Sons (Book 2) (148 page)

“Sir?” Cpl. Sands asked, completely confused.

“You wanted to learn, too, didn’t you?” I asked.  “Well, Nil is a lot stronger than you guys so he’ll use the large block and you guys can share the other one.  Nil, you’ll start by drawing the energy into yourself then pushing it through your hand up into the air a few feet and into a sphere.  Hold it there for a moment then draw it back in and repeat this about five times.  Tell me how you feel.”

Watching him fight to do this was about as much fun as watching a gentle breeze blow through a pine tree: boring.  The Guardsmen watched intently though, apparently used to watching for minute changes in technique as Nil tired at each interval.  On the fifth, he strained to hold the orb out.  Then I showed him the invocation that would do the same job that Zero worked last night.  It wasn’t a difficult spell, but Zero would have a much easier time with it than anyone now.  I broke the second line apart for the Guards while Nil studied the invocation and started them drawing the energy in slowly.  Being more accomplished with
ransé
magic in just moving and exercising, this was new to them as well, and scary to boot.  Most of these men were terrorized by magic in some way and now they were using it.

Nil made his first attempt at the invocation.  Flames burst to life around him, engulfing him briefly, then vanished.  He stood there, surprised and singed, still holding the orb in front of him.

“Did I do it wrong, Lord?” Nil asked quietly.

“No, I don’t think so,” I murmured, moving a little closer.  He wasn’t hurt at all, so I had no worries there.  Figuring out something that would work for Nil was harder.  My subconscious gave me the answer.  The small packet of Nil’s that I’d stuffed into my head for further study came bouncing to the forefront of my mind in its shiny blue form and I knew instantly why the lodestone wasn’t accepting it: it was contaminated.  Well, not contaminated, exactly, just not pure ley line energy anymore, instead changed by Nil to include his energy as well, the energy of the
huri
. 

  “Let’s try changing the invocation a little,” I said, taking an idea from that.  I replaced the invocation I gave him with a new one, a simpler one.  The sigil itself was simple, too, and so was the concept: the Giláni word for
burn
.  “Try that.”

Nil studied the change briefly, then invoked the spell.  His baseball-sized orb of energy burned! 

“Throw it at the hill, Nil!  Before you lose it!” I yelled, laughing merrily at the bright blue fire he raised.  Nil threw the ball, pantomiming the motion at the same time, at the hill, nearly blowing the top third off the landscape.  I provided the
ransé
with the invocation as well.  Two of them managed marble-size fireballs and one, a pea-sized fireball, but Cpl. Sands actually fired off a golf-ball-sized orb of tightly held magic right behind Nil.  That hill will never be the same again.

“Congratulations, Nil, you’ve just done the first
huri
magic anywhere and showed four others at the same time,” I said proudly.  “And Cpl. Sands, your team performed beautifully, congratulations.”

Choruses of “Thank you, Lord” abounded as the first burn euphoria ran its course.  Not quite as big a rush as Zero’s, but his was a more powerful and emotional burn.  I started the jubilant group moving back toward the house.  Great timing, too, because Ryan turned onto the drive right after we crossed the road.  His estimation of travel times was dead on, too.

“Good morning, Mr. Davis,” Nil called cheerfully as we came up the drive.  Cpl. Sands and his men moved in around us protectively, puffing up impressively large.  I hadn’t noticed before how big the four of them really were.

“Good morning, Ryan.  You remember Nil?” I asked, a grin curling on my face.

“Afternoon, Seth,” Davis called, closing the file he was reading as he leaned against his sports car.  “No, I can’t say I recall meeting anyone by that name.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Davis,” Nil said.  “I’ve Changed since we met so briefly at Master Peter’s two nights past.”

“He’s changed considerably since then,” I said cheerfully.

“Seth,” Davis said slowly.  “He looks very much like an elf.  I thought you didn’t have any elves in your faery.”

“I don’t,” I said, throwing my arm over Nil’s shoulder.  “Nil is
huri
.  They’re among the most recent Changed of Gilán.  They were my emergency that night.  It was a difficult Change, going from barely two feet tall to six and all.”

Davis stared at Nil for a moment, then he looked at me again.  “Just what the hell are you?” he asked me mildly sarcastically, shaking his head.

“A Lord of Faery?” I suggested, shrugging.  “I thought we covered this.”  That really wasn’t the question.  The
huri
were going to be difficult to explain—at least to those I bothered explaining them to.  “Anyway the reason I called is that I’m going to visit Sara White in Ohio to see how she’s recuperating.  She’s the girl in the picture from the bookkeeper’s office at Hilliard Brothers.”

“The Ohio Enclave?  That would be interesting,” Davis said.  “Are you expecting to find that same sorts of problems there?”

“God, I hope not,” I muttered to myself, then to Davis, I said, “I don’t think so.  According to Hamish’s list, he didn’t teach them anything.  And contrary to what they’d have their groves believe, they aren’t the alpha and omega of druidism.  There are other traditions.  Or were.  Hopefully the worst we’ll find is in the bindings and I’ll just have to go back later and re-educate them.

“Oh, Nil, Ryan says we’ll close on the house on Monday, so y’all can begin the modifications that night, if you want,” I told the
huri
.  “How long do you think it will take?”

“We should be ready for inspection by Tuesday morning, Lord Daybreak,” Nil said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

I looked over, canting my head slightly.  “Nil, you’re adding a floor and rearranging almost every wall in the building.  You think it will take about twelve hours?”

“Oh, yes, Lord,” Nil said, nodding emphatically.  “Everyone in the Palace wants to participate in your first embassy to your first world.  Twelve hours should be plenty of time.  We’ll even have time to do most of the outbuildings as well.  The furniture will take a little longer since you want it all purchased locally, but we can use pieces from the Palace until they arrive.”

That was a little surprising.  That meant Zero and he had built a schedule of some kind and worked with several different people coordinating tasks, including the engineers in the Guard.  “So you understand Ellorn’s problem then?” I asked.  “You understand how to fix it?”

“Uh, no, sir,” Nil answered, looking helpless.

“Ellorn or First okayed your schedule, huh?”

“Yes, sir,” he answered.

Shaking my head, I truly didn’t understand the problem exactly.  Why they weren’t getting the idea that they were perfectly capable of making decisions on their own.  Even as brownies, they made more decisions than they do now.  The brownies in the fields made more decisions than they are now.

“Another floor?  That’s another ten rooms, at least,” Davis said.

“Eight,” confirmed Nil.  “With two more bathrooms and a supply closet.”

“Would you care to see it?  Nil’s quite proud of the work Zero and he put into it,” I told him.  “We can spare a few minutes if you want a quick tour.”

“A tour?  Before the changes are made?  How is that possible?” Davis asked.

“I have a model at home they’ve been working on,” I answered, somewhat coyly.

“Well… yes, I’d like to see it,” Davis said, his curiosity getting the better of him, looking over his car at the house.  I shifted the three of us over, leaving his car where it sat in England.  The newer version of the house was much taller and wider and since I kept us at the same distance, the house sort of exploded in front of him.  We caught him as he lost his balance and fell backwards.

The Throne Room suddenly came alive with activity.  From the south entrance, thirty
huri
couples with eighty-three children turned for the front door.  From the north entrance, a troop of twenty Guardsmen surrounded by three dozen brownies, all chatting amicably at the same time.  And coming in from the front door was another group like the first, about twenty families with fifty-two kids and another twenty adults tagging along.  Of course, I was paying attention to Ryan, who couldn’t decide what to pay attention to.

“Seth, where are we?” he whispered, his eyes wide in shock.

“In front of the mock-up of the house after the changes,” I answered, nodding toward the house.  “It’s in my Palace so the brownies could work on it.”  Just as suddenly as the room filled with people, it fell to silence as soon as I started talking.  Everyone was still quite a distance away.  Ryan was trying to look everywhere at once again.

“I’m not sure what’s more interesting here,” he said, dumbfounded and looking at the walls at the moment.  “This is a lot more ostentatious than Peter’s apartment, but still very masculine and understated, very
you
in personality, I think.  Are those more of your
huri
?”

“Yep.  Looks like a group coming in and two groups going out,” I answered, looking back at the three groups now standing stock-still and waiting patiently for… something.  Then I got it: Ellorn’s problem had spread.  I lifted my voice so everyone in the room could hear, and said, “Guys, we all live here together.  If you stop what you’re doing just because I’m in the room, you won’t get much done.  If I have reason to stop you or want privacy, you will know, trust me.  You can go on about your business.”  A sharp pang a disappointment fired through the geas as they politely started walking again.  The Guard and brownies were the first to start talking but in quieter voices.  They were all just being nosy, apparently, wanting to see what his High Muckity-Muck was up to.

I don’t think I let out enough stress last night.  Maybe I was too clever for my own good or maybe the sheer amount of loot was just… so staggering.  I had to stop myself.  This was my day off, as much as I got one in the last two months, and I needed it.

“Nil, would you take us on a brief tour of the house, please?” I asked, guiding Ryan in that direction, even as he turned over his shoulder to watch the parade of
huri
and
ransé
and brownies in the distance.

“Happily, Lord Daybreak,” he said, taking Ryan’s hand and commanding his attention.  It was a brief thing, a dominance of wills, that made Ryan’s head snap around to Nil angrily, but instantly lose that anger to his bright blue eyes and happy little smile, almost effusing innocence.  “Right this way, Mr. Davis, and I’ll tell you anything I can about the changes we’ve made.  First the entry patio is larger so that it can accommodate larger groups and be more useful.”

A small girl appeared at the edge of the house and waited patiently, like she wanted to be recognized first.  She had dark green hair and wore silks similar to Kieran’s, but her eyes were all mine.  Nil opened the front doors wide, smiling hugely as he swept his arm back inviting us through to the foyer.

“You noticed, of course, the house has increased in size, both in width as well as height,” Nil said smoothly as they entered.

“Lord Daybreak?  May I have a moment, Lord?” the girl called nervously, now at the steps of the patio.

“Sure,” I said, then turning back to Nil and Ryan, I said, “I’ll catch up in a minute, guys.”  I jogged down a few steps and sat in front of her, drinking the little
huri
in.  She looked like she should have been a sea nymph of old legend: deep green hair, bright green eyes, even pale green freckles on her cheeks.  No, that was make-up, cute, though.  “What can I do for you?”

“Well, sir, I’m Naught,” she said shakily, terribly nervous.  “I have the duty period after Nil which starts in less than an hour.  It appears that you’re about to leave Gilán again, and I was wondering if you would mind if I joined early so that I would not miss my time to serve my Lord.”

“Your timing’s a bit off there, isn’t it?” I said archly.  “Nil has another two hours before he’s supposed to leave.”

“Yes, Lord, but my duty period starts earlier,” she said earnestly.  “Reporting in, daily briefings on Palace affairs, that sort of thing, Lord. 
Saun
Ellorn was quite busy implementing changes when I passed through.  It was having quite a curious effect among the administration.”  She shook off the thought as if it bothered her.  Her explanation sounded feasible though.  Sort of.

“All right, as long as Nil doesn’t mind,” I agreed, but I wasn’t planning on sending Nil home exactly on time either.  I got up and headed for the house.  “Come along, then.  You’re the first girl in our group, so we won’t know how to act.  Probably we won’t change much, so I hope your sensibilities aren’t too delicate.  My brothers are a heathen bunch.”  Ryan was admiring the floor when we walked in.

In fact, Ryan was on his hands and knees, examining the sigil for Clan McClure as if he had a high-powered microscope aimed at it.  It was a rather peculiar stance to kneel in.

“Nil, Naught is asking to join early so she won’t miss her window of opportunity when her time comes,” I said rather blandly, squinting and canting my head to the side at Ryan.  “Do you have any objections to her joining us as an observer until then?  She was anxious that perhaps she would suffer a similar wait to you this morning.”

“No, Lord,” Nil answered, seemingly entranced by Ryan as well.

“Ryan, what are you doing?” I asked slowly.

“Oh, Seth,” he muttered and looked up, grinning.  “This design… It’s fabulous!  At a guess, I’d say it dates back about four thousand years, maybe more.  How does it relate to you?”

“That’s the symbol for Clan McClure, Ryan,” I said, feeling a bit of familial pride at his excitement.  “And I believe my father has family records that date back further than that, but I haven’t seen them yet.”

“How old is your family?” Ryan asked, getting off the floor and brushing his pants off.  The Archdruid stone attracted his attention next, before I could even formulate an answer.  “What’s that?”  He pointed at it.

“Kieran wanted a representation of Archdruid in the foyer, too,” I said, turning and looking back.  “We didn’t know any symbology, but this felt accurate enough for what I do.  The stonemasons did beautiful work there.” 

Ryan grunted, studying the inset circles as if they held some secret in their depths.  “I think you underestimate your understanding, Seth,” he said quietly.  “Well, Nil, shall we carry on?”

And he did, a whirlwind tour that still took longer than I wanted, but I learned about the house, too.  Frankly, it was huge.  Rows of offices on the second floor and Nil insinuated even more in some of the outbuildings.  There’d have to be some in the warehouse, anyway.

“Ryan, would you care to use an office and suite here for the time being?” I asked since we had so many extra rooms.  “I mean after Tuesday, of course, at least until you get other clients than us.  It’d get you out of that hotel and also give you more time to devote to your… studies.”  He didn’t hesitate in responding.

“Thank you, Seth, I’d love to,” Davis said, smiling graciously.  He tried to hide his relief behind a calm façade.

“You’re welcome, Ryan,” I said.  “Bring your stuff by Tuesday morning and someone will get you settled into one of your liking.  Now, let’s get going.  Big shift coming.”

~              ~              ~

Lt. Col. Brian White lived somewhere in Ohio, but I didn’t want to just go barging in and I didn’t want to have to search all of Ohio either.  Sgt. Morton dropped the pair of them at the Cleveland Airport, so that really wasn’t much to go on.  So we dropped by the Pentagon first, to get a contact number.

“Good morning, Sgt. McNeely,” I said gently as we approached her desk.  Startled, she stood bolt upright, slamming the book she’d been reading closed.

“Lord Daybreak!” she said loudly, clutching at her ample bosom.  She stood up tall and proud, remembering our brief discussion the other day.  “I’m sorry, you startled me.  How may we help you today?”

“This being Friday, I thought we were expected,” I said with raised eyebrows, clasping my hands behind my back.  “Five from your side should be in attendance: Harmond, Barnett, Thorn, Hanson, and Dominick.”

“I wasn’t aware of that appointment, sir,” she said, trying desperately to seem unphased and unafraid.  “Let me find them for you.”

“Start with Thorn and Hanson, please,” I said mildly, leading my entourage toward the chairs.  McNeely got busy on the phone while I plopped down in a chair.  Nil and Ryan paced quietly in front of me while Naught sat on the edge of the chair next to me, facing me.