Sons (Book 2)

by Scott V. Duff

  “But you’ll control them?” Darius asked, leaning forward in his chair, curious. “Won’t that be difficult?”

  “You lost me, Darius,” I said. “Won’t what be difficult?”

  “I think he’s asking if you’ll control them like zombies or robots or something,” Jimmy said, settling in on the planter ledge behind me. Perfect timing for that statement, too, because the brownies flooded in quietly for the drink run. Their exits weren’t nearly as silent as those with empty hands went back to playing a yard or two away.

  “They don’t appear very robotic to me,” I commented wryly, watching a few leave through the bushes. “Neither do you, First.”

  “He holds a geas? But he looks perfectly normal to me,” Darius said, studying Jimmy more obviously.

  Sean snorted into his water glass, laughing. “You wouldn’t say that if you’d seen him for the last hour and a half!”

  “No, you wouldn’t,” Phillips agreed, grinning, having found a place close to the Fullers on a planter ledge.

  “Been showing off, have you?” I asked Jimmy, glancing over my shoulder.

  “No, sir!” Jimmy lied and put on a show doing it. “Your brothers merely gave me the opportunity to hone and test my new skills and abilities.”

  “He holds the same geas?” Darius asked.

  “Not quite. First is a special case,” I said, not explaining it any further than that. “But it’s getting late and there’s still a little more work to do today. Do you want to watch, Darius? There won’t be much to see, I’m afraid. It’ll all be terribly quick and they’ll probably seem a little drunk and euphoric for a little while, afterward, but other than that, unchanged. Ellorn?”

  “Yes, Lord?” Ellorn asked, popping out of the bushes next to Phillips.

  “Thank you for dinner,” I told my normally very reserved steward who currently had half a pink flower in his hair. “Everything was marvelous and frankly, to see you enjoying yourself for a change is delightful.”

  “It is our pleasure entirely, Lord Daybreak!” he squealed enthusiastically. “We look forward to serving you on a daily basis.”

  “Not with that kind of food,” I said laughing. “I’ll be four hundred pounds by the time I’m twenty.”

  “I’m sure we can come up with a more moderate menu,” Jimmy offered diplomatically.

  “We’ll be leaving shortly for about an hour, Ellorn,” I said cheerfully, “so y’all will have the run of the place till then, but I’ll want to go to bed after that, okay?”

  “Yes, Lord,” Ellorn said. “Thank you for this opportunity. Yours is the loveliest room in the Palace.”

  “I feel like I’ve traveled in time,” Dad said to Kieran. “This is disgustingly like the sixties in San Francisco. Seth, if you grow your hair out, stop bathing, and start smoking marijuana, I’m taking you over my knee then sending you to military school.” The few who knew what he was talking about laughed, while the rest faked it admirably.

  “First, would you lead everyone downstairs?” I asked. “I’d like to have a brief word with Darius.”

  “Sure, Seth,” Jimmy said, scooting between Byrnes’ and my chair. “Come on, Sean. It won’t be as much fun as before, but the head of a caravan is still pretty cool.”

  Sean was looking between his father and me, worried that I would lose my temper, or worse, we’d argue again and I’d toss ‘em out. Jimmy cajoled him up and Kieran’s and Dad’s size alone pushed them out.

  Manifesting my closet door a few feet away, I said, “I need to get something. Would you mind walking with me?”

  “No, not at all,” Darius said, rising slowly but much more strongly than before dinner. “This is all… quite new and fascinating to me.” He followed me through the portal and looked down the long aisles of my closet, clearly impressed by the space alone. “Where are we?”

  “Actually, just a few hundred yards from where we were,” I said, taking the light show T-shirt off of its stand and letting it wrap itself around me. “This is all I need. I just want my assistants and you guys to be able to see the magic working. This lets Daybreak be seen to some extent.”

  “You are very comfortable here,” he said, turning to me. “By all accounts, you’ve been king for all of two weeks and your people love you. You work faery magic like you were born to it. In less than three months, you’ve gone from an unknown to literally the most powerful wizard in the entire world and you’re barely out of diapers. No offense intended.”

  “None taken,” I murmured.

  He sighed and sat on a bench. “Thank you for saving my life, but more importantly, thank you for what you did to my wards,” he said emphatically. “That saved Sean’s life and if I’d lost him, I’d be truly lost.”

  “You’re quite welcome on both counts, Darius,” I said. “And oddly enough, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” He looked up at me, confused. “Do you remember much of what happened yesterday morning? With your fight with Seward?”

  “Not much,” he admitted. “I was pretty delirious near the end. All I remember at the end was Sean and Mark being there and that traitorous bastard dead on the floor.”

  “Well, I don’t know the situation between Sean and Mark,” I said, trying to take an understanding tone. I very quickly outlined what happened and ended with, “He shot Seward. He’s both worried and hates himself for killing someone and he’s worried that you’ll hate him for it, too. As much as you’re here to recuperate? You’re here to help him recuperate.”

  He looked up at me with tears running down his face. “How could he think I hate him for saving my life?”

  “He doesn’t believe that he did anything heroic, Darius,” I said, kneeling down beside him. “All he sees right now is me and the bad. The changes to the wards let him see what happened out there. He thinks I kept everyone safe. It gave him courage, he believes. After that, he watched me healing you and thought of it as effortless. I can’t help that.

  “But he’s a teenager,” I said, as if that would explain it all for him. “And he’s just killed a man with a very loud and very messy weapon. He saved your life. I was just a lucky coincidence in both cases. True, a very important one for both of you that might have cost you dearly, but coincidence all the same. He’s confused, but he’ll work it out. He’s a good kid and he’ll turn into a good, strong man just like his father. But you need to talk to him, especially over the next two days. You don’t have to gush and most of the time you can talk about anything else you want. Just let him know how you feel, then just spend time with him.”

  “You sure that’s all he needs?” he asked hopeful.

  “It wouldn’t hurt to open up your schedule a few days a month for him,” I suggested, also hopeful.

  He grinned and said, “I’ll do that. Hell, I owe him that much.”

  “Good,” I said, patting his shoulder and adding a warm glow through the shirt. “Let’s get you cleaned up and join the others.” I moved the closet door to the mirror in my bathroom and walked through with Darius close behind. Oblivious to the change, he walked through the mirror without knowing but stumbled into the wall when he felt the membrane falling away. I caught him before he could fall further.

  “Darius, are you okay?” I asked concerned but already knowing. “Sorry about that. I should have mentioned I moved the door.” I really wanted to laugh, but that was mean.

  He laughed weakly and said, “You have a strange realm, Seth McClure. It fits you.” I laughed and helped him stand up again. Taking a couple of hand towels off the shelf, I led him to the vanity.

  “It’s very likely that I don’t have this setup correctly,” I said, turning the water on and adjusting the temperature. “I haven’t had time to bring Ellorn in to explain what all of these little vials are, but that’s soap. Use it very lightly. Seriously, watch.” Rolling up my sleeves, I wet my hands thoroughly and barely daubed my fingertip in the creamy ivory liquid. Then I proceeded to make a thick lather all the way up to my elbows, repeated
ly running my hands through the water. Scrubbing my face before rinsing it all off, I heard Darius snort a laugh before starting the same ritual.

  Darius is resilient if nothing else. He was healing already and he would help Sean figure out that he’d done nothing wrong. Maybe even before they left. I stepped out into the hall, drying my hands while Darius was rinsing.

  “Ellorn? One last thing before you leave,” I called through my room.

  “Yes, Lord?” he asked, running up along the path.

  “When we can arrange it, can we have someone come in and check out my bathroom?” I finally asked for help. “I don’t think I have anything setup right and it’s getting inconvenient.”

  “Yes, Lord,” he answered.

  “Thank you,” I said as Darius came up behind me, looking around. “We’ll be leaving now, Darius, a sudden change of rooms. Are you ready?”

  “Sure,” he said shrugging.

  I shifted us to the entrance to the barracks and started walking in, forcing him to follow me. “This is Barracks Four, down a floor and half one wing from where we were. Everyone, most likely including the brownies and sprites watching over them, is in the gym waiting for us. We’ll walk directly in and head for the podium in the center. Don’t appear surprised if I start moving you around physically, though I doubt I’ll need to. And don’t be surprised by the number of faery present. There are a lot of them right now.”

  The halls got noisy quickly after the first turn, noisier than I’ve heard yet from them. The faery registers were piercingly active, too. When we stepped through the doorway without stopping and into a sea of blue Palace Guard uniforms. On the second step down into the stadium, four men bellowed, “Ten-hut!” Unheard the first time, they repeated themselves and gained remarkable results. Between the fourth and tenth steps into the auditorium, fifty shouts of “Ten-hut” created waves of excitedly attentive and ramrod straight men and sudden quiet.

  “What happened?” I heard Sean whisper, facing away from us. Phillips shushed him while gently turning his shoulders to face us. He grinned, waved, and mouthed, “Hi, Dad.” I felt Darius smile genuinely.

  Looking at the group on the floor, my podium was going to be a little full. Fourteen once we got there. Greeting Alsooth at the bottom of the stairs, I made a full circuit around the floor to give Darius time to catch up and reviewed the stands somewhat imperiously. Dad and my brothers were amused by my demeanor but had the grace not to show it. The men were excited, expecting to hear news of how negotiations were running. Only Byrnes, Brinks, and a few of the kitchen staff knew what was happening for sure.

  “At ease!” I called loudly, not wanting the return to noise that “As you were” would bring. As it was, the slide of sinew against silk was almost noisy by comparison to the silence in the room. “Has everyone heard of my proposal from a few hours ago?”

  “Sir, yes, sir,” they shouted as one. Shocked the crap out of me. First because of the volume and second because of the timing. It was very loud and perfectly understandable. I took on a sly grin and narrowed my eyes a little as I surveyed the room.

  “You practiced that, didn’t you?” I asked, gaining a lot of laughs and both bashful and boastful nods and “Yes, sirs” from many. “I’ve been in two meetings today with Pentagon officials regarding this matter. Before I talk about that, I want you to reconsider your individual petition. This is a life changing decision and I don’t want you to rush into it ill prepared. Some of you have had a very ‘country club’ life for the last few days, but life on Gilán is definitely not a country club. You will be expected to work for your supper just like everyone else here.

  “Right now, we are a terribly small and struggling society,” I said sternly. “But we are a peaceful one. I have no idea how you will be employed, but there is much to be done here and Earth-side so trust me, you will be employed. And remember that I have no idea what affect the fairy geas will have on a human. Gilán may help some of you in some ways or it may just hold the geas in place as with the faery. This is unprecedented.”

  The faery cooed and whispered very quietly as they saw me push out into the room and start gathering their intentions from their minds. The only others that could see the magic start were on the floor with me and only Phillips and the Fullers watched intently. Pushing the podium up, I paced around the edge and looked around at the faces of not so innocent men and women desperately seeking absolution from their sins and a simple place to call home. I wasn’t certain of absolution, but at least I could forgive them and share my home.

  “If I haven’t managed to talk you out of it yet,” I said, sighing and swinging sound baffles around us protectively, “then I guess I should tell you I bullied the Pentagon into agreeing this afternoon.” Even through the baffles the roar was near deafening. I gave them a few minutes for back pounding and chest thumping, congratulatory shouts and crushing hugs. I haven’t seen so many flashing teeth outside of shark feeding-frenzy videos.

  Jimmy took his countenance, bursting into fire, and slammed his rod down once onto the marble causing a crack like a rifle shot to ring out through the gym. Instantly, their attention returned to me and their bodies went rigid and stiff as I seized control of their minds simultaneously. Sitting at the crux of their minds, bodies, and souls, it wasn’t hard to see the reasons for their decisions. Most of them truly saw it as their only hope for their own peace of mind. For some, it was very nearly true. For others there was more hope, but mostly it was less than a coin toss. It was really sad.

  I placed the geas there, at the crux in my place, and receded. Gilán pulsed lightly, offering a welcoming feeling against their souls as I replaced their minds. I felt the light pulse again as I returned their control to them and gently receded completely. Quite a few of the men fell on their butts in their seats, sprawling on each other, while the few that remained standing swayed in place. To a man, they all had a dazed, faraway look in their eyes, their suddenly very blue eyes. Even the black and Hispanic men had startling blue eyes now.

  The faery started singing when the Palace did, startling half the podium, especially the Fullers and Phillips who hadn’t yet heard it. The men whipped their heads toward my room in rapt attention to the sound, hearing more of the tones than they had in the past. Gilán was giving them more through the geas than merely eye color. I let the songs finish before I continued.

  Welcome to Gilán, I sent through the geas, causing another bout of whiplash, especially from the south side of the gym. “Tomorrow will be a busy day for many as you will be helping to purchase food stores for the next several days on the other side. Then as soon as I have time, we’ll open the rest of this barracks and give you some more room in here. The same rules will apply for the next few days. Let’s give you a chance to get settled in before I give you free reign to wander the Palace. I don’t want anyone hurt because you don’t yet know what you can and cannot do, so let’s just ease into this.

  “Major, give me a few minutes to discuss plans with you, then let’s call it a night,” I said, lowering the platform.

  This looked like it might work out well, I thought, looking around at elated and disoriented faces. I was certainly hopeful.

  Chapter 41

  “Pallets, pallets, everywhere,” I chanted in singsong as I wove my out. “Lt. Brinks, as far as I can tell, everything on your list is here.”

  “Yes, sir, and quite a bit more,” he answered. “I just don’t know where I’m going to put it all.”

  “I’m about to take care of that, Lieutenant,” I said, dusting off my hands.

  As is on cue, the brownies started flooding out of the entrance in a great colorful stream. Their clothing was a mimicry of tailored suits with breeches and jackets in muted colors, but over half had grown enough and could no longer fit in such clothing. Theirs was the colorful clothing of celebrations, altered with other brownies’ suits. They moved quickly, turning left toward the long line of pallets, not running, just being normal fleet-footed faery.


  My newly installed Guard was next, much more slowly but more rambunctiously. A sea of blue uniforms, the left sides of their tunics now bore the emblem of the Palace Guard under the auspices of the First of Gilán. Babbling and happy, they still rode the exuberance of the casting and the gentle flow of magic that Gilán fed them through the geas. The Palace faery readily accepted them and that acceptance flowed out easily to the other faery in the realm.

  In some ways, what the men expected to happen during the casting of the geas was appalling. Their personalities being overwhelmed and overwritten by mine, for instance. This came because they saw Jimmy and I as being fairly similar in general personality, not realizing that was the basis for our original friendship, but we really weren’t that much alike. Their understanding of the brownies was too limited to fathom that their personalities were their own.

  Next, the idea that I would control their every thought, movement, and memory was reminiscent of Darius’ belief. There were times that I had to put too much thought into how I was moving, so why I would want to control theirs was beyond me. They gathered these concepts from a number of different places, but mostly from a series of movies and television shows about space invaders with hive minds that completely ravaged whole planets of humans. Now, obviously, that wasn’t real, but to me, it looked more like poor defense by the humans than the abilities of the insect-like invaders. Yes, they were amazingly fast and adaptive, but the humans’ targeting systems…? Come on, two giant circles with a cross in the middle as a gun sight? On a two-hundred-foot long energy cannon? And they had a hard time shooting a ship out of the air that was flying in a straight line.

  Unfortunately, they actually got the hive-mind concept and sank deeply into it. It kept them exuberant and happy, almost joyful. Those who worked in some way throughout the day had a fair realization that they could pull back from that to concentrate on tasks. Major Byrnes and Captain Velasquez were further along in that than anyone, though some of the dedicated martial arts practitioners closed in quickly. Jimmy and I would be holding classes for instructors sometime after I opened the Barracks to help them differentiate better and cope.