UC:Fates Facio Sexus Recolo
“Neall.” Sien whispers in his ear, interrupting the card game the guards play constantly.
“Go ahead.” He replies holding a finger up to pause the game.
“We are going to get an invitation to the palace. Expect a visitor tonight. He said there is a feast and they need servants.”
“No way, that is just too good of a chance.” Neall whispered back.
“Even if there is a feast it is just a cover to try to put some people with us on our way back to Dest so they can sneak them in under cover of us.”
“But to invite us into the palace must mean they don’t even suspect.”
“That we are spying at least passively? No one is stupid enough to miss that we are keeping our eyes open, but hiding that was never the point.”
“Not that, who you are.”
“How much authority did they give you?” Sien asks quietly.
“Why?”
“I have an idea but for it to work I have to be able to trust you, and more importantly you have to be able to trust Micah.”
“Micah?”
“Look, we both know I basically belong to him right now. I can’t do anything without his acceptance and I, we both that is, we know it.”
“And?”
“What would you think if rather than getting wipes into the palace for well placed spies, we aim a little higher?”
“You are insane.”
“Do you honestly think we’re getting out of here? Do you think we have a chance of going in then getting back out without someone figuring out something inconvenient?”
“No.” He admitted, “And this has to be them wanting to send people back with us into Dest. If they had come to us as these things are done maybe, us going to them, no. I mean if they had just come out and said they want to hire us to cover sneaking a couple of their people into Dest, fine, but calling us into the palace grounds is another thing completely.”
“I will need three dozen hearts. Place your pieces and pick your time well. It is all in your hands now.” Sien said smiling as something in her stomach did flip flops. She didn’t want to know if it was anticipation or fear.
“It’s been an honor.” Neall replied then spoke a phrase and watched her eyes go soft.
UC:Fates—Facio Sexus : Partus Trio
Septus Finitus
“There must be over a dozen House Mothers attending.” Nicole said nervously as she looked over the guest list for her and Tagoni’s official wedding.
“And at least as many Princes or Queens.” Lisa laughed.
“This is easily the best attended wedding in recent history.” Brenhar said as her eyes momentarily lost focus.
“I’ve noticed.” Nicole winced.
“Muren has finally arrived.” Brenhar announced, “Brenna is heading back this way with her. They will arrive in a gross or so of hearts. Anybody else want anything to eat? I can have Brenna bring more if you like.”
“Are you always hungry?” Nicole asked laughing.
“Lately I have been.” Brenhar admitted glaring at her own seemingly daily expanding belly dourly.
“I think it is also a reaction to Lucas collaring her cousins.” Lisa broke in seriously, “How is that going by the way.”
“Well.” Brenhar replied, “For our plans that is. I miss him, having him there. I got used to him being there. I know, there is nothing to be jealous of. We have to do this. We may need the power of the Vale to offset the fake blood queens.”
“But you still miss him.” Nicole asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry Brenhar,” Lisa says sadly. “I wish there was another way.”
“There isn’t Lisa, but there aren’t enough of us. We’re only fighting here to keep the destruction away from home. Win or lose, Dest is basically done, they are going to take severe damage when Donalson marches on them once the Kallows are ready.”
“It all comes down to whether we can be ready before they are.” Nicole stated.
“Any word on Sien?” Lisa asked hesitantly.
“No.” Nicole answered, “Here I am getting married and I don’t even know if my cousin is alive.”
“I tried Nicole.” Lisa apologized, “I tried to prevent war, yet all I have managed is to change the when.”
“Not your fault.” Nicole stated flatly, “If you and Charles hadn’t done what you did all this would already be over, except for the dying that is.”
“A question for you Hearth Son.” Someone asks interrupting Charles’ reverie in the empty cornice nest he had found atop one the inner towers of the palace.
“Yes?” He asked turning to her voice and sees a half hand smaller, darker haired version of Brenhar staring at him intently.
“I get that a lot.” She laughed referring to him staring, “We were almost twins as children.”
“The resemblance is...” He starts to say and then pauses.
“Uncanny?” She laughs.
“Close enough.” He laughs back, “Now what can I do for you umm?”
“Kandra,” She answers looking serious for a moment, “Kandi to my friends.”
“I can see that.” He agrees.
“Most males say that.” She says still laughing, “As for what I need, that is not so simple.”
“How may I help you then?”
“Can I spend the night with you so you can collar me instead of Lucas please?” She asks seriously.
“Why?” Charles asked, startled by the something he hears under her words that doesn’t match them.
“I do not have good way to say this, but I do not wish to share this with my cousin.”
“Share what?” He asks not understanding.
“Lucas is one way of saying what I mean, but not correct.”
“You want to forge your own fate?”
“Yes.” She answers relieved he understands enough. “This is my last chance to not stand in my cousin’s shadow forever.”
“And you think I can do that for you?”
“Yes.” She says seriously then ruins the moment with a giggle. “You aren’t with Lisa, not physically. No one says anything, but everyone knows.”
“Why does everyone seem so hung up on that?”
“We have our reasons,” She laughs with a knowing smile. “Half of us anyway.”
“What is yours then?”
“That I be with someone who will see me.” She answers taking his hand in hers and pulling it to her.
“What?”
“That I be with someone who will see me.” She repeats while sliding his hand along her jaw then down her shoulder and across her breast.
“Are you sure?” He asks taken by surprise by the strength of his own reaction.
“Yes. You are not Lucas. You are not anyone she has had. You have had her, but she has not had you. She has never had and never will have the upper hand with you, your time together is yours and yours alone, it can never be hers like this is mine.” Kandra replies as she opens her shirt for him. An errant thought closes the door with projected force and then locks it. She reaches behind her back to unclasp her bra as they kiss.
“And you want me?” He asks breaking the kiss with a pant, a shiver and a shudder.
“Yes. I have lived my life in her shadow.” She answers shedding the rest of her clothes before starting in on the rest of his. “Every man I have been with has seen her while caressing me. You see me. You see the difference. I am my own person to you.”
“I see everyone as people, all as their own people, umm, person.” He answered shivering as she ran a fingernail down his spine with one hand while the other rubbed and stroked him erect.
“I know. Now I know the collar involves a lot. I want you first, as me, as myself. Then I want you to collar me, bind me. Do as you need to do and do it all the way. I want every ounce of power there is for me, hold nothing back.”
“You won’t even be able to conceive of not reveling in your obedience.” He gasps, caught in the moment. He is no longer bound by the growing concerns that have weighed his mind down for moons as his horizons have grown, allowing his mind to wander even as his concentration focuses.
“As long as I am seen for me, as me, I do not care.” She laughs as for all his power, he proves that a male is a male. “Have me, enjoy me, take me. You won’t take my mind and that is the only thing I care about, enjoy the rest.”
“What can you tell me Lucas?” Tagoni asks in the stands over the stadium grounds where the girls and young women of Michelson prepare themselves to be collared or practice with their new found power.
“Not as much as I would like.” He admits while looking around for Charles.
“I thought he would be here as well.” Tagoni says and then shrugs.
“Anyway, whatever she did, Legent Alice definitely did not give you Nicole’s powers. These are yours, your own. I have been making a study of different families and their magic. If yours were a Magist family then the magic you have is exactly what I would expect you to have.”
“So she literally made me magical.”
“Not magical, a Magist.” Lucas corrects as he debates how to say something.
“Something is bothering you, out with it.”
“I can’t, rather I don’t know how to say it.”
“Is it me? Us, Nicole and I that is?”
“No, not at all.” Lucas mumbles, “You two are fine. I envy you the wedding, the acknowledgement of the bond, but no. It’s not you two at all.”
“Then what?”
“The Legents.”
“Too many here for your peace of mind?” Tagoni laughs, “I know there are for mine.”
“No, too few.”
“Too few? There are five of them here.”
“Yet at least seven turned up back when Lisa was still a sex slave to Charles at school.”
“That many?” Tagoni asks surprised.
“Yes. I asked.”
“Then what is it?”
“You are a Techist made into a Magist getting formally married while still in school to a former Magist made into a Techist. Your wedding present is to be given command of the combined armies of four major Familydoms, a major Kingdom and numerous minor of both. The largest army, by the way, since the Sync wars and larger than a number of them during it.”
“And there are at least two fewer Legents here than showed up for a sex slave realizing she made some mistakes in her life?”
“Exactly. Was that such big a deal or is this not such a big deal?”
“Or is something else even bigger going on?” Tagoni asks as his stomach does a thing he would rather it not do ever again.
“And if it is, what in Choas’ name is it?” Lucas asks.
“I suspect that no one short of the Legents knows, not even Lisa.”
“And now we know why she has been so moody.” Lucas agrees grimly.
“Been a while since we have this many pieces on the board all at once.” Legent Amina observes from the hill where she and Legents Wilhelm and Kara stand.
“Any idea what prompted Alice to upend their plans quite like that?” Legent Wilhelm asks.
“Not really, and I am not happy with the rumors out of the Kallows.”
“Blood Queens, made by someone copying what Charles used, do we know who yet?”
“No, but I am sensing a pattern.”
“What kind?”
“Hard to say, it’s like an extra breeze in the middle of a storm, the gust that takes you by surprise.”
“Like a butterfly making war.”
“How long until Sien and company’s cover is blown in Donalson?”
“Not long if it hasn’t been already. Arie and Jeff are on it.”
“If this goes south then I am cleaning them all and starting over.” Legent Wilhelm announced, deliberately being unclear on exactly who he meant, or how many.
“Have patience, we all know Mindy is likely alive, and if so, she is by definition active.”
“That’s actually part of what I’m worried about.”
“You want us to do what exactly?” Captain Neall asks the palace Chamberlain again, patiently ignoring the frowning guards behind the man.
“As I said, we have numerous feasts that are going to happen back to back to back over a fortnight and what we want is for you to handle catering at some of them.”
“If all we are doing is catering then why did you mention permission to bring our own weapons?”
“Oh that, well some of our halls are spread out and you would be responsible for catering them. That would include transporting provisions.”
“No.” Neall replied flatly.
“What?”
“We are not bringing weapons to the palace without a witnessed royal warrant and you know better than to ask in the first place. So I will repeat, you want us to do what exactly?”
“I had hoped to do this the easy way.” One of the guards behind the Chamberlain said stepping forward and removing his helmet. “I apologize for the subterfuge, but it was necessary.”
“Really?” Neall quipped, “All I see is a likely spy master who’s lame attempt at a distraction for a coup failed outright.”
“I assure you, I am not planning or taking part in a coup.” The man continued. “In fact, I am trying to prevent one from happening by accident.”
“By accident?”
“Yes, we have some guests coming, a lot of them actually, from ours and many local sides as well as many little Kingdoms and Familydoms, to finalize an alliance. We don’t really trust them and they don’t really trust us. None of us trust the others’ staff.”
“So you want use our remaining wipes as servers, where?”
“In the former Dest Embassy of course. They aren’t using it anymore after all. You would be moved there and be expected to provide security and servers for formal dinners and luncheons as needed for ongoing discussions.”
“Truthfully, that idea scares the Chaos out of me.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I’m not really asking.”
“Somehow, no it doesn’t. Yet it doesn’t actually explain, why us?”
“This goes no further than us.”
“Agreed.”
“We have many, let us call them factions, in the palace. You have kept yourself isolated the whole time you have been here. That worried us at first and then we discovered that you were avoiding the eyes of Ericson.”
“Just looking to ride out the storm is all.” Neall replied.
“Yet that same precaution provides us with a chance to avoid another, as you put it, ‘storm’, here during talks.”
“Then quietly dispose of us after all this is done?” Neall asked.
“I have to admit that thought has a certain amount of appeal, but it is not necessary. We actually desire for you to leave and return to Dest.”
“By now that is Ericson alliance territory, not exactly a welcome idea.” Neall observed. “Especially since we have been hiding here all this time.”
“Yet necessary.”
“You want us to smuggle your people into Dest?”
“Essentially, though you do have my personal word they are not assassins. They are merely observers whose job is to report back what they observe.”
“Spies.”
“If you wish to apply labels, then please feel free to do so.”
“Then we get questioned by that so called tame Blood Queen the King adopted and is somehow still alive.”
“I can assure you that Lady Nicole is not now nor shall she ever be a problem for you.”
“Really?” Neall questioned as his heart sank. “An easy thing to guarantee from a kingdom away.”
“She is no longer an issue, the Legents dealt with her.”
“Oh.” Neall replied hoping the hollow spot inside wasn’t visible. One of the things the Legents dealt with harshly was any claim they did or said something they hadn’t, or the obverse. So if these people were saying the Legents had dealt with Nicole, then they had. It aligned with her magic fading, it does that when the caster dies.
“During the talks you would be considered diplomatic staff.”
“That’s nuts, at best we will be glorified cooks.”
“Hardly,” The spy master laughed, “You will be called, known as and used as representatives Unat nwark for the duration.”
“That’s dangerous.” Neal whispered. “The Legents have very stringent rules for claiming that role. They have to be neutral. They can have no stake in what is happening and have to provide the same services to all involved. Their safety is also guaranteed.”
“And thus you know I am telling the truth. Otherwise the Legents will come and deal with me, us.”
“That would mean we couldn’t allow you to spy or any of them either. The dinners and other functions will have to remain neutral, even to your Kingdom.”
“Exactly.” The Spy laughed. “Exactly, and that is what we want. Unlike some who oppose us, we make no secret of what we want. We do not work in the dark like some others. The alliance we are discussing will happen. The only variable is the exact terms. Using you to provide neutrality gives us the advantage by giving it away.”
“In other words you already have all the pieces in play. You just need time for them to settle where you already have them going?”
“Yes.” He smiled in return, “Do you see now? I have already won. I am just observing the niceties until the other players realize it.”
“Then you won’t mind making it official by registering our role with Centerversity.”
“Would you like to mirror them right now, or would you rather talk to your purported employers first?”
“What?” Neall asked startled.
“Do you think me blind?” The spy master laughed. “The boy is a front, a cover you can afford to lose if need be. You are the one in charge. You run the show puppet master. Don’t worry, I know because I have used the same kind of cover before. You lost your previous cover in Dest didn’t you?”
“Yes.” Neall answered, surprised that the spy master had seen through that many layers of their cover. Neall was thankful King Dest had worked as a spy for a while in his youth before events moved succession his way. “I don’t know what happened to them. I left the moment they were hauled away and ran. What gave it away?”
“Nothing that matters. Your cover has been perfect. Even I suspected nothing until I noted that yours was always the witness signature on transfer papers for the wipes you sold.”
“Nothing I could do about that.” Neall admitted.
“No indeed, now are you ready?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent. You can drop the act after you move. Come see the Chamberlain after you get your people packing. He will get you the papers and Tokens for your people. We can make the call to Centerversity to announce your role at that time.”
“Thank you.” Neall replied smiling a real smile. “I will see you both soon, within a bell.”
“These are not the collars I expected.” Land Mother Kilsin says looking at the braided circlets the first dozen girls wear. “They seem more decorative than anything else.”
“The thicker woven leather ones they wore earlier are no longer needed.” The Man replied.
“As usual of late, things change around you.” She observed. She continued examining the glassy eyed girls standing at attention waiting on his next orders.
“Life is change.” He answers evading her question.
“Are they aware?” She asks looking closer at their eyes.
“Not right now.” He answers walking up and down the line inspecting.
“You mentioned needing some more people?” She asked noticing the erect nipples, barely parted lips and vague panting of them, all in perfect sync. Each of these attributes was accented by what would have been called cat or skin suits before the fall. Every private space covered tastefully, yet displayed perfectly by the shear fabric that seemed to breathe with them. Even the texture of the erect nipples could be seen through the thin fabric. Although the girls’ arousal could be smelled, the moistness could not be seen.
“Yes.” He answers smiling, “I need three males, tenth year or older in Centerversity terms, but they cannot have reached their majority yet. They must know military matters and diplomacy. They must also not be related to any these here. They must also be able to give and receive orders as well.”
“That is a lot of musts.”
“Yes, but it must be.”
“I think you have been enjoying my girls.”
“I like to think they get something back.” He laughs.
“I feel many different types of magics at play.” She observes continuing to inspect them.
“Yes you do, over a dozen in fact.”
“Will it work?”
“Yes, it does, even now.” He affirms, “Already they can draw somewhat upon the sun for power.”
“Then why do you need boys as well?”
“Because I can’t be everywhere,” He laughed, “or if the Legents decide to watch, anywhere at all.”
“Tomorrow.” She answers. “For now I have some formal dinners to attend.”
“Thank you Mother Kilsin.” Another female says entering.
“Welcome Unnamed.” Land Mother Kilsin laughs.
“Well come and Welcome back to you.” She laughs.
“You look well for someone at death’s door so recently.”
“About that.” The unnamed laughs, “Girls, attend the innocent.”
“Yes my lady.” Twelve voices answer as one. They move toward Land Mother Kilsin.
“What?” The Man asks and then his world becomes five building ripping explosions in as many hearts.
“Excellent.” The unnamed says gleefully as she sees the man thrown fathoms away and then turns to the glass eyed beauties shielding Land Mother Kilsin. “Good girls. Why don’t you attend to Mother Kilsin tonight. I have other plans for him. You are free to go as long as you attend to your duties.”
“Land Mother!” The first of the girls to have clearing eyes shouts dragging her away.
“Sendra, what is happening?” Land Mother Kilsin demands as the girls move to shelter her while getting her away from the battle.
“She is finally making her first real move to kill him.” Sendra laughs. “Certainly took her time.”
“Kill him? Why?”
“Lots of history I guess, don’t worry about it. She is only trying to kill him, not any of us.”
“That was an incredible amount of power she just used. Can she keep it up? Could she actually kill him?” She asked, ignoring the rest.
“Keep it up, quite likely, for quite a while to. Kill him, not a chance Land Mother, but they both enjoy the effort.” She answers as they keep moving away from the fight at a near run.
“Both enjoy it?”
“They made some sort of a deal. He is using her as part of training and preparing us. She keeps trying to kill him and he keeps teaching her.”
“That’s insane!”
“So is he, but I never imagined the kind, amount or type of power he has shown us how to use. Were it not for these collars that also make us his bedroom toys, we would be long since dead.”
“You thank him for the collars he has been using to make you...”
“Yes Land Mother.” Sendra laughs interrupting. “You need to understand the amount of power we can handle now.”
“Does he use you?”
“Yes Land Mother, he uses us, all of us. He lectures and explains as he has us. It is part of how he instructs us.”
“I have lain there, arms straight out, legs spread, as he plied my breasts and thrust hard enough to make me grunt under him.” Another girl broke in.
“It is disturbing at first to feel yourself undress.” Another adds as the group continues away from the fight.
“I still find it humiliating when he orders me to kneel and suck him while he lectures.” Someone else continues. They all trade off comments while still moving.
“When we grasp a point we get a taste and like or hate it, that taste is good and feels good.”
“You start to like it and the power you get.”
“It imprints on you, becomes part of you.”
“You begin to dread him calling on you because you know he will order and you, your body anyway, will obey him. You start to look forward to him calling on you because it means you will be garnering another lesson as he enjoys you.”
“After a while anticipation and revulsion cancel each other out and then him having you, enjoying you, is just another thing. The more he uses you, the stronger you get.”
“Yet you have to fight it if you want power. The more you accept, the less he calls on you, so the less power you can learn to use. The more you fight, the more he calls on you, the harder he uses you and the more power you can learn.”
“He enjoys knowing we don’t have a choice. He likes to have us spread out unable to move as he hovers over us, then grasps bare breasts to squeeze while he thrusts.”
“You get sick to your stomach with fear and rage, yet look forward to it after while.”
“That is the most horrid...” Land Mother Kilsin says and then stops as another large explosion in the distance drives dust in the air even at nearly an eighth league.
“Good times.” Several of the girls gasp as one and then collapse wiggling in ecstasy as the fight continues moving away from them.
“Greetings my Lady.” Breaks into Sien’s gray white world startling her.
“What?” She asks.
“I was offering greetings.” The voice replies.
“Where am I?” She asks, startled that the question has not occurred before now, ‘Now?’ she asks herself silently.
“You are currently in the main palace, Thumb, currently under the stewardship of Donalson.”
“Main palace? Thumb?”
“Yes.” It replied patiently, “I must apologize for not greeting you sooner, but I did not recognize you in disguise.”
“What is happening?”
“You are currently part of a group hosting diplomatic talks in the former embassy of Truesdale, currently stewarded by Dest.”
“Can you tell me who everyone is please?” Sien asks as she continues waking.
“Certainly.” It replies.
“How many Legents is this now?” Lucas asks Lisa in a stage whisper. They are sitting next to each other in the front aisle of the wedding party and watching as the traditional wedding announcement march began just at dark.
“Seven.” She answers squinting to see past torch light and glow globes floating about. “And you are right, I had at least nine show up, so something bad is happening somewhere. Look at the consolation prize though.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing.” Kandra says staring over the others who are also standing and staring as the processions began. King Dest himself escorts Tagoni forward to present him to Legent Wilhelm as prospective husband and formal Second Prince of Dest.
“Yet the fun keeps on coming.” Brenhar laughs as the presentation is considered gravely by Wilhelm who asks for affirmation. Upon receiving it from multiple Land and House mothers, he agrees Tagoni is suitable and acceptable.
“I simply can’t believe this part though.” Sinda says in awe as Nicole is escorted away from her Clan and Land Mothers by none other than Legent Alice.
“I thought they didn’t involve themselves like this?” Sandy asked puzzled.
“Be surprised what they will do if they determine a need.” Muren laughs.
“True.” Charles whispers watching as Nicole is escorted forward.
“I present the Lady Nicole Yemel Dest.” Legent Alice’s voice rings out.
“She is seen.” Legent Wilhelm acknowledges darkly. “You do not hide the history of your charge?”
“I do not.”
“Do you know the history of your charge then?”
“Yes!” Legent Alice answers clearly, “I know the history of my charge.”
“You would present a Yemel to be returned to the scene of their fall?”
“No, I would return an Emel to one scene of their fall.”
“How are we the Legents to see this return? You know the trade, the oath they took, the pledge that preserved their lives and the lives of their daughters. The pledge was that they never return to power or for power, on pain of death.”
“I know the oath. I know the pledge. I know them for I helped make them. Mine was one of the votes to spare them for they were children and we Legents do not make war on children.”
“So you return the child to the scene of their fall?”
“No, I return a woman.”
“A Woman?” Legent Wilhelm challenges.
“Yes, a woman.”
“A woman who helped kill.”
“And a woman who has repented.” Legent Alice replies.
“A woman who was judged and abandoned to that judgment by Familydom and Clan alike.”
“A woman who was collared for her crimes, who was paroled when punished. A woman who learned from her punishment as if it were discipline. A woman who earned her way out of that collar. A woman who came to deserve an end to her parole.”
“A woman,” Legent Wilhelm intones ever more darkly, “who wielded Blood Seed, who then used it to kill.”
“A woman who killed in self defense.” Legent Alice counters.
“A woman who killed in defense of others who could not save themselves.” King Dest interjects breaking the pattern, “A woman who saved far more lives than she took and preserved a kingdom from cowards who struck at my wife down in her own chambers. A woman who knew she would be judged and interceded because she felt it the right thing to do, even without orders. A woman I say, who has been punished enough.”
“Has she learned her lesson?” Legent Wilhelm asked no one in particular.
“Yes.” Sinda proclaimed nervously while standing up, trembling as every eye turned to her.
“For murder? For the taking of a life? For its return?” Legent Wilhelm demanded.
“She stands forgiven.” Sinda proclaims.
“She stands pardoned.” Sinda continues, ignoring the murmurs spreading.
“She stands a free woman in my eyes.” Sinda finishes and then stops, staring at Legent Wilhelm as he stares back at her.
“Free? And who are you to judge her freedom?”
“I am Sinda of Ericson,” Sinda declares, “Of Thomson when she killed me. I forgive her for my death and I forgive her my pain. I forgive her cousins for my death and for my pain as well. She, they, have paid for what they did. I consider the scales balanced. I consider this matter closed. Debate what you will, but know this, despite her faults, their faults...she...they...mean well...now. They do their best to do what they believe is right now, no matter the cost.”
“You would accept this joining then, and this appointment.”
“I not only accept it Legent, I give it my blessing.” Sinda answered clearly and then choked up. Nicole collapsed, crying at Legent Alice’s feet.
“Then in the matter of a proclaimed Emel returning to the fall.” Legent Wilhelm said formally, “The subjects will remain as well as witnesses for and against. The rest can return at third bell for our decision.”
“Tonight the shortest of the Kallows women is the actual ambassador, first cousin of Land Mother Kilsin as well as of House Mother Kilsin, one by her mother the other by her father.” The voice of Thumb tells Sien as the eating hall fills, “The rest of the party is to disguise her real position and authority.”
“Why are you talking to me now?” Sien asks inside herself, talking to the voice.
“I didn’t recognize you before, not until your disguise slipped. It has been centuries since the children of the joining ventured here and I did not expect any would return again after they all just left.”
“Children of the joining?”
“Yes.” The voice answered, obviously happy to be helpful.
“Can you explain that please?” Sien asks, remembering how Charles had treated the mirror in his rooms at school. She needed the kind of cooperation it had given him now.
“In AF forty forty two, seven friends, all cousins, managed to join minds for the first time since the fall.”
“AF ?”
“After the fall, think Anno Lapsus.”
“Thanks.”
“You are welcome. To continue, as the Legents had made mirrors after the fall, the Joining made us, the capitols of the lands. We are citadels designed to ensure that those who held power would never again feel they stood atop the people.”
“What happened?”
“They fell. They fractured in the fall. They rejoined and rose again. They fell again as millennia passed. Eventually they became the forefathers of the Blood Lords, the first ones to capture the sun and use its power directly.”
“I am of the Yemel, formerly the Emel. What can you tell me of my people?” Sien asked formally.
“The Emel used to be dae mhael, before that they were the dehmel, before that they were part of the old Thom clans that date back to before the fall.”
“Whose was this place the capitol of?”
“We here in the Thumb were the servants of the Beckers.”
“I do not know their history, what can you tell me?”
“The Beckers were another joining branch. They split off at the same time as the Emel from the Dae Mhael, well before the kelsoi yen. Many clans split back then, with fractions allying with factions, mixing and matching as Technology waned while Magic grew.”
“What do the Legents say about us, the Yemel?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“They have not spoken to us for or against you. To us you all left one day and never came back. Since then the stewards have cared for the lands.”
“Stewards?”
“They are entitled to call themselves Kings or Mothers while care taking the land since they do act in their names as appointed by the Legents for the interim.”
Humphh.” She grunted as her bare breasts filled Charles’ hands and he filled her. A grunt from him followed and then the feel of the moment changed. Something felt wrong.
“No.” Fled from lips not her own as she felt herself scream in defiance when the moment of bliss became hell. The attack came from nowhere, gathered from nothingness. It shredded shields sufficient to ward off a seventh year student easily and even some tenth years.
A need drove her shields to ward the attack from Charles, to protect him at all costs. She met that need, that impulse she dimly recognized as compulsion. Internal or external though, it changed nothing. She shielded Charles even as the wall changed shape before exploding inward.
“Gahh.” Escaped as her final gasp of defiance and pain. Then nothing worked anymore as the world began a slow retreat. Instead of the expected darkness, instead of fading away to the nothingness the attack had come from, she remained. She watched with dimming vision as Charles met the attack head on. No longer taken by surprise, with that heartbeat of warning his shields held, and then morphed to match the continuing attacks. She felt one of the attackers fall. On and on it went, attack, counter attack, over and over until other attackers began to fall as well.
“No!” was the silent scream as awareness blended between moments, for the face of this fallen was Nicole’s own. The moment went on though, events played out as they faded until only sound remained and it finally went muddy. Then stabbing pain as she felt herself being crushed, then the relief of pressure brought a breath, then more pain. After a while of this a thud sounded and then sounded again. It gained a rhythm just before sight returned. Over her knelt Sandy and Lisa, both looking flushed and astonished. Her head turned of its own accord as she heard Charles speak, then she hears a new voice.
“No!!” Nicole hears herself screaming as she returns to herself. Around her, the scene comes into focus. People are gathered, Kings, Mothers, Clan heads and the Hearth Holders. They are all watching her, all waiting on something as their faces clear from the horror they just lived. A horror they will only have to relive once. The hardest of all is Sinda, staring at her with something that looks part rage beyond words at something not Nicole, and part sympathy.
“Now all have seen and we can accept that you can be forgiven your sins.” Legent Wilhelm pronounced gravely. “For you shall carry them with you until the end of your days, reliving them on the anniversary of the attack each year.”
“I...” Nicole starts in and then stops as words fail her.
“That is horrid.” Tagoni says before anyone else speaks. The idea of reliving, not merely remembering, brings a kind of horror beyond words.
“That is balance and justice Second Prince Tagoni of Dest.” Legent Wilhelm replies.
“I accept.” Nicole says firmly, though her voice cracks doing it.
“Then the Emel are accepted back for they have held to their oaths. We can now know they do not seek power for power’s sake alone. Thus they are no better and no worse than any who would seek it.”
“Thank you Legents.” Nicole says gratefully, for they had not just accepted her marriage to Tagoni, but accepted her and her clan returning to this and potentially any former Blood Lord land. If any should choose to do so that is. “I accept this burden and I shall carry it not with pride, but with humility.”
“Your sacrifice is noted daughter of Emel.” Legent Alice intones smiling. “Be now as you were adopted. Be now as one with Tagoni. Let neither walk ahead, nor behind. You have born the weight of history and your sacrifice makes way for new history to be written.”
“It has been five days this time.” Land Mother Kilsin says to the healer caring for the Unnamed one assisting The Man she knows as Ethan.
“She heals apace. It took him nearly a day to recover this time. She is getting better, stronger. She actually hurt him for real this time.”
“And he permits this?”
“No,” The healer answered, turning to her for emphasis, “He insists. She keeps trying to kill him with the same techniques he is teaching her and the others. Each time she fails she has to be his sex toy for a night. It was the night, but she took to attacking at dusk so they would both spend the night recovering.”
“What game is he playing with her?”
“I have no idea, but she is advancing so much faster than the others I wonder why he bothers with them at all.”
“She is an unusual child, always has been. Legent Wilhelm brought her to us when she was a small child. Even then he was impressed with her mind. He ordered us to help her, to see to her education as though she were blood.”
“Who were her parents?”
“Her mother was part of our own clan, a member of a withering cadet branch now gone. Her father was a trader on a land caravan. He came from Thomson and refused to say exactly what his standing was there. I suspect criminal or high clan, perhaps both. They did well for themselves here. Her name and his brains made for an effective trading house in rare and exotic goods. They died on a cruise with an importer along with most of the owners of the business. She was the only survivor of her party when the pirates hit, a bell later she was simply the only survivor.”
“I take it that is when Legent Wilhelm intervened?” The healer asked.
“Yes. His affiliation before that is unknown. However, in the wake that raid he personally reduced the entire clan the pirates came from. The pirates have never returned and our ships enjoy almost total immunity in the Karibs. No ship known to be ours has been hit there since then.”
“I’ve wondered why we have such favorable trade routes with the Karabi. Now I know.”
“It will be generations before that lesson is forgotten.”
“Agreed, extinction does that. She will be up and around tomorrow I believe.”
“How are the rest of our girls holding up?”
“They differ somewhat, let’s start with Kasira.” The healer replied picking up a tablet.
“I believe introductions are in order.” She hears Neall say, bringing Sien back into focus, and hence into the moment. The room gained focus as she became aware of it. She reviewed memories of the last few days. Memories of feasts, lunches and luncheons, of breakfasts, dinners and late night informal parties. Introductions ran through her mind with unnatural speed. Knowledge and information joined together to bring her a gestalt understanding of the state of Thumb, the capitol. The buildings themselves joined her efforts to assimilate it all and make it part of the new her.
“Of course.” Sien replies a heart later breathing in context as the world finished coming into focus around her.
“I have already made formal introductions of the rest of us.” Neall said smiling, “I think it is time for you to introduce your keeper, and then yourself.”
“By your command.” Sien replied affirming to Neall that she is herself now.
“Then by all means, proceed.”
“First King Donalson.” Sien said looking around the room to be sure she understood where all the pieces were before pointing to the mentally disguised Micah, “Let me introduce Micah.”
“Micah?” King Donalson asked, “An unusual name around here.”
“Not so much so where my keeper is from.”
“Keeper?”
“Yes King Donalson, my Keeper.” Sien announces, not simply says. “You see unlike what you think you know, he is not my handler, he is my keeper.”
“Keeper? Keeping you for what?”
“He is my parole. Until I have served my term I am his toy, in or out of bed.”
“Parole?” King Donalson asks looking closely at Sien as he tried to connect the pieces his mind was dredging up.
“Yes, parole.” Sien laughs as she finally feels all of herself come into focus. “I am on parole for murder and attempted murder. My sentence is for Micah to ravage me body and mind alike, to alter who and what I am for his enjoyment until I have served my time. I am what he makes me unless my owner says otherwise.”
“Micah? Keeper? Owner?” King Donalson asks as the first of the pieces settles. He knows the name Micah, it was in one of the reports about someone in Centerversity, something to do with the Hearth Daughter.
“Yes,” Sien laughs, for the first time proud of herself. “My keeper is Micah, originally from Dest. He immigrated to Thomson, but is currently out of Ericson.”
“Guards.” King Donalson shouts, standing as more pieces settle in his mind, unsettling him further.
“He is a servant of the Hearth Hold, chosen of the Hearth Daughter herself.”
“Guards attend me.” King Donalson yells when they don’t respond fast enough for him.
“We came to gather information in Donalson. We did not come to fight. We did not come to assassinate. We came for knowledge alone.”
“We are leaving.” King Donalson announces, then he finds the doors barred and his men surrounded by those Neall commands.
“No, not really.” Sien laughs with half her attention. The other half of it though is in Cinna who is just outside the former embassy, right where she expected Neall to have put her.
“I have a message for the Thumb.” Cinna says standing in the middle of a public gateway.
“What message would that be?” It asks back.
“Please inform the Legents that a challenge for this place is readying issuance.”
“In what name shall the issuance be?”
“To be announced I’m afraid.” Cinna answers as the bindings on Micah are loosened in preparation for the end game. “And tell the people as well. Show them the dining hall where my party is, from a gross of hearts ago, catching up until it shows them as they are. They have decisions to make and they must be prepared.”
“I shall inform them of the challenge.” The gate replies in a tone that would have worn a smile on a human, whether it referred to the people or the Legents though, it did not declare.
“What is the meaning of this?” King Donalson demands.
“The meaning of this is that you have abused your position. You have abused the authority vested in you by the Legents. You have betrayed the oaths taken by your forefathers.”
“I do my job. I defend the lands. I do what any king is supposed to do. I rule.”
“No, I’m afraid you have overstepped your bounds.” Sien laughs, “Steward.”
“Who are you?” King Donalson demands in a whisper at that last word. It has specific meaning in the former lands of the Blood Lords. For the King knows what his family has ensured the people no longer remember, that he is not truly a King despite what he calls himself. He, like his ancestors are stewards looking after the lands in the Legents’ names. He, like those before him were, is sworn to put the land before himself, to sacrifice to the land, to serve it and the people on it. He is not to call upon the land to sacrifice, not to call upon the people to sacrifice for him.
“One who calls upon the Legents to review your actions. One who challenges you these lands you hold in trust in the name of the people.”
“No one can challenge me, least of all you or your kind...visitor. These are my lands by birthright. The Blood Lords were removed by the Legents themselves, and we were elevated in their place.”
“No steward, though these lands are in your charge, they are not yours. You hold them only while the Legents waited for your line to prove itself worthy. Your stewardship was a test Donalson. For a dozen and a half generations the Legents have waited. Watched and hoped you would prove yourselves so you could be granted these lands in your own name, and in your own right. I declare you have failed that test.”
“Just who do you think you are young lady?” He demands finally raising his voice.
“Unlike you, I don’t think I know I know who I am. I do know who I am. As I have told you, I am a murderer, a killer. A sentenced taker of life on parole. A girl, now woman, assigned to a keeper to toy with and use me until I have served my time. I am as unfit to rule as you are, and I do not challenge for your place Steward. I challenge only your holding of your place.”
“But who are you?” Donalson demands as the use of the ancient formulae in her speech leaves a cold spot in his stomach. It means she knows how to challenge him before the Legents, is about to, and there is nothing he can do about it.
“I told you already, my keeper is Micah out of Ericson by way of Thomson, originally from Dest.”
“But who are you?” He demands again, his pitch rising with his panic.
“I am a kept, a thing in truth, but a thing who has decided to use her last position. To make use of her end to keep the oaths her ancestors broke much as you have. To use her end to return some honor to our name. We weren’t going to leave here, not all of us. You were going to put your people with us. You were going to kill us when we refused to go along with your plan to infiltrate Dest.”
“We didn’t want to kill any of you.” He answered as more little pieces began to fall into place.
“Yet you would have. You would have taken part of us hostage to ensure the rest took your agents into Dest.”
“So? They would have been safe here.”
“Not when the Hearth Hold marched on it. Not when the alliance came to your shores.” Sien accused.
“The alliance will fail. They have no one who can speak to them all. They have no single voice, only the guidance of a girl who hasn’t even reached her majority. There are no mixed voices of Techist and Magist anymore. There are no Blood Lords anywhere, not even in the Ericson alliance.”
“Like her, that girl you fear, I have not and I shall not reach my majority. Yet I have you hostage, and there is more you are wrong about.”
“You have nothing, no one.” He responds moving toward a door that fails to open for him even after Neall’s guards move back.
“Thumb.” King Donalson says to the room.
“Yes.” It answers, a voice centered nowhere.
“Egress, open the door.”
“I am sorry. I am unable to comply while awaiting formal issuance of the challenge.”
“What challenge?” He demands.
“Mine.” Sien laughs as Thumb confirms all is ready.
“Yours?”
“Yes, I issue challenge, in my own name, as is my blood right, without the permission of my keeper or my owners. I challenge for the needing of the challenge, accepting my fate, knowing it will help repay the betrayal my foremothers did against these same people.”
“Please identify yourself for the record.” Thumb instructs.
“Thumb.” Sien says speaking clearly, “I challenge the steward Donalson in the name of the Yemel, cadet house of Emel. I challenge the stewardship of Donalson for the Becker lands in the name of the people. My foremothers and forefathers took choice from the people. I return it to where it belongs. I ask the people to choose their own fates, accepting my own fate to give them back theirs.”
“Challenge by an Emel of the Becker stewardship acknowledged. Legents are en route.” Thumb announced and something cold slithered in the faux king’s gut. Thumb had acknowledged her challenge which meant it already knew who she is, and accepted her right.
“Good. Now Steward Donalson, you may as well know exactly. I am Sien Ciel Yemel of the Emel. I have challenged you to a vote of no confidence and dominion.”
“The Blood Lords were reduced. The survivors know they will be killed if they return or seek power here.” King Donalson whispers then accuses with a yell, “You’re one of them, the Hearth Son’s pets.”
“Really?” Sien laughs some more, “Nicole would have found that funny. Pets, I like that. It surprises me, but I like that.”
“Nicole?” King Donalson whispers darkly, he knows that name, no whispers in the back of his mind to go with that name.
“My cousin,” Sien answered with a true smile, “and Yen would have as well I suppose.”
“You really are one of those?” He asks horrified.
“Yes, I am one of the Hearth Son’s pets as you put it. I am also a Yemel, a survivor of Emel because the Legents do not make war on children.”
“How? How could you have entered Thumb without my knowing.” King Donalson demanded, “Thumb tells me everything and it would have fairly screamed your name.”
“I was hidden behind several layers of magics. My own magic and mind were suppressed until it became obvious we were not going to escape intact.”
“Yet you have committed suicide. The Legents will reduce you when they arrive, just as they will any Blood of the Blood Lords. You know that.”
“Yes, yes they will.” She answered with a smile and a laugh, “However, in the doing they will acknowledge my call for a vote of no confidence, they will ask the people their will. My right of challenge is lethal, but valid none the less faux king.”
“So what?”
“You will lose. You have concentrated on war. You have drawn it to you. You have spilled blood as greedily as my own foremothers did. You are as blood thirsty as my own forefathers.”
“I am not.”
“Sien Ciel Yemel.” Legent Jeff says and they all become aware he is there.
“Yes Legent.” Sien answers calmly, actually smiling as she releases the last bindings on Micah.
“You have challenged the rule of Donalson?”
“Yes Legent, I have challenged his rule for he ignores the will and the interests of the people. Those who should be his people are instead, to him, the people. He sees them as a populace to be ruled, not his people to be respected.”
“You seek to replace his rule with your own?”
“No Legent, I do not. It is not allowed and I know it. I do not seek to rule. I would not if I could for I am not worthy. I return what was stolen, I give it back with my end.”
“Your challenge by blood right is accepted. The people shall indicate their will.”
“Thank you Legent. In the name of all the Emel, that is all I could have hoped for.” Sien cried, hating the tears, welcoming the sign of her forgiveness from the Legents.
“Legent?” Micah whispers, obviously confused because things looked nothing like what he as told to expect when he woke again as himself.
“Keeper.” Sien says kneeling in front of Micah while pulling his hand to her head.
“Sien?” He asks.
“The plan to gather information and report in then sneak back out failed. I have challenged the steward Micah. Now I pay the price of returning here. It is up to you to get our people out of here.”
“Sien?” he repeats.
“You are my keeper. Humble me Micah. Use my end, save them.” She pleads staring up at him.
“Sien.” He says again as he responds to her pleading by reaching out. Then her eyes glaze over for what she thinks is the last time and he looks up to see more Legents are gathered. “Now what?”
“What is your name?” Legent Jeff asks formally.
“I am Micah.”
“Well then Micah, what are your intentions?”
“What is going on?”
“You don’t know?”
“No Legent, I do not know. I was in Dest. I volunteered for a mission to gather information here in Donalson trying to prevent war if we could, or give our people as much warning as we could if not.”
“He does not know more than that Legent.” Neall says interrupting.
“Do you?”
“Yes.” Neall answers praying he understands Sien’s plan well enough. “Moons ago Donalson attempted a coup and an invasion of Dest.”
“That is known.”
“Then, as you know, the Lady Nicole thwarted the coup while her cousin Yen held the Pass at Camden when Donalson’s forces came through.”
“And?” Legent Jeff asked impatiently.
“Nicole and Yen were at that time possessions of the Hearth Son, pets as the steward Donalson so nicely put it, as is the young lady here, Sien.”
“Known.”
“They were all three, Nicole, Yen and Sien, of the Yemel, a branch of the Emel.”
“Again, known.”
“The Hearth Son collared his possessions and gave them keepers.”
“Go on.”
“In spite of this, they retain the power of the Blood Seed, and all have used it.”
“That is in part why we are here.”
“Micah is Sien’s keeper. She serves him as parole for murder, and even with the collar removed she is obedient to him in all things.”
“Is that true Sien?” Legent Jeff asks.
“Answer the Legent’s questions as though waking Sien,” Micah orders hoping he understood Neall’s hand motions correctly. “tell them whatever they want to know, answer all their questions with the truth Sien. The whole truth, hold nothing back.”
“Yes my lord.” Sien replies. Legent Jeff pauses for a moment staring, then smiles as he speaks.
“Sien, is Micah your keeper?”
“Yes Legent.” The humbled Sien replies softly.
“Is he more than that to you?”
“Yes Legent. He is my Keeper and my Lord.”
“You acknowledge him as your lord?”
“Yes Legent I do.”
“Why?”
“By murder I have proven myself unfit for the power I wield by birth. By accepting him as my Keeper and my Lord, I knew I could never again run amuck endangering my Clan. They must not suffer for my sins.”
“Your cousins shared that action that led to all your fates. Can any of you be trusted again?” He asked, confusing many with the odd mixture of old and new wording.
“Yen no longer matters. She is bound to her land now. Nicole told me once that she had decided to accept Tagoni as her Lord and Keeper alike as penance. She said she prayed her children, if she had lived and were so blessed, would do better than we did. As for myself, I do not trust myself so I have chosen to use my end to save those I could not save with my life. I know I shall end here Legent. My only goal here is to provide the people with a choice while getting Micah and the rest out alive. Surely my life is worth that.”
“You have stated that you are willing to die for the people daughter of Emel. Now, what are you willing to live for?”
“I am done Legent, I challenged the stewardship of Becker by the Donalsons. I did so knowing the cost to me.”
“You have answered my words, yet you have not answered my question.”
“I have nothing to live for Legent.”
“Captain Neall.” Legent Jeff asks turning to him.
“Yes Legent.” Neall answers, startled the Legent knows his name. King Donalson simply stares.
“Sequester the challengers until the people have reached a decision. You should also retrieve your wandering party member.”
“Yes Legent.”
“Thumb.”
“Yes Legent.” The disembodied voice answers, sounding subtly different.
“Ask the people what they want, whom do they choose?”
“At once Legent, I shall have an answer by morning.”
“Then we shall all wait here.” Legent Jeff says finding a seat and reaching for a sandwich.
“Did you see this coming?” King Dest asks Lisa as they watch the ceremony officially wedding Tagoni to Nicole.
“Which part?” Lisa asked shaking her head. “That the Legents would get involved in Tagoni and Nicole getting married of all things? That they would make Nicole into a Techist? Tagoni into a Magist? Or some other part of this current insanity?”
“Any of those I suppose.”
“No.” Lisa admits, “I wanted, no, needed, information. I couldn’t depend on the information I was getting second, third or later hand. So I sent eyes. I neither intended nor sought, or even envisioned what happened to them.”
“I had worries about your intentions.” King Dest admitted. “I worried that you had pieces anywhere near my kingdom. I could not believe anyone with your abilities wasn’t after my kingdom. Yet I also had to depend on your girls in the wake of events. I had to use them here at home. Then I had to send one away from here, doing as you did and using her for remote eyes.”
“And now moons afterward things are not as they were and you fear the worst?” Lisa asked, “In my haste I have gotten my people and yours both killed, I am truly sorry King Dest, I truly am.”
“They knew the risks.” Charles said breaking in. “We explained them and they all volunteered.”
“I hear the pain under your words Hearth Son.” Queen Dest said softly. “Yet you know as well as we do that no one had any choice. We equipped them as best we could. No one could have foreseen a Magist being made into a Techist, A Techist made into a Magist, or that it would be Tagoni and Nicole it happened to.”
“It still saddens me.” Charles replied. “I liked Micah a lot.”
“We are planning a quiet service the day after tomorrow for the men we sent out, you are welcome to join us.”
“Thank you.” Lisa replied blinking back tears. “Anybody know how long this takes for all the formal ceremonies?”
“About three bells total, not including a break before the last one, so we should be done about Seventh Bell.”
“I look forward to congratulating the newlyweds.” Charles and Lisa said almost as one.
“As do we.” Queen Dest said with a smile, “As do we.”
“What news so far Thumb?” Legent Jeff asks about a bell after dawn.
“The results are close. The resentment toward Donalson is thick. However, there is a portion of the population that has requested a particular clarification of intentions.”
“Then let us clarify. Donalson, stand before the people and speak of your intentions, of your dreams, and how you mean to achieve them.”
“Certainly.” King Donalson laughs, rising to stand in the middle of the room where multiple mirrors could see him. “My intentions are to finish what we have started together. War marches on us, Dest allies with Michelson, Thomson, Yasan and Kelsini. The largest army since the Sync wars gathers on our shores. It is within Dest for now. If we mobilize now with all our allies including the Kallows, then we can meet them where our terrain can equalize their numbers. We can win. We must win. We shall win. Then all those lands will be ours and we will be the largest force on the continent.”
“Thank you Donalson.” Legent Jeff says as Donalson retakes his seat. “Now we hear from the opposition, the Keeper of the self confessed Blood Queen Sien of Emel, Blood Lord Micah the first of Emel.”
“What?” Micah whispers in shock where he sits, “I’m no Blood Lord, I’m just me.”
“Do you or do you not have a functional Blood Queen of the Emel willingly humbled and kneeling at your feet?” Legent Jeff asks.
“I am not a Blood Lord,” Micah states without rising, unaware he is being transmitted even sitting, “I am her keeper, not her lord. I was assigned by the Hearth Daughter to be her keeper, nothing more.”
“Yet you have a Blood Queen bound to obedience.”
“I was assigned her, she is an assignment. I was of Dest, then of Thomson, now of Ericson. I would release her if I could, yet that decision is not mine to make.”
“Are you saying she has learned her lesson?”
“I think so.” Micah answers, unsure what is happening.
“What options do you see for this land?” Legent Jeff asks.
“Options? I am no politician, but I see war no matter what. I have been here for weeks and have talked to many people while selling the wipes that were our cover. Everyone knows there will be war. The only thing that remains unknown is who is going to be fought.”
“If you could decide, if you could do whatever you wanted, what would you do?”
“I would stop the fighting.”
“And if you couldn’t?”
“I would ask what is worth fighting for?” Micah answered hesitantly. “Fighting means killing. Killing is never good, even when it is necessary, but sometimes you have to anyway.”
“And with that I will ask Thumb to ask the people what they want.”
“The audience is large, but watching, no more than a bell Legent.” Thumb answers.
“So be it.”
“What did you say is happening?” The Man asked Land Mother Kilsin in shock.
“There is another vote underway in Donalson.”
“Another? There was a first vote? Why? What happened?”
“Unknown. Everything was normal yesterday, then during a minor conference King Donalson stopped in to give emphasis to how important the alliance is to the crown, and something happened.”
“What was the first vote?”
“No confidence on Donalson, and apparently it was close enough he neither won nor lost.”
“Not good, but who could have called a no confidence vote, that would take a Legent.”
“Or blood of the Blood Lords.” The Unnamed chimed in laughing.
“Oh damn.” The Man cussed, “She’s right.”
“The wipe traders must have been spies after all.” Mother Kilsin muttered.
“That would mean they sent an Emel, Yemel now, one of the Hearth Son’s pets to be exact, into Donalson as a spy. But how would they get her in undetected? The palace should have said something the moment it detected her.”
“You said she was a strategos. Could she have known about that, the vote?” Land Mother Kilsin asked.
“No, but the pet could have.” He replied thinking. “I told Donalson to be careful, to give them room, not to push. He must not have listened. Damn it, I warned him.”
“What happens if he loses the vote?”
“Someone else takes over.”
“Who?”
“No idea.” The Man answered, “It depends on who challenged...and how.”
“Now that we have messy part over with,” Legent Alice says with a smile. It is a quarter bell after the closing ceremony formally marking the joining of Second Price Tagoni of Dest with Nicole Yemel formerly of Michelson. They are in the largest dancing hall in Dest. “I would like to offer the happy couple a wedding present. I wasn’t sure it would happen, or be ready this soon if it was, but please be patient for a gross of hearts, maybe two, before everyone leaves.”
“Your presence is present enough Legent.” Nicole replies formally.
“Patience little Nikel, patience.” She replied to the puzzled Nicole who stared back.
“I have the results you wanted Legent.” Thumb says projecting so everyone could hear.
“And they are?” Legent Jeff asks.
“Unexpected,” Thumb replies with obvious humor, “you should check them before proceeding.”
“One moment.” Legent Jeff says. Then his eyes go distant for a moment before he smiles while laughing.
“Ok,” Legent Alice laughs as she waves a hand at a wall of the dance room. It shimmers and then becomes like a single wall sized mirror showing another room much like this one. “Now pay careful attention and listen closely.”
“The people have spoken.” Legent Jeff says addressing Micah, as an equal much to his discomfiture, “They abhor war as much as you do. They want it as little as you do. They see it happening anyway though, just as you do. If Donalson remains, war is a given. If he departs, it is still a given. Yet they are not the same war and the people have spoken.”
“I wish there was another way than war.” Micah answers.
“So do many.” Legent Jeff agrees, “However, there is one question that needs to be answered first.”
“What question is that Legent?”
“Blood Lord Micah the First, affirmed by vote of those who have chosen to be your people by accepting back the repented Emel in the place of the fallen Steward, be this a Kingdom, or a Familydom now?”
“What?” Micah gasps, “I told you, I am not her lord, I’m no Blood Lord. I’m her keeper, and just her keeper. I am not a politician, I don’t know anything about governing, about government, all I want is to live my life.”
“What is this madness?” Donalson demands imperiously, “The Blood Lords are not allowed to return on pain of death. Why is she still alive?”
“Donalson,” Legent Jeff says turning to him, “As of days ago, the Yemel stand forgiven. The Lady Nicole has proven their oaths, paying the price doing so. The girl here is a functioning Blood Queen, yet she kneels to him, allows him to humble her of her own free will. She accepts him as her Lord in addition to being her Keeper. That makes him a Blood Lord, hers. Thumb has spoken to the people and their vote makes him theirs as well. The only thing that remains of that decision is whether he takes the job or leaves a power vacuum. After that is whether this is now Kingdom or a Familydom.”
“Choose.” Captain Neall says to Micah, “Fate calls, answer it. You can easily destroy this place with your mistakes, yet you certainly destroy it if you leave.”
“If it were my choice to make.” The audience in Dest sees and hears Micah saying, “Then I would choose not to make another Kingdom, not to make another Familydom. If it were my choice, and only my choice, I would choose to make a place where neither Techist nor Magist is ascendant. I have experienced both and there is another way, a better way. I would make another Hearth Hold.”
“She’s alive.” Nicole whispers crying when she spots Sien kneeling at Micah’s feet, obviously humbled, while events play out around her.
“Can they see us?” Tagoni asks.
“Not yet.” Legent Alice replies watching closely.
“I don’t believe this.” The man says staring at the mirror showing events in Donalson as it becomes the Hearth Hold Emel under the leadership of Micah the First, Blood Lord and Hearth Holder.
“Is that actually an Emel?” The Unnamed asks pointing to Sien.
“Must be.” He answers. “That would definitely make her Sien. I can account for the others.”
“Incredible, but I thought the Blood Queens, Blood Lords or any part of them would be killed if they returned.”
“Loop hole.” He answered smiling, “She isn’t actually back. She kneels humbled at his feet, his servant, likely willing since she is still alive.”
“This is going to complicate things isn’t it?” She asks.
“Mightily.” He answers grimacing.
“How so?”
“Hearth holds are neither Magist nor Techist.”
“So?”
“He is also a new ruler, one known to be inexperienced, that means the Legents will be watching closely, which means I can’t go back there now.”
“Which means we just lost Donalson?” Land Mother Kilsin asked.
“No.” The Unnamed broke in. “It means no more Donalson, and Emel is not our ally.”
“I don’t understand.” Micah says to Legent Jeff.
“What part?”
“The one where I get elected to an office I didn’t seek.”
“Wake your servant.”
“She is not my servant, but yes sir.” Micah replied releasing the humbling on Sien.
“Well Sien Emel, would you care to explain what you thought you were going to accomplish?” Legent Jeff asked with a knowing smile.
“My only goal Legent.” Sien replied around the fear constricting her throat. She is startled to be called by the older version of her family name while looking around the room trying to understand what had happened, was happening, and why she was still alive. “Was to ensure the people got a voice. I had hoped that Donalson would lose and that you would provide safe passage to those with me despite my fate.”
“Despite your fate?”
“Yes Legent.” Sien said still kneeling, “My only desire, my only hope in doing this, was to leave those in Donalson hope. They were as betrayed by the stewards as they were by my ancestors. I had hoped they would recognize that and choose another path.”
“Leave who hope exactly?” Legent Jeff asked.
“The people of the kingdom of Donalson, highborn, lowborn, Magist and Techist alike. I do not believe based on what I have learned of them here that they want to go war, but I believe they feel trapped since you the Legents put the stewards into place when you took down my ancestors. Since you have not replaced the stewards, you must endorse them. All I had hoped to accomplish was to give the people a voice, to make you hear them, hoping they could, and would, choose another path for themselves.”
“So you expected to die giving back the voice to the people that your ancestors took away?”
“Expect Legent, but I had hoped to get Micah and the rest out.” Sien replies sadly.
“Then there is a detail to be seen to.” Legent Jeff said waving his arm at the hall wall. It shimmered for several hearts and then showed a similar hall filled with people, many of whom looked familiar, all of whom were already watching them, and obviously had been for a while.
“Nicole?” Sien whispered seeing her cousin alive and well, and in a wedding gown of all things.
“I present a tardy wedding present.” Legent Jeff said to the wall. “I present the Mother and the Father...the Hearth Holders...Emel.”
“Who?” Sien asked looking around puzzled before stopping as his words sank in. For in all of Donalson there is but a single individual bearing the blood of Emel, her.
“I present to Dest, the Blood Lord Micah the First, Hearth Father Emel; and his wife to be, the Blood Queen Sien, Hearth Mother Emel.”
“Micah?” Sien asks looking up at him, unable to grasp her survival or the Legent’s words.
“We live.” Micah answers, “You live, we all live.”
“But you now have a legacy to live up to.” Legent Jeff announced.
“And one to live down as well Legent.” Hearth Mother Sien Emel answered nervously.