Sons (Book 2)

by Scott V. Duff

  We watched in amusement as they wrestled to heft Ethan off of Peter. They weren’t weaklings, but Ethan was a lot heavier than he looked. They were discovering just how heavy, when Peter shoved him up at them, wheezing, “Get off, ya’ lout!”

  “Does everything have to be made of stone?” Ethan muttered, holding his head as David and Steve both steadied him to his feet.

  “You’d break anything less and it’s prettier than steel,” Mike said sarcastically.

  “No, Colonel, we’re not mad,” I said, grinning at Mike’s comment. “We just have a different outlook, different priorities, especially during our few breaks.”

  “You consider this a break?” Harmond asked.

  “No swords are flying,” I said, shrugging.

  “And no one is dying,” Kieran added. “Or bleeding.”

  “No threats of violence, so yes, this is a break and they’re playing,” I said, sipping my coffee and watching Ethan reach for the doughnuts. As soon as he was an inch away, I shifted all the pastry trays to my end of the table. “Care for a cookie, General?” I asked politely, grinning down the length of the table.

  “You bastard!” he said quietly, grinning back, his head wound forgotten now.

  “Do you… play like this often?” Harmond asked.

  “No,” Kieran answered. “More often than not, we’re on your world and have to act accordingly. Gilán is a new freedom that Seth is allowing us to explore and have fun.”

  “And what kind of legal system are you using?” Harmond asked.

  “I’m afraid that question lacks grounds, General,” I said. That confused Harmond, not that I could blame him exactly.

  “Then, you have no laws, no rules for your society at all? No way to deal with robberies or muggings? What about taxes and tax collections? Money in general?”

  “No, these are not usually problems among the faery,” Kieran said, “though territory disputes and fights about treasures can be a problems in Faery, but Seth has a few millennia before any issues like that occur.”

  The phrase “few millennia” disturbed me as much as it did Harmond and Barnett, but I couldn’t afford to show it. Intellectually, I knew I would have a long life because of my father’s, but I don’t think that’s what Kieran was talking about.

  “General, were you aware of what was happening at the convocation at the Cahill’s last night?” I asked, changing the direction of the conversation again. Harmond wasn’t a stupid man and this alarmed him a little.

  “Yes, sir,” he answered simply and waited.

  “Yet you chose to approach there,” I went on. “At a time and place when you knew my brothers and I would be busiest and the most distracted, and with a single, dazed, and sleep-deprived advisor. Indeed, your attempted gate-crashing failed miserably. But you jumped at the chance to enter in the middle of the night with mere minutes’ notice through unknown magic, facing unknown odds in basically enemy territory. To me that strongly implies more than a desire for a speedy trial schedule. So again, I ask, what’s the rush?”

  “We have to make certain this stays out of the press—” Harmond started.

  “You thought Daybreak was covered by the Accords, General,” Ethan interrupted him loudly. “He couldn’t have done that and you didn’t want to accept the fact even after you saw the magic dripping off of him last night. Your advisors must have been most adamant about that for you to be so vehement.”

  “And they would normally be correct,” Mike said, all light and airy and British. “But little about McClure and Associates is quite normal.”

  “You see the puzzle you’ve presented me?” I said as I stood to get some more coffee. Ethan shoved his foot out as I passed behind him. It really sucked to be him this morning. I curled my foot around his as best I could and yanked as hard as I could.

  Ethan jerked unceremoniously away from the table, spilling the water he drank as part of his innocent act. He grabbed at Jimmy’s chair as he flailed for balance, pulling him partly away, too. Ethan ended up sprawled halfway out of his chair and facing the wrong way.

  I kept going for the coffee. Jimmy leaned back in his chair and turned to the more embarrassed than dazed Ethan. “Dude?” Jimmy said. “Him? Here? Dude…” I couldn’t fathom exactly what that meant, but I was more interested in the coffee. Ethan sat up in a huff, twirled the chair around and up to the table, and proceeded to sulk.

  “I’m not an especially patient man, General,” I said as I poured. “I expect Agent Messner has stressed that even if your other advisors did not.” Messner stayed quiet. I expected that and it didn’t matter. It was answer enough. Harmond and Barnett watched me walk back to my place as if fascinated. I had yet to exert any kind of pressure, so this was a different kind of awe. Morelli just stared at his cooling coffee.

  “The… conspiracy that you uncovered,” Harmond began slowly, “had proven to be very difficult to follow. Every lead we’ve managed to uncover has either evaporated or led to collections of dead bodies and completely destroyed records and computer systems. We are at a tremendous impasse and a huge loss of information, both internally and externally. We are hoping that interrogations with Pennington’s men will lead to further associations that will further our investigations.”

  “That probably won’t work,” Kieran said evenly, considering that statement.

  “It’s been our experience with these groups that they operate in cells,” Peter followed him. “Groups of four or eight, usually, with one man in charge. They usually only know their directives by code name and rarely know anything about their commanders or their next operation.”

  “No, they aren’t your best hope in that regard,” Ethan said. “We are. Or more specifically, he is.” He brushed his hand idly in my direction.

  “And, of course, Pennington’s uncorrupted files would help immensely,” Peter added thoughtfully. “Oh, wait, we have those, too.”

  “Yes, those would be quite helpful,” Barnett agreed. “But how could Daybreak help where interrogating the men could not?”

  “Ethan is suggesting that I could invade their minds, collate the information, then act directly,” I said. “I am unwilling to do this except for one reason, and you’ve already said it is contrary to your goals.” I shrugged it off as if it was nothing.

  “What do you mean by ‘invade their minds’?” Harmond asked, his head cocked to the side slightly.

  “It’s exactly what it sounds like, General Harmond,” I said, the distaste evident on my face. “An invasion of their minds, completely subsumed by mine. At that point, I know everything there is to know about them. But again, this is completely against your stated goals.”

  “You make it sound as unpleasant to you as well as your… victim,” Harmond said suspiciously.

  “I can make it unpleasant for them,” I said. “Otherwise, it would depend on their ability to fight back. In other words, no. With what I’m being asked to do, there will be no unpleasantness during the invasions, except my own.”

  “What are you being asked to do, exactly, and to whom?” Harmond asked.

  “The men of the barracks have asked me for political asylum and citizenship on Gilán,” I said casually. “No, Colonel, you still do not get to object.” I forced myself into Morelli enough to override his impulse to speak and made him sit and shut up. “Except for the seventeen men that I somehow managed to instill enough responsibility in to make them feel like they have to stay around for some unlikely event a relative may need them in the future.”

  “A respectable goal,” Harmond murmured. “Why are they asking for ‘political asylum’? That seems like an unlikely objective from someone they’ve just tried to kill.”

  “Yes, well,” I admitted. “They are playing on a series of unfortunate similarities and the fact that they’re sitting at the centerpiece of my realm.”

  “Could you force them into this?” Harmond asked.

  “Yes,” I answered, nodding slowly.

  “Have you?” he c
ontinued. It was a reasonable question and Messner was paying attention to me, too.

  “No, I still find the idea distasteful,” I said. “The problem is, I understand their side too well. They are much like my faery in that they were violently discarded by their previous liege. That is the very reason they are here.”

  “I’m not sure ‘violently discarded’ is fair,” Harmond said, hedging against the phrasing.

  “What else would you call shooting at them?” I asked laughing through every word. Our side of the table laughed with me at the absurdity of his disagreement. He knew it, too, but he was trying to abrogate their liability, just like Morelli. I wasn’t letting that happen.

  “So what’s stopping you from granting their request?” Harmond asked.

  “At the moment, you are,” I answered. “I have a previous agreement with Agent Messner to hold them for prosecution. He is bowing to your authority. They also have a previous agreement with you and your government that, while is no longer morally binding, is still legally binding. Therefore, until I gain your permission, meaning your government’s legal permission, I will not proceed regardless of how I feel about the issue.”

  “So, you have the abilities and the power to do it, but you won’t just because we say so? I don’t understand,” Barnett said.

  “Not everyone is a bully, Colonel,” Kieran said. “But it comes down to one thing: if we are to maintain credence with our kind, we must maintain our bargains. Otherwise we will become like the dragons, barely tolerated. We wish to remain human. Does that explain things a little better?”

  “No, not really,” Barnett said, gulping.

  Why weren’t they getting this? Is this easier to understand? I asked them both from inside their minds, stopping just short of a true invasion. I let them both feel as much as they could the difference between where they sat and where I did, letting them see the infinitesimal portion of Gilán’s power that they could actually sense. They didn’t stand a chance of getting even a fraction of what a brownie saw and still they were completely overwhelmed by the sensations.

  This is nearly what it’s like to be invaded, I told them, whispering into the crevasses of their minds. The main difference is that you will have control when I recede and I am not leaving anything.

  Once I released them, they both gasped and fell forward on the table, panting heavily from exertion.

  “Oh, did Seth just show you?” Ethan chuckled, watching them start to hyperventilate. “Couldn’t have been a true invasion or he’d have you giggling over finger-paints of colored little bunnies. He likes bunnies.” He was grinning evilly at them.

  “Ethan!” I admonished. “That’s chicks and it’s a marshmallow candy.”

  “Ooh! I didn’t see any of those!” he cried, looking at the trays again eagerly, playing.

  “Does that give you a better sense of what this means?” I asked. “I hope so, because I do not like doing it.”

  Barnett nodded emphatically, but Harmond only managed a single drunken nod.

  “Should I ask embarrassing personal questions to prove I know everything you do, or will you trust me on that score?” I asked, sipping my still-hot coffee again.

  “Huh? You read our minds?” Harmond asked, his voice still shaky. “And you remember them?”

  “Yes,” I answered scoffing, my expression clearly confused. “Why else would you do it?” Peter and Ethan snickered at me. Apparently, I was very sarcastic.

  “And you can do this for close to four hundred men?” he asked, obviously surprised at the prospect.

  “Considering he’s already done it for over a million,” Kieran said with amusement, “I think a small number like four hundred wouldn’t be a problem for my little brother. I imagine even I could manage that.”

  Ethan burst through the anchor and into my cavern howling. In reality, he sat at the table quite calmly watching the goings on. In my head, he was having laughing fits that would make packs of hyenas jealous. “He thinks he could…” he nearly shouted then erupted into more fits. I wasn’t sure what he found so funny. I thought Kieran could do it, personally. If it ever became an issue, I’m sure one of us was in for a nasty surprise. Oh, wait. That’s sarcasm, I get it now.

  David scribbled something on a pad between Steve and him. I nearly joined Ethan in his fits when I read the pad. One line read, “It’s like a Mexican game show!” I didn’t understand the comment, really, but it was endearing that they were bonding that way and it was off the wall enough to make me smile.

  “I believe we’re done here then,” I said, making moves to stand.

  “But we haven’t agreed to anything,” Harmond objected, confused.

  I chuckled slowly as the smile curled across my face. “But I know what you’ll agree to, General Harmond,” I said coolly. “What leverage you had was lost when I held your minds. First will take you back to your quarters to collect your belongings. Once I’ve completed the necessary treaties and contracts, I will return you to JFK and stay with you for your protection until you can arrange transportation to whomever needs to read and sign the agreements. I will also provide a deadline appropriate to conditions at that time as well as a method to contact me for the signing.

  “Your difficulty in understanding has made my part of this negotiation very simple,” I said finally standing. “This won’t take long. Shall we get started, then?”

  “Yes, sir!” Jimmy said excitedly. “Gentlemen, it’s a short walk.” He started walking them back to their suite. Messner helped to soothe their battered sensibilities, but that would only go so far.

  “Ellorn? I need some papers copied,” I called through the geas. “Do you have anyone available right now?”

  Certainly, Lord Daybreak, Ellorn answered. How many people would you like?

  “Ten to fifteen would finish in short order,” I answered. “Do we have any paper stock with Gilán watermarks?”

  If I understand the concept of a watermark, yes, sir. In the conference room? He asked.

  “Yes, please. Thank, Ellorn, you’re quickly becoming indispensable to me,” I said with a smile on my face.

  “Thank you, too, Lord,” Ellorn said as he pushed open the door with a flurry of sprites behind him. “Though there are a thousand waiting to take my place, I appreciate your confidence.” They rushed forward, rolling in the same cart from before and started clearing and cleaning one side of the table while several stood by with stacks of light blue paper and several small boxes of styluses and inkwells. We got up, too, for movement’s sake, already getting stir crazy.

  “We can work on one side of the table, sirs,” Ellorn said, standing in the center of the table looking upset that we were moving.

  “We’ve been sitting a while, Ellorn,” Kieran said mildly. “We just need to move a bit, that’s all.”

  “I just railroaded the Army,” I said sullenly. “And I think I’m going to get away with it.”

  “Seth, that’s not a bad thing,” Kieran said moving my chair slightly as he settled against it. “Both sides need to move swiftly. I would like to know what you’re agreeing to.”

  “I grant the political asylum and they relieve them of duty in exchange for a copy of the stolen computer files,” I said. “Their final duty assignment will be a detached security detail for McClure and Associates, where they will become employed. Those with relatives requiring insurance benefits will have them and they agree to provide a registry for the rest. I have also promised to enter talks to do as Ethan suggested to General Harmond.”

  A deep rumbling laugh echoed through Kieran’s chest as he sipped his coffee and swallowed, watching the brownies setup their stacks of paper and ready pens and inkwells for dictation. “So what you’re saying is,” he said, “they’re getting what they want, the barracks are getting what they want, and we aren’t doing any more than what we were going to do anyway. What’s the problem?”

  “I just railroaded the Army, Kieran,” I repeated myself. “The United States Army! For
a group of men who tried to kill us! What the hell is wrong with me?”

  “The same could have been said for us, Lord, yet you helped us,” a little brownie named Yont squealed timidly, bravely interrupting our conversation. “Daybreak is a compassionate man. There is nothing wrong with you.” Ellorn was mortified that one of his detail would speak out of turn.

  “That’s sweet, Yont, thank you,” I said, looking down into his tiny, cute face as he trembled in fear of me.

  “I second that sentiment,” Kieran said. “You’ve done nothing but act with compassion and responsibility since this started, Seth. Since adding Daybreak to your repertoire, you’ve acted as a Faery Lord should. Quit second-guessing yourself. You’re doing too well for that.”

  Everyone else looked as confident in me. I had a hell of a cheering section, that was certain. “Okay, Ellorn, this is what I need…”

  Chapter 38

  JFK was bustling so early on a bright New York morning. We arrived at just after seven thirty on Friday morning and we received a number of wide-eyed stares from servicemen and a few retirees who recognized the ranks and huge plates of multicolored adornments on the fronts of their uniforms. They were also confused, no doubt, by us surrounding them protectively, obviously not military but still holding that bearing. Barnett and Messner cycled their cell phones on while Harmond re-read through the summary of both the treaty and the two contracts that I’d provided for them.

  “I still can’t believe you’re doing this,” Harmond muttered. “What are you getting out of it?”

  “Hopefully, an end to this dreadful war and needless killing,” I said, watching the concourse idly. “If nothing else, then shutting down another side of it. As much damage as we can do to them, the better.”

  “We’ve got a helicopter on the way,” Barnett said, snapping his phone shut. “Thirty minutes out. We need to get to Terminal Nine. There are some Marshals in this terminal on their way to escort us.”