“So this will make the ward proof against you?” Phillips asked.
“I didn’t say that,” I said, grinning at him. “I’ll just have to work a little harder.”
“And you’ve yet to discover why none of us can perceive you past the physical plane?” Fuller asked, though it was difficult to decide to whom the question was directed since he was still looking at me.
“Seth likes to say it’s because he’d scare the hell out of people if they saw the real him,” Peter called past Phillips, garnering some laughs through the dining room and grins from us.
“No, we haven’t,” Kieran said, still grinning at Peter’s remark. “And while we understand why it’s vexing for everyone, it’s not that high in our priority list of things to accomplish.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, what is on that list, then?” Fuller asked.
“We as a community have a war to finish,” Kieran answered, cutting his roast beef slowly. “My brothers and I have a family to build. We have a company and research projects to begin. Seth has a realm to build and manage and the Fae to contend with. Then there are other, more personal issues for each of us, of course.”
Lord Daybreak? I heard a tiny voice calling to me. It sounded a lot like Shrank to me, but it came from… well, it came from inside me.
Lord Daybreak? May I have a moment of your time, sir? Shrank called again.
“Shrank? Is that you?” I said softly pushing out with my senses to find him.
Yes, Lord Daybreak. If this is a bad time, it can wait. I locked onto him as he said this, floating on an updraft before the bridge to the Palace. He relaxed obviously as I formed a solid link to him. It was taking a lot of his energy to push his thoughts so far, but beyond that, he didn’t seem upset or agitated. I looked around the dining room and realized I was the only person finished with his meal, which I thought odd since I was talking through most of it. Either I wolfed it down really fast or I was really stimulating dinner conversation. Bet the most on the former.
“No, Shrank. I think I can manage, just give me a moment,” I said softly. Glancing down the table, Peter and Kieran were still eating and Kieran was keeping Fuller and Peraza occupied anyway, but Ethan was done. I could take him.
“Mr. Fuller,” I said. “My regent is calling and I really should see what he needs. Would you excuse Ethan and me for a few moments?”
“Yes, yes, of course, Mr. McClure,” Fuller answered quickly, gesturing for someone on the side of the room to come forward. I presumed to lead us out, but we wouldn’t be going that way.
“Problem?” Kieran asked softly with concern as I walked by to meet Ethan.
“I don’t think it’s bad. Shrank doesn’t seem too upset,” I said, shrugging. “We’ll be back as quickly as possible.”
He nodded and went back to dinner, knowing we could call if we needed help. Ethan pushed his chair forward to the table as I reached him and the man Fuller called came up behind us. He realized he wasn’t necessary when we evaporated in front of him as I shifted us to the bridge with Shrank.
Chapter 5
“Good night, Lord Daybreak!” Shrank squealed as he rolled in circles around us in the air. “Master Ethan! It is good to see you as well on this fine, star-filled night.”
The sky was definitely star-filled. With no city lights to brighten the skyline, there had to be millions of them up there, twinkling in the blackness.
“Hi, Shrank,” Ethan muttered, looking up at the sky, distracted and maybe a little homesick.
“Hey, Shrank,” I said, a little more cheerfully than Ethan. “What’s up?”
“Well, Lord Daybreak,” Shrank started, flying up even with my shoulders in front of me. “Over the past few hours, I have noticed an increase in the oddities in the survivors you brought over. Nothing feels wrong, but some things are not exactly usual in my recollection.”
“You mean things like the brownies by the lake being taller than they were when they got here?” I asked the pixie.
“Yes, sir, exactly!” Shrank beamed, literally. “There have been several other transformations that are more extreme. Again, nothing feels wrong, just not exactly what I’m used to. That makes me wonder if my original assessment of the binding lasting for a full month is safe. That is my main concern, Lord, that you would pay the price for my error in judgment.”
“What brought this up tonight, Shrank?” Ethan asked.
“The water nymphs, Master Ethan,” Shrank answered. “I was flying through a field of what appeared to be Esteleum when two water nymphs came by playing in a stream.”
“What was odd about that?” I asked.
“We didn’t bring over any water nymphs,” Shrank said. “Or any kind of nymphs, actually. They were the newborn offspring of a brownie clan a few hills away.”
Ethan met my stare, showing the same alarm I had. Still Shrank wasn’t nearly as alarmed as we were.
“Where were you, Shrank?” I asked the pixie, expecting him to give me directions. Instead, since I hadn’t closed the link I’d forged from Fuller’s dining room, he pushed the nymphs’ presence across the link and I found them myself. It was an odd sensation, knowing something—no, two “somebodies”—so intimately that you can pick up their presence from miles away.
I shifted the three of us across my realm to the Esteleum field and watched the two water nymphs as they played in the stream’s slow-moving water. Chittering and chattering together, one would toss a twig or a leaf into the stream and the other would hop along the bank, waiting for it to come close to snatch it up and run back to the first to start anew.
“I don’t see anything ‘wrong’ with them either, Shrank,” I said. At the sound of my voice, the nymphs panicked and jumped into the water, disappearing into invisibility below the surface. The pixie giggled and flew over to the bank.
“You should not hide from Lord Daybreak, children,” he squealed in the Fae common tongue, chastising but only lightly. He flew back to me as the tiny heads of the two nymphs popped up out of the water, nervous and scared.
“Shrank, you’ve scared the daylights out of them,” I said calmly.
“We did that already,” Ethan said laughing softly. “Aren’t they a bit small for nymphs? Even children?”
“Yes, Master Ethan, but larger than their parents by far,” answered Shrank.
I squatted down and waved the two nymphs to me. “Come here for a moment, please? I’d like to look at you,” I said smiling at the pair. They glanced at each other, more nervous now, then rose slowly out of the water and walked to me.
First I looked at the geas in both of them, seeing the trio of rings around their bodies and souls, binding them to the land and its power. It looked correct and strong, gleaming with golden power as if I’d just placed it there. Their souls were lit with jubilant light, a joie de vie, that seemed to inhabit all of the smaller Fae and skip elves completely. Their bodies, a boy and a girl, were healthy and still growing, which made sense as they were indeed children. I wondered vaguely about genetic problems if these two started mating—they were originally of the same clan but they bore no strong resemblance to brother and sister.
“Well, you both look perfectly healthy and happy to me,” I told them, smiling. “You two be careful and tell Shrank if you need anything or if you have any problems, okay?” Their eyes turned to perfect circles of awe that I’d spoken to them.
“Yes, Lord Daybreak, thank you,” they chittered together.
I stood and turned to Ethan. “Did you see anything?”
“No, nothing odd, anyway,” he said. “Other than size, they looked like you’d think a nymph would look. Of course, that’s never having seen one, but you know that.”
“Yeah, me neither,” I said, distractedly looking around us. The moon was fading below the horizon but the bright starlight lit the area nicely. With my spell-enhanced vision and, no doubt, some Daybreak modifications as well, I could see the forest around us clearly. And I had a very hard time believ
ing these trees and that stream were only a few days old. That tree in front of me had to be seventy feet tall. And that stream had a slimy bottom, an algae coating that doesn’t grow in a day’s time.
Of course I’m also confronted with other sights, like the constant flow of ambient energy between the trees. It seemed to hover like a fog between the bushes about twenty feet deeper in, but everywhere else there was a light blue magic wafting like a breeze. Everything about this pale blue said “It’s a new day!” and it said “I am two days old” and I said “Mine!”
Shaking myself out of eerily possessive feeling over the forest I was having, I asked, “Shrank, what are those over there?”
“The Esteleum field, sir?” he asked, flying over my shoulder and following my arm out. Turning lazily over the shrubs, he looked for anything out of the ordinary that I could have been asking about.
“Is that what the bushes are?” I called in question, walking closer with Ethan in tow. Shrank wasn’t affecting the fog around the shrubs at all, I noticed, so it didn’t appear to be in the air. As Ethan and I pushed into the bushes, it was more obvious what the bushes were as the fruit was hanging from the branches in various states of ripeness.
“They’re already bearing fruit! So soon?” I exclaimed.
“Yes, Lord,” Shrank piped, shooting down below the fog. “This one is ripe, even. All of the fruit-bearing trees and shrubs have some yield right now with more coming on the vine. The Fae are waiting for the Great Claiming to begin winter preparations.”
“’Great Claiming’?” Ethan asked suspiciously.
“Yes, Master Ethan,” Shrank squealed, flying back up to eye level. “The Survivors have taken to a few traditions already. Firstly, they are the Survivors and their offspring are the First Born. The second geas will be known as the Great Claiming and has a greater significance to them, even though the first was their Salvation.”
“Why a greater significance, Shrank?” I asked as the fog did react to me as I pushed in between the bushes to where Shrank hovered. The energy repelled from me as I reached through it, clearing away from my hand and arm as I reached. Plucking the fruit free from the vine, I dredged my free hand through the top of the fog to a different effect. This time, the energy followed my fingertips as if it was smoke in the air.
“The Fae feel that with the second geas, you are confirming to them and to the universe that you actually want them instead of simply saving them out of some odd sense of human obligation,” Shrank explained.
“That’s just… sweet,” Ethan said, smiling, but the shadowy back half of his aura was metaphorically rolling on the ground laughing, its feet in the air racked with outbursts of kicking.
“Yes, it is,” I said archly, glaring at him. Shaking my head, I went back to the fruit in my hand and the energy clouds around my thighs. Shrank called this an Esteleum fruit, but it differed from the previous ones I’d seen. It was a little larger, by about a quarter, and a golden greenish color, not purple at all. “Shrank, why is it a different color than the ones from the Arena?”
“There are several fruit, as well as trees and other plants, that are of different varieties here than the previous realms I am familiar with, Lord,” Shrank said. “I had assumed that the slight difference in color of the Esteleum was due to that.”
“I wouldn’t call this a slight difference in color,” I muttered.
“Oh, Esteleum is naturally a darker green on the vine in the Summer lands,” piped Shrank, searching the bushes for more fruit. “So were his. Yours is the first variant I’ve heard of and it tastes much better, too!”
I looked at the fuzzy golden fruit, searching down through the skin and into the meat and pulp. Shrank was right, it appeared to be Esteleum all the way through to the seeds. Biting into it, I found Shrank was right again—this was damn good! It was like a ripe peach and a plum and, maybe, a mango all mixed together, sweet and succulent. Dirt stayed completely out of the picture here. I threw up a light shield to keep the juices from running down my face and onto my new suit. I still had to mingle with the rich and famous tonight.
“Damn! This is good!” I said between gulps. The general sense of wellness rushed through me as the power of the fruit worked its magic, confirming again to me that this was Esteleum. I couldn’t finish the piece I started, already too full as it was. “But every other piece we’ve seen was purple.”
“Oh, that fruit had already been processed,” Shrank said, floating up above another bush four feet away from Ethan to my left.
“Processed how?” I asked the pixie, squatting down to examine the bush closer.
“I’m not certain what the elves do that changes the fruit, Lord,” Shrank squeaked, flying over to me and down. “We are forbidden to speak of it, but that onus has been removed now.”
“Are there more things that you’re forbidden to do that I should know about?” I asked, pulling another free and tossing it to Ethan. He eyed it suspiciously.
“Undoubtedly, Lord Daybreak,” Shrank squealed, rising up with me as I stood. “But I would not know what those are until I come across them.” That made some sense, I suppose.
“If this tastes like crap, I will get you back. You know that, right?” Ethan asked, grinning, then bit into it. Surprised, he caught the juices running down his face with his hand and said, “This is good!”
“I told you so, and I’ll get you back for the threat, too,” I said, grinning back and plucking another from another bush. “Shrank, you have no idea what the elves did to it to make it change colors?”
“No, Lord, it always looked to be very much the same afterward to me, except for the bruising effect and the change in flavors,” he squeaked. “But I must admit the flavor did not change appreciably. Yours is very much an improvement.”
“Thanks for that,” I muttered, peering down again into the fruit and recalling the purple one from when I searched for the poison that was killing Mike at Grammand. Comparing the two, they were very similar in size, shape, and consistency. From the skin all the way down to the seeds, the two were extremely similar, close cousins even, just a few genetic tweaks away from being the exact same. Nothing that I could see explained the change in coloration. Changing direction, I started with the seeds and worked outward, then I caught the difference.
“Oooohhhh,” I drew the word out slowly, subconsciously. “I think I see what’s up.” There was a very thin coating around the seeds that sat between the embryonic plant, the hard outer shell, and its food source. Pulling two seeds out through the skin, I pushed a little energy into one the embryos, causing it to start growing. It rapidly ate this coating, leeching the energy in the environment through this coating and using that power to burst through the hard outer coating at an accelerated rate, completely using the food of its seed.
With the second one, I removed that thin inner coating first, then prodded the embryo into growth. It started with a burst of cell division, but stopped abruptly. Nothing happened. Its brother continued to grow, feeding off the energy of my hand, but it would need the soil and water soon.
“Shrank, would you see to this, please?” I asked, distractedly, holding out my hand. He flew up and took the seedling and dead seed, then darted off toward the stream while I started looking for ways the elves could have removed that skin and bruise the fruit. He was back by the time I figured out how.
The seeds of Esteleum are tiny, smaller than the head of a pin, and there were about fifty to sixty in a piece. Suspending the fruit in the air, grabbing the quick-growth coating, and literally pulling all of them out at once through the skin, I turned the piece in my hand into something similar to what we’d seen before. It was a lighter purple in color but that was the only change I could tell. Not feeling as adventurous with this one, I cut a small piece out with my pocketknife and tasted it. Still not as bad as dirt but definitely not as good as it was. And I had between one and two hundredths of a gram of quick-growth skins that I had no idea what to do with.
“
It might be a good idea to go back bearing gifts,” I said, looking around the field, idly playing with the fog. “Need something to carry it in, though.”
“The brownies by the lake can provide baskets or boxes for you, Lord Daybreak,” Shrank said, lighting on Ethan’s shoulder.
“There’s an idea,” I answered. “Would you mind asking them for me? And let them know that this is not a command! Don’t use anything that they actually need. I don’t want any dead brownies just for a box.”
“Yes, Lord,” he piped, jumping off Ethan and taking to the air again.
“Hold up a second, Seth,” Ethan said. “Shrank, are you all right? You seem a little… weaker than before.”
That alarmed me and I turned, peering at Shrank more alertly and deeply, like I had with the nymphs. Ethan was right—Shrank was a little weaker with his magic and with his body than he was yesterday, almost like he needed more sleep and a good meal. That wasn’t the answer, though. There was something else; I just couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
“Yes, Master Ethan,” Shrank said. “I feel fine.”
“No, Shrank, he’s right,” I said, shaking my head. “I see it, too. Maybe Kieran can see the difference.” His aura spiked slightly then. “Ethan, did you see that?”
“No, I didn’t see anything,” Ethan answered, looking between Shrank and me.
“I think I know what Shrank’s problem is,” I said, the idea dawning on me. “Watch Shrank closely. I think he’s homesick, more or less. His geas needs strengthening. He needs to spend a little time with Kieran.”
“Well, I saw it that time,” Ethan said, grinning.
“I think we can do something about that, Shrank,” I told the confused pixie. “At least for tonight, anyway. Do you have anyone who can watch for the night? I’ll bring us back in the morning when I come for Ian. You can take the night off and spend some time with Kieran. Be a pixie instead of a regent for a few hours.”
“Um,” stammered the torn little fairy.
“I know, Shrank, you’re having a wonderful time. This does not demote you in any way. It’s just a night off and you need it. You will always be welcome to roam my realm at will, I promise.” The thing about being the Lord of the Realm and Fae power is that promises held real power here. I said it and it was true. Period. Shrank would always be allowed to wander this world at his leisure because I said so, with only the Pacthome being off-limits because that was an already set limit. Both of us felt that promise take hold, too.
Sons (Book 2) Page 7
