Sons (Book 2) (101 page)

“Moritsa has a lovely dress on, don’t you think?” I asked.

“Yes, it is a pretty dress,” Ana said, staring angelically at Moritsa.  “And a pretty flower, too.”

“Thank you, Ana,” trilled Moritsa happily, almost dancing in place at her compliment.

“I agree.  It complements her well,” I said, glancing around the room.  “In fact, Brusa is quite dashing as well.  Everyone is quite colorful and well dressed tonight.  Did I intrude on a party?”

“No, Lord, not at all, we just wanted a happy, joyful welcome,” Moritsa said smiling still.  “Would you like a new nightgown, too, Ana?  Our lord has some lovely lace and satin available.  Perhaps a robe?”  Ana hid her face in my chest of dancing crayons, giggling shyly.

“Well?  Moritsa is offering.  Or would you prefer pajamas like Donny?” I asked, smiling down at her.

“Could I have a dress as pretty as hers?” Ana asked me.

“Ask Moritsa, dear,” I said softly, nodding at the brownie.

“Can I?” she asked Moritsa eagerly.

“Of course, Ana!” Moritsa said, smiling more broadly and twirling her dress so that the skirt flew out.  “You like it that much?”

“Yes, it’s very pretty,” Ana said, enchanted again. 

“Maggie, would you help me a moment, please?” I asked, lifting Ana up again.  “Ana, stand up a moment and let Moritsa and the others have a look at you.  Maggie, where should her waist be?  I have no experience with little girls, especially dressing them.”

“Oh, right about here,” Pierce said, kneeling and loosely holding Ana’s nightgown.

“How long should the skirt of the dress be, ma’am?  Above the knee?” another brownie asked along the circle.

“This is Itsaunai, a nephew of Brusa,” I introduced the brownie wearing forest green satin pants with a bright saffron yellow shirt, belted with a bright red sash and shoes and vest, matching Brusa’s reddish-brown.  Itsaunai beamed a bright smile at us.  It was terribly cute and Maggie fell for them hook, line, and sinker.

“I think just below the knee for such a pretty dress, sir,” Pierce said, blushing, then whispered between us, “He’s so adorable!”

I whispered back, “They have much better hearing than humans, too.  There aren’t a whole lot of secrets around them.”  The circle of brownies giggled and she blushed harder.  “I need to check on Donny.  Moritsa, we need to go shortly, dear.  They’ve gone through a long journey and need to start regulating a bedtime to Gilán’s timeframe anyway.”

“Certainly, Lord.  Right away, sir,” Moritsa trilled merrily.  Two more brownies stepped forward with knotted cords for measuring.

With Jimmy and half the Fae watching Donny, I really didn’t need to check on him, more like make a personal appearance.  When I got to that circle, Brusa had Donny standing next to a chair with his youngest son standing on the arm taking chest measurements and a nephew taking waist and leg measurements.  Donny looked overjoyed with the attention he was getting and Mitch was enjoying watching.

After another five minutes, I called a stop to the tailoring sessions and let Maggie and Mitch start pushing them towards bed, backing up the pajama policy against Donny’s protests.  Once they were both tucked into the double bed together and fighting off sleep, I sent the Serons in quietly.  They started a sweet serenade of lullabies so quietly that I almost couldn’t hear them.  A very faint faery fascination began to waft through their songs as they increased their volume ever so slightly.  It was just enough of a fascination to make the children surrender to sleep.  Soon enough, they were cuddled up close, more tired than either realized and fast asleep.

I kept Brusa and Moritsa behind while Jimmy returned with the rest of the Serons.  Giving them the kids’ history without making their mother out to be a complete bitch was really, really hard.  Frankly, it came down to reminding them that children see the world, especially their parents, through much rosier lenses than we do.  And frankly, Barry Grimes covered up many of her failings, both intentionally and unintentionally.  They had no problem understanding her as a person, though.  Their problem was understanding how she related to me.  With so many diverse natures of humanity, they want more divisions within the species, like them.  Couldn’t agree more.

We made plans to visit the apartment tomorrow evening and ferry some of the excess baggage over and then for the final move on Thursday evening.  After that, it was very general planning for day-to-day living with mostly “wait and see” type endings.  None of us liked that but no one could offer any better suggestions.

“Well, it’s time to say good night,” I said.  “I’ll probably be too busy to come by tomorrow, but I’ll try to arrange to be here for the move.  Don’t let it stop you or slow you down if I’m not, though.  It’s more important that they’re safely at home than for me to be the one that takes them.”

“Yes, sir,” Mitch said.  “And thank you again, Lord Daybreak.  I’ll never be able to repay your kindness.”

“Yes, you can, Mitch,” I said, patting the big man’s shoulder.  “And I’ve already told you how—take good care of them.  Cpt. Pierce, I hope I didn’t come across too condescending with you tonight.  I was trying to placate the children more than attend to your feelings.”

“No, Mr. McClure, I understand, though admittedly it took me a few minutes,” Pierce said with a small smile.  “I was wondering, though, you seemed to know all the Serons by name…  How many do you know personally?”

“All of them,” I answered.

“And how many are on your staff at the Palace?”

“A little shy of four thousand,” I said, wondering where she was going.

“And how many of those do you know by name?” she asked.

“Oh, now I understand what you’re asking.  When I said ‘all of them’, I meant all of the faery in Gilán, Captain,” I said, cocking my head to the left.  “We’re barely a colony right now, which is one reason I’m so protective of them.  Currently, that’s only a million, two hundred ninety-six thousand, eight hundred thirty-one, including the Guard.”

“That’s… incredible,” Pierce said, shocked at the number.

“I guess,” I said, shrugging.  “It’s part of my job.  First knows them as well, and Ellorn knows all the Palace staff and the elders afield and others as he has the need.  The Commanders of the Guard have similar abilities within their realms of authority.”

“Wait till you see the place,” Mitch said with a grin.  “It’ll blow your mind.”

I laughed.  “That being said, I have a half-dozen things left to do, so I got to go.  Good night.”  And I shifted home.

It was a perfect replica of the house outside of London.  I hadn’t firmed the walls and floors yet, but Jimmy and I were still meandering through them looking at the details of our assessment.  So far the only changes Jimmy made were in the basement, where I hadn’t gone.

“Looks good to me, Seth,” Jimmy said, confidently.  “Damn near perfect, really.”

“Good,” I said, agreeing with him.  “Ellorn, I have a possible joint building project for you.  Could you gather a couple of builders and join us in the Throne Room, please?”

Yes, Lord, right away!
Ellorn called through the geas, as chipper as ever.

“Commander Byrnes, could you get a few building engineers together and meet us in the Throne Room, please?”

Yes, sir.  Which kind of engineers will you need?
Byrnes replied from the Garrison. 

“An electrician, a telecommunications or telephone technician, a security analyst, I suspect, and a construction engineer should be enough,” I answered.  “Or some combination of specialists that can organize along those lines.  You’ll be working with the brownies on this, so there’ll be some need for coordination, too.”

Yes, sir, right away.

Kieran and Ethan ran across the loop in the Road at full speed, heading for the Family Wing.  Ethan nearly skidded into the wall trying to stop.  Kieran somehow managed to run partly up the wall.  They turned to look at the house, breathing heavily from their run, then slowly walked around it.  I strengthened the floors and walls while they looked.

The familiar pinprick of a shift signaled Dillon’s return home, so I called out to Peter.
Seth’Dur’an o’an, I’m about to discuss renovations on the London house if you want to join us in the Throne Room.

Okay.  Be there in a minute
, he responded sleepily.

If you’re tired, I can do it alone,
I offered.

No, I’m not tired…
He still sounded sleepy though.

“What exactly are you trying to do here, little brother?” Ethan asked from the corner of the house.  “Other than build a façade of a big house, I mean.”

“I put a bid on this place this afternoon,” I said.

“You’re kidding,” Kieran said, coming out around Ethan.  “I hope you aren’t putting much into it.”

“No, that’s the beauty of it,” I said.  “The owner is between a rock and a hard place financially, but I’m offering him a reasonable profit from his point of view.  He’s recently inherited it from distant relatives and the taxes will eat him alive if he tries to get a huge payoff on it.  The only way he’s going to do that is if he dumps huge amounts of cash into renovations and he knows it.”

Peter shifted onto the steps while I was talking, wearing shorts and an over-sized T-shirt and looking amazingly relaxed.  Ellorn and three other brownies came in a half-minute later, stopping a few yards away while I spoke with Kieran and Ethan.

“The house’s base structure, though,” I continued, “is quite sound and there are a number of features on that house that make it almost ideal for what we need.  Hello, Ellorn, be right with you.  It’s essentially out in the boondocks but less than an hour from London Metro.  It’s wired for computers already and has excellent network connections.  There’s a warehouse at the back of the property, accessible from a back road, along with several other small outbuildings.  It’s on several hundred acres of land and surrounded by farmlands.  No major ley lines in the area so any magic there would be easy to spot.  And best of all, it needs work.”

“Why is that good?” Kieran asked confused.

Peter answered for me.  “Because while we are pressed for time, we have a large workforce available literally begging to be utilized.  Seth’s idea not only saves us time
and
money, but it gives us the added security of nearly building from scratch.  If it works like we think it will, it’ll be a nearly perfect arrangement.”

Kieran started to object, I think, then reconsidered.  “That could work out well.  Very nice, Seth.”

“That makes the place in Winchester more interesting,” Ethan said.  “But let’s see how well this works, first.”

Byrnes arrived in the Throne Room with Velasquez and five of the Guard.  Stopping opposite Ellorn, the six men saluted me in the US style but didn’t wait for my return salute, which was good because I wasn’t expecting it and wasn’t certain of a correct response anyway.  I guess I fit the “Commander-in-Chief” title by definition, but I wasn’t sure I wanted those traditions followed.

“Commanders of the Guard, reporting as ordered, Lord Daybreak,” Byrnes said in a conversational tone, much preferable to barking.

“Thank you, Ted, Ric,” I said.  “Before we get started on the main project, please notify all the women and the medical staff to meet us in the Meeting Hall of Barracks Three in about half an hour.  I’d like to speak to them once we’re done here.  And Ellorn, would you have… Denean, Joquila, and Leana join us as well, please?”

“Yes, Lord,” piped Ellorn.

“Yes, sir,” Byrnes said, and the geas was noisy with communications.  Ellorn’s were quick and melodic while Byrnes’ were slow, blocky, and discordant.  Of course, Ellorn’s species had millennia to develop while the Guard had a few days, so a comparison would really be unfair.  It got the job done.

“The next item of business is a joint project to be delegated however you see fit,” I said, sitting down on the steps.  “Y’all can relax.  You all look like I’m gonna pull the Day Sword out and start hackin’ on ya.  I just want the two of ya to work together on a few things.  If it doesn’t work, there are other ways.”

“We aren’t worried, Lord,” Byrnes assured me.  “We’re excited!  At first glance, you’re letting us secure a compound.  This is our first task in our mission.”

“Well, your first task is a little more mundane than that, Ted,” I said smiling.  “We’re about to have children here and as big as the Palace is, children need to play outside fairly often in the sun.  We need a playground or two outside.  With the Grimes kids, there’s enough of a difference in age and size that they’ll grow bored with each other quickly, but then there’s the matter of all the female Guard being pregnant—”

“All of them?” Byrnes asked, interrupting me.  Fire erupted on his butt, making him yell, “Ye-ow!” and jump up and forward.

“Don’t interrupt Daybreak,” Jimmy said sternly, walking around the Guard in front to stand on my right.

I tried not to grin while Byrnes rubbed his burned ass and bruised ego and continued, “With all the female Guard being pregnant, we’re going to have quite a few babies around here in the next forty to forty-five weeks and a few years after that, they’ll need a place to play, too.  So, Ted and Ellorn, I want you to delegate someone jointly to find a place on the grounds to develop and build a small playground for the Grimes in the next week with an eye to expansion.  There’s no reason the brownies can’t use it, too, so you don’t have to wait to start building, but there’s no rush there.  Questions?”

“Are there any regions that you wish to make off-limits, Lord?” Ellorn asked.

“Not that I can think of,” I said.  “Other than the obvious safety issues, not on the Road, not too near the lake or river, that sort of thing.”

“All of them?” Byrnes asked, again.

“Yes, Ted, all of the female Guard are pregnant,” I said again.

“This shouldn’t be difficult, Lord,” Velasquez said confidently.  Byrnes was still stunned, which made me think he was soon to be a father.  I could either search his memory or ask.  Or just wait until circumstances pointed fingers.

“Shall we move to the ‘elephant in the room’ then?” I asked, smiling lightly.

“Please do, Lord,” Ellorn chirped cheerfully turning to the house, understanding the idiom.  “It doesn’t seem to be quite your style.  I presume this is for the other side of the veil?”

“Yes, and you’re right on both counts,” I told my perceptive little Palace aide de camp.  “But we aren’t exactly planning to use it as a residence completely, but more of an office and embassy combination.  There will be need for two or three big bedrooms for visitors and a few bedrooms for live-in staff, though it’s possible for some of the outbuildings to be renovated for that purpose instead.  Now this particular house isn’t a done deal, but I’m pretty sure the owner’s gonna sell.

“It’s outside London on three hundred acres,” I said describing the property for them and projecting a panorama through the geas.  “The power supplies, therefore, are cycled differently as well as the telephone systems.  And the electrical lines are a mess at the juncture.  You’ll see all that when you walk through and I’ll leave this here until you’re ready to begin renovations.  We’ll be buying supplies over there, but using what we can from here as far as tools and such.”

“Do you want a prospectus on design changes and interior designs?” Velasquez asked.

“Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea,” I muttered, looking over at Peter.  He was paying attention, but his eyes were half-open.  And he was freshly showered, too.  Then it hit me why and I blurted out, “Finally!”

Peter shot upright on the steps, drop-jawed and glaring, “You said you wouldn’t look!”

“I didn’t!” I said quickly, holding up both hands, palms out.  “Your body language told me.  You’ve never been this relaxed.  And if I looked a little deeper, I’m sure I would notice the hormonal displacements, too.”

“All right,” he said slowly, still looking suspicious.  Kieran and Ethan started smirking at him, realizing the course the conversation had taken and where it began.

“Of course, if he’s still thinking about it, I could…” I said, teasing him.

“Oh, he still thinking about it, trust me,” he said confidently.  “And you’d better not!  Or blueberry pancakes will be the least of your tortures!”  I laughed at his threat even though I wasn’t sure it was an idle one.  The brownies and Guard were confused by the aside, which was probably for the best.  Ethan chuckled lightly, adding noise to his smirk as Kieran disappeared around the corner of the house, more discrete.

“Ric,” I decided, moving the subject back.  “Let’s get a prospectus as soon as you feel comfortable after you’ve seen the actual house and had a chance to survey the surrounding land.”

“How, um, legal do these modifications need to be?” Byrnes asked, apparently coming out of the baby shock.

“As much subterfuge as necessary can be used to keep it as mundane as possible from inspectors and tax assessors and other government officials who will come to the house itself.  My brothers and I will ward the property lines against the outside world.  No one but us needs to know what truly lies behind the walls.  Don’t lose sight of safety, though, fire, electrical, ventilation and air conditioning, lighting, low-hanging obstacles.  Some of us are taller than others.”

“And the overall interior design?  What about the style and furnishings?” Ellorn asked.

“I’m leaving that to y’all,” I said with a big smile.  “This is your project and I want to see what y’all come up with.  Otherwise, I’d just hand you both plans and say, ‘Do.’  It needs to blend in reasonably with current styles of corporate England and America for our business and still hint at Gilán and Daybreak.  Other than that, it’s pretty much up to you and what you find out during the walk through.”

“We should probably get some magazines and books with plenty of pictures about this for them,” Ethan suggested.  “Decorating isn’t exactly within their area of expertise, especially from the ground up.”

“Good idea,” I said, nodding.  “And I’ll ask Ferrin to get David or Steve to coordinate some time to research equipment and supplies for you.  So, ready to walk through and see everything now?”

“Yes, sir,” Byrnes said, eager again.  Ellorn let Byrnes’ response stand for both of them, accepting the “jointness” of the project.  Kind of him since he was so much higher in the hierarchy than Byrnes.

“Peter, First, would you like to begin while I go speak to the women?” I asked.

“You’re not going to do it?” Peter asked, a little surprised.

“Why?  You know more about what we need than I do,” I said.  “The Commanders know more about standard security and Kieran and Ethan know more about wards and magical security than either of us.  I’ll learn more from the prospectus than walking around as dead weight now.  No, I’m going to talk to our pregnant ladies and our medical staff.”

“Okay,” Peter said and stood up.  I could see Byrnes was starting to panic.  “Holler when you’re done.  Ellorn, this place isn’t faery-safe so watch your step, okay?”

I shifted to a corner of the Meeting Hall where twenty-eight women waited with five male medics and three brownie midwives.  Of all of them, only the brownies were calm and relaxed.  It was almost funny how nervous the human side was and how quiet they were being because of it.

Darting to the front of the room, I said, “Hello, ladies and gentlemen, I hope I’m not pulling you away from anything.”

Everyone stood quickly and chanted in unison, “Good evening, Lord Daybreak.”

“Please, sit,” I said with a comforting smile.  “I’m just here to inform you of a few things and introduce Denean, Joquila, and Leana to you.  They and a few more that they’ll introduce to you will become more important in your lives in the coming weeks.  It seems I didn’t warn you strongly enough about the euphoria of the first night under the geas.  Between that and Gilán’s desires to reproduce everything, it seems you’re all pregnant.”