Sons (Book 2)

by Scott V. Duff

  Bringing us into the Road just off from the clearing, we met the first of the Fae and I’m pretty sure found the first “over the top” gift: at the center of the clearing sat a large, white and blue podium. The Faery were surprisingly quiet when we arrived, watching us, watching me. Considering we were surrounded by at least half of the population, the quiet was beyond amazing. The sprites left a path from the Road to the podium for us, seeming to know where I would bring us, and the five of us walked slowly to the construct.

  It was a circular podium with six sets of steps and three levels, made completely of polished blue marble. The top level measured eight feet across. The next two levels were each about four feet wider than the one above. It towered at fifteen feet tall and each level cut the height evenly. Crafted into the sides between the levels was the story of last Thursday, the top ring used faery script while the bottom had beautifully rendered images crafted into the marble itself. However, not one panel included a likeness of the Rat Bastard, but an impression of where his image would be, totally lacking in details.

  “Wow,” was all I could say as we started around the podium slowly, reading each frame and studying each picture. They were amazingly accurate with the pictures, at least to my memory. Gordon and Mike were going to freak out when they saw themselves. Dad, too. Jimmy didn’t know what to think about it.

  “It looked like less of them in person,” Peter muttered.

  “No, there were more,” I said, softly, as we moved to the next panel. When it came to the Rat Bastard’s atrocity, all that was said was that he committed the truth of his name. The picture under that panel was blank, thankfully. That was good. I didn’t want them remembering that for years. It’s one thing to be a survivor of a holocaust, but it’s quite a different story to be forced to relive it constantly. “Atrocity” was good enough.

  “Just relax! Of course, he likes it,” Shrank squealed from nearby. The brownies are nervous creatures, especially around me. He came into view, hovering at shoulder height as we rounded the podium for the last three panels.

  The pictograph describing the Saved couldn’t possibly do justice to the sheer number of brownies and sprites present for the event. The penultimate panels described Gilán growing and blossoming into itself, its image simply the symbol for its name. The last panel described today, even though it hadn’t happened yet, so a promise, really. I glanced over at my brothers. Kieran was …bemused but, like everyone else, suitably impressed by it.

  “Yes, I like it! It’s beautiful!” I said, looking at Shrank and the cluster of elder brownies below him. The shrieks and squeals that went up around us meant we wouldn’t hear for a few minutes. I wasn’t certain whose baffles got up first, but there were four sets around us within a second, just not quite fast enough. The miasma of colors that followed had all of us sitting on the bottom ring and steps of the podium, laughing and dizzy in the flurry of high pitches and quickly shifting hues and tints. Shrank shooed the faery away from us while we recovered our senses.

  With excellent timing, Ellorn beckoned from the Palace. I told them where I was going and shifted back to the Palace, just off the main concourse. Ellorn greeted me, having left David and Steve in their respective apartments. I asked him to check on Alsooth before leaving for the day and he was away like greased lightning. His eagerness made me smile more.

  Steven was first by virtue of being closer. Hitting the doorknocker a few times, I glanced around at the placement of their apartments. Close to both Jimmy’s and my doors, they were across the hall from diplomatic quartering and down the concourse from the main stairwells to the Throne Room. The family residences were off the concourse on the left. And both apartments had connecting doors to the passage between Jimmy’s and the family wing. I knocked again and peeked in to check on him. He seemed to be walking in circles on the second floor.

  “Steve, are you okay?” I asked through the key.

  Seth? Where are you? I seem to be lost. He sent back, laughing.

  “Go out the door you’re facing and turn right,” I said, shifting to the top of his stairs and facing the doorway he was about of walk through. He smiled, embarrassed when he saw me. “Don’t worry about it. I haven’t figured out how the lights work yet. Tell ya what, I’ll set your entry point on the key at just behind the front door and include a projection into your apartment from there. It’ll give you a map.”

  Knocking on David’s door, I realized I didn’t tell Steven we were leaving. Just as David opened the door, I said, “Whoops! Sorry ‘bout that, Steven. I’ve spent the last two days around Jimmy and my brothers. We’re used to just… moving each other at times. Either of the two of you may get caught in that once or twice. We do try to warn you ahead of time though.” While I talked, I went ahead and stamped David’s apartment into his key and gave him a similar projection to Steve’s. “Y’all ready to learn how to do this?” I asked grinning and swinging my arms back and forth. I think I was being overly exuberant, because they both grinned at me, as if they wanted to treat me like their kid brother. That feeling seemed to be my lot in life.

  Shifting us to Peter’s guestroom, they packed their few belongings while I explained the basic concepts. It was quick since they already knew them. Then I explained the images in the diamonds. They were both impressed with the depth and presence provided by the key and were glad that they didn’t have to hold that reference in a magical working, especially in an emergency. Neither thought they could achieve the spell.

  Once I gave them the password, they were jumping through the veil between Peter’s foyer and my den in Alabama repeatedly, like kids with a new toy. I explained the security procedures with the Cahill castle and told them to avoid going there for the next two days, made sure that they could initiate contact with me, and then shifted with each to his apartment, letting them have time to get settled in and learn their way around. We could make arrangements to get more of their belongings from their homes after Friday.

  Curious, instead of shifting, I ran the Road back to the clearing, just to see how long it would take me. Nine and a half seconds, but I ran into considerable traffic. They tried to get out of my way, but I was going pretty damn fast. The Autobahn ain’t got nothing on my Road! I had to leap over several of them until I could slow enough to exit.

  Peter and Ethan were a few hundred yards southwest of the monument, helping some sprites increase the size of a furrow off of a small stream. The water nymphs, all thirty of them now, needed a place to be during the ceremony. They could travel up the stream, but it was too small to actually accommodate them. From what I could see, Arwene and Orlet were considerably stronger than any of the others in their fundamental magic. They would be a family to watch over the years.

  Kieran and Shrank were at the northeastern edge of the clearing with several of the new tree nymphs. Kieran asked them to strengthen several of the surrounding trees to house several groups of fairies and pixies during the geas-laying. I thought the castle’s fields were going to be a mess. This would take weeks to get back to normal.

  “You may want to be noisier, little brother,” Kieran said without looking back at me. “The Wee Ones are everywhere and easy to step on if you’re not careful.”

  I laughed, calling out, “Shrank! How many spotters have you got on me right now?”

  “Thirty-two on this side, Lord Daybreak,” the pixie trilled loudly from the trees nearby. Kieran looked surprised for a second, then shrugged and grinned.

  He glanced to the west and asked, “Where did…?”

  “As Gilán grew around it, rather than make any adjustments to its real estate, Gilán just moved it to more a private locale,” I said, taking his intent to mean the Pacthome. “It’s just east of here and north-northeast of the Palace and just as you and I left it.”

  “Lord Daybreak,” Shrank called, flying in from the trees. “The Braedon clan has arrived at the eastern side of the clearing. Would you care to accept their gift now?”

  “No, he wants
to wait,” Jimmy answered for me, sliding into place beside me, smiling. “Trust me, he’ll cry worse than with the monument.”

  “I cried then?” I didn’t know, so shoot me.

  “Started the minute you saw it,” Kieran said, chuckling at me. “How… accurate is the mural, anyway?”

  “Limited space made depicting the number of elves impossible,” I said recalling the image of Peter, Mike, and Gordon’s panel. “And you see the results of the exodus, but other than that, it was pretty much there. I mean, even down to the look on Dad’s face when he decked the Rat Bastard.” I pantomimed it in slow motion, then laughed heartily. Brownies were scattering behind me hurriedly and giggling excitedly, just in case I slipped in my exuberance.

  “Lord Daybreak?” Jimmy asked to get my attention, but the manner was unusual.

  “Yes, First?” I responded, very curious about the formality he used. Kieran had also noticed and was watching Jimmy intently. Shrank even lit on Kieran’s shoulder and watched him.

  “As I have no previous experience with any of the Faery races,” Jimmy began, “Indeed, with just about anything… not a mammal, is it acceptable to you if I ask the Regent’s Lord and Master if he continues to serve here in a reduced capacity, say, as an advisor to me, for a short period?” I grinned as Shrank shot to the sky in a spiral of multicolored pixie dust.

  “Ya know, I’m almost glad we’ll be at the castle tomorrow,” I said, turning to Kieran with a wry smile. “The endorphin lows from all these highs is gonna be awful!” Kieran about busted a gut, then. I slipped an arm over Jimmy’s shoulders. “Yes, First, it is acceptable to me. You may ask Lord Kieran for Shrank’s assistance, then ask Shrank himself to see if he wants to. Agree upon a price and a duration limit beforehand and be careful. Bargaining with the Fae is tricky business. Humans rarely come out on the winning side and the Lords and Ladies are the worst of the lot.” Kieran laughed even harder as I looked at him sideways and waggled my fingers in his direction.

  “Hmm, what sort of price limit do I have?” he asked, which led to Kieran falling on the ground laughing. Can you imagine a six-foot-four redheaded man falling over in fits of laughter? I brushed up against the anchor and showed Ethan a picture of Kieran. Seconds later, both Peter and he were standing at our sides with questioning looks, watching. Shrank came back, flying in circles around the five of us and closing in.

  “The obvious things, like first born children, are definitely out, of course,” I said, as Kieran inhaled heavily to burst again into gales. He was getting terribly red-faced now. “But considering there is very little that I have that Kieran doesn’t have equal access to, I can’t see that he’ll demand much.”

  It dawned on Jimmy why Kieran was laughing and managed to not be embarrassed, which was good since Kieran was laughing at the situation, not him. I recounted the story for Peter and Ethan while Jimmy and Shrank talked and Kieran caught his breath. While Jimmy worked out an agreement with them, I asked Peter and Ethan to sweep through the north and I went to get my backyard guests. They were packed and ready to go when I arrived. We stowed their meager belongings near the sites the families would build their homes along the river, then moved them all to the ceremony site.

  Just as I got my first nymphs settled into their second temporary home, Jimmy shifted in with a third family and a small male nymph burst through the surface with a mighty splash, excited and giggling loudly. This one was not quite into puberty yet, and as I followed the stream back to the river, I saw that Arwene and Orlet were the first to pass that point, luckily. So, no procreating here, but maybe a potential date pool. Two more boys, both Changed and orphaned, were chasing up the stream as I left.

  The six of us spent the morning moving in and around the faery, helping them get to the ceremony site. They brought banquets along with them, remembering that they’d picked the surrounding acreage clean in the first day. And, thankfully, some groups considered and provided for the issues of sanitation without fouling anyone’s habitat.

  Mike called for lunch just before noon and we all converged on Peter’s again.

  “Ya know, there are other rooms in the Palace we could meet in,” I said happily. “We don’t have to keep intruding on Peter’s privacy here.”

  “You could assign one of the meeting rooms above the waterfalls for that,” Jimmy suggested and surprised me by lightly touching the two rooms in the Palace, highlighting them for me in my mind and showing me the ones he intended. Either was certainly big and comfortable enough with a balcony over the falls, a kitchen and other amenities.

  “Good idea, but we can deal with that later,” I said nodding, choosing a section of the really big sub sandwiches Mike picked up for lunch today. I couldn’t identify half the meats on sight, but I was hungry and it was good.

  “It looks like all the faery will be near or onsite within an hour,” Peter said, staring off into the space above the table then switching his attention to the sandwich in his hand. He attacked it like he hadn’t eaten in a week.

  “How long until the ceremony begins?” David asked innocently.

  “About six hours,” I answered.

  “About three hours,” Jimmy answered, looking at me across the table with raised eyebrows. “That part comes at the end, Lord.”

  Giggling as he flew in lazy circles around the table, Shrank said, “The Fae were quite ‘punch drunk’ for hours the first time. The binding may have been simple, as you say, Lord, but it was strong!”

  “So you have a schedule?” I asked Jimmy.

  “Not a schedule, exactly,” he answered, “but you want your guests to have time to enjoy themselves. Review the monument, for instance. I’m sure that the Cahills and the Borlands would appreciate some time there. Your parents, too, I’d imagine. Then there’s the gifts, the songs…” He shrugged, smiling. “It takes time for all of that and you don’t want to rush.”

  “After lunch, Ethan and I will go start gathering people from the castle,” Kieran said, then he demolished a three-inch section of the sandwich. I swear he didn’t chew any of it.

  “And Dad should be back to the house by now,” Peter said, gulping from a glass of water. “Then I’ll come help you pick out something to wear.”

  “What’s wrong with what I have on?” I asked, looking down at my clothes. Looked fine to me.

  “This is a big deal, Seth! Shorts and a T-shirt ain’t good enough,” Peter said smirking, as he looked me over. “Are you barefooted?”

  “Do we meet after the laying of the geas or just depart on our own?” Mike asked.

  “I… obviously hadn’t thought of that,” I said.

  “Ellorn did,” Jimmy said, still smiling. “He worked it out with Lt. Brinks to hold in the coolers. It’s just waiting for me to set up where you want it.”

  I glanced down the table where David and Steve sat then back to Kieran. Kir du’Ahn, the globe? I opened a link using his name and pushed an image of Gilán with it.

  “As enticingly beautiful as that is, I don’t think it would be a good idea,” Kieran said softly, shaking his head.

  “Yeah,” I said slowly and begrudgingly. “We’ll still do it in my room, Jimmy, in front of the panels. I’ll just hide it. I can at least show parts of the west coast and other scenery while the sun sets.”

  “Very good, Lord. Regent?” Jimmy said and stood with a smile. Shrank flew to his shoulder squealing in common tongue to him as they disappeared.

  “I don’t have any formal wear with me,” David said, glancing at Steven who looked uncomfortable too. “What should we do?”

  “’Formal’ is different in this context,” Kieran said. “Think bright and flashy colors and the more you can shimmer the better.”

  “Oh, Peter, your family is here,” I said, feeling the shift of Richard with two passengers. I hadn’t met his mother and sister yet. Richard left again and came back with a good deal of luggage. “It looks like they’re staying for a while, too.”

  “Good!” Peter said, st
anding to go meet them. I held up my hand to stop him a second and reached into the diamond well, pulling two keys out. My only options for locations for them were the Cahills, their home in Canada, and their apartment here.

  “Here, it’s not much, but this’ll let ‘em get home and back until I can get more for them,” I said, handing him the diamonds.

  “C’mon, lads, I prolly have something t’wear f’r ya,” Mike muttered airily. The four of them walked away from the table, chatting idly. They actually walked away, a habit I was rapidly losing here.

  “Well, I guess we’re off, too, then,” Kieran said standing, Ethan with him. “Shall we meet downstairs in, say, two and a half hours?”

  “That’ll work,” I agreed. “I’ll go check on the barracks, then get cleaned up and dress.”

  “Already did it,” Ethan said sternly. “You’ve done enough today. Go relax, bathe and dress. You’ve earned it.”

  “You are barefooted!” Kieran cried leaning around the table and throwing a paper napkin at me. “Go! Take a bath!” He boomed it at me and pointed, the wrong direction, but he intended my room.

  “Huh, well, fine,” I said, but it’s not easy to be petulant and smile at the same time. I decided I’d walk and created a slight shortcut behind me so they could see into my room. “I’ll just go to my room then. It’ll probably take me that long to walk to the bathroom anyway.” Chuckling, I stepped backward into my bathroom and closed the shortcut before they could respond. Their view had been the wide-open space that was my bedroom. Deadpan humor, gotta love it. They’d all get a chance to wander around tonight.

  The pool in the back of the porcelain room was bubbling. I didn’t remember it doing that before, so back I went, following the noise to the gently rolling water. Admiring the tile as I stripped, I stepped into the warm, clear pool and as soon as I was calf high, I forgot all about the tile. Instead I sank slowly into the fragrant, slightly oily cistern of pure nirvana. Exploring the bath took some time. Forcing myself out of the first section of warm, gently rolling massage was hard.