied. “Here is the other one back.”
“I will care for it well.”
Llewellyn closed his eyes as he held the small stone tightly and growled deeply under his breath. The growl rattled around inside of Edward’s head. He could growl like that and he understood what was being said. It was a simple command, “Open the door when you
are ready.” He tossed the stone to the ground and a moment later it exploded in a swirl of blue sparks as a wormhole opened up. It churned and swelled as it grew larger and larger. As it grew larger, it also grew clearer until Edward could quite clearly make out his niece Dawn standing on the far side of the wormhole. She was straining with concentration as the wormhole continued to expand and stabilize. Dawn was unique; she had solid black fur and jet black hair; almost an Auroran in reverse, but there was a new aspect of her that caught them all by surprise: as the wormhole enlarged it became obvious she had a pair of giant black feathered wings. As the wings spread so did the portal until at last it was stable and she looked up and smiled with a sense of accomplishment. In a brief blue flash, her wings flashed and disappeared. A young Auroran about Dawn's own age suddenly appeared behind her and helped her close the back of her dress. Edward suddenly realized he was looking at the gate house back at the homeworld of Afon.
Soon a small parade of people formed behind the portal and entered into their world. Ivy hugged them all as they entered and introduced them all as they entered.
Dawn, with her jet black fur and white dress, was accompanied by a solid white Auroran dressed in solid black. They made a humorous contrast. Behind them came a sharply dressed boy of about fifteen with the coat like a snow lynx. “This is our daughter Dawn and her best friend Lynn. With them is their boyfriend Gavin.” They all politely nodded to the crowd.
Zoë poked Tatiana and they both laughed.
“That is so cute!” giggled Zoë.
Next came an elegant and shapely Auroran in a green dress carrying an infant in her arms. The infant was snow white ball of fur that held tight. Holding her hand was a young girl of about three years old. Reddish-orange fur with a white stripe, just like Ivy, but extra curly red hair to go with it.
“This is our Second Mother, Maria. The youngest is Lily while the extra hyper one is Heather.”
“Oh my word, the little one is so darling,” remarked Tatiana.
“You’ll say that until she spits up on you,” joked Zoë.
Lastly came two identical twins with jaguar like coats and short red hair. Both were showing signs of advanced pregnancy. Holding their hands was an odd, but friendly looking young lady of about seventeen or so.
“The twins are our Third Mothers, April and May. The other is Gwen who is Maria’s sister and has been helping us around the house with the new one.”
The twins nodded and spoke in unison, “Delighted to meet you all.”
Zoë and Tatiana both laughed.
“Do they do that often?” asked Zoë.
“Yes,” replied Edward. “They enjoy making it hard to tell which one is which.”
Ivy then continued around the room, “This is Toch, who used to serve with Llewellyn. The lady in the chair is Kadu, Edward’s former partner. The one standing next to her is Tazo, Edward’s new partner. Next to them is Gillian and Trevor; they announced their engagement today. Then, finally, we have Edward and his two fiancées Zoë and Tatiana.”
Zoë and Tatiana bowed in sync and giggled.
“You are enjoying this, aren’t you?” asked Edward.
“Aren’t you?” asked Zoë.
“Well, yes.”
“Then what is the problem, silly boy?”
“Your fur is on end again,” observed Tatiana with a grin. Yep. It was going to be a long dinner.
Edward enjoyed the meal in spite of himself. Soon it was over and people were just mingling and being social. He was really worried about talking with Gavin. Gavin was a High Silver and was four years younger than he was. That just felt wrong. But he was just a normal young boy, tickled pink to be out with his girlfriends. Nothing there made him stick out or feel like he was different.
Llewellyn caught Edward to the side, “Shaking down the youngster?”
“Just curious. He is so not like you!”
“I’m working hard to keep him that way.”
Edward grinned, “I think I’m finally starting to appreciate what you mean by that.”
That earned Edward the first sincere smile from his brother in some years. “You might want to go rescue your dates,” he offered with a grin.
“Huh?” Edward turned to find the two youngest with Zoë and Tatiana. “Oh right!” He quickly came over to help. “I’m sorry. Did they get dumped on you?”
“Nah,” glowed Tatiana as she gently rocked the infant Lily. “We asked.”
Heather was sitting on Zoë’s lap and talking to her, “First Mother says you play piano really well! You going to come by our place and play?”
Zoë laughed, “I have no idea. I have a few concerts yet to play, and then maybe we'll see. I would definitely love to play piano with your First Mother again. That was a lot of fun.”
Suddenly Heather noticed Edward and all but climbed him as she scrambled up into his arms. “So which one is going to be the First Mother?”
Edward’s fur stood straight on end and his fur cycled in color uncontrollably. “Um!”
Zoë and Tatiana both just broke out laughing.
“We are still trying to figure that out, little one,” offered Zoë through fits of laughter.
“They are both nice, so don’t screw up,” admonished Heather as she climbed down and trundled off toward Maria.
“Out of the mouth of babes,” laughed Zoë.
“I do have a question for you,” asked Tatiana. “Was I mistaken or did Dawn have wings?”
“I saw that too. My brother alluded to it, but you know how he is. Let’s just go talk to them.”
Zoë nodded and the three of them, with little Lily over Tatiana’s shoulder, approached the three older children, Dawn, Lynn and Gavin.
“Hello, Uncle. Sorry I never said thank you properly before,” said Dawn politely.
“It’s okay. Ultimately I was window dressing. Your father could have done it all on his own if he had felt it was necessary.”
Dawn’s eyes went wide, “I got to see that first hand. We had a case with some kartivalds. He took them out and then gated back with me. That was truly scary. He was sick for a day.”
“He gated carrying you?” Edward knew High Silvers could gate themselves. He had never heard about them taking passengers.
“Dad can do some amazing things when he has to. I just hate it when he does. It always makes him so blue afterwards.”
“Now I saw you do something pretty amazing, and I’m not just talking about the gate stone.”
Dawn’s fur briefly stood on end, “Oh, the wings!”
Lynn and Gavin laughed.
Dawn smiled, “Yeah, well, I was kind of shy about those for a while. These two convinced me I was just being silly.”
“Now she has dresses cut so she can get her wings in and out without having to get half undressed,” beamed Lynn. “She’s really good flying with them.”
“I figured you all would have freaked out when seeing them. Most people are more than a little taken aback by them.”
“I saw your father throw grav tanks and make 30m tall trees sprout of the ground last night,” began Zoë. “Wings seem far more natural than any of that.”
Dawn laughed at that, “I guess everything is relative. Jumping subjects, one of my sisters, from my old family, had several of your albums Tatiana.”
Tatiana laughed, “Seriously? We never promoted much off world.”
“She enjoyed it a lot. It’s just fun music. It’s not high art, not to be insulting.”
“No insult, that is a statement of fact,” agreed Tatiana.
“But it is still a whole lot of fun. Just something you play when you want to feel better.”
Tatiana smiled, “I’m glad it was enjoyed. That is all it was ever there for, to be fun.”
“So do you think you can make it big off world?”
“Don’t know. And I’m beginning to not care so much. I’m more concerned about the company I keep,” Tatiana said with a glowing smile.
Zoë playfully
nuzzled Tatiana and they both giggled as they hip bumped Edward.
“Be careful, Gavin. You’re next!”
34
The next day’s practice went very well. People seemed both relaxed and focused. Maybe they finally started to realize they could be having fun and do a job at the same time. Whatever the case, there was far less sniping, and many more sincere smiles to be found. As the day wound to a close, Gillian and Edward’s comlinks clicked in unison. “We have a small detour this evening. Should only take about an hour, but it may start to explain some things,” came Trevor’s voice.
Gillian replied earnestly, “If it starts to wrap things up, then it is an hour well spent.”
Gillian, Zoë, Tatiana, and Edward soon found themselves cruising to the far side of town. It was a pleasant enough area, upper middle class if not a little spartan. They pulled into what looked like an elegant but small condominium with a high walled yard. In front, there were three people waiting. Trevor was easy enough to make out. The second had on a police uniform, in a subdued pattern, while the third was a smartly dressed individual who could have easily passed as any average businessman off the street.
Trevor greeted them as they got out of the armored car. “Okay, Gillian and Tatiana you know by the records. This is Zoë and Edward. Edward works for the 517th and I’ll vouch for Zoë.”
The two nodded tersely and professionally.
“We’ll just stick with first names over here, this is Felix from Internal Affairs and Logan from the prefecture prosecutors office. Okay, let’s get inside and I’ll explain a bit more.”
Edward was immediately curious—police internal affairs and the prosecutor’s office. Something very weird was going on. They walked into the building and immediately Edward was impressed at its security. This wasn’t a simple condo. Felix signed them all in at the front desk and then quickly moved them past a large living room to a private sitting room with shades drawn over its windows. Everyone quickly found a seat; the tension was thick.
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