Sons (Book 2)

by Scott V. Duff

  “You’re next, Coulter,” I said grinning. “What do you want to dress like?”

  “You, Daddy! Of course,” Coulter answered, proudly. I grinned again, in spite of myself. Dressing his reflection, he stood tall and walked right into it, and came out giggling. When I stood and took their hands again, I had to admit, looking at the three of us in that mirror and all dressed alike, those boys sure as hell looked just like me. Right down to the curve of my ears.

  “The two people you’re about to meet are the people who help me run Gilán,” I told them as I followed Peter out of the bathroom. “They’re both very powerful and they’ll look very scary to you, but they will both do anything for me. And I know they will both love you almost as fast as Pete and I did. So relax.” Like that would be possible once they saw either Jimmy or Ellorn.

  When we exited the bathroom, Ellorn was just turning to face us and First was standing up from the planter directly across from the doorway. Both stood stock still, staring at me and the boys, uncomprehending.

  “First, Ellorn, I’d like you to meet Coulter and Connor McClure, my sons,” I said, moving to a slyer grin. Their eyes got wider as their jaws dropped wider. “That will teach you to force me into a day off.”

  Peter burst out laughing.

  Chapter 77

  “Sons?” Jimmy said, confused and staring at the boys.

  “What an unexpected surprise, Lord Daybreak!” Ellorn said happily. “Welcome to Gilán, Connor and Coulter McClure.”

  “Sons.” Jimmy was shocked and happy, distressed and protective, all with a dozen other emotions roiling in crashing waves in his head. He kept it well hidden though, showing only confusion and a half-smile on his face.

  “Yes, First,” I said, amused. “Sons, male children who call you father or Dad or Daddy and depend on you for food, comfort, and stability. You know what those are.”

  “Of course, Seth, but how did you get two sons?” he asked, then changed his mind. “Wait, I’m so sorry. I’m being rude. Coulter and Connor…” He bent down slightly and smiled at the boys. Spreading his arms out wide, he gently pushed his mantle out until he glowed. “I am First of Gilán. Welcome to the Palace. I’m certain we’ll become fast friends and look forward to spending a lot of time with both of you!”

  I looked down, very happy with Jimmy’s performance, to find my boys peering at him from behind me. “Oh, come on, ya little cowards,” I drawled thickly and tugged on their hands gently. “You’ll be fine! I’m right here. Neither First nor Ellorn will hurt you in any way. I promise.”

  Coulter eased around me slowly, holding a finger in his teeth. He looked at Jimmy in wide-eyed fascination. Connor was slower to begin to move, but he seemed equally enthralled. They looked up at me for encouragement, so I nodded, smiled, and pushed a complex set of emotions mimicking encouragement through the communion link. Life as an elf-king ain’t easy at times. The food was good.

  They started across the distance of a few feet very slowly and very shyly. I spoke to First and Ellorn through the geas while we watched. Connor and Coulter are very recently orphaned from their Fae mother. Their human father died several months ago. The Hant has only recently completed. Please be extremely careful with them for the next few days, especially now. A single nod from each told me they understood. Of course, so did their every other thought, including the question, “What’s a Hant?” from both of them. The twins were at the halo of Jimmy’s mantle and already the wait seemed interminable. Then they did something strange, at least to me.

  They each raised a hand and touched his aura, flinching back at first like it would hurt. When it didn’t, they looked at each other and giggled. Then gently pushed their hands further in and waving them about, feeling the air.

  “Daddy!” they shouted at each other gleefully, then looked at me proudly. I have no idea why, but I responded in kind and smiled proudly and nodded. They looked at Jimmy and bravely stepped closer and fully into his aura now. Peter stepped up beside me and slipped his arm over my shoulders, watching intently. The boys were concentrating on what they were feeling now and I could see what they were doing finally.

  They were basically breaking my First up into chunks that they could understand and cope with. That they saw me meant that they saw my power in him, my geas on him. Next, they should see…

  “Gilán!” they shouted with a little less exuberance but more confidence. They probably wouldn’t be able to get much more from him. After a good night’s sleep and more acclimatization, they’d be able to get his na–

  “First!” they shouted happily together and launched themselves into his arms to hug him. My jaw dropped.

  Dropped.

  “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy,” they shouted as they pulled Jimmy along by the arms. “Did you see? Did you see what we did? Did you? Did you?” They were so excited about their identification that it was impossible to not be excited with them.

  “Yes! Yes, I did see. That was very good, boys!” I said, rubbing their heads and shoulders and smiling broadly. “What about him?” I nodded at Ellorn, who hadn’t moved more than a hair’s breadth since he said hello.

  “Why does he have blue hair?” Connor asked quietly, taking my hand again.

  “Why don’t you ask him?” I suggested. “He’ll be glad to tell you about it. It was quite an experience for us. I introduced you and he welcomed you, now go say hello.”

  “Yes, sir,” they said in unison. Looking at First gave them the courage to take the first few steps and Ellorn’s smiling face gave them the confidence to stretch across the middle. They were surprised that Ellorn’s presence filled the same sized space as First’s since he wasn’t emitting a glow. “Daddy!” they said to each other, giggling. “And Gilán.” Then they stopped, stock-still.

  Connor turned around and asked, “What is Saun Huri, Daddy?”

  “You feel like us,” Coulter said to Ellorn. “Is that what huri means?”

  “It’s very, very close,” Ellorn answered. “The word means ‘blend’ and you are both marvelous examples of that.”

  “What about Saun?” Connor asked. “What’s that mean?”

  Ellorn squinted his eyes, then pulled his face into the goofiest expression of concentration I’ve ever seen. The twins giggled and laughed excitedly. “Saun means we’re the head guys in charge. Much shorter to say, too,” he said, nodding sagely.

  “What else can you sense from him?” First asked gently.

  The boys concentrated again, closing their eyes and moving closer, barely a foot away. “His name is Ellorn,” Coulter said softly. “Wow,” Connor exclaimed lightly. “You’re so big! You’re our house?”

  Ellorn stood straighter and smiled. “Yes! That’s right, Connor,” he answered easily but proudly. “Your Dad vested the authority of the Palaces and his other homes to me and I take care of them in addition to my other chores.”

  “And Daddy loves you very much,” Coulter announced confidently, then the two of them launched themselves at him.

  Ellorn barely caught them in time. He squeezed them as tightly as they did him. After tucking his head on their shoulders, he murmured, “Welcome to the family, sons of Daybreak, sons of Seth and our brothers in our hearts.”

  Peter leaned in close and whispered, “Are you leading them?”

  “Which ones? But I can’t interfere with their bonding right now,” I whispered back. “There are just too many nuances I don’t have a handle on.” The boys turned in to look at Ellorn, both touching him intimately around the head. Heeding a slight pull from the communion, I moved us closer to Ellorn until we were nearly breathing down each other’s necks. The boys were fascinated with his hair, touching his eyebrows and running their hands through his thick mop on top. Squirming against Ellorn after a few moments, they released their holds on him and slipped gently to the ground.

  “You did better than I expected, sons, thank you,” I said, taking their hands and pressing their backs against my chest with my arms over their shoulders
. While they reveled in the compliment, I checked deeply into their psyches. Their bonds with Ellorn and First looked solid, even organic and flowery compared to mine, and they each had a good feel to them. “Now, would you like to explore some?”

  “Can we, Daddy?” they squealed together excitedly, jumping on my feet.

  “Yep,” I said, pointing off into the garden where the brownies stood waiting. “And if you look over there, you’ll see Guitar and Gibson waiting for you. We’ll be on the trails nearby the whole time, but don’t go too far, okay?” They ran off for the brownies amid a torrent of giggles and disappeared among the foliage. We started off after them immediately.

  “They seem more immature than earlier today,” Peter said quietly.

  “That’s the Hant,” I answered. “It’ll fade by tonight, I think. Mioreala chose it to protect me, thinking maybe I wasn’t strong enough to hold them.”

  “Had to be before you tore her mountain to shreds, then,” Peter said cheerfully. I chuckled and nodded, smiling. Jimmy and Ellorn exchanged worried looks.

  “Would you mind telling us what happened, Seth?” Jimmy asked, mildly frustrated. “Why have you adopted sons when you’re already so busy? It just doesn’t make sense.”

  “Simple, Jimmy, it was either the Hant or they died,” I said quietly, keeping pace with the boys in the brush. “Do keep in mind that anything I tell you now is only for you and nothing about my boys goes public until I make the announcement myself.”

  “Okay, Seth,” Jimmy said. “Yes, Lord,” responded Ellorn, without question.

  “Our official story will be that Peter and I were enjoying a hike in Faery when we happened along a trail of curse bugs attacking their home,” I explained. “Their father was long dead and their mother was dying. Pete and I turned a couple of mountains into sludge killing all the bugs. She’s now sealed in a chrysalis, healing, and will be for several years. In the meantime, her sons couldn’t survive alone. So… I adopted them.”

  “And unofficially?” Jimmy asked, prompting me with a hopeful grin.

  “Coulter called us through his father’s magic is the only difference,” I admitted. “Both he and Connor have a Pactlock.”

  “Oohh!” Ellorn said in surprise. “I don’t sense it. Will anyone else among the Fae?”

  “Shouldn’t,” I answered, then raised my voice slightly, “Connor, that’s quite high enough for today, son.” Somewhere in the trees, he was just a touch too high. I felt sorry for them. The tree was an easy climb and they weren’t that high up, but another foot and he’d start getting dizzy.

  “Aw, Dad!” Connor whined from somewhere in the tree above us.

  “Listen to Gibson, son,” I called to the shaking limbs, then turned back to Ellorn. “Did you solve your office problem, Ellorn?”

  “Yes, sir, I did!” Ellorn said proudly. “And it freed up most of my day to take care of more important issues.”

  “And the huri are all moved in to quarters and out of the hall?”

  “Moved in, yes, sir,” Ellorn said. “There’s still a bazaar atmosphere to the hall. I can have that cleared at any time.”

  “Tomorrow morning at about three hours after sunrise, I want the back garden clear for an hour or two, please, Ellorn, as well as the hall from my room,” I said, moving another few feet along the path. “Coulter, if I won’t let Connor, I won’t let you either. Listen to Guitar, please.”

  “Yes, Daddy,” Coulter replied petulantly. He hadn’t gotten quite as high as his brother before I stopped him, but his tree limb was only three inches lower.

  “When do you think you’ll announce the boys?” Jimmy asked.

  Shrugging, I said, “I don’t know for sure. Hopefully Sunday evening, considering how well they did with you guys. That they read your names from the geas is freakin’ amazing!”

  “Why is that?” Jimmy asked.

  “Seth’s geas is different than the other faery, First,” Ellorn answered, catching my attention with something I wasn’t aware of. “We’ve all wondered and talked about what makes our Lord so different, even before the creation of the huri. Obviously we have no idea why, but it’s great fun to speculate on different aspects of his greatness.”

  Peter snorted and slugged me while I giggled in my greatness. “But how does my geas differ, Ellorn? This is worrisome. Have I done something wrong?”

  “No, sir! Certainly not!” Ellorn protested.

  “Would you know, if he had?” Peter asked smoothly.

  “Maybe,” Ellorn admitted. “Not likely.”

  “I already have two trying my patience,” I said a mite testily. Peter moved around me and massaged my shoulders and neck. “They’ll be three when you stop,” I purred contentedly and leaned into him.

  Peter’s chest rumbled a deep, dangerous laugh. “Please, little brother, one wrong move and you’ll have me in Dillon’s bedroom so fast I’ll be dizzy,” he said, his voice matching his laugh. He ran his hands up my back, somehow matching the sensation in my thighs and up through my…

  “Oh, Peter, that’s my–” I exclaimed, jumping forward and laughing. “Don’t do that.” I glared briefly before falling for his smirk.

  “Daddy, Connor just peed on a tree!” Coulter stuck his head out from a nearby flowering bush and shouted.

  Since he was barely a yard away, I didn’t feel the need to shout back. “Coulter, did the tree die?”

  “No, Daddy,” Coulter shouted.

  Canting my head and raising my eyebrows, I asked, “Do you want to pee on the tree, too, Coulter?”

  “Can I, Daddy?” he asked, suddenly doing a modest jig. I grinned and nodded. He disappeared quickly behind the flowers.

  “Five minutes, guys,” I called. “Sorry, Ellorn, you were saying?”

  “The communication level through the geas is the greatest difference, Lord Daybreak,” Ellorn said. “You are much more accessible in its presence alone, Seth.”

  “Okay, Ellorn, that’s enough,” I stopped him. “I think I’m getting close to dangerous territory here and there’re other ways of finding out. Thanks, though, that’s very interesting.”

  “Can they see you?” Jimmy asked.

  “Not any better than you can, which is what apparently?” I asked.

  “Any Giláni can see Daybreak here in the Palace in the geas,” Ellorn said. “The Saun can see Daybreak at anytime unless, of course, you don’t want to be seen.”

  “Hmm. I wonder what the boys’ auras will look like, once they’ve acclimated,” Peter muttered from a planter nearby.

  With a squeal, Coulter landed on my back, catching my neck. I grabbed his knees so he wouldn’t fall and spread my legs to steady myself. Unfortunately this gave Connor enough room to slip between my legs, turn, and hug me tightly about the waist. “Please, please, please tell me that mud is not made with your pee!” I begged Connor, looking down as much as I could without getting choked. Both boys fell into fits of giggles, which luckily got Coulter off my back and loosened Connor’s grip around my guts.

  “They discovered that senero fruit are very juicy, Lord,” Guitar said, offering a towel. “They didn’t seem to mind rolling through the resulting mud and we didn’t see the harm.”

  “No harm with fruit juice,” I said mildly, coddling the boys’ heads before taking the towel. Then I looked up at First and Ellorn, standing together, stock-still, petrified to move. “Now you understand why I never played with my brothers at parties, even though it looks like so much fun and y’all are always running your mouths about me joinin’ in.” The twin’s hold around my ribs tightened considerably and they both looked up at me, worried.

  “Is something wrong, Daddy?” they asked in stereo. It was so freakin’ weird I couldn’t help but smile.

  “Not for us, boys, but my protectors are learning more than they bargained for today,” I said, stroking their backs. I hoped this need for constant affection would be over soon. They slid back, forcing my arms up to their shoulders, and turned so they could se
e First and Ellorn.

  “They don’t like us anymore,” Connor said. “First doesn’t like us anymore,” Coulter said. They both started whimpering and began to curl up against me. This was again one of those points where I needed to make them understand or bark at them. So far, I’ve been lucky with the understanding side.

  I glared quickly at Jimmy before squeezing them gently and said, “It’s not that First doesn’t like you right now. He’s my protector and you present a problem for him. You attacked me, but you were playing and you are my sons. First doesn’t hate you–he hates the position it puts him in. Just give him a day or two and he’ll work it out.”

  “Guess he wouldn’t like me dunking you in the pool either, eh?” Peter said chuckling.

  “No, I don’t think I would,” Jimmy said, sitting down beside him on the planter.

  “Lookin’ a little green around the gills, Jimmy,” Peter whispered, nudging him with his shoulder. “Something wrong?”

  “Seth’s right! This is an education,” Jimmy said. “A really weird one. Boys, your Dad’s absolutely right. I don’t hate you at all. My Lord was attacked and I could not retaliate. I’m sorry if it came out the wrong way.”

  “Does he mean that, Daddy?” Coulter asked, while at the same time Connor asked, “Daddy, is that true?”

  “Yes, I’m afraid I’ve sheltered them that way,” I said. “But don’t worry, once they join in, it’ll get easier for them to play.” I leaned in closer with a cocksure grin. “And they do know how to play very well.” And as I expected, the boys took that as a challenge, eyeing my first and second mischievously. “But not today. Ellorn, if you’ll help Gibson and Guitar make their arrangements for the next few days, I’d appreciate it. They’re gonna have a rough time coordinating everything without dropping hints as it is. Other than that, have anything for me?”