Vachlan smiled, lowering the fishbowl to the ground so he could properly return the hug. “Hey, squirt—what did I tell you? I solemnly vowed to rescue the Spice Fish, and I would never lie to you about something as serious as that.”
“You’re the best daddy ever!” she declared vehemently.
The skin around Vachlan’s eyes creased as he smiled at this. He bashfully looked around the room at their audience. He knew he should feel embarrassed by the tender moment, but he only felt pure, unadulterated pride. He had been responsible for rescuing entire countries on more than one occasion, including saving all of Adlivun herself from a lamentable fate—but he had never felt more like a hero.
“Salt does not look happy,” Ronan said as he struggled to lift the fishbowl. “I’m going to feed him.”
“Salt?” Kaito asked. “But that isn’t a spice, Ro-Ro. It’s a mineral.”
“I know, Kai,” Ronan said seriously, “but Salt isn’t a member of the Spice Fish. He’s their manager. He’s the smartest fish in the fishbowl.”
“I wouldn’t argue with the little guy,” Glais recommended.
“Stop goofing off and get back to training,” Varia scolded her friend. “Hey, Kaito—give me your sword so I can whoop his butt.”
“Like you even could,” Kolora said in a superior way. “Glais is way better than you, Varia.”
“We’ll see about that,” Varia said with easy confidence.
Kaito relinquished his sword reluctantly, just as Ivory dislodged herself from Vachlan’s neck.
“Hey, Kai,” Vachlan said affectionately. “I heard you encountered some giant squid, buddy.”
“Oh my god, Uncle Vachlan! They were sooooo big!” he said, his eyes growing wide.
“Tell me about them!” Ivory immediately demanded.
“It was scary,” Kaito said with a grave nod. “I had nightmares about them for a week! Good thing Auntie Sio is soooo strong! She killed all of them—like single-handedly!”
“My mommy can do that too,” Ivory bragged.
“Yeah, but she fights all the time. That’s not nearly as cool as Auntie Sio,” Kaito said defensively. “Auntie Sio is like my second mommy.”
Yamako sighed upon hearing this, lifting herself to her feet. “Now I know how you feel, Vachlan.”
“How I feel?” he asked curiously as the children continued to argue about which of the Ramaris twins made the better squid-slaying mother.
Princess Yamako made a face. “To love a larger-than-life woman with a rich and discombobulating past. It’s not easy, is it? I thought that Sionna was the safe one.”
Vachlan smiled. “Neither one is safe, but both of them are good. They are hazardous in their own special ways, but not to you or me. You must know that, Yama? Sionna would never hurt you.”
“I do know that,” Princess Yamako said, picking up a bag that rested beside her chair. “Nonetheless, I thought I would come inside to grab my purse. I will apologize to Sio for storming off and making a scene.”
“If that’s what you call ‘storming off’ then you’re not doing it correctly,” Vachlan said with a laugh. “I stormed off for an entire era because I thought Visola did something she didn’t do. Don’t make my mistake.”
Yamako shrugged. “I already wasted two eras because I thought it was weird and scandalous to be with another woman. I cared more about what other people considered proper than what I considered wonderful. Can’t get much dumber than that.”
Vachlan seemed surprised at this sudden insight into his sister-in-law’s relationship. “No,” he agreed. “You can’t get much dumber than that.”
They both laughed together, and this was how Naclana found them.
“Kids, adults, and newly imported tropical fish,” Naclana announced cheerfully. “Dinner will be ready shortly, so you can all argue and bicker with full stomachs and delicious aromas in the air.”
Chapter 13: Heart of the Empire
“Delicious,” Empress Amabie said happily. “Simply delicious.”
“The kitchen staff went the extra mile because they knew you were still visiting,” Naclana said genially. “They usually just feed us whatever they can throw together.”
“Oh, it’s lovely here,” Empress Amabie said with a sigh. “I really needed to get away from Japan for a while. I wish I could just stay here.”
“You can!” Visola chirped happily. “Everyone should stay here.”
“Could we please?” Kolora asked shyly. “I really don’t think I fit in anywhere else.”
“Yeah!” Kaito agreed. “I miss hanging out with Kolo. The kids in Japan suck.”
“No one is going anywhere anytime soon,” Trevain assured the children. They seemed pleased about this, and began to chatter happily about their plans for the next few days.
“You were right,” Aazuria said to Vachlan. “We needed this.”
Vachlan nodded graciously. “Thanks for taking my advice; it’s good to have everyone back together.”
“Almost everyone,” Aazuria said sadly, thinking of Elandria.
Trevain understood her frustration and moved his hand to squeeze her knee reassuringly under the table. After making several attempts to contact the priestess about her sister, Mother Melusina had cruelly denied them from reclaiming the songstress. While Trevain did miss Elandria, he was somewhat grateful that she had been away long enough to finally allow him to reconnect with his first wife. As his grandmother had wisely counseled, it was not wise to bring former lovers into the same hot tub with one’s current lover.
“Callder’s not here,” Brynne reminded them as she stabbed her fork into her vegetables viciously. “The jerk obviously thinks it’s more important to sit at a blackjack table than at the dinner table with his family.”
Princess Yamako frowned. “Forgive me, Mrs. Murphy—when was the last time you saw your husband?”
“Two, maybe three days?” Brynne said as she chewed on her vegetables and aggressively sawed off a slice of her steak. “I don’t even bother keeping track anymore.”
“It was five days since Daddy left home for meetings with the city council,” Kolora explained. “He usually goes to the casino after, and sometimes he stays overnight—when we didn’t hear from him, we assumed he just forgot his phone charger.”
“Five days?” Dr. Rosenberg asked with concern. “That sounds like a very serious addiction. I could try to treat him if he would be open to that.”
“Can you treat him even if he isn’t open to it?” Brynne demanded. “It’s completely out of control. Anything you can do would be super helpful, Doctor—actually, it’s probably too late for Callder. You might just have to give him a lobotomy.”
Dylan cringed. “Don’t joke about lobotomies. I performed a few dozen in the 1930s and 40s… To think that we actually considered that a valid form of psychiatric therapy!”
“Are you kidding?” Sionna asked in horror.
He shrugged. “I was in Denmark—it was a popular procedure.”
Trevain laughed softly to himself. “Good thing you didn’t put it on your resume, doc! I might have been a little hesitant to let you shrink my head, knowing that.”
“Medicine is a constantly changing field and I try to stay current,” Dylan said defensively. “They were only lobotomies—unlike some people at this table, I have never tried to raise the dead.”
“Stop flirting with her,” Princess Yamako accused. “I’m right here.”
Ronan leaned over to his sister and whispered in confusion: “What’s a lobottery?”
She sent him a puzzled look. “I don’t know. One sec.” Leaning over to Kaito, who was sitting on her other side, Ivory whispered, “What’s a lobobbery?”
Kaito seemed excited to share his vast knowledge on the subject, and immediately began to educate the younger children. “It’s when creepy doctors open up your head and poke around at stuff. Then they break your brain in half, and leave you to walk around forever not remembering who you are or even how to tie
your shoes and take a bath. That’s how zombies are made.”
“Whoa,” Ivory said in awe at Kaito’s intelligence. “Really?”
“No!” Ronan said sharply, banging his fork down on the table. “I won’t let the mean man give Uncle Callder a lobottery! It’s not fair, Uncle Callder is nice. Mommy, please don’t let him do that!” The little boy burst into tears.
“Yeah, dude,” Visola said with her mouth full. “Don’t do that. Callder’s brain is already screwy enough. Look, you made my kid cry! No more medical talk over dinner.”
“It’s not medical talk; it’s flirting,” Yamako explained. “Every surgery they mention is a code for something kinky.”
Varia whispered something in Glais’ ear, and the young boy began to cough violently. Varia smiled at this, ignoring the curious looks from the other kids nearby, and some of the adults.
“Not true at all!” Sionna protested. “Dylan was just genuinely offering to help out with Callder’s problem.”
“I don’t think Dylan or a lobotomy can solve all of Callder’s problems,” Naclana commented.
“I can help locate him, if that helps,” Yamako said with a shrug, pulling her purse into her lap. “Won’t fix your damaged marriage, but at least I can track the GPS on his phone.”
“Can you?” Brynne asked nervously. “Please, Yama—is he still at the Tortoise Tavern? They usually comp him rooms and fancy meals and women to make him stay there longer…”
Princess Yamako frowned. “No. His last location was some seedy, underground joint, but his phone is turned off now. I think I can track him with another method. Excuse me.” The Japanese woman lifted herself from the table and moved across the room, standing in a corner while she fidgeted with various pieces of technology.
“I’ll go check on her,” Sionna said, also getting up. She crossed the room curiously and watched Yamako work. “How do you know what specific casino he was at?”
“I—I have a friend who gambles there. Someone I went to school with.”
Sionna peered over Yamako’s shoulder curiously. “What are you using to track him if not his phone?”
“Something highly unethical, of course,” Yamako mumbled.
This intrigued Sionna and she placed her hands on the smaller woman’s shoulders as she tried to read the screen of the instrument the princess was using. “Please tell me,” she urged gently. “I’m curious about your methods.”
Princess Yamako, glanced back over her shoulder with a sudden naughty smirk. “Microchip, implants, lover. They’re super tiny, and they can convey some basic information like location, heart rate, and body temperature. Just to see where he is, and if he’s okay.”
“That doesn’t sound basic at all,” Sionna commented.
“No, but it’s totally illegal.”
Sionna studied the screen with interest. “Who do you have the tracking devices on?”
“Well, I started with Kaito, obviously. I wanted to develop a safe kind to use in a growing boy. There are dozens of chips in your body too—they’re infinitesimal, so you wouldn’t even notice. See? That’s you on the screen there,” Yamako indicated. “And of course, my mom, and a few other people. Just as a precaution. Oh! It looks like Callder’s fine. He’s alive—comfortable body temperature and safe heart rate. He’s in Greece.”
“Good to hear,” Sionna said with a sigh of relief. “So why do you have Callder hooked up to this?”
Yamako hesitated. “I will tell you later. Not here and now.” She reached into her purse and fished out a tiny metal box resembling a small cigarette case. “Want to see how I install the tracking devices in someone’s body? It’s pretty cool.” She slipped her finger into a tiny transparent band. “I know you can’t see it, but this is covered in little, microscopic metal spikes, and at the end of each one is a microchip. They’re so tiny that you can’t even feel them entering your body and burrowing down into your bones. Watch this!” With an impish smile, Yamako shoved the case back into her purse before returning to the table.
Sionna inquisitively watched the sway of her hips as she walked, wondering what had gotten into the princess. She was acting a bit more edgy than her usual self.
“Dr. Rosenberg,” Yamako said gently, putting her hand on the man’s shoulder. “I feel that I owe you an apology for overreacting earlier.”
“No, Princess Yamako,” Dylan said sadly, wiping his hands with a napkin. “I’m sorry if my actions made you feel uncomfortable at all…” As the man continued with a heartfelt and genuine apology, the Japanese princess allowed her index finger to drift over his collar and rest against the skin of his neck. She turned to look at Sionna with a mischievous smile as hundreds of microchips were inserted into the man’s body.
“—never do anything to disrespect you. I would never try to harm or encroach upon your relationship. I hope you understand that,” the doctor was saying desperately. “That’s just not who I am.”
“It’s fine, honey,” Princess Yamako said sweetly, her eyes glinting wickedly at Sionna. “I was just being really irrational. I do that sometimes—comes from being a spoiled princess, you know? Let’s just shake hands and call it water under the bridge!” Of course, the hand she held out to shake with his was the one that contained the microchips.
He clasped her hand in both of his tightly, looking up with grateful brown eyes. “I’m so relieved that you’re not upset. Thank you so much for not judging me too harshly—I promise, I will never betray your trust.”
“Any friend of Sionna’s is a friend of mine,” Princess Yamako said with a polite curtsey. With that, she left the doctor and returned to Sionna’s side. She reached into her purse and used a pair of tweezers to carefully remove the band from her fingertip. She carefully discarded it in the metal box. Pulling out her phone, she indicated the new signals to Sionna. “It takes about a minute before they burrow deep enough to send me information. It’s heat-activated you see.”
“Damn,” Sionna said softly. “That’s really sexy.”
“You’re not the only one with a few tricks up her sleeve,” Princess Yamako said smugly as she began rapidly typing dozens of digits.
Sionna squinted. “What on earth does that mean?”
“I’m programming an alert,” Princess Yamako explained. “If your microchips get too close to his microchips.”
“Wow, you can do that?” Sionna said with keen interest. She immediately cleared her throat. “I mean to say: That’s a huge violation of privacy, Yama!”
“I know,” said Yamako teasingly, reaching out to adjust Sionna’s blouse, “but I thought you liked me violating your privacy?”
“I do. So why did you decide to track Callder?”
“He was doing something foolish and I thought I would keep an eye on him,” Yamako said with a shrug. “Let’s get back to the dinner table, darling.”
As they returned to their seats, Aazuria was telling a story about her recent adventures in Africa. Trevain and Vachlan were interjecting every so often with questions and comments, and the kids were talking amongst themselves. Empress Amabie and Visola were engaged in animated conversation, and Sionna found herself appreciating the pleasant family atmosphere.
“Is my dad alive?” Kolora asked bluntly.
“Of course, dear,” Princess Yamako said with complete confidence. “Why would you even question that?”
“I heard him say that he borrowed money from a bookie and worried about having his kneecaps nailed to the floor,” Kolora admitted.
Trevain laughed. He was the only one at the table who found this amusing. “That’s just Callder talking big,” he informed his pretty niece. “He likes to act like his gambling is much more high-stakes than it really is. It’s not the money that attracts him—it’s the feeling he gets, the thrill of winning.”
“There really was a bookie,” Kolora insisted. “A loan shark or something like that.”
“Sharks are scary,” Ronan said, putting his thumb in his mouth.
“No they’re not,” Ivory argued. “They’re dumb. I can beat a shark.”
“Not that kind of shark,” Kolora explained. “I think he was involved with the mafia.”
“That sounds pretty serious,” Glais said with worry.
“I wouldn’t worry,” Sionna told the children. “He’s a Ramaris man, after all.”
“And thereby fundamentally damaged,” Naclana commented.
“No way!” Vachlan shouted from his end of the table. He produced a giant roar of laughter as he slapped his hand down on the table. “Are you pulling my leg, Queen Aazuria?”
“It’s true,” she said with a huge smile. “They’re engaged.”
“Namaka and Olokun?” Vachlan said in disbelief. “Namaka and Olokun! Ha! I thought that they’d last two weeks tops—maybe two years at the most! I thought Namaka was just temporarily fascinated with the allure of the king of the Somali pirates. But once we won the war and those men settled down and stopped raiding and plundering—I was almost certain she’d get bored and come running home to Adlivun.”
“Apparently she wasn’t as deeply in love with you as you thought,” Visola commented. “I’m willing to bet that King Olokun simply has a bigger—”
“Bleep!” Vachlan said loudly, censoring the inappropriate word from his children’s ears.
“—than you do, and she finds that more than just temporarily fascinating,” Visola finished. “I’m guessing he knows how to use it too.”
Empress Amabie laughed. “Vachlan, that real-time censorship must get challenging. How do you predict when she’s about to curse?”
“Indeed!” Dr. Rosenberg remarked. “I have been studying Visola closely and find her entirely too unpredictable.”
“Gosh, thanks,” Visola said coquettishly. “You’re a sweetheart, Dylan.”
“Observe her lips as she speaks; she gets a little guilty twitch in the corner of her mouth right before she says something she shouldn’t,” Vachlan pointed out. “On the right side. There—you see, underneath her abrasive, thorny exterior, Visola is still a good girl at heart.”
Tides of Tranquility Page 18
