Authors: Scott V. Duff
“There’s still the question of whether they’ll let me or not,” I reminded him. “It’s easy to say I can just do it, but I still live and work on that side, too. And most of us have families over there that they can make very uncomfortable if we end up battling it out.”
“You can be very convincing when you want to be, little brother,” Kieran said. “Have a little faith. We’ll find a way.”
Life was getting very complicated.
First light at the Palace is always a pleasure for me. This morning’s was no different as the first ray of light hit the dome on the front, hitting a different gemstone than yesterday, yet starting the same glorious song. Today I heard an odd addition, a much deeper, baritone timbre added to the mix of tones, ever so slightly. I recognized it quickly as the kitchen staff in the barracks humming with the tones as they cooked, subconsciously. It was oddly reassuring.
Pushing out with my senses, I could see the rest of the Palace waking up for the day and those few who had worked late through the night beginning to wind down. I jumped in the shower, scrubbing quickly, then dressing in a dressier version of my daily wear. A short walk down the Road put me at Jimmy’s door. I was about to knock when he opened the door with a smile.
“Good morning, Seth,” he said cheerfully.
“You’re going to have to tell me how you do that,” I said under raised eyebrows. “I know you can’t see me coming.”
“Only if you make me,” he said grinning like the cat with the canary, shutting his door behind him. “Are we going straight to the barracks?”
“No, I want to see if I can corner Messner first,” I said turning toward their door, just down the hall. “Speak to him away from the Pentagon geeks, if I can.”
“He’s just getting dressed now,” Jimmy said, looking through the walls. “It doesn’t look like the others have figured out how to turn on the water yet.”
“It’s a freaking faucet, dude,” I muttered under my breath, looking through the walls myself and seeing he was right. “Ya’ just turn the knob and water comes out.” I pushed the door open and walked in.
Ellorn picked well—it was a nice apartment even for just an overnight stay. It was certainly nicer than any of the hotels I’ve stayed at. Like most apartments in the Palace, it was sparsely furnished with large cushy couches and chairs and vast open spaces. Plenty of different places for conversation and various methods to partition the rooms for privacy on the bottom floor. The upstairs was split into six rooms, four bedrooms with a large den and library combination. Each bedroom had its own bathroom, but no room would be considered a ‘Master Bedroom with a Master Bath’ which meant no arguments about who got the better amenities.
Messner had chosen the first room at the top of the stairs, probably as the first and easiest to find in the dark for the others. Poor man. I tapped lightly on the door and waited.
“They’ll be here when they get here,” I heard through the door. “Just get a shower and get dres—oh, Lord, I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting you,” Messner said, his face falling as he opened the door in a rush of aggravation.
“It’s quite all right, Agent,” I said quietly. “They aggravated me, too, last night. I understand completely. I was wondering if I could talk to you in private for a few minutes before breakfast.”
A flash of a dozen emotions swept across his face. “Um, well, yes, sir, I suppose there couldn’t be any harm in that,” he said. “Would you like to come in?”
“We should probably step out into the hall,” I said and shifted us there. Jimmy and I sat on the planter just outside their apartments while Messner got used to his new surroundings. It only took a moment.
“It’s rather disconcerting,” he said as he sat beside me in trousers and a white button-down, long-sleeved shirt. “The ease with which you do that.” I grinned.
“It’s a lot easier on this side,” I said, off-hand. “Agent Messner, the reason I wanted to talk to you is that I have been approached by a rather unusual request that I’m not exactly certain how to handle. I’d like your opinion on the matter.”
“That… sounds a little ominous,” he said slowly.
“It’s a difficult situation, certainly,” I agreed. “My side of the equation will be rife with problems from the beginning. My first inclination is to deny the request out of hand. One issue in particular grates against my beliefs so deeply that I’m almost ready to say no based on that alone. But I understand their problems and in the long run, I could be wrong and it may help.”
“Who are you kidding? You will work very hard at being wrong,” Jimmy said with conviction.
“Give it a rest, Jimmy,” I said. “We’re negotiating on a slight possibility, here. I haven’t said ‘yes,’ yet.” Jimmy ducked his head and kept it down, slumping his shoulders dejectedly. He was a lot like a puppy that way.
“What was the request?” Messner asked calmly. “It must have be pretty hard to get you upset about it.”
“Some number of the men in the barracks want to stay,” I said smoothly. “They’ve asked me for political asylum.” Then I leaned back and watched as Messner worked through the ramifications of the statement. It took a few minutes and I was sure there were many that he never got to consider from lack of perspective, though. It did surprise me when he rubbed his face with one hand thoughtfully, then started laughing lightly.
“How many?” he asked. “Do you know?”
“No, I was approached by a proxy,” I answered. “I didn’t press because it seemed to add quite a lot of credence to my claim of treason, which, by the way, I’ve already admitted to Harmond and Morelli that I don’t plan on pressing for that charge on anyone but Pennington.”
“It’s all right,” Messner said, nodding slightly. “I didn’t believe you were serious about that anyway. Sedition, we could probably get away with, but treason would have been too hard to gain in court.” He paused, thinking, drumming his fingers and tapping his leg nervously. “May I speak to some of them?”
“God, yes, please,” I said in a rush. “Talk them out of it if you can. If you think that this is something like Stockholm syndrome, speak up and let’s get some shrinks in here. I’ll be speaking to everyone after breakfast, excluding your current colleagues, of course. I don’t really want them knowing about this just yet until we’re sure they’re in their right minds about this decision.”
“Well, honestly, as long as the men aren’t being compelled in some way, I really don’t think you’ll have much problem convincing General Harmond to go along with it,” Messner said. “Make him pay for it. They deserve it. Why are
you
willing to do it? That’s really what confuses me.”
“They are playing me in two ways,” I said, feeling Jimmy’s head snap up as his attention centered on me. “The first was the specific path followed in asking and the specific question asked. Major Byrnes asked my barracks warden for political asylum for his men before entering a meeting with General Harmond and Colonel Morelli last night. As much as it pains me to admit, that puts the weight of my faery on the request as well. I do care what they think of me. I have nothing to lose unless your government fights me.
“And second, they are playing on my sympathies for them and those of my faery. Are you by chance aware of precisely where my faery come from?”
“A little, just what I saw on the monument last night,” Messner said, watching me intently, still trying to catch a glimpse of my aura. That was cute.
I sighed. “I hate this part,” I said, grumbling. “It’s a nasty story. I didn’t even know they were there. Shrank did. He went after them and rounded them up. We managed to get over a million out. This was during the battle at MacNamara’s Arena. The very short description of the abomination that… the Race Traitor committed would be that he broke the geas with his people, literally ripped out their souls, and ate them in front of us. Hundreds, if not thousands, of elves and millions upon millions of sprites and brownies and smaller Fae captured in the Wyldes.
“Thankfully, he was greedy and lazy,” I went on, staring at the floor, lost in the memories for a moment. “Or maybe the Queens knew him well enough not to let him finalize his realm, I don’t know, but he had eyes for all of Faery, not his little corner of it…” I stopped and shook my head to clear my thoughts. Getting back to the point, I continued, “Once the Rat Bastard was dead and I opened a portal to where I thought was the Cahill manor, Shrank asked me if I would save them before the Queens destroyed the land. I was extremely battle-weary and punch-drunk, having channeled a huge amount of energy through me that was clearly beyond even an elf-liege. When I looked around us, I saw the Queens then in all of their horrible power. They had indeed taken all of his realm but the small patch we stood and chopped it to bits and salted it so deeply and firmly that nothing will ever again grow in that corner of the Wyldes. They would have destroyed those sprites and brownies along with the land.
“Now before you start thinking how inhuman and horrible that is,” I turned to him in defense of the Queens, “you need to understand that there was nothing the Queens could have done to help them. It would have been euthanasia, after a fashion. They could not have simply forced new geas over their fractured ones. But instead of the Cahill’s, I brought us here to Gilán while it was being made. And in its wild magic of creation, it managed to heal a lot of that damage. And when I placed the geas that evening using Daybreak for the first time, I incorporated my own magic with it—I don’t know any other way, really. The blending of the two sunk in a lot deeper than anything that could still be lurking in them and washed it away.
“So you see, Agent Messner,” I said, trying to dispel the memory completely, “My faery have a somewhat common background to those in the barracks. Their government tried to kill them, too. While I doubt my faery told them the whole story, I’m sure they mentioned that there was a distinct similarity and I know that they have sung my praises to the rafters and back again. While I don’t think I’ve done much of anything for them.”
“You gave us our lives back in a way we’ve never had before, you idiot,” Jimmy said, grinning at me and shaking his head lightly.
“See? He even thinks so,” I said, nodding back at Jimmy. “Well, enough of the horror stories before breakfast. They’re about done dressing and will come looking for you soon. After breakfast, I’ll have my assistants walk them out to the promontory through the Throne Room while we talk to the men. It will give them a better idea of exactly who and what they’re dealing with.” I stood up, sighing. It was going to be a long day and I was dreading it already. “Shall we go put our political faces on?”
~ ~ ~
Jimmy went after David and Steven while Messner and I gathered our freshly showered and dressed “guests” and, instead of shifting directly there, we walked the Road down the main Concourse to the Promenade through the Family Wing. My brothers met us, conveniently coming out of their suites as we passed and joining our caravan. Boisterously greeting us by name, no doubt irritating Morelli by using ‘Seth’ without getting a rise out of Jimmy. Of course, I did say these were my brothers.
Once we got going and Jimmy pulsed the Road, conversation died as the speed exhilaration kicked in. I kept us at a fast walk for them, but for Jimmy and me, it was almost agonizingly slow. Alsooth met us in the barracks main office with Major Byrnes and Captain Velasquez, both wearing the blue silks of the Palace Guard. Quick introductions were made. Colonel Morelli was about to ask questions about uniforms and the lack of protocol but Peter and Ethan were in good moods this morning. They surged forward boisterously, dragging Kieran and Messner along, and generally confusing everything for a few minutes.
Alsooth stood in the hall, giggling, watching them as they turned right toward the kitchen. “Lord, Laston relayed your statements from last night and preparations have been made.”
“Thank you, Alsooth. Laston did very well last night. An excellent choice, sir,” I said to Alsooth. Complimenting both of them, especially in front of guests, made it more significant somehow. I didn’t quite get it. “How are we doing on food? We’re going to have to restock soon, I’m sure.”
“Yes, sir. Lt. Brinks says probably two days left with some items missing,” Alsooth said.
I started down the hall, still talking to Alsooth, “Well, we’ll see how today goes and worry about that a little later. Has there been a problem in the laundry?”
“No, Lord,” Alsooth said simply, turning right toward the kitchens following the noise. Ethan and David were showing off about something and even from the hallway, I could tell it would end badly for David. I sped forward a little faster to see what they were doing and Jimmy was a step behind me.
“Ethan!” I yelled, almost laughing, as I snatched the huge plastic container of some sort of red sauce out of the air, slamming the lid down with one hand. “Are you mad? He never would have caught both parts in time!” David was poised to catch the heavy plastic, but Ethan made it look deceptively light and the lid wasn’t a tight seal. He’d have worn it all while Ethan laughed like a four-year-old. I handed David the box of red stuff and said, “There’s a reason he looks mischievous at times. It’s because he is.”
He really wasn’t ready for the weight and dropped straight to the floor with it. Peter and Ethan still got their laughs as David’s face got almost as red as the stuff in the plastic box and I was caught in the indecision of helping him and furthering his embarrassment. A kitchen sergeant answered that question by hustling up behind us and helping David lift the box onto a table behind him with a barely contained grin on his face.
When I turned to review the damage of the circus they’d created, I was pleasantly surprised to see that while the immediate vicinity was disrupted, service continued unabated. The kitchen manager had kept his leads on task, and his leads had kept his cooks on task throughout the uproar. I wasn’t sure that was their plan, but that was how it worked out.