The Chosen

by K. J. Nessly

  On the morning of the fourth day David tossed his bed sheet and sat on the edge of his bed. This sudden move startled Jenna out of her light doze and she stood up out of her chair.

  “And just what do you think you are doing?”

  “Jenna, I am ready and fit for work,” David announced.

  “No you’re not, Jenna protested. I will let you know when you are ready.”

  “Jenna, you need to stop mothering me.” And with that said David promptly stood up and made for the door. Before he took a second step, all color drained from his face and he collapsed like a marionette whose strings had just been cut. Jenna managed to catch him before he did a face plant and wrestled him back into bed.

  “Mothering,” she gasped while crabbing him back under the sheets. “If this is mothering I’m giving you up for adoption!”

  Unbeknownst to David, Luke had stepped up to alleviate some of the pressure Kathryn was bearing, leading one team while Kathryn took the other three. It wasn’t much, but it helped.

  It was during this time that Luke came up with an idea. Hesitantly he shared it with Amy who quickly agreed. Together they hastily spread the plan, asking for approval and having it accepted by the rest of the family.

  One week after David was injured he voluntarily took the first and third shifts, giving Kathryn a morning to sleep in. It was only after she’d agreed that he realized that by forcing her to take the later shifts he was altering her sleeping habits. He’d have to find a way to make up for that mistake.

  As Kathryn, Tyler, Natalie, and Luke left for the final shift, David found himself confronted by the rest of the Dragons. Amy, obviously the chosen spokesperson, stepped forward. “We have a proposal for you.”

  Kathryn’s head ached abominably as her team made their way home for the night. It was just her luck that she would take a rather severe blow to the head within the first radian from a desperate, and drunk, farmer. Her determination and skull were too thick for the blow to cause serious damage, but it was enough to leave her with a pounding headache.

  All she cared about right now was getting home and collapsing into her bed. It was doubly unfortunate that she was with Natalie right now, who was chattering beyond comprehension, apparently oblivious, even though Kathryn knew it was an act, to the agony Kathryn was in. Luke and Tyler had noticed her ever increasing frown and knit brow and tried to still Natalie’s endless stream of chatter, but were largely unsuccessful in that endeavor.

  To everyone’s complete surprise the windows were lit up as they approached the house. Even more surprising was when the door opened to reveal every member of the family, who stood waiting in anxious anticipation.

  “What’s going on?” Kathryn asked, alert even though she felt like dropping.

  David looked at her grimly. “There’s been a mutiny while you were away.”

  Kathryn, too tired to attempt comprehension, merely stared at him. “A what?”

  Before David could reply the rest of the group ushered them inside and into the sitting room.

  Kathryn waited silently for someone—anyone to continue.

  Amy turned to her. “Luke came up with a brilliant plan.” Was it Kathryn’s imagination or was her friend blushing slightly? Had Amy, who had sworn off men from the day Kathryn had known her, developed a crush? She would have to talk with her friend later.

  Luke stood and faced her. “We’ve decided we don’t like David’s plan for shifts,” he informed her seriously. “We want some changes made.”

  Kathryn opted for the direct approach, “Such as?”

  “You and David get Lumbar and Nénar off.”

  Kathryn couldn’t have been more surprised if they had informed her she was queen. “What?”

  Amy stood. “You and David work twice as hard as we do, pulling two shifts a day. In this last week, you’ve pulled about four times your regular work load alone and that got Luke thinking…”

  Luke jumped in. “It’s all fine and well that we have a leader and a second-in-command, but who’s going to alleviate some of the pressure from the second if the first is indisposed?”

  “Something we certainly learned this week,” Kathryn said slowly, thinking about how Luke had voluntarily stepped up and led his shift in order for her to get some rest. In all honesty, the work hadn’t been that stressful, she’d been worked harder at the Blackwoods. The long radians of patrol merely gave her something to focus on as well as an escape from Natalie. When she led the fourth shift, she would split them up into three teams so that she never ended up working with Natalie. It had worked well, except for tonight when they’d all become entangled in the tavern brawl. But apparently the others had felt that she wasn’t strong enough to handle so many patrols and after some thought she’d been more than willing to give up the one patrol she’d been sharing with Natalie.

  “Well, we’ve come up with a plan to help lighten the pressure you two carry,” Luke explained. “Both you and David will have two consecutive days off each week.”

  “Two whole days?”

  “Yes, those days will be your time to relax.”

  “It isn’t fair that you’re giving us two days off and yourselves none—after a few weeks you’ll hate it,” Kathryn predicted.

  Jenna shook her head. “I don’t believe that will be case, in any case we don’t carry the pressures of responsibility that you do. In order for you to make good and mutually beneficial choices you cannot be constantly worn down to a thread. Besides, we made sure we’ll all get a day of rest.”

  Rachel spoke up. “After what happened this week we decided that you two would need a time to completely relax and have the pressures lifted so you will be fresh when decisions do need to be made.”

  Kathryn turned back to Jenna. “Explain what you meant when you said everyone will get a day off.”

  “We worked out a new system for the weekends,” Amy explained. “On Lumbar I will take Daniel, Tyler, Cassandra, Lindsey, and Elizabeth for an all day shift. On Nénar Luke, Matt, Rachel, Leia, Jenna, and Natalie will have an all day shift. In the end all of us will get at least one day off. You and David work harder than we do, so we decided you should receive two days off.”

  Kathryn turned to look at David. “And you agreed to this?”

  “At the time it didn’t seem like I had much of a choice,” he grinned.

  “Then I guess I can work with it as well,” Kathryn said as she rubbed her aching forehead.

  “Then that means,” Luke said quickly. “That Amy and her shift had better get to sleep now since tomorrow’s Lumbar.”

  Everybody dispersed and went upstairs, leaving Kathryn and David alone.

  “We’re starting to live and act like a family,” David commented as the last door closed quietly.

  Kathryn just nodded her agreement, then after a few moments asked, “Are you sure about this? The whole reason you set up the shifts like you did was so that one of us would always be present.”

  He nodded. “I did, yes. But Amy and Luke raised a very good point. What happens if both the leader and second-in-command are unreachable or indisposed? I had it set up assuming that either you or myself would always be available. We’ve just learned it won’t always be that way. Luke and Amy have proven themselves responsible enough I trust them to lead.”

  “I was impressed by Luke’s offer to lead his shift,” Kathryn replied quietly. And she had been. She would have been more impressed if it hadn’t been because he, and the others, hadn’t considered her too weak to handle such long hours.

  David studied her for a long moment and for once she wished she had Jasse’s gift of telepathy. Surely he didn’t think her weak as well?

  Finally he said, “Another reason I’m allowing this. Luke has leadership qualities, as does Amy. They just need experience to strengthen them.”

  “What makes you sure they won’t challenge your leadership once they’ve had a taste of it?”

  “I don’t,” David admitted. “But eventually all of us w
ill need to learn to lead. During a war we will all be troop leaders.”

  “That’s true,” Kathryn was rubbing her head again. The only problem with his logic was that the last recorded war Archaea had been involved in had occurred several hundred years ago; and it had been more of a brief uprising than an actual war.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m just tired. I guess I’ll turn in.” Kathryn turned and headed up the stairs to her room.

  David watched her go, wondering what it would take to get her to open up to the rest of them.

  David rose early the next morning. Even though he wasn’t leading the team, he still wanted to be there when they left. Kathryn wasn’t up yet, but considering how much her head had been hurting last night he wasn’t surprised. Shaking his head he thought back to last night and Kathryn’s brush off of his concern. It had been obvious to him, and probably everyone else that Kathryn hadn’t been feeling well. The way she kept rubbing her forehead made it clear it was a headache. She seemed to get a lot of them, either that or she just rubbed her head a lot. It wasn’t until he’d caught up with Luke that he’d heard about her knock to the head, as well as the cause for it. He was going to have to talk to Natalie about reckless behavior.

  Amy was in the kitchen helping Matt pack their midday meal and supper. She looked up when he walked in. “Good morning. What are you doing up?”

  “Habit I guess,” he admitted as he snatched a roll. “You guys all ready?”

  She snorted. “Right, habit. Because you were always up when Kathryn and the others were heading out the door before the break of dawn,” she said sarcastically.

  He grinned sheepishly. “I was on the first day.”

  “Only because you were on patrol that day,” she countered.

  “Point,” he sighed.

  We’re ready and stop worrying, we’ll be fine.”

  It was as if she could read his mind.

  “Your face is as open as a book,” Amy grunted as she slipped the pack onto her back.

  David finished his roll. “I’ll have to work on that then, I guess.”

  “Any special plans for today?”

  “Nope.”

  “Beware, Natalie might have a few suggestions.”

  He laughed. “I’ll bear that in mind. Be careful, stay safe.”

  Amy grinned at him as she joined the others. “Always.”

  They left the house and he returned to the kitchen to keep Matt company. “What’s for breakfast Matt?”

  “Eggs, fried venison, biscuits, and fresh juice.”

  David’s mouth watered at the thought. “Sounds delicious.”

  “I should hope so,” Matt laughed. “It’d better be after all the work I put into it!”

  “Do you want me to wake everyone else up?”

  “It’s still early yet, why not let them sleep in?”

  Dave grinned. “And miss the look on Natalie’s face when I tell her it’s not even dawn yet?”

  Matt snorted. “It’s your funeral friend.”

  David pulled himself up onto the counter and watched Matt cook. The warmth from the cooking surface invigorated and soothed his back. After a while he asked, “Have you noticed anything going on between Natalie and Kathryn?”

  “You mean other than the fact that Natalie hates Kathryn?” Matt asked as he poured some batter into the skillet, it sizzled and snapped as it came into contract with the hot oil.

  David paused. “Hate is a strong word, Matt.”

  “There’s really no other word for it,” The redhead replied.

  “How bad is it really?”

  Matt looked at him. “Let’s say not good, and leave it at that.”

  David made a face. “That bad, huh?”

  “The midday meal isn’t exactly a time for lighthearted conversation in this house,” Matt informed him.

  “Do you think any trouble will arise this morning?”

  His friend paused. “Hard to say, with you around Natalie just might behave herself. She has in the past.”

  “Why hasn’t anyone brought this to my attention before?”

  Matt turned and looked at him. “And tell you what? That Natalie and Lindsay were talking Kathryn to death? All we saw was an endless stream of pointed questions and a few sharp comments every day or so. We had no proof that they were doing anything else and a few of us were worried that you’d consider Kathryn’s reaction extreme.”

  Well if that wasn’t a testament to their honest opinion of his leadership, David didn’t know what it was. And it burned. He’d tried so hard to be a good leader, trying to be fair across the table with everyone in his family. But a small part of him realized that that would have been his reaction had he been told. Were his own initial experiences with Kathryn coloring his judgment where she was concerned? As he considered the redhead's words, David slid down from the counter, stood and reached to snatch one of the fresh biscuits out of the basket they had been arranged in.

  "Hey!" Matt protested. "Those are for later."

  David grinned. "You can't expect me to sit here for another radian just looking at them can you?"

  As he lifted the still warm biscuit to his mouth he spotted movement around Matt's collar. Curious he peered closer, only to find himself face to face with a green and purple lizard about the size of his hand. It hissed at him and stuck its tongue out at him. Unfortunately for David he had moved close enough, and the forked orange tongue was long enough, for it to hit him squarely on the nose.

  He jerked back. "Um, Matt...you do realize that you have a lizard sitting on you, right?"

  "Oh, her?" Matt turned his head and stroked the top of the lizard's head. David swore that it began to purr like a contented cat. "That's just Lacey...she's harmless."

  David eyed the lizard doubtfully. "Harmless..." he repeated, wiping his nose with the cuff of his sleeve.Why do all of the Dragon's pets hate me?He wondered.First Destiny and now Lacey? He hoped that it wasn't about to become a pattern.

  At a radian after sunrise Luke, Rachel, and Leia joined the two boys in the kitchen.

  “I thought I smelled something delicious,” Luke commented hungrily, sniffing the air.

  “Would you like me to wake Jenna and Natalie?” Rachel asked.

  Matt grinned. “Why not? Breakfast is ready… so, by definition, it’s time they woke up.”

  David eyed him. “Whose definition?”

  Matt skillfully transferred the eggs from the frying pan to a serving platter. “Mine.”

  Rachel turned to leave and David said, “Kathryn’s still asleep too. You might want to grab her as well.”

  Rachel looked surprised. “She’s still in bed? Usually she’s the first one up.”

  “She had a killer of a headache last night,” David explained.

  “In that case first I’ll see if it’s gone, and then I’ll let her know breakfast is ready.” Rachel hurried upstairs while David helped Leia set the table.

  A bellow from the kitchen brought them running. David couldn't stop from laughing as he took in the ridiculous sight. Luke was sprawled on the floor with his legs apart, looking for all the kingdom like he'd just taken a blow from an opponent ten times his size, while Matt was precariously balanced on the countertop standing on his tiptoes, reaching for Lacey who was perched at the topmost corner of the cabinet. "You didn't have to scare her," the redhead was complaining as he attempted to coax the reptile off her perch.

  "Shelicked me!" Luke wiped his cheek with his sleeve, which was already red from his earlier scrubbing.

  "Lacey doesn't like you either, huh?" David observed through his mirth.

  “Like me?” Stuttering and motioning with his finger, he went on, “th, that, that purple thing was tasting me!” Incredulous he demanded a response from Matt, “Does that thing bite?” Before Matt could respond David’s words registered and Luke turned an accusing glare on his friend. "Youknew about this?"

  "Sure!" David responded enthusiastically. "I've known about Laney, s
orry,Lacey for five minutes!"

  Luke continued to glare as Leia helped him up. "This isn't funny."

  "No it isn't!" Matt agreed emphatically as he finally dismounted from the countertop, Lacey cupped in his hands. "You scared her to death, Luke!"

  "A lizard, Matt? Really?" Luke shot back. "Why couldn't you befriend a dog?"

  "Because dogs are too common place,” Matt returned shortly. “Now get out of the kitchen unless you want ashes for breakfast." His ultimatum delivered, Matt returned his attention to his cooking, occasionally talking calmly to his newfound friend.

  Luke stared in amazement for a few moments before David tugged him out of the kitchen. "Come on, Luke. Let's finish setting the table."

  Five minutes later Rachel returned. “They’re on their way.” She announced as she took a seat, and then grinned, “Although Natalie wasn’t too happy about it.”

  Luke grinned. “I’m just glad it was you and not me waking her up.”

  “What was the commotion I heard a few minutes ago?”

  Luke ducked his head. “Don’t ask,” he muttered sourly.

  Rachel sent a questioning look at Leia who motioned later with her hand.

  Minutes later the three girls appeared in the dining room. As usual Kathryn was completely dressed and her hair pulled back into her usual bun. Destiny, who was riding on her arm, started getting restless until Kathryn finally opened a window and shooed her outside. Jenna had managed to get dressed and was in the midst of brushing her long blond hair. Natalie however was still in her dressing robe, hair tousled, and a deep frown etched into her face. David tried not to correlate their respective morning habits with their maturity. After what he’d just learned about Natalie, he failed in her case.

  Cheerfully Matt brought out the breakfast dishes and they all ate heartily. Luke kept glancing suspiciously at Matt, but as far as David could tell, could spot no sign of Lacey.