Sons (Book 2) (160 page)

“Truly?” Connor asked.  “Why did you take his toy?”  Coulter asked, “What did Uncle Ethan do wrong?”

“He didn’t do anything wrong, but his toy is a grown-up toy that runs throughout the Palace,” I explained.  “In here, it’s a little extra strong and he likes that.  I won’t turn it back on until you two can handle it.”

“Is he going to…” Coulter started and Connor finished, “be cross with us?”

“Not at all, boys,” Peter said confidently.

“Besides, it’ll only be for a day or two,” I said, tapping Connor’s chest lightly.  “I’ve run with you, ‘member?  It’s that kind of toy.  You’ll master it in no time flat.”  Connor grinned at Coulter.  “Can you wait here with Peter for me?  I just want to walk down the path a ways and say ‘hello’ and sort of prepare them, first.”

“Are you scared, Daddy?” Coulter asked me.  Peter stifled a chuckle, changing it into a smirk over the boys’ heads.  Connor looked up worriedly.

“Absolutely not,” I said with absolute confidence.  “They’re my brothers and we have nothing to fear from each other.  I’m just a little unsure of one’s reaction to some information that’s related to you.  I just want to make sure that he remains calm when he meets you.  I want all of us to enjoy this experience since we can’t have it again.”

“We can’t?  Why not?” Connor asked.  He was scared and not thinking.

“You can only meet someone for the first time once, Connor,” I answered. 
Gibson, would you bring me their stuffed toys, please?
  “Now give me a hug, both of you.”  They glowed with pride at my demand and glommed on like iron filings to a magnet.  Peter took the toys from Gibson as I released them.  “Take Peter’s hand and I’ll be right back for you.”

When they reached behind them blindly, Peter placed their toys in their hands instead.  The boys giggled and hugged the plushes then turned to take Peter’s hands this time.  I was still smiling as I left the alcove and turned onto the Road to see Guitar just beginning the straightaway of the loop with Kieran and Ethan towering behind him.

This was going to be an interesting supper.

Ethan was still wiping blood off his face.  I couldn’t help myself.  After fifteen yards, I stopped and stared, arms crossed on my chest.  “You followed Peter through successive shifts, yet you can’t see my door is shut?” I shouted down the corridor, laughing at him openly.

“You
do
usually open the door especially when you invite us,” Ethan shouted back indignantly.

“Ethan, it’s a big-ass piece of granite!  How could you not see it hadn’t moved, man?” I bellowed, still laughing hard.

“You haven’t been holed up in here all day, have you?” Kieran asked more quietly as the distance lessened.

“Nyah, I’ve had quite a busy day actually,” I said with a smile, still easy for my boys.  “Most of it was outside the Palace actually.  Thanks, Guitar, I’ll take it from here.”  They’d finally reached me by then and we were speaking in conversational tones.  “And how was your day?”

Kieran shrugged.  “Hmm.  Okay, I suppose.  We spent the day with Dad and Olivia.  The good news there is your idea is working.  Dad seems to be pulling it together again.”

“Good.  That’s a load off my mind, Kieran.  It really is.  It’s so hard for me not to check on him.  But now we have to avoid talking about him completely while you’re in here.  Completely and immediately.  It’s important, as you’ll find out.  I haven’t been idle either, though after last night, I did sleep in a few extra hours.  Had my new staff terribly worried I was sick or something.”

“Well, why’d you cut the Road off?” Ethan asked.

“That will be clear shortly, Ethan,” I answered.  “By the way, I appreciate the idea of a day off, but let’s not do that again.  So far, I’ve dealt with a
huri
problem, and
ransé
gambling problem, discovered that Dominick hasn’t fulfilled his obligations because he’s dead, visited Sara White and had a major conflict with the second druid clan, found the third and fourth Pactholders, adopted twins, destroyed two mountains in the Hinterlands with Peter and visited the Sundered Realms.

“All in all, a pretty busy day for a day off, wouldn’t you agree?” I said smiling and waiting for it all to sink in.

“You ran those together awfully fast, Seth,” Kieran said amicably.  “Would you mind repeating the items between the second druid clan and destroying the mountains with Peter, please?”

“I’m pretty sure you heard, Kieran,” I said, grinning.  “And I think it will make more sense once you’ve met them.  Hold on a moment.”  I turned and moved back to the alcove entrance at Daybreak speed.  The boys’ faces lit up the moment I turned the corner and came into view.  “Are you ready, sons?” I asked, reaching out to take their hands.

“Yes, Daddy,” they said cheerfully, but hugging their toys in one arm anxiously.

“Comin’, Pete?” I called without looking back.

“Of course, Seth, I wouldn’t miss it,” Peter said, walking on Connor’s left.  We started walking. 

I could see the calculations start in Kieran’s head the second we turned the corner.  Ethan’s smile was instant and delighted, but Kieran’s crept slowly and evenly across his face.  I was pretty certain he didn’t see the fact that swung my decision to adopt them.  We’d get to that, though.

We stopped a few feet out from my brothers and I said to my tremendously anxious boys, “Connor McClure, Coulter McClure, I’d like you to meet my brothers.  This is Kieran, also called ‘Free Lord’, because he holds faery in geas but holds no land currently.”

“Hello, Connor, Coulter, it’s very good to meet you,” Kieran said smoothly.

The twins stared up at him wide-eyed and fearful.  “H-hello,” Connor said meekly.  Coulter didn’t say anything until I squeezed his hand gently.  “Hello,” Coulter mumbled quietly.

“And this is Ethan,” I said.  Ethan was glowing with excitement.

“Hi, boys!” Ethan said, stepping forward.  “I couldn’t be happier for you and Seth!  Gimme a hug!”  The boys grinned and jumped on Ethan.

Kieran smiled at the giggles and laughs from Ethan and the boys.  “Is that all you have to do to get a little affection around here?  Just ask?” he said, joking.

“How long have you lived here?” Peter asked him as Ethan untangled himself.

Laughing at Peter, I said, “Come on, boys.  Gibson has held supper long enough.”

“Yes, Daddy,” they answered, grabbing my hands and pulling me toward the alcove, bunny and dump truck still tightly held in their other hands.

“Betcha never thought you’d hear
that
about Seth, huh?” Peter asked behind me.

“Not this soon, anyway,” I heard Kieran murmur.

“Where did they come from, Peter?” Ethan asked.

“The Hinterlands,” Peter answered.  “Seth will explain it, probably after he puts the boys down for the night.  It’s a sad story, though.” 

The alcove was lit beautifully by the starscape behind the dome.  Gibson and Guitar had several small torches in the plants and trees around the tables and several candles and small covered oil lamps on the tables to add enough light.  The aromas were even better than a few minutes ago and the boys’ hunger was becoming contagious. 

We scrambled around to the far side, with Kieran sitting opposite me with the boys on either side of me.  There wasn’t much “adult talk” while I attended to the boys and Gibson and Guitar took care of everyone else.  Kieran watched me with bemused interest.

“This is very good, Gibson,” Ethan said of a soup he was eating.  “Is this millet?”

“Barley, sir,” chirped Gibson.  “And thank you.”

“So Seth, what were the
huri
issues this morning?” Kieran asked.

“Just one issue,” I said, watching Coulter slurp down a small portion of barley soup.  “It frustrated Ellorn mostly because he was part of the problem.  The
huri
lacked self-confidence in their decisions so anything of any importance was brought to
Saun
Ellorn for approval.”

“Isn’t that what we’re trying to avoid?” Ethan asked, rather needlessly I thought.

After squinting at a candle for a second, Kieran said, “Instant massive bureaucracy, would be my guess.”

“Got it in one,” I announced cheerfully.  “Connor, please try eating the field peas instead of playing with them.  If you’d rather have beans, I can get you beans instead.”

“I’d rather have beans, Daddy,” Connor said, squishing more peas.

As I went after the beans from the buffet for Connor, Ethan leaned over and whispered loudly to Coulter, “Would you like to try a slice of pizza, Coulter?  It’s one of your Dad’s favorites, you know.”

“Can I?” Coulter asked excitedly, jumping in his seat.

“Can I try some, too, Uncle Ethan?  Can I, please, can I?” Connor pleaded.

Ethan shouldn’t have done that.  “Gibson, what’s on the pizza?” I asked, spooning a small amount of beans onto Connor’s plate.

“We have two pizzas, Lord Daybreak,” Gibson said.  “One is topped with ham and pineapple and the other is topped with pepperoni and mushrooms.”

“Okay, boys, you may have one slice of either kind,” I said.

“Yay!” they shouted gleefully, waving their hands in the air.  “What is pepperoni?” Connor asked, then Coulter asked, “What’s pineapple?”  They smiled broadly as we laughed.

“You know,” Kieran started, “if you each choose a different kind and split your slices with each other, you’ll each get to try both kinds.”  The boys thought for a second then whipped around to me questioningly.

“Do you want to do that?” I asked, watching their excitement grow.

“Yes, Daddy!” they said together.  While I sought out the pizzas and a knife, Ethan tried to explain pepperoni and pineapple to the twins.  Since they didn’t have a frame of reference, he stumbled several times trying to get out of the gate.  Chuckling the whole time at Ethan’s expense, I put two pieces of each pizza on my plate and sat down.  Splitting one of each for the boys and doling them out, the three of us dug in after I showed them the pineapple and pepperoni.  I would rather have the roast pork loin than the pizza, but the boys needed the camaraderie more than I needed tender, braised meat.  Damn it.

“So did Ellorn get his problem remedied?” Kieran asked once we were settled in again.

“He says he did and he was pretty close to it when I visited this morning,” I said, grinning at Coulter as he tore a bite of pizza savagely.  “It’ll help when we can start teaching them some magic, too.  It’s hard to see in them because they
seem
so self-assured, but they need constant reassurance.”  I goosed Connor in the ribs lightly to make him giggle.  “Take the house as an example.  Nil was nearly in tears that I didn’t tear it apart when I toured it, even though I’d already said everything was in order.”

“You mean you like the house, Daddy?” Coulter asked.

“Yes, Coulter, I do, except for one security feature I can’t change,” I answered then took a bite while the follow-up question was asked.  Starvation or learn the timing, my only options.

“Why did he want you to tear it apart, if you like it?” Connor asked, ignoring Ethan for the moment.  I was just happy they were asking more complicated questions.

“Well, understand that Nil and he were touring a model here in the Palace, so tearing out a wall isn’t really an issue,” Peter interjected to give me a moment.

“And your uncles had already done that,” I said told them.  “And First and Ellorn, then the Commanders of the Guard.  Wasn’t it Tom who added the breaks?”

“Yes, damn him,” Kieran said cheerfully.  “Gibson, is this your cooking?”

“No, Lord Kieran,” Gibson answered without explanation.

“Well, it’s very good stew, very rustic,” Kieran complimented the brownie anyway.

“So he was expecting me to do as thorough an examination as everyone else did, but I didn’t see the need, but his problem was the same as Ellorn’s,” I explained to the boys.  “Once he understood he had
my
confidence in the first place or I wouldn’t have given Zero and him the job.  They did a good job and I told him that.  Which pizza do you like better, the pepperoni or the ham?”

“I like both,” Connor said and Coulter slapped both his remaining pieces together, said, “Me, too!” and took a huge bite, giggling.  Everyone chuckled with their contagious laughter for a few moments.

“And the
ransé
problem?” Kieran asked.  “Gambling, you said?”

“It’s just killing you, isn’t it?” Ethan murmured to Kieran, grinning.

Kieran cut a glance at him and, with a curt smile, murmured, “I can be patient when I must.”

Using my napkin to cover my grin and wipe it away, I said, “Yes, gambling.  Apparently they managed to swindle over fifty million out of several different casinos before they ran out of time and had to give up.”

“Seth, ‘swindle’ is a harsh word,” Peter argued.  “They said they weren’t cheating and I’m inclined to believe them.  Aren’t you?”

“I would be, but I know better,” I said, rather judgmentally.  “It’s one thing to have a strong hunch that the next card out of the shoe is a Jack of Spades, but it’s quite another to subconsciously look at the next card and see that it’s the Jack of Spades.  See the difference?”

Peter had to think about that for a second.  “Okay, I see your point.”

“Furthermore, they said they weren’t watched or followed,” I went on.  “But they haven’t exactly been trained in magical watches, now have they?  It could be some time before we’re aware of the fallout from that.  Or, they’re absolutely right and no one noticed them.  In either event, they won’t be gambling in the future.”

“I imagine it’s not very fun to gamble when you already know the outcome,” Kieran said.

“That was my argument,” I agreed.  “But I left the problem with the people handling it already.  Peter knows more about it than I do.”  And Peter was desperately trying to hide behind Coulter’s bunny right then, creating a few more chuckles.

“And is Sara healing properly?” Kieran asked, continuing along my list in order.

“She wasn’t but I believe she’ll do better now,” I said.  “Her parents understand her problems better now and her cousin Brian isn’t quite as angry as he was.  And of course the rest of the druids will help more now that they’ve been spanked.”

“Who spanked them, Daddy?” Coulter asked, followed by Connor’s, “What’s a druids?”

“A druid is a kind of magician, Connor,” Kieran answered.  “They use a particular kind of nature magic.  Your Daddy is the only Archdruid to exist.”

“Really?  Merlin wasn’t an archdruid then?” I asked.  “Oh, I’m sorry, Coulter, I spanked them, figuratively speaking.  They did a very bad thing and had to be punished for it.”

“Like you and Uncle Pete did with the
shuntok
?” Connor asked.

“No, we destroyed all the
shuntok
we found,” I explained.  “The druids just had to be punished, so I increased their work a little for the next twenty years.”

“Okay,” Connor said and went back to his pizza.

“What did the druids do?” Peter asked.

“Set us up to arrive in a trap that could have been lethal,” I said.  “I chose to come in the front door instead and that apparently confused them.  I had Ryan, Nil, and Naught with me then.  It was a perfectly nice afternoon except for spoon-feeding Sara, but I think I got her rooted in her past again.”