by I. T. Lucas
Leaning away, he looked into her eyes and smiled. “Does it mean that we are dating?”
Damn. Had she just made a fool of herself? How could she have misinterpreted his intentions?
“I don’t know. Are we?”
“I would be honored. And just so we are clear, you don’t look a day over twenty-five, so we are good.”
“You are such a liar, but thank you.”
“I’m not lying. You look ten years younger than you did the last time I saw you.”
“That’s sweet. But since I’m forty, I still look older.”
“No, you don’t, and that’s the end of this discussion.”
She tilted her head. “Are you getting all macho with me?”
He smiled. “I’m an old-fashioned guy, but that doesn’t make me disrespectful. I just don’t want to hear you putting yourself down. You are gorgeous.” He leaned to whisper in her ear, “But if bossy turns you on, I’ll be more than happy to oblige.”
Eleanor felt her core tingle. “Are you going to blindfold me again?”
“Only if you want me to.”
69
Kalugal
As other couples joined Kalugal and Jacki on the dance floor, he leaned to whisper in her ear, “I love marrying you, my Jacqueline. Let’s do it again next month. We can pledge our love to each other for the fourth time in Scotland. After that, we can do it in Hawaii, or Barbados, or some other fun destination.”
She laughed. “We can pledge our love to each other every day and every night, but I think this is it as far as weddings go. Nothing can top the goddess herself officiating and giving us her blessing, or being surrounded by everyone dear to us. I just regret that your mother couldn’t be here. That’s the only thing I would change about tonight.”
Kalugal sighed. “Perhaps I should give conquering the island more thought. That’s the only way to get her free.”
“That’s not true. If Areana wanted to leave, she could have done so the same way Carol did. And I’m sure that she doesn’t want you to go to war with your father.”
“No, she doesn’t.”
“By the way, did the goddess use her special power again?”
“Thankfully, she didn’t. I would have hated to make my pledge to you under compulsion.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered. You’ve already pledged yourself to me twice before with no outside influence, so I know that you mean it.”
“I do. I want to spend my life making you happy.”
Jacki glanced at the other couples dancing next to them. “I am happy here, surrounded by my friends and your family. It feels like home.” She cast a sidelong glance at Eleanor and Greggory, who were at the edge of the dance floor. “Even Eleanor seems happy. I’ve never seen her looking so good or so relaxed.”
He had to agree. The woman who he’d thought of as mildly attractive before looked beautiful and glamorous tonight. Greggory was gazing at her with so much admiration and appreciation that Kalugal decided to grant him leave of absence so he could pursue a relationship with her if he so wished.
Except, that wouldn’t be fair to Rufsur, whom he couldn’t allow to stay in the village while the goddess was there.
So far, Annani hadn’t done anything underhanded except compelling everyone to cooperate, which they would have done anyway. The only thing her compulsion achieved was to relax the atmosphere and eliminate mutual mistrust, at least for the duration of the celebration.
Already, Kalugal could feel it abating, and he wondered whether his own compulsion weakened over time as well, and whether the effect differed from person to person.
Kian still looked relaxed, but then he was holding his wife in his arms, and per his own admission, she had that effect on him. Alena, who was dancing with Phinas, always looked serene, so he had no way of knowing whether she was still affected by her mother’s compulsion. Sari wasn’t on the dance floor, and he couldn’t see her from where he was. Amanda was busy supervising the cyborgs who were organizing the buffet tables.
On the other side of the dance floor, he spotted Rufsur and Edna. Seeing the way they were holding each other and gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes made him feel guilty.
Rufsur deserved happiness no less than Greggory, but while Kalugal could afford to lose the latter, he couldn’t afford to lose the former.
Perhaps he should leave it up to his second-in-command to decide. After all, personal requests from the men were usually not addressed directly to him but to his lieutenants.
Except, that wouldn’t make him feel any better. He was still the bad guy who stood in the way of his best friend’s happily ever after.
70
Syssi
“We need more chairs for the outside.” Syssi opened the sliding door to the backyard. “I don’t want our guests to have to schlep the dining room chairs with them when they want to relax outdoors.”
Kian pulled out his phone. “I’ll ask my mother to send her Odus over with the chairs from her dining room.”
“Isn’t it too early to call her?”
“She’s awake.”
Syssi huffed out a breath. “Thank you. I don’t know why I didn't think of that yesterday.”
He pulled her into his arms. “You look stressed. It’s not healthy for the baby. And besides, it’s just a family breakfast, and it’s not the first time we’ve hosted one.”
“I’m not stressed. I just want everything to be ready.” Syssi forced a smile.
“Is having Sari here stressing you?”
“Not at all.” She pushed on his chest.
Of course, Kian would assume that it was Sari’s fault. That was the only thing he was aware of that was different about this breakfast. For the past two weeks, she’d become an expert at inventing excuses for her less than tranquil emotional state, and she felt awful about it. After the presentation was done, she would have to make it up to Kian big time.
“So, what’s the problem?”
“Nothing. I love having the entire family here, and I also invited Andrew, Nathalie, and Phoenix. But because I wanted to invite Eva, Bhathian, and Ethan as well, I couldn’t invite Kalugal and Lokan with their mates too, and I had to split the guests and invite some for breakfast and the rest for lunch. Maybe while the building crew is still here, you can hire them to enlarge our dining room. I can draft the building plans.”
“Now I get it. The size of our dining room is not sufficient for entertaining the entire family, and that’s stressing you out. I have no problem with enlarging the house a little. We can push the dining room’s exterior wall a few feet out. Will that help?”
She nodded. “I don’t have time to think about it now, but I’ll sketch something later.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
Syssi smiled sheepishly. “Not really. I know that you didn’t get any work done Friday and yesterday, so it’s okay if you want to catch up on some of it until our guests arrive.”
“You want me out of the way.”
She nodded. “Don’t get offended. It’s just that you are very distracting, and I need to concentrate, which the pregnancy makes increasingly difficult for some reason.”
“Fine. But if you need me for anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“I won’t.”
As Kian’s office door closed behind him, Syssi let out a breath. She was getting too good at this. Or rather too bad.
Thankfully, Annani had had the foresight of releasing her and everyone involved in the presentation from the compulsion to refrain from subterfuge.
The limited size of their dining room was the perfect excuse to do the hosting in two waves.
The family invited for breakfast included Annani, Sari, Alena, Amanda and Dalhu, Nathalie, Andrew, Phoenix, Eva, Bhathian, and Ethan. After breakfast was over, Turner and Bridget would join them for coffee, and so would Rufsur and Edna. Kian didn’t know about that part, but once they arrived, Annani would say that she invited them, and the presentation would start.
&nb
sp; Kalugal wouldn’t know about Rufsur being invited earlier either. He would assume that his lieutenant was still at Edna’s. Once he arrived for lunch together with Jacki, Phinas, his brother, and Carol, he would think that Rufsur and Edna had just shown up a little earlier.
His part of the presentation would start immediately upon his arrival, and lunch would be served later buffet style in the backyard so everyone would have time to talk about it and think it over.
Naturally, if Kian dismissed the idea, they were going to have to abandon the whole plan. But hopefully Annani’s initial softening would make him more positively predisposed and he would agree, at least tentatively.
71
Kian
The family breakfast felt off.
Kian couldn’t put his finger on what exactly was bothering him, but everyone was a little too loud, a little too excited, and not all of that could be explained by Annani successfully compelling everyone to feel good about everyone else.
Except, it was still working on him, and his usual suspiciousness refused to flare above the mild curiosity he felt. After all, this was his closest family, people he trusted with his life, and there was no reason to suspect them of anything that wasn’t good.
Was it about his birthday?
Were they planning a surprise party for him after all?
He wouldn’t mind celebrating it while all his sisters were present. They could have a small family party and then have something grander for the entire clan. It wasn’t that he craved the attention, he could definitely do without it, but it was a good excuse for another clan-wide celebration, and those were good for morale.
“Let’s move to the living room for coffee,” Syssi suggested.
“Wonderful idea.” Annani rose to her feet.
As everyone followed the Clan Mother out of the dining room, the Odus carried the chairs into the living room and assembled them facing the television screen.
Something was definitely going on.
The excitement in the room sizzled like static electricity, and Annani was smiling the kind of smile that Kian had learned to associate with trouble.
Alena looked as serene as ever, but she was also sporting a mysterious Mona Lisa smile. Even Dalhu looked like he was hiding a secret.
When the doorbell rang, Okidu opened the door, and Bridget entered together with Turner. Behind them were Edna and Rufsur, who should have arrived much later with Kalugal, Jacki and Phinas, or with Lokan and Carol.
“Okay, people. I know that something is going on. Is this a surprise birthday party?”
“It’s a surprise,” Amanda said.
That wasn’t an answer. “What kind?”
“Take a seat, Kian.” Annani waved at the armchair that apparently had been left vacant for him. “Edna and Rufsur have something to show you.”
He glanced at Turner, who just nodded, which meant that he knew what was going on as well.
Arching a brow, Kian turned to Syssi. “Do I need something stronger than coffee for this?”
She smiled apologetically. “Let’s start with coffee, and if you feel that you need a drink during the presentation, you can get it later.”
“So it’s a presentation, and all of you are in the know except for me. I can’t imagine what it could be.”
“It is the future, my son,” Annani said. “Sit down, get comfortable, and keep an open mind.”
Taking a seat in the armchair, Kian shook his head. “Just from that preamble, I know that I’m not going to like it.”
A few more minutes passed as the Odus served everyone coffee, and then Edna stood up and faced the gathering.
“Over the past two weeks, Rufsur and I have been working on a possible solution that will allow our two communities to live together in harmony in one location. We kept it under wraps until we were able to close all the loopholes and come up with answers for every possible objection you or Kalugal might have. We wanted our presentation to be as complete as possible.” She smiled apologetically. “The only reason we worked in secret was that we knew we had only one shot at this, and we wanted to give it our best. We decided to approach you first, and if you find our proposal acceptable, we will present it to Kalugal next.”
Kian looked at Rufsur. “You kept it from your boss?”
Rufsur nodded. “He’s going to be a tougher nut to crack, but we have a secret weapon.”
“Which is?”
“Jacki. She wants to be part of this community, and she’s prepared a moving presentation of her own.”
Kian had given the issue a lot of thought and hadn’t come up with a solution that could be satisfactory for him or for Kalugal. He doubted that Edna and Rufus had it figured out. But what intrigued him the most was that Turner seemed to be part of the scheme, which meant that he approved of the plan.
“That should be interesting. Please continue.”
Edna dipped her head. “I appreciate your willingness to listen.”
72
Edna
Edna let out a breath. Kian didn’t look mad, and he was willing to listen. Half of the battle was already won, and she had to thank Annani for that.
“I’ll start with a little background of how this idea was born.” She looked at Turner. “It’s mostly your baby. Would you like to present it?”
Turner shook his head. “I just threw in some ideas. You worked out all the details.”
The glare Kian cast Turner would have upset a lesser man, but the guy didn’t respond with even a twitch. There were clear advantages to having a diminished emotional makeup.
He was the Spock of the clan’s command center. Or maybe even Data?
Edna turned to Kian and plastered a big smile on her face, hoping to defuse the tense moment. “When I told Turner that I wished there was a binding oath Kalugal could take that would prevent him from making a move against the clan, Turner said that there was a way to make an oath binding by compelling his adherence to it. If Kalugal agrees to take the vow, which I have worded to close all loopholes, Annani can make it unbreakable by compelling him to keep it.”
Kian shook his head. “Compulsion needs to be periodically reinforced.”
“It depends on how it is done,” Annani said. “Compulsion of an individual person is much more powerful and holds longer than the compulsion of a crowd. If necessary, I will compel each of Kalugal’s men individually not to betray the clan. Besides, this will be done only with Kalugal’s full agreement, and that will make it stronger as well.”
Kian crossed his arms over his chest. “Why would he agree?”
“I’m getting to that,” Edna said. “We have a different presentation prepared for him that makes a strong case. It emphasizes the many benefits joining the clan has for him and his people, and we also have Jacki’s moving speech, which we are saving as a last resort weapon. I hope that the presentation alone will be enough to convince him.”
She clicked the television screen on and brought up the first slide. “These are the main points that we will use to convince Kalugal. His main objection to joining the clan is privacy and independence in conducting his business. The solution to this is simple. He can have an office in the city and do everything from there in complete privacy.”
Kian turned to Turner. “I know that’s your idea as well. You suggested a city office for Kalugal’s men while they are courting our ladies. This is a natural extension of that.”
Turner nodded. “I have an office in the city, and my work is completely independent from the clan. Kalugal can do the same.”
“It’s a simple solution, and I like it. But what’s in it for us?”
Annani chuckled. “Is it not self-explanatory? We do not lose any of our females to Kalugal, and the children born from the matings between his men and our women will grow up in the village. Instead of two small communities, we will create one that is larger and stronger. Also, on a personal level, it will prevent a lot of heartache. Rufsur and Edna are a good example of how difficult it is going to
be for the new couples if they have to choose sides.”
“It is true for us as well as for Kalugal.” Kian raked his fingers through his hair. “What kind of a pledge would you have him make?”
Edna swiped to the next slide, which contained the entire pledge. “In a nutshell, Kalugal will vow not to use his compulsion ability on any member of the clan, to keep our locations secret, to not endanger or harm us or our business endeavors or humanitarian efforts in any way, and to join forces with us in case of an attack. Naturally, he will also vow to enforce his people’s compliance to the same rules.”
She waited a couple of minutes for Kian to finish reading through the precise wording of the pledge.
When he was done, he looked at Turner. “Do you find this satisfactory?”
“I do.”
“No loopholes?”
“None that I can see.”
“Okay.” Kian turned to Edna. “If he agrees to take that vow and for Annani to compel its compliance, that takes care of our side. What about Kalugal’s? He will want assurances as well.”
“Naturally, I prepared a similar pledge for you, and you will agree for him to compel your compliance to it.”
Kian shook his head. “That’s not going to work. Annani can most likely overpower Kalugal’s compulsion, and he will not trust that she wouldn’t.”
“He will if I vow it,” Annani said. “I will promise my sister that I will never make a move against her son unless he makes a move against us.”
Kian didn’t look convinced. “I’m not sure that would be enough.”
Edna flipped to the third slide. “I believe that the wording of your pledge will take care of this concern. You will vow in Annani’s name that no compulsion will ever be used against Kalugal and his men aside from the one to enforce their own pledges.”
Annani leaned forward and rearranged her skirt. “By now, Kalugal is well aware that I can compel him to do whatever I want whenever I want, and yet I did not abuse this power. There is no reason for him to think that I will do so in the future unless he gives me a very compelling reason to do so.”
