Sons (Book 2)

by Scott V. Duff

  “That would seem to be among the talents of the Lorash, yes, sir,” Ellorn agreed tentatively. “The next largest group is the Cordanes, the caretakers and builders, and the Amoran, the defenders. These three make up about half of the huri. The Amoran, I put in Garrison Two since One is too oversized. Families can be assigned quarters in the suites next door to it as necessary, but most of the Amorans are currently unmarried.”

  “Don’t expect that to last,” I muttered, grinning.

  “I wonder if they’ll be monogamous,” Jimmy said idly.

  “Of course we will!” Ellorn said indignantly, then he looked at me. “Won’t we?”

  Crap! “Um, I don’t know, Ellorn,” I answered quietly. “As a brownie, you found a mate and bonded together for life, but your life was, what, twenty to thirty years? As a huri your lifetime could be two to three hundred years or more, even. That bond might not exist with the huri. This might require a societal change to something like serial monogamy. We’ll have to wait and see.”

  “Not a good time to quote divorce statistics, huh?” Jimmy snarked, laughing.

  “First!” I growled, scowling at him. Ellorn was seriously worried about this. “Let’s put this on the back burner for a while till we can talk to some of the married couples and feel them out, maybe examine this mating bond somewhat. We have time. I’m about to send some of the Guard through the veil to start restocking the things we need from Earth and we need to consider the produce situation, too. How much can we depend on the outland brownies without hurting their supplies?”

  “Without knowing seasons and weather patterns, I would hesitate to rely too heavily on their supplies at this point, Lord,” Ellorn said after a moment of thought. “However, there are a large number of orchards and fields that can be cultivated that are within the huri range of travel by Road that aren’t within the other faery’s range. We could send a caravan out.”

  “Will that slow down your preparations?”

  “I don’t believe so, sir,” Ellorn answered. “It may even help relieve some of the immediate pressure.”

  “Do it, then, and include the ransé, if possible,” I said. “And while you’re at it, why don’t you send several small groups around to the brownie and sprite encampments to introduce the huri and the ransé to everyone. Socialize. See how we might help them. Maybe even take some of the children along to see the countryside.”

  Ellorn smiled broadly. “That is a lovely idea, Lord Daybreak. We’ll do that.”

  That gave Byrnes and Velasquez multiple things to do and First something specific to do instead of simply “help” Ellorn. That only left three to contend with.

  “Mike, the paymaster is going to need more cash, I think,” I said. “We are increasing the budget remarkably, after all. And since the three of you are more likely to think differently than they do, I’d like the three of you to help with supplies. Manage things they wouldn’t think about, that I wouldn’t think about. The unorthodox is your expertise and I’m sure they’ll hit snags.”

  Mike turned his head slightly, narrowing his eyes, and asked quietly in his airy British accent, “What are you four up to?”

  Briefly, very briefly, I considered lying to him. “Pete and I are going to the Pentagon to try and hurry along some business. Kieran and Ethan are looking into something. Other than that… call it ‘reasonable deniability’,” I said uncomfortably.

  Peter shifted in beside me, picking an excellent time. “I miss anything important?” he asked, seeing the look Mike was giving me.

  “He’s making sure everybody has plenty to do before you skip out,” Mike accused me.

  “Isn’t that what the boss is supposed to do?” Peter asked smoothly. Byrnes snickered quietly behind us and I had a feeling that nickname was going to live on for awhile longer.

  Mike grunted. “Don’t think I’m not on to you, kid,” he growled lightly.

  “Oh, quit whining, Mike,” Peter said lightly. “If we decide to go after one of the bases, trust me, you will be involved.”

  He glanced over at Peter and back to me. “Just so we’re clear about that.”

  Byrnes was gathering the courage to say something similar, so I decided on the cowardly route and hurried us out saying I had another quick stop to make. Shifting us near Mitch, we watched a bunch of huri boys playing in a park along the promenade. Mitch sat among the other proud parents watching their kids and talking. The boys moved through the trees like monkeys on speed and Donny kept up with them with no problem, instantly alarming us.

  Since everyone wasn’t instantly aware of me, I concluded my aura wasn’t visible to the huri and ransé, but they saw us fast enough. Ellorn was notified of our location and the Palace map was adjusted, just as the Situation room map would be. I almost giggled as I watched it happen, but thankfully that was the only reaction. We watched Donny playing very simple games like tag with boys younger and older than him, learning games. They were getting used to their bodies all over again, something the adults had to do as well, only not so rambunctiously. The problem was, Donny shouldn’t have been affected since he didn’t have a geas. And he didn’t, I checked. What Donny did have was a familial bond with Mitch and that bond was strong enough to allow the ransé abilities to travel. And of course, this shouldn’t have been possible either.

  Trading ominous looks with Peter, I called to him through the geas, Donny, may I talk to you for a moment? A head of tousled brown hair popped up from a tumble of four boys of bright pea-green hair and started to fight his way free. A few seconds later, he was hitting me in the chest at full tilt and throwing his arms around my neck.

  “Seth!” he yelled in my ear as I grabbed a hold of him and stepped back to keep my balance. For a kid, he had a hell of an impact. Every head in earshot turned to see who had used my first name. Peter laughed at me as I contorted to catch my breath and a half-dozen snickers accompanied Peter’s, then a chorus followed a moment later after everyone realized it was okay. The few brownies around giggled freely regardless. Donny squirmed excitedly in my arms as he jockeyed for position to talk face-to-face. He started talking at a furious rate as soon as he was in place, telling me all about his morning, first with Fre and Ana, then breakfast, then meeting new friends and playing with them.

  “Who is Fre?” Peter asked when Donny paused for a breath.

  “It means ‘Dad’,” I answered for the confused kid. He had to slow his mind down to understand Peter’s question and then he really didn’t understand the question. It was a linguistics problem of magical translations. And they were playing at huri speeds and strengths, which required huri speed of thought. “Not everyone here speaks Gilani, Donny. You have to be ready to explain terms, at least to some people. That’s a good word, though. So you’re having a good day, then?” He leaned back in my arms, grinning and nodding.

  “He ought to be,” Mitch said a few yards away. “He’s been at it like that for about two hours now. Ought to be exhausted.”

  “Morning, Mitch. You doing okay?” I asked, examining the bonds he held and created with his kids, both Donny and Ana. The magical bonds between them may be new but they were strongly crafted through the emotional bonds he felt for them and were a pale image of the only bond he knew, the geas. My only explanation was that the geas saw that pale image as a path when it wrote the ransé and included the Grimes children.

  “Yes, sir, fantastic!” Mitch said smiling. “Been here most of the morning. Parents and children have congregated here and in other parks and we’re just waiting for them to wear themselves out. Doesn’t seem to be working very well, though.”

  “Have any of the parents joined in?” Peter asked, looking at the division of parents and children.

  Mitch laughed heartily. “It’s a slaughter when we do! Turns into a huge wrestling match: us versus them. And we lose every time!”

  Crap, now I wanted to see that! I must have looked like it, too, because before I knew it all the dads were on their feet and charging forwar
d with huge grins. The dads were outnumbered better than three to one, but even though they were faster and stronger than their kids, I didn’t see them winning this. The dads would toss a kid off gently—comparatively, these weren’t human kids, after all—while the kids had no compunctions about barreling into dads four and five at a time and moving on to the next one while someone else piled on top.

  “Kids are evil, I’m telling ya,” Peter muttered beside me. “All cute and cuddly at first then they turn into that!”

  Within five minutes the dads were hobbling back to the sidelines with their own children at their sides helping them out cheerfully, laughing with them. Everybody knew it was a bit of a put on, but damn those kids were vicious.

  “You saw what the brownies did to Ellorn last night,” I said, sliding Donny to the floor. “Wasn’t much different.”

  Mitch cocked his head to the side slightly, then asked, “Donny, would you like to go outside for awhile? First is asking me to go out and meet some of the other clans and said that you and Ana can go with me if you want.”

  “Really? Outside?” He was virtually boiling with excitement. The noise level increased beyond bearable as that question was repeated and squeals of excitement pierced the air. Shifting us to their apartment, Serita sat on the floor of Ana’s room amidst a group of girls playing with dolls. She started packing them up, saying their parents were waiting out front. Ana lost much of her shyness for the moment, looking up and smiling at Mitch and Donny. Then she saw me and mimicked her older brother, launching herself at me by using the bed for height.

  “Seth! You came back,” she squealed as I caught her and cradled her in my arms.

  “Pure evil,” Peter muttered behind a smile as he passed behind me. I craned my neck back to look down to see her cute little face smiling up at me with those dark eyes and cream-laden coffee-colored skin. Unfortunately, she was making Peter’s point for him.

  “Of course I did, sweetie, I said I would,” I said stroking her hair lightly. “Seems I picked a bad time, though…”

  “Ana, we’re going outside! First is letting us go outside! C’mon!” Donny squealed excitedly.

  “Only if you want to, Ana,” Mitch said, trying to calm Donny down. “We’re going to visit some of the brownie and sprite clans in the forest to say hello and thank them for their help. Ask what we can do for them. Would you like to go with us?”

  “Is that where everybody else is going?” she asked me, suddenly shy again.

  “Likely,” I answered. “Now that Fre and the others can talk to them, we feel better about letting everybody meet and mix. Mitch, do you know where you’re going?”

  “We will be going to visit Arwene and his family with Zed, Beer, and Lager is what I’ve been told,” Mitch answered then he grinned. “Seems weird that I’m gonna go out into the forest and find ‘Sam’ and ‘Isaac’ and ‘Fred’, but here it’s ‘Car’ and ‘Airport’ and ‘Benzene’.”

  “Oh, my, you are just going to be so pampered,” I whispered to Ana. “You’re going to meet an expectant mother and two expectant grandmothers. They’ll take one look at adorable you and want to just stuff you full of candy and cookies. Take a bathing suit if you’re uncomfortable naked, though they won’t mind in the least since Arwene and Orlet will be.”

  “Actually, I believe we’re visiting with Arwene and his family as well,” Serita chimed in, the eight girls gathered around her. “First says the boys should enjoy the riverbank.” I burst out laughing at the thought. Arwene could blast them with water on the riverbank while he stood in the inlet talking. He was just as mischievous as her boys and far more able to do something about it.

  “Just make sure your hooligans don’t drown my water nymphs,” I said, still laughing. “I’ve got to get to work now. Y’all have a good time.” I handed Ana off to Mitch while everybody said goodbye to me. Serita tried to look offended except she thought of them as hooligans, too, and the absurdity of drowning a water nymph was short-circuiting her sensibilities. She gave up and giggled.

  Shifting Peter and I out to the Pentagon, we walked the hall toward Harmond’s office in our fake uniforms with their shiny badges and medals. I’d managed to delay us until just before seven o’clock eastern time so the building was pretty busy. I’m sure we got a few evil glares because we weren’t paying attention to protocols or ranks. Two silver bars made us lieutenants, right? I’m pretty sure we almost ran over a few clusters and bronze birds without paying attention to them.

  Sgt. McNeely was poring over some pages of text and didn’t notice our entrance to the office. She didn’t even notice when I dropped the glamour and let the blue and green silks show. Peter glanced over at me, intrigued.

  “What are you reading, sergeant?” he asked quietly.

  “I’m sorry, but that’s classified,” she answered absently and automatically, still somewhat unaware of us. “Major Thorn and Lieutenant Hanson are unavailable today. If you’d like to make an appointment for tomorrow…” That’s when she finally looked up from her papers and saw to whom she was speaking. “Oh! Mr. McClure! Mr. Borland! They weren’t expecting you so early.”

  “Are they available?” I asked.

  “Yes, sir,” she said nervously, reaching for her phone. “They’re in a meeting with Gen. Harmond. I can have them both here in just a moment.” I smiled and nodded as she picked up the phone. Peter read her papers upside down and rather obviously, but she didn’t make any moves to cover or hide them from him. He started snickering and I looked at him with raised eyebrows.

  “That’s a really bad example,” he told her, pointing at her papers. “First off, a dragon would never bargain with sprites. He’d go directly to the Queen or, at worst, the sidhe. Sprites would assume he’s looking for lunch and scatter. Second, he wouldn’t go to sprites for spiders; he’d go to fairies or pixies. They’re better at finding them. And most importantly, a dragon doesn’t need spiders for anything.”

  “What are you reading?” I asked, amused suddenly by Peter’s synopsis.

  McNeely opened her mouth, deciding whether or not to answer since this was “classified,” but apparently she decided we were of the right class. “This is a study guide from the M-division for the Rules of Hospitality that you’ve demanded that we know.”

  “Well, that’s one case you can ignore,” I said, holding out my hand. “May I?” She handed me the six pages of case studies someone had prepared for them. I sat on the edge of the desk and started reading, passing pages to Peter as I went. Chuckling by the end of the first page, I was laughing out loud at the end of the second and I slipped off the desk laughing by the end of the fourth. Peter nearly dislocated my shoulder hauling me up off the floor.

  “This is different,” remarked Hanson, standing beside Thorn a half-dozen feet away and watching us, bemused.

  “What’s gotten him so tickled?” Thorn asked, grinning at us as Peter fought to get me upright again. He finally managed to get me to lean on the desk again.

  “We’ve been reading your study guide,” Peter said smiling. “I’ve only read the first two pages, but they were quite amusing.”

  “Here, Pete, read number six,” I said, shoving the rest at him. “It’s hilarious! It’s like a blind man describing a dandelion. Captain, who wrote this?” I was still a little slaphappy and giggly.

  “I’m not sure. It was circulated this morning from the M-division,” Thorn said.

  “Sgt. McNeely, it’s totally understandable that you’re having a hard time with this,” I said, waving my hand at the papers Peter was doing his best not to laugh out loud while reading. “It’s tripe, more confusing than the real thing. Pete, you’re gonna hurt yourself.”

  He barked a laugh and asked, “A giant what?”

  “You’re asking me?” I asked chuckling. “We don’t have very long, captain. Very busy today, but I’ll save y’all some time and say don’t bother with that. Feel free to send it back with a note that says I said it was crap.”

 
“Emily, would you call the Colonel and tell him that, please? They were just beginning to go over it,” Hanson said.

  “Were you able to deliver those items I asked you to drop off?” I asked.

  “Yes, sir, finished just before dawn this morning,” Thorn said.

  Concentrating on the diamonds hidden in the fake pebbles, I located the hundred and twelve locations through Europe where the pebbles were tossed. I could feel the pulse of magic around each one along with the signatures on the wardings. Suddenly, I had a backdoor into over a hundred estates and manors belonging to wizards and magicians across Europe and they were none the wiser. And all the stones were on the ground, no loss.

  “What was so important about those stones that they had to be spread out so specifically?” asked Thorn, his forehead creased with curiosity.

  Peter tilted his head slightly at me, grinning. “You didn’t.”

  “I did.”

  “Marchand?”

  “Not on the map I had.”

  “Mr. McClure, what did we do for you?” Thorn asked, bristling with urgency and beginning to get a little ticked off.

  “You threw rocks at giants, Jensen, nothing more. Your people had plenty of time to examine them. They aren’t roc eggs about to hatch or anything,” I said, making Peter snort at the end.

  “He did tell them, more or less, that he’d arrange something like that,” Peter said in my defense. I stood there looking innocent for a moment until he bought into it.

  “We can see the progress on the Rules. Please tell Mr. Dominick that he needs to do much, much better or he’ll force me to educate him. None of us want that.” I tugged on Daybreak’s aspect hard for a second then let off. “Now on other matters, the favor I asked about adding some of my men to troop transports will have to be delayed a few days. We’ve had a major change in our staff and they’ll need a few days to adjust.”

  “Nothing… serious, I hope,” Hanson said slowly and surprisingly, he was actually concerned.