Sons (Book 2) (119 page)

Jimmy and Lynton appeared when I grunted in acknowledgment to his compliment.  “Impressive” should have knocked them out of their complacency.

“Simon, I need to complete your circle as well as the one below yours before I leave since you can’t do it without spilling blood,” I said standing.  “Are the candidates in the glen now?”

“Y-yes, Archdruid,” he stammered, still a little confused by the transfer.  “Everyone is still within the Hilliards’ copse at the moment, including the additions to the second and third circles.  They’re part of the protection rings.”

“Will this change in their status affect those rings?” I asked.

“I would think only for the better, sir,” Lynton said.  “It would increase their ability to hear and see the flows within the higher magics.  But can this be done without the binding?  It requires the exchange of life’s blood for the elemental connections to the Earth’s energy.”

“I think I can manage,” I said with a small smile.  “Ryan, would you stay here for a few minutes?  You know how testy the old boys can be.”

“Most definitely, Lord Daybreak,” Davis said, palms up and taking a step back.  I was still in too foul a mood to appreciate the humor.

Jumping the three of us to the Hilliard copse, I waved for Lynton to lead the way into the thicket.  Once inside I went to check on Cornell while Lynton collected his circle.  Hamish and Kendrick sat on one bed facing Cornell as he sipped at chicken broth.

“Feeling better, Cornell?” I asked the grizzled druid as I walked up to the beds.  He nodded briskly, his eyes a bit wide.  He made several hand motions, tapping and clicking his fingers against his thighs and arms.

“Cornell is asking you to show him the same two scenes you showed us earlier, Archdruid,” Hamish said, giggling.

“All right, since you put so much effort into the sinks, but commit it to memory.  This isn’t a party trick, you know,” I said, smiling tiredly.  I replayed the two scenarios for Cornell and his brothers without preface while I looked him over.  The spell was more affective in some aspects but less so in others than I expected, but overall he’d be fine.

A burst of laughter in the small glade signaled Dad punching the Rat Bastard out as I was trying to get the druids to form up for me.  Might as well have been trying to herd elephants with a plastic mouse for all the good it was doing me, so I waited for the second simulation to finish.  The nearly eardrum-bursting shout of thirty some-odd druids meant the end of the elf.  And my breathing, it seemed, as Cornell was squeezing it out of me with thin, twiggy arms from behind.  I said, “All right, Cornell, let g—of*!” and Kendrick joined his brother in the hug.  I didn’t know how he even heard me with the racket the druids were making.  You’d have thought they killed the Rat Bastard right then with all the noise.

The whole scene amused Jimmy immensely, but he had the good sense not to show it outwardly.  I caught his attention, pointing to Simon, held up two fingers, and ran my hand in a circle.  Next, I had to extricate myself without breaking either set of arms or hurting either ego.  Hamish turned out to be the key, or rather, my rescue.

“Brothers, Lord Daybreak is a busy man today,” Hamish said cheerfully.  “We should keep our adulation short and perhaps he will show us more of his abilities.”

“Actually, that’s precisely what I had in mind,” I said, moving to the center of the copse.  “We need to rebuild your sacred three, Hamish, so you can close your circles yourselves.  Granted, this will have to be repeated in a few days when you retire, but by then I think I’ll have the compulsion amended.”

“With the Modred dead, Archdruid, we welcome retirement and the simple joys of teaching,” Kendrick said softly, moving to my side.  All three of them had a sense of tranquility in them that was positively Zen.  They sat on the ground around me in a close triangle facing outward and closed a ceremonial circle around us.  This would allow me to pass across without breaking the magic of the binding that linked them together.

Simon’s circle moved in close around us and I discovered the new guy was the head of the second circle.  I should have expected that.  Promotions work that way most of the time, but I didn’t need to know the internal politics of the Hilliard Grove.  Mostly I didn’t care so long as they behaved.  There was probably much more ceremonial work that should have accompanied this, but I neither knew it nor had time for it, especially since I was once again working on instinct. 

Starting with the new guy, I brushed his connection to the other circle away gently and linked him tonally with the Hilliards.  He needed connections to the four elements, which he already had, and a connection to his new circle, which he didn’t.  It looked like the elemental connections were abolished in the normal ceremony, otherwise there’d be no reason to spill blood for a new one.  Wrapping his self-image in those elemental controls, I had him sing the tone signifying the sacred oak and linked him with the next man in the circle, progressing through each member of the primary circle until I reached Simon.  Any of their sacred symbols would have worked; they certainly had enough of them.  Simon, though, needed to be linked to everyone as High Druid of the Grove.  Brushing Simon’s elemental connections away, I re-drew them stronger around his self-image then had him chant in succession the three tones for the sacred trees while I drew in the connections for the other eight druids.  Pressing my hand on his chest, I closed the second circle of the Hilliard grove by saying, “So mote it be.”  Pale green energy pulsed out of Simon’s aura and shot to each member, forming a series of lines.  An aura of similar energy formed around the group in a bubble, authenticating that the circle had been made and made correctly without the need for spilt blood.  They sat down cross-legged, giddy as schoolchildren on laughing gas.

Hamish and Kendrick were ecstatic at my achievement, previously convinced of its impossibility.  Cornell was shocked in amazement.  It wasn’t that hard once I knew what the bindings looked like and where they needed to be.

The third circle was more challenging only because I had to add three new people and a leader to appoint.  I started with holly this time, much to Kendrick’s amusement though I didn’t know why.  After finishing with the third circle, the three had to be sanctified together.  I had the Hilliards hold the note for oak, the second circle held ash, and the third held thorn.  I trilled my way through the shrubs while I bound their power to their wills through the leaders, setting the binding solidly in place with the familiar “So mote it be.”

While everyone was still dazed in the new connections, Jimmy and I sneaked out with my now clean pots and went to collect Ryan. 

Little brother, are you okay?
Ethan asked through the anchor just as we arrived at back at Ryan’s hotel room.

I will be
, I answered, falling back on the couch in Davis’ front room
.
  Ryan went to get his briefcase so we could see to the paperwork on the house.
  Especially now that I’m away from those conceited, self-centered half-wits.

Well, you’ve scared the hell out of Thomas, Gordon, and Darius,
he said, the humor in his voice unmistakable. 
After we got up to leave, there was a bit of general panic when everyone realized just how serious the situation was
.

Y’all left, too?
  They deserved to be abandoned, but I didn’t think Kieran would actually do it. 

No, just acted like we would.  Thomas reminded them of exactly what you have achieved alone that they couldn’t together as well as what losing you and Gilán would mean.  He wasn’t polite about it either.  How serious about that are you, anyway?

Very!
I answered emphatically. 
Why should we waste our time on them?  There are a lot more people like Trelaine who could use our help and be grateful to have it
.

Yes
, Ethan agreed. 
And the bigger problems, like this war, would be solved much more slowly and more lives would be lost than would be necessary
.

Stop being reasonable, Ethan.  It’s unbecoming.
  I felt him laughing at me as he broke the connection.  Oddly enough, though, that small exchange made me feel a little better.

“…So soon?  Why?” Davis said into his cell phone as he came back into the room.  “No, we have to pay them.  They can wait.  I’ll be there as soon as I can.”  He sighed as he disconnected the call.  “There are inspectors at the house.  I assume that is Lord Bishop’s influence working overtime to expedite the sale.”

“Cool.  Maybe things will move in my favor for once today,” I said standing.  “And Jimmy will get a chance to look over the landscape better now.”

“But it’s going to take us close to two hours to drive there from here,” Davis said.  I wrapped the three of us in portals and jumped us to the nearly pornographic statues on the porch that Peter liked so much.  “Or we can go this way.  How can I forget…” 

“Good question,” Jimmy murmured, grinning at the druid as he made for the front door.  “There are sixteen men here, including Edmington, all on the rear patio.”

Davis and I followed Jimmy through the house to the patio.  On the way I looked about the house and even though I hadn’t looked into the demo unit in the Throne Room, I think I agreed with them, it did need to be larger to suit our purposes.  Whatever those purposes might actually end up being.  This area wasn’t right for the research we wanted, but there were other places in the world. 

We came out of the house to the patio to find a collection of men from neighboring farms yelling at Edmington while several men in yellow vests stood behind him with their arms crossed on their chests.  The vested men were the surveyors.  The men arguing were the neighboring farmers who apparently were taking offense with the surveyors.  Since this wasn’t my problem, I sat down at one of the tables to watch and being last in line, Jimmy and Ryan missed that fact and proceeded into the melee.

I loosed my senses out onto the property in case there was something else around.  The land looked and felt just as I remembered, except for the break in the fence and the extra vehicles.  Listening to the argument, the neighbors were aggravated about the surveyors being on their property.  The surveyors said they were on the property line and therefore in the easement, and it didn’t matter since their fences were on the wrong side of the property line.  I thought it was a little funny that both neighbors were here, arguing the same thing.  The surveying equipment was abandoned two-thirds of the way along one side.  Measuring along the road, they started through a windbreak and making an obvious path.  Pushing out a bit further I saw why and decided to let Ryan handle it.

“Mr. Edmington,” Davis said in greeting, meeting him at his side.  “I’m Ryan Davis, attorney for the McClures.  What seems to be the problem?”  He spoke in a commanding voice, a little high-pitched, but it cut through the yelling and demanded attention from everyone.  His singing voice was quite different.  Glancing back, he saw me sitting with my head in my hands and watching with what I hoped was a perfectly angelic seventeen-year-old “huh?” look.  Jimmy poured on the boyish charm, sitting on the railing.  I had no idea where he got the sunglasses or who he was trying to charm.

“Mr. Davis,” Edmington said respectfully, answering to Davis’ authority as if sensing his status.  “The neighbors are violently disputing the survey team’s presence.  This started a few moments ago and I have yet to determine the exact reason for all the shouting.”

“I see,” Davis said, stepping down to the grass and drinking in the Earth’s power.  He radiated strength and confidence back through his aura and it had an effect on them, in their auras.  “I think we can avoid violence here and settle this like gentlemen.  Let’s start with who is the offended party?”

“I am,” a man in dirty coveralls and red plaid flannel shirt in front tried to growl at Davis.  He was just too average to growl adequately at anyone.  Mid-fifties, pot-bellied and only a wisp of hair on top, even with ten men in backup, if the survey team took off the vests, they’d be more intimidating.  “I’m Gerald Harbin.  I got the farm next door and these clods was on my land.  Y’got no right t’be trespassing!”

“Yes, and I see that your current crop has yet to be harvested,” Davis said, making me snicker quietly.  Ryan had seen the same cash crop I did.  “Mr. Harbin, you have no legal standing here.  The survey team is defining the legal property line.  At this point you have two options.  You can either cooperate or you can continue to object.  If you choose the former, your crop will simply disappear along with your amateur chemist shop.  If you choose the latter, then law enforcement officers will be called and you will still lose your cash crop and chemist shop and you will learn what the inside of a prison looks like.  The choice is yours, so make it quickly.”

Harbin was in shock at Davis’ knowledge of his lab, but I don’t think the man could tell the difference between a pipette and a test tube.  His men weren’t as agreeable and started speaking in low voices to Harbin about the money they’d lose, now and in the future.  They got noisier and noisier, challenging Davis’ options to Harbin in favor of more violent choices.  They really weren’t all that bright.  Two men from the back surged forward and caused the rest to move past Harbin toward Davis.  I felt waves of earth and fire magic shoot away from me.  As the waves hit the charging men, their feet became glued to the ground and their throats constricted, choking off their yelling.  The waves passed them and they fell over themselves from their own inertia.  Jimmy nearly fell off the railing in a fit of laughter, watching them fall into a pile between Davis and Harbin.

“Prison it is, then,” Davis said, shaking his head.  “Mr. Edmington, would you mind calling a constable?  I’m afraid I left my phone at the hotel.”

“Certainly, Mr. Davis,” Edmington said.  It was so absurdly genteel I almost hated to interrupt them.

“Before you leave, sir, I’d like a word with my solicitor in private,” I said, not particularly loudly but with enough intent behind it to seize everyone in a hundred feet.  Instant fascination is a basic Fairy trick and easily defended by most talents.  “Ryan, we have to make a small change.  We travel under diplomatic passports and I have known associations with the Pentagon.  Perhaps the Foreign Office should be notified first, otherwise this might be quite an embarrassment for little reason.  I’ll probably do whatever they want anyway.”

“You lead a complicated life, especially for such a young man,” Davis said, grinning.  “I’m afraid I need more practice with solo magic.  I’m used to having a community to draw on.”

“Not a problem,” I answered.  “I’ll provide eight men to cover the surveyors so that they’ll feel safe enough to continue while we wait for the Foreign Office to decide what route to take.”  I felt the gentle scratch of eight shifts across the veil as a security detail of my Guard appeared on the grass near the steps to the porch.  Jimmy was being pro-active.  “Perhaps Mr. Edmington knows of a delivery service we can call?  I’m hungry already.”

“Hey, Seth!  Look!” Jimmy called out.  “They learned a new trick!”  He was standing with the Guardsmen, a second lieutenant in command.  They were in full uniform and carrying elongated batons.  “Show ‘im, boys!” Jimmy said, grinning.  With a slight effort of will, the Guard’s auras shimmered in contact with their uniforms and their outer aspect changed, snapping instantly to a black, unmarked assault team uniform reminiscent of that Bishop and his men wore.  Even their batons changed to look like shotguns.  It was more menacing than the friendly Gilán blue, I thought.

“That’s marvelous!” I gushed, probably too much.  “Just remember to hide the guns when the cops show up.  The Brits are testy about firearms.  Really tight, though, guys.”  Reaching into the geas, I touched Byrnes’ mind. 
Ted, I’m going to need a couple of dozen more men to control the property while we contact the authorities.  How pervasive is this camouflage ability?

Yes, sir
, Byrnes answered immediately. 
I have a platoon forming now.  And about a third of us can manage the camouflage now.  Brick says it’s simple enough that everyone will have it down by tomorrow
.

Tell Brick to watch his more able students carefully
, I told him. 
There may be more to this than he suspects.
 

“Yes, sir, I’ll do that,” Byrnes said, standing beside me suddenly, startling Davis.

“Do any of you people
walk
anywhere?” Davis gasped quietly.

“You can’t get here from there by walking, Ryan,” Jimmy said, chuckling as he walked up.  Familiar scratchings touched my consciousness and the platoon appeared behind our raucous neighbors.  I dropped the fascination as my men flowed around and surrounded them, not much caring how confusing it was to them.

“Mr. Edmington, gentlemen,” I said, turning about and including the survey team.  “The neighbors weren’t so much upset about trespassers but that you’d find their nice little field of marijuana plants in the back corner of the property that they’ve been using for some time.  Since that would likely bring the police, then their little meth lab would be discovered, too, and they’d lose a considerable chunk of change as well as risk jail time.  Some of my men will go with the survey team so that they can continue their work while others will surround the field and the lab without going into either so we do not contaminate the crime scenes.”

The survey team was instantly nervous and scared that drugs meant drug lords and that meant gunfights.  They watched too much TV.  Jimmy jumped in and started smoothing pitched emotions and within moments, they were jogging off with the security team toward the break in the fence to start again.  Ryan had Edmington sitting at a table explaining about the Foreign Office situation and calling them first.  And Byrnes was with the platoon, sending his men to the outskirts of the property to patrol.  He left only five men to watch over the ten neighbors, properly cowed by fake assault shotguns.  That left me doing nothing, so I guess I was calling the Foreign Office.

Figuring any number I got from a directory would start me at the bottom of a mountain of red tape and take forever, I decided to try for a shortcut.

“Good morning, Cpt. Thorn, Seth McClure,” I said after dialing my Pentagon contact number.

“Good morning, Mr. McClure, I didn’t expect to hear from you until tomorrow,” Thorn said anxiously.  “What can I do for you today?”

“Just a minor diplomatic issue in England,” I said and told him a brief recounting of the problem.  “So I want to get in touch with the Foreign Office before we get a headline like ‘Foreign diplomat buys into meth lab’ or something like it.  You know, reasonable deniability and all.”

“Can’t you do anything normal?” Thorn asked, chuckling nervously. 

“I’m just trying to buy a house, captain,” I said, laughing with him.  “If it weren’t for the newsstand in bookstores, I wouldn’t know what a pot plant looks like.”

“All right, let me make some calls and I’ll get back with you as soon as possible,” Thorn said and disconnected.

And suddenly I was alone on the patio with nothing to do.  There was a lot of activity on the property and I was responsible for most of it, but I wasn’t doing any of it.  Thinking about Davis’ problem while I watched Jimmy set the Guardsmen around the pot field and chem lab, I dropped a battery into my hand, playing with it like a stage magician doing a coin trick. 

From what I’d seen of the druid magic, it was an Earth-based talent that linked the elemental forms to symbolic natural attributes of plants, stones, rivers, and animals.  It wasn’t elven, more like a blind man’s attempt to be elven, but it was certainly strong enough in the right adept’s hands.  It’s a heavily ceremonial magic so it was more persistent than invocative.  The trinities and nine point circles helped them build the power and remain generally peaceful.  Getting eight friends to agree to fight somebody made for a fairly peaceful society, in theory.  My knowledge of history was more east than the British Isles in that time period.  The Hilliard brothers named me Archdruid because I sang an invocation in three voices into their carefully laid ceremonial spells with them basically singing backup.  It’s a trick of magic that takes a bit of concentration and power all by itself.  Add in the three voices for the spell itself, holding the entire sacrament in stasis, and supplying them their energy made my output of magic look phenomenal in their eyes.