Authors: Scott V. Duff
“What did you do about the trap?” Peter asked. “Surely that wasn’t the Whites’ doing.”
“Dissected it in front of them,” I answered disinterestedly. The boys were fiddling with their food now. “It was more impressive when Ryan brought the wall down, which would make more sense if I told you about it in the first place.” It was time to let the twins off the hook. “Boys, would you like to play with your blocks while I talk with your uncles some more?”
“May we, Daddy?” the boys asked excitedly.
“Yes,” I said, standing and pulling my chair to the side. “Let’s make some room. Coulter, I’ll take your chair. Connor, if you’ll push yours to the end of the buffet table, I think that’ll give you plenty of space here.” Guitar walked up holding the box of blocks up for me. “Thanks, Guitar. Here you go, boys. Have fun!” Setting the box on the floor, the twins swooped down on it like raptors on field mice. The blocks were on the floor and the box was flying to the side before I could turn to the table again. I was still chuckling when I took my plate and sat down again.
“Why do they seem so… stunted?” Kieran asked in barely a whisper.
“It’s the
Hant
,” I said quietly. “They’ve already progressed quite a bit more than I expected. Tomorrow, they may peak in some areas and hopefully by Sunday fully resolve.”
“So by Sunday, they’ll be more what, elven, human?” Kieran asked. I wasn’t quite sure there wasn’t a touch a racism there. Or maybe that was speciesism.
“No idea. I’m guessing it will be something similar to the
huri
, but no way of knowing ahead of time. I’m thoroughly enjoying it,” I said.
“But why that? Why not just take them?” Kieran asked.
“That isn’t obvious?” I asked, looking around Ethan who was watching the boys. “Kieran, they’re the third and fourth Pactholders.” Kieran’s eyes grew so wide I almost laughed, then he looked at my boys hard and saw that I was right. “Yep, all the known Pactholders are in this room and two of them are half-breeds. I’m pretty sure that’s not supposed to happen.”
“Who were their parents?” Ethan asked, still watching in fascination.
“Their mother’s name is Mioreala, a Wylde Fae of significant ability and power,” I answered. “Their sire was a wizard also of significant ability and power, named Eliot.”
“Eliot?” Kieran asked with more interest.
“Yes, Eliot. Eliot McClure, our brother,” I said smoothly. “I adopted our nephews at their mother’s request.”
“I didn’t know that,” Peter said, leaning back in his chair. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Really hasn’t been much time,” I said quietly. “Having to be so careful with them, it’s been hard to talk about anything of consequence. Not that I can see what difference it really makes. Eliot died several months ago according to Mioreala. She didn’t know how he died except that it was violent and his last thoughts were for her and his sons before their bond broke. The boys spent those years twisted, Kieran. Eliot either didn’t know how to pass the Pact properly or he didn’t trust the faery blood with it. He had Mioreala force all the ‘fae’ out of Coulter and into Connor and gave Coulter the Pact. I can’t imagine what that must have been like for them all those years.”
“You put them back together?” Kieran asked, confused in more than one way.
“No, their mother did that,” I explained. “They aren’t exactly elves, Kieran. That’s merely the form she chose to meet Eliot in and keep as they continued their relationship. She kept the boys in that form because it binds best with Eliot’s genetics and with mine.”
“So what are they then?” Kieran asked. I decided to believe he wanted understanding of a difficult situation that was out of his control and not a species issue, even if it colored his responses.
“My sons and your nephews,” I said as casually as I could muster. “Gibson, I agree with everyone else. Dinner was excellent. Is there any coffee?”
“Thank you, Lord, yes, Lord. Coming right up, sir,” Gibson squealed happily and disappeared around the back corner.
Kieran sighed tensely, running his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, Seth. I’ve acted badly.”
“No, you haven’t, Kieran,” I said sympathetically. “You’ve acted very well for a man that’s been bushwhacked with strange and hard news.”
“Maybe if you started at the beginning?” Ethan suggested. “I’m more than a little lost on how you found them and what the mountains had to do with it, not that I’m not proud of the both of you for destroying two mountains and being alive to brag about it a few hours later.”
“Well, I admit I didn’t so much destroy the whole mountain as the top four to six inches of it,” Peter said, almost shyly. “The Hinterlands took care of most of it.”
“That distant third signal that I heard in Germany was Coulter,” I said. “With Mioreala’s attention failing, the signal got through, so he knew someone was out there. They had been under siege by
shuntok
in increasing numbers for weeks and the situation became desperate. Whether intentionally or subconsciously–I didn’t try to find out–he rang his bell. Both Peter and I heard him, but it took some time to find him.
“In fact, we found the
shuntok
first, simply because there were so many of them,” I said dramatically, then reached down to take the mug of coffee Gibson offered me. “Thanks, Gibson. There were thousands of them crawling up the side of one mountain, trying to access one particular plateau with only one other pass leading to it. It was heavily warded by a Pactward. You can imagine my surprise when I stepped onto a faery’s land. But the ward was failing and the
shuntok
would overrun the place when it did. She knew she could get out and maybe get one boy out, but not both of them before they attacked. So her choice was to make the ward last as long as possible. Coulter and she worked together to identify what they could of the Pactward’s control and power systems and then, ‘fused’ herself with them.” I gulped hard at the memory of seeing her wracked with pain and tensed with effort to keep that out of my communion bond with my boys.
“How… does that even work?” Kieran asked in a horrified whisper.
“Gruesomely,” muttered Peter. Nodding in agreement, I checked on the boys. They were building a very good likeness of their cabin in the woods in blocks.
“She knew where they were coming from,” I said, sipping at the coffee. “There was a cave in the base of the mountain next door that the pass attached to. Hidden in the back of that cave was a hole, a portal into the Sundered Realms. That, no doubt, is where the loss in Faery is occurring.”
“What is the Sundered Realms?” Kieran asked.
“It’s a dimensional graveyard, of sorts,” Ethan said. “It’s not a place you want to go, no matter how powerful you are. Some realities don’t mix well with others and there are places where there is no reality. The next step down is the grist that runs the mill of the universes. Don’t go there, Seth. It’s beyond dangerous.”
“Yeah, I don’t particularly want to go again,” I muttered, giving him a grim smile over my coffee cup.
“You saw him, then?” Peter hissed.
“Not directly,” I said and stood up. “Connor, Coulter, are you ready for bed yet? You’ve had a very long day, today.”
“Aw, Dad!” they even whined in unison. Coulter said, “Can’t we stay up a little longer and play? We’ll be good.”
“Well,” I drawled out. “I was only thinking of y’all. If you don’t get enough sleep tonight, we won’t be able to go swimming in the pond tomorrow morning.”
Both boys jumped from the floor and ran to me. “We’re going outside tomorrow?” Connor asked excitedly and Coulter asked equally as excited, “We get to go in a pond?”
“Yep, let’s get ready for bed,” I said, then pointed at the bunny and truck stuffed into Connor’s chair. They ran to fetch them and ran back to take my hands. “Be back in a few minutes. Say ‘good-night’ to your uncles, sons.” Leading them around the table to Peter first, he leaned out of his chair and hugged them together, coping with the squeals and giggles wearing a grandiose smile.
“Good night, boys,” he said affectionately. “Your Dad was certainly right about one thing: you two are easy to love. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Come on, now, Pete, don’t hog all the love,” Ethan chipped in. “I want some, too, y’know. It’s not every day your celibate little brother comes home with twins.” Kieran and Peter laughed, so I dignified his joke with a smile. “Good night, boys, it’s been wonderful to meet you and welcome to the family.” More squealing and giggling ensued with “Thank you, Uncle Ethan” and “Good night, Uncle Ethan” said by both. We moved along to Kieran.
The boys crept closer to me as we stepped up to Kieran. Their anxiety and fear of Kieran flooded our bond, but didn’t give me a reason for it. I couldn’t think of a reason that they would be afraid of him since he was as invisible as Ethan and Peter were to them.
“What’s wrong, boys? Why are you afraid of Kieran?” I asked quietly, turning them sideways to both of us with my hand on their shoulders. Both boys peeked at Kieran nervously, edging closer to me.
“He’s a Lord, Daddy,” Connor whispered fearfully.
“Mommy told us to stay away from Lords and Ladies,” Coulter added. That still didn’t answer the question for me, but apparently, it was enough for Kieran.
“Oohh,” he drew out slowly. “I understand now. In telling you that, Daybreak was trying to make you more comfortable with me. Instead, he scared the daylights out of you. Are you afraid that I might try to take you from your Dad? Is that it?”
“Is that what you’re worried about? That Kieran might try to take you away from me?” I asked right behind him. The twins gripped my hands more tightly and looked up with tear filled eyes.
“He won’t, will he, Daddy?” Connor asked meekly. “You won’t let him, will you, Daddy?” Coulter asked, his bottom lip quivering.
“No!” I said and swooped into a hug with both of them. “No to both questions. You are my sons now and no one is taking you away from me.”
“Besides,” Kieran said, chuckling, “I couldn’t break your father’s geas if my life depended on it. My little brother is stronger than I am in many ways. Seth, may I bring Shrank next time so they can see the extent of my bound Fae?”
“Yes, I should have thought of that anyway,” I said, still clutching the boys. “I’m sorry, Kieran. I made a mess of things here.”
“No, you haven’t, little brother,” Kieran said. “This is easy to fix. Your sons just need to know that you’re stronger than I. Pete, would you hold the boys’ toys for a moment? Seth, take their hands.” Kieran sat forward, leaning on his knees until we’d done as he’d directed. “Okay, boys, now take my hands and remember that both your Dad and I said that I can’t break his geas. Trust in that.” Kieran held out his hands palms up and waited. The boys looked up at me, less scared but still.
“Kieran, what do you have in mind once we join hands?” I asked in hopes of persuading the boys.
“Just a bit of
gindag
with the Lord of the Realm,” he said with a gleam in his eyes. Guitar and Gibson giggled and darted around to my sides, one between each son, and looked on excitedly. Coulter grinned at Connor and together they placed their hands in Kieran’s.
“I’ll bite. What’s
gindag
?” I asked.
“It’s a game,” Kieran said cheerfully. “Boys, would you like to start?” A pink glow suddenly surrounded my feet and tickled ferociously. I jumped about a foot backward, laughing and pulling the twins with me. Breaking contact with Kieran was enough to stop the glowing tickles, but I still let go of the boys.
“What was that?” I asked, laughing. The twins laughed and pointed at me, chanting “You lose!” over and over again. Kieran sat back in his chair smiling as if he created a miracle. Clearly I wasn’t going to get an answer soon from those three. Glancing down at Guitar on my right, I asked him in his native tongue, full of chirps and whistles, to explain
gindag
to me. This being the first time I’d spoken the Brownie dialect directly to either of them, he was delighted to respond in kind. It surprised the boys into silence as they watched our two-minute conversation. It was a deceptively simple game of faery energy manipulation on the nervous system. Deceptive in that it depended on the mental states of the contestants. Apparently the boys had chosen their goal and their target and how
that
changed into bonding with Kieran, I don’t know.
“Whoa, Dad, what was that?” Coulter asked as I reached out again to take their hands. “Were you understanding each other, Dad?” Connor asked right after.
“I was just speaking to Guitar in his language, so yes, we were understanding each other,” I said, smiling again but mischievously now. “Now let’s play this again. Guitar gave me some instruction, and I think I can give you a run for your money.”
“You want to run?” Connor asked, looking up confused. “What’s money?” Coulter asked.
“Well, it took me a minute to get used to the idea, and I was Seth,” Ethan whispered behind us. Peter snorted, then burst out laughing. Ethan cackled a moment later. This was a night of firsts for a lot of us it seemed, since this was the first time Ethan made a reference to the time before his Naming.