by Pam Uphoff
Rior contemplated the potential effects of raining fireballs down on them. Better not.
"I'll give you fifty for both."
The haggling continued, and Mag finally bought both for a hundred. Good luck—they'll probably kill you.
"No, you don't drink them, t'woman drinks them. Old Gods, what idiots."
Mag, unfortunately, did not paste the farmer. But they did shut up and let him sleep.
***
Breakfast was enlivened by the sight of Jade chasing Mag across the yard, firing off fireballs. Mag had a shield up, but was running anyway.
Rior snorted. "I hope she catches him." I wonder which potion he used—was he around the pool when I was throwing the haploid spell? Damn it, probably not, he'd probably been arguing with Tyrone out front.
Instead of a big dining room table, they'd bought eight square tables. With all the children in high chairs, it was beginning to look like they'd need to bump out the dining room and add two or three more tables.
:: Soldiers! There are soldiers headed for the Comet Fall gate! Get Falchion up here to close it!:: Jade's message was sharp and clear.
Falchion dumped her baby on the witch beside her and bolted out the door.
Rior ran after her, then swerved over to the garden shed and pulled out the shiny new wheelbarrow. He shoved it toward the path up to the gates. Empty, it bounced over ever rut and knob. He caught up to Falchion, leaning on a tree, pale and ready to pass out. "Hop in." He tipped the barrow and very nearly scooped her up, and kept running for the gate. He muscled it up the last slope and turned to run south to the gate.
Falchion was already half way into a meditative state. He eased her out carefully, beside the gate. Mag was standing in front of the gate, scowling.
"What do you see, Mag?"
Mag glared. "A white tornado."
Thomu panted up beside them. "I see the road, there's a couple of small trees between the gate and road. There's a rider in uniform, going slow, staring hard at everything. Damn. he sees us. Did anyone bring a crossbow?"
Rior shot him a contemptuous look, and stepped around to where he could see through, fireball at the ready. One rider, out in front. He stepped across and threw the fireball. The rider jerked back, but the fireball bounced from a shield already in place. One! Rior stepped back, and kept going.
"If he comes through, hit him with everything you've got. Saturate his shields . . . " Damn, there's a whole troop! Are they all magic, or just the first man?
The view of the other world shrank and disappeared. Falchion collapsed, falling backwards with limp indifference to damage.
Rior picked her up and placed her gently in the barrow. He took her carefully back to the house, trying to not jostle her. "One of you other women nurse her baby, or put it in a no time bubble, whatever. She has to rest and recover or we can kiss our money making schemes goodbye." He picked Falchion up carefully and laid her on a sofa.
Jade tossed her head. "We don't need the other Worlds. We're fine here."
Rior felt his anger rising, but Mirk caught his eye, and shook his head.
"We catch the meat, you lot find or grow the veggies? I dunno, I'm rather fond of bread and cake and chocolate and coffee."
Jade actually hesitated.
"Do you know what Falchion has that the rest of you don't?" Mirk looked around curiously.
Jade frowned. "All three power sources. Witch, wizard and mage. I wonder if I could do something with one of you mages . . . "
Mag grinned. "And trust your whole mind and essence to us?"
Jade scowled at him, narrow eyed. "Trust a baby rapist? Not likely." She switched her scowl to Rior. "Betelgeuse has been doing a lot of fast time, but she's still too young for these men to be plying her with potions." She rubbed her fingers, sparks crackling. "If I catch you even thinking about trying that again . . . "
So much for my plans for Betelgeuse. Mag, you stupid little cock. Rior stepped in close to Mag. He had never used this level of compulsion spell. But he'd—she'd—been well trained. It slipped under Mag's mental shields and wrapped his mind, not quite completely. The heart still beat, the lungs still breathed, but the mind belonged to . . . Rior stepped down and handed it to Jade.
"Don't torture him, just be cold and make use of him."
Jade nodded absent mindedly and turned toward the gate hill. He nudged Mag's body that direction, finally sat him in the wheelbarrow and followed the path back to the gate clearings. She walked first to the northernmost one and sat down beside it. Rior shifted Mag to within reach. She said not a word to anyone just touched Mag's power, sucked it away and turned to stare at the glowing circle for a long time. She stood abruptly, walked to the next one, just gave it a glance and nod.
At the first empty clearing she sat again. Took Mag's hand and stared for a long time. Broke into a sweat and suddenly white blossomed and twisted.
Rior looked around. Ajay, Franc, Bender and Hat were watching sullenly. Bender scowled, but his attempted glare slid away. The other spectators were hanging further back. He eyed the grubby field. Snow in the furrows, everything was dead and frozen. There was a road, and another field. Some buildings off to the left half a mile. "I hope those are barns, they look too primitive for people to live in them."
Jade pulled herself out of the meditation, and looked at the gate. Stepped through. Rior clenched his teeth and sent the men through with her.
He slowly released his grip on Mag's mind and will. The Islander jerked, glassy eyed, away from Rior. "If you do that again, if you ever do that again I will kill . . . " his eyes rolled up in his head and he fainted.
Rior checked Mag's pulse, then stepped through the gate. The wind was icy, and looking around he could see the crude mud brick huts, the defensive walls. To the north, a glittering line.
"The great northern ice." Jade nodded toward the glitter. "It is very far south. We might manage to pick up some peasants to work the fields, if you'd like."
"Indeed. And while I love the seacoast, a farming village would do better up that river valley south of us."
Jade nodded. "I'll set up a corridor. We can move the peasants we want through the gate and right into the corridor to the valley." She turned and walked back through the gate. Rior followed, and the sullen Islanders trailed behind. Rior let them haul Mag back to the mansion.
Rior made himself comfortable in the library, beside an open window directly above the dining room. He didn't even need to use magic to eavesdrop.
Mag was conscious and sullen. Getting a minimal amount of sympathy.
"You can't tell how old any of the witches are. She's got boobs, so, I figured she was old enough. It wasn't like I raped her."
"No you just gave her some unknown potion you bought from some country bumpkin—and thank the old gods they all went home before Falchion closed the gate!" Thomu sounded pissed. "We can't just bring a bunch of strangers into our home. We haven't seen Rior face to face with a Comet Fall witch or wizard, but perhaps you'd better think about just how powerful he is. He took Mag and used him without so much as breaking a sweat. Didn't he, Mag? Was it because you aren't well enough trained, or is it because Rior has different genes and is very well trained. Maybe the next time Rior says something is a bad idea, maybe you ought not turn around and do exactly that."
"You're not magic. We don't have to listen to you." That sounded like Franc.
"Yeah, well, you lot had your noses out of joint over the women being busy with new babies—so all you can think to do is get six more women pregnant? That'll be thirty-seven freaking babies. The women are all going to be too tired to fuck you."
"Ha! Drink this Pretty Boy!" There were some thumps and thuds, a frisson of nearby magic. Choking noises.
"He can't swallow while you have him paralyzed." Epee sounded indifferent.
A bit more thrashing, and sputtering. Thomu sounding pissed. "What was that?"
"A hex. Just what you need."
"Jade, we've had our differenc
es, but you were right all along to control your pyramid, and slowdown the births." Thomu sounded stiff.
"It's not her pyramid."
Oh ho! Teri was feeling threatened.
"Teri, you may be technically the leader, but you never do anything but keep everyone else down. This needs to stop." Sunset was getting into the cat fight.
"Right. And Lord No-power has no right to an opinion on this matter, right Sister?" Sunset was backing up her sister witch.
"Well it looks like, thanks to Mag, I'll be a Waning Half next year. So it damn well may be my pyramid." Jade sounded a bit savage about it.
"I'm years ahead of you, Jade."
"Well, Elder Sister. I'd recommend you wait a couple of weeks before calling a meeting of the Pyramid, so everyone can all recover from childbirth enough to walk up the hill." Smokey sounded pissed.
"Now, I'm going to ride down to the river valley south of here, and anchor a corridor. Anyone want to come?" Jade sounded smug. As well she might. She can open gates, and Teri can't. She can do whatever she wants to with Mag, and he knows it. That broke up the meeting down there, and Rior moved to his more usual seat to finish reading the history of the World where the British Flag never bowed.
Whoops from the front of the house drew him out, though, and he joined the rest of them in the pasture, admiring the two foals that had apparently been born last night.
"Both colts! Excellent! I don't suppose you did anything intelligent like breeding them to two different stallions?" Thomu was grinning.
Epee glared. "I don't suppose you did anything intelligent like breeding any of the other mares."
Thomu stiffened but turned away to admire the wobbly angular creatures. Rior didn't see much to admire, but presumably the Comet Fall people did. Mirk walked up and eyed the foals. "Good looking foals. With luck one will be good enough to use at stud. Those are both pretty good mares."
"Perhaps you'd get hybrid vigor, breeding with a completely different gene pool." Rior suggested. "You should look into buying a stallion in the British Empire. One of those race horses, perhaps?"
Fidel swapped looks with Thomu and they both nodded.
Mirk stood up and swept the group with a gaze that caught their attention. "Excellent idea, Lord Rior. As is your idea to transplant some farmers." He looked around at the younger men. "Now, listen up. That new world looks cold and grim. We shouldn't have too many problems persuading them to come, but you have to act responsibly, not like wolves given care of a flock of sheep. You are Lords. That means no rape. You've got all the women you need up here, and frankly I don't know why I'm bothering to lecture you, because these witches don't leave you with much energy, now, do they? While they're setting up the corridor, I suggest we go scout around, chat up the farmers."
Mirk easily chivvied the men back to the house to dress for the cold, and arm for possible hostility. Rior followed, and the witches trailed. Inside he could hear several babies crying.
He caught Epee's eye. "Do you think it would be a good idea to put perhaps half of the babies in no time, and reduce the workload? And do any of you know the haploid spell?" I can at least try to steer their choices toward sanity.
Her brows rose, and she looked a bit thoughtful. "We really aren't as at the mercy of our reproduction as it seems, are we?"
He didn't push any further. The witches were useful, but not critical to the actual raids. They could be as pregnant and tied down with babies as they wished, so long as they could open and close gates.
Chapter Thirty-eight
Early Summer 1399
Comet Fall
Hanger balanced uncertainly on horse back, and let 'Galena' go wherever she wished. He split his attention between not falling off and Easterly and Xen arguing.
"They'll no doubt open up another gate whenever they wish." Xen sounded peeved.
Easterly shook his head. "I could see the girl doing the work, she looked pretty sickly. I'll bet they'll leave us alone for awhile." He looked back at the Earthers. "Hopefully leave your World alone as well. We can work on getting you home, and hopefully some co-operation between Worlds, police-wise and nab these people."
Albrecht had said that she'd had riding lessons as a child. She at least was holding the reins and making a pretense of steering. Lancing and Phillips were like him—clueless. Fortunately the horses seemed very placid and well mannered. They walked through the disguised corridor without hesitation, and then they walked across the City of Karista to the far side army fort where the gate to the Embassy World was located.
"Eventually we may be able to bring it closer to the City, but for now, we're keeping an eye on it. Good morning Hanix." Xen exchanged greeting with the guard who was already opening the gate to an enclosed yard, with a white whirlpool at the far side. The horses were just as mellow about that as the corridors, and hopped through to a flat grassy plain with a few big buildings plopped down incongruously around a huge fountain.
"We really need to find the time to pave the rest of the streets." Inso was bringing up the rear with Hackathorn. "It'd look less like the sole bastion of civilization on the Whole World."
"But that's what it is." Lon argued.
They'd come out facing the fountain, and made a hard left to face a threatening black building. Not all that tall, but broad, and cubic.
"So," Deena looked over at them. "The Earthers and Oners all think calling it the Department of Interdimensional Security and Cooperation, Disco for short, is terribly amusing. I see you get the joke too. Can you explain?"
"Don't do it." Inso called. "Calling them Disco is the funniest thing yet."
Lon nodded. "They might go and change the name."
Xen looked back in exasperation. "I've checked all the computers. All they come up with is a music and dance style. How is that funny? Or is there something I'm missing?"
Lancing had been snickering. "A disco ball in the front entry?"
Inso whooped and started cackling. "I must find one. Must."
Two youngsters popped out to take the horses.
Even Xen looked surprised. "What are you two doing here?"
"Minding the stable and garden and helping Nighthawk and Lapwing."
"Aren't you a bit young and does anyone know where you've run off to?"
"Yep. Dad figured training with you and Q would be good for us." The boy looked about ten. Light brown hair, darkish tan skin.
"Actually we were sort of in trouble, and Mother figured you deserved us." The girl was a bit taller, but about the same age, no figure to speak of. Golden blonde hair in a messy ponytail.
"Dare I ask?" Xen looked apprehensive.
They swapped looks and started snickering. "No." The girl answered.
"Right. Later then." Xen's horse wasn't even wearing a bridle, and neither child seemed the least bit concerned with controlling him. The girl took Galena's reins from him, and Easterly's, and Inso's horses' reins as well. The boy got the rest.
"Rufi and Centauri, right?" Easterly was eyeing them.
They nodded and led the horses off.
"That's scary, what are they, ten and eleven now?" Deena smirked at Xen. "Do I really want to know the kind of trouble your children get into?"
"Probably not. And Centauri is not mine, I have better sense than to fool around with Fuchsia." Xen eyed something out in the plaza behind them. "Excuse me just a moment." He walked away, heading for a black goat looking nervously around. It was a damned big goat, but obviously frightened of Xen. He slowed down and approached it carefully, then made a sudden tossing motion with his left hand. The goat reared back, flopped over and writhed on the ground. The black hair turned flesh colored, and for a second Hanger thought it was skinning itself. Then a man staggered to his feet, buck naked and wobbly, still backing away from Xen, who was pointing to the left. The man backed that direction, hands trying to preserve some modesty as he dived through another gate.
"Inso?" Easterly looked like he was having trouble keeping a straight face. "Di
d Xen turn the soldiers into goats?"
"Nope. Q did it before she passed out from loss of blood. Xen said he was tempted to leave them over there, but apparently there's a food shortage. We finally swapped the locals cattle and sheep for the goats. As far as we knows none of them got eaten. The locals promised to catch and toss through their gate any more goats they find over there."
Xen walked back. "Once they're here, they keep running off to the hills, and that's going to make for some interesting diplomacy over the next few months." He shrugged and led the way up the steps to the black monolith.
After a long moment, Hanger shook himself. "Maybe it was an illusion, with hypnosis, and Xen removed it."
The others nodded slowly. "That's got to be it. I mean, people can't really change into goats and back. Not really."
Inso snickered. "C'mon in. You might as well make yourselves at home until Q can do some work. She really is the best."
"So . . . how did she end up in the middle of a gun battle?"
"She makes gates, she made the ones the Earth attacked through—not your Earth, relax."
He snickered at them, or probably their expressions. "So she was checking a new batch for stability when the Earth rolled the armored troop carriers through a different gate. And of course instead of yelling for help she just dived in to stop the invasion."
"Actually, I saw Q this morning." Xen held the door for them. "She said to pin down which branch of Earth you were from and that'd make her job easier. She claims she'll be in good enough shape to hunt it down in two weeks."
Inso snorted. "Not likely. I saw the hole in her back. Nasty exit wound, and even your wine couldn't stop the bleeding. Just because she's back on her feet—except for sleeping about fourteen hours a day—doesn't mean she's up to heavy magical work. When she staggered in here yesterday, I sent her back home with orders to stay there until that scary old lady said she could return."
