Red Skies

by Jan Stryvant

  Peg had been the most secretive of all of them with her room. Roxy had just sighed and shook her head when she learned that Peg was having problems setting up her own 'space' and had simply taken the younger girl in hand and had a very long heart to heart with her about not hiding things from her wives and husband. Roxy knew Peg had some trust issues, and they tended to come out when she was by herself.

  With the worst of that hopefully cleared up, she'd given Peg a room that was stuck in an odd corner of one of the outbuildings where it was easy to overlook, and handed Peg a stack of cash and warned her not to put any dangerous booby traps in the room, because she would want to come and visit from time to time.

  What Peg had set up in there, with Sheila's help, looked like a cross between a debutante's wet dream and the lab Q had in some of the James Bond movies. Roxy could only guess that Sheila was teaching Peg her craft, and Roxy had given her blessing to Peg to practice it here on the grounds. Just as long as nobody got hurt and she didn't keep any secrets from her wives.

  "What about Sean?" Peg had asked.

  "Keeping secrets from your husband is half the fun," Roxy had replied with a smile. "Well, the fun ones at least. If you're not sure, ask me and I'll let you know."

  Cali walked into Roxy's office then, bringing her back to the present.

  "Um, Rox, would be it okay if I were to use Sean to threaten the lycan leaders?"

  Roxy grinned. "Of course it is, Cali! What are they giving you trouble on?"

  "They don't seem to think they need to send people up here to be trained with swords. But," Cali looked a little embarrassed, "Sean told me to get it done, so I've been asking them if they really wanted me to tell Sean to have a talk with them about this. Seeing how he might not appreciate them wasting his time if they forced him to show up personally and explain it to their faces."

  "Is that all?"

  "Well, I may have hinted that Sean might decide that questioning me was questioning him, and they've all seen what he does to people who doubt his authority," Cali admitted with a shy smile.

  Roxy laughed, Cali was always so wonderfully delightful when she was threatening people. She always came off sounding embarrassed that she might have to kill you.

  "I'll make sure Sean knows he's to be righteously outraged that anyone would ever doubt your word, Hon!"

  "Thanks. Do you want to train with the others, Rox? Or would you prefer to continue with private training?"

  "Huh?" Roxy blinked.

  "You didn't think I wasn't going to train the others as well, did you?" Cali said and then smiled widely. "You know Sean is going to expect it, and he'll yell at all of us if we don't."

  Roxy thought about that and nodded. "I'm not sure Dae really needs any, she does prefer that hammer of hers, after all. I don't think you'll have much success with trying to get Jo to learn, so don't push it if she says no."

  "Why?" Cali asked, looking a little confused.

  "Jo's philosophy on life is based on loving people, not killing them. She doesn't even care much for fighting with them. So if she refuses, don't push it with her."

  Cali nodded. "Okay, I'll remember to let her choose."

  Roxy smiled. "Great. Now why don't you go fetch a pair of swords and we can get a workout in today? I just need to finish up a few phone calls to the folks in Washington and make sure they understand that if anything happens to Steve, I won't leave enough of them for Sean to tear apart, much less kill."

  "Okay!" Cali said with a smile and all but danced out of the room. Like everyone else, Roxy had to wonder just how she was able to move like that in a pair of jeans that tight.

  "How's it going, Stinker?" Max asked Chad as she came into the back of his store. After having been gone for weeks from his business, Chad had been spending as much time as possible here to make sure the people he'd put in charge during his absence hadn't screwed anything up.

  Chad shook his head and looked up at her. "The campaign part is pretty cut and dried. We start in Vancouver; that's where we've got the most allies and the easiest win. Assuming the Ascendance and the Vestibulum don't just roll over. We rent two planes and fly to Calgary, which shouldn't take more than a day to clean up, and send a small force up to Edmonton while we fly off to Winnipeg. While we're dealing with that, I'll have my second group hit Montreal, and then we'll both meet back up in Toronto, which has the largest Vestibulum presence of any of their councils in Canada."

  Chad looked at his notes and checked the maps again.

  "All in all, four days from beginning to end. Less if the Vestibulum rolls over."

  "So what's the problem?" Max asked.

  "I need to insert two groups across a national border and into Canada. We're talking a little over a hundred people here, and here," Chad pointed to Vancouver and Montreal. "So just how do I get them across the border? We don't have time to get passports for everyone, and I can just imagine trying to bring some of the stuff we'll want there through customs!"

  Max smiled at him, came around the counter he was sitting at, and starting to gently pat him on the head and rub his neck. "Aww, is my poor baby stumped? Hmmm? Is my little stinker at a loss here?"

  Chad sighed and leaned forward, enjoying the feeling of Max's hands on his neck.

  "Okay, Dear," he said in a soft voice, "I can tell you've figured it out. Tell me."

  "Hm hmmm, and just what is it worth to you?" she teased.

  Chad sighed. "Max, this is for Sean, who's ordered me to get this done, and done now. If we're going to be a couple, this isn't the kind of thing we can game each other on."

  Max moved her hands down to his shoulders. "Mom just called me to complain about Cali telling her she's got to start sending people up to their place for swordsmanship classes. Any idea what that's all about?"

  Chad gave a slight shake of his head. "Not a one. Sean said he'd be coming with us and would fill me in on a lot of other things along the way. The implied hint was that we were going to be leaving tomorrow, if not sooner. Which brings me back to asking how do we do this?"

  Max smiled and leaned forward, putting her head next to his. "First things first, Stinker. We get married, tonight."

  "Tonight?" Chad said, reaching up to put his hand on the side of her face. "Not that I'm complaining, but isn't that a bit abrupt? I thought we were going to wait until after Steve and Teri got married?"

  "The proverbial shit is once again about to hit the proverbial fan," Max said and leaned her head against his. "Steve and Terri aren't getting married for weeks yet, and with whatever the hell is coming, I want us to be official. I'm not willing to wait anymore, Chad. I want us to get married now, tonight. In the morning we can start prepping to move people across the border. If Sean and the lions don't like it, well, too bad for them."

  Chad smiled. "Tonight is fine with me. Got any preferences on a chapel? I think we only have a hundred or so here in Reno to choose from."

  "Yes. I'll call them and get them ready, and I'll even let everyone know so they can be there. How does six sound?"

  "Make it seven, but tell them six, you know Sean and Steve are gonna be late."

  Max laughed. "You got it. Now, as to the border? No one tracks wolves or makes them stop at customs check points."

  Chad's head dropped to his chest. "Dammit! I should have thought of that!"

  "Oh, don't blame yourself, hon. I've crossed the border a couple of times on my paws; I was born this way after all. You've only been a wolf for a couple of months now. You haven't had a lifetime's worth of experience with it yet."

  "Thanks, Max. Love you."

  "Love you too," Max said, smiling. "Now, you finish that up, then call Sean and let him know what's going on."

  "Better call Roxy or he'll never show up," Chad warned.

  "Trust me; I know who runs that family!"

  Sawyer's Antiquities

  "Sean! Nice to see you! And Daelyn, we don't ever get to see enough of you around here," Sawyer said, standing up behind his counter and s
miling at them. "Oh, and you too, Jo," he added as an 'obvious' afterthought.

  Jolene gasped and put her hand to her chest. "Oh my! Did his royal highness deign to notice me, a crass and lowly woman of mere common birth?"

  "You feeling okay there, Jo?"

  "And such concern doth our prince hold, even for those not his subjects!" Jolene said, fluttering her eyelids. "Oh, truly he is of royal blood!"

  Sawyer looked at Sean, who was smiling. "Cali spilled the beans that you're a prince, Prince," Sean told him.

  Sawyer just rolled his eyes. "I knew I shoulda told her to keep it quiet."

  "Hey, Sawyer," Jolene asked with a smirk, "if I kiss you, do you turn back into a frog? Or being as you're green already, will I get a real prince instead?"

  "If your kisses had the power to change men, the kid here wouldn't be alive and well today, Jo," Sawyer said sarcastically.

  "Oh, I don't know," Sean said, grinning, "her kisses sure changed me for the better!"

  "I suspect it was something a bit more than just her 'kisses' that did that job," Sawyer shot back, causing Daelyn to start laughing, and even making Sean smile.

  "I took a mortal man and made him into a powerful and respected ruler of a million people and all of Reno." Jolene smiled back. "You may be a prince among goblins, but Sean is a king amongst all."

  "She's got you there, Sawyer!" Daelyn said, still chuckling. "Even my kin will bow to Sean's will, along with every lycan and magic user in the city."

  Sawyer just sighed heavily. "Okay, fun time's over. So what brings you to my humble and very un-princely shop today, Your Majesty?"

  "Don't take it out on me," Sean protested with a laugh. "But as to why I'm here, well, did you hear about those djevels we killed up around Pyramid Lake last night?"

  Sawyer nodded. "I got a few friends out on the reservations, like your pal John. They filled me in on it this morning. I don't know that I've ever heard of an incursion around here before."

  "Incursion?" Daelyn asked.

  Sawyer nodded. "They're breaches between the planes. Most of them are temporary; it's how we got the gateways between the goblin and dark elf home world and this one. You can force 'em to stay open longer by displacing stuff from one side to the other, but even with that, eventually they'll balance out from stuff going through, or they'll just collapse on their own."

  "Why hasn't the gate between your world and ours collapsed?"

  "Oh, that's easy! The ones between worlds that have a lot in common are like a part of the plumbing. Been there since creation, I bet. The faerie, the elves, dwarves, my home, and a slew of others have always been there. It's the ones to places like Onderwereld that you gotta watch out for. They open easier into fædreland, that's Cali and my home, than yours, because we've got more in common. You guys have so little in common with 'em here, that it just doesn't happen. Well, not often at least."

  Sean could tell that even the First was impressed with Sawyer's knowledge.

  "Huh, I had no idea you knew so much about it," Sean told him.

  "It's common knowledge back home, and, well," Sawyer looked at Jolene and stuck his tongue out for a moment, "being a prince, I'm supposed to know all about that kinda shit. Part of why I split and came here. I needed to learn about the rest of the races, do something more exciting than sit on my ass and listen to tutors all day."

  "I find the image of you sitting around listening to teachers vaguely disquieting," Jolene said.

  "You know me, babe, Sawyer's not a goblin who sits around on his ass when there's people to fleece and money to be made!" Sawyer said with a huge grin on his face.

  He turne back to Sean then. "So, Kid, why are you bringing this up?"

  "Last week I ordered a ton of swords from the dwarves."

  "Oh yeah, I heard about that," Sawyer said with a nod.

  "You did?"

  "Hard not to," Sawyer said with a grin, "they're all pretty excited about it. Nothing like the promise of a fight to get a dwarf's blood pumping."

  "Well, it's not just a promise, I'm afraid. Those swords are faerie swords. I have my uncle Maitland teaching them how to make them."

  "Wait a moment," Sawyer said, looking at Sean with a scowl on his face, "faerie swords are really only worth using against djevels and other demons. Otherwise guns and magic are way better weapons!"

  "We think a war is coming."

  "Here? Now?"

  Sean shook his head. "I'm not sure of where, and not exactly sure of any specific time, other than 'soon'. I'm not even sure who it's with or where they're coming from."

  "Then why all the fuss?"

  "'Cause the head lion ordered it."

  Sawyer stopped and thought about that a moment, then looked up at Sean.

  "I got a question for ya'."

  "I may have an answer."

  "Is it true that he's immortal? That he's been around since like the beginning of time?"

  "Not quite the beginning," Sean said.

  "But close enough as not to matter," Jolene said, speaking up. "Sean's boss is like the oldest thing on the planet, Sawyer. He was here when the elves and dwarves showed up."

  Sawyer nodded slowly, and then rather seriously replied, "Thanks for the warning, Sean. The Hà`kætunis line acknowledges the warnings of House Valens and will see to it that they are prepared for what may be coming."

  Sean didn't miss that Sawyer was taking this very seriously.

  'Goblins take anything that might affect their business deals or alliances extremely seriously. Especially when it comes from a person with standing in their society. You were right about one thing.'

  'Oh, what?'

  'There are things you'd think of that I wouldn't have. Warning the goblins isn't something I would have cared about. But then, you would because of your ties to them. They'll remember this.'

  'So that means?' Sean asked, but didn't get a response.

  Sean replied to Sawyer then, who was obviously waiting for a response.

  "I just want to be sure that our friends and allies are ready for whatever is coming, and I think it's fair to say you fall into both of those categories, Sawyer."

  "Thanks, Kid. Now, about those deliveries..."

  Sean spent another fifteen minutes discussing business and prices with Sawyer. The price on the necklaces was holding steady, but the price on the silver tags was starting to soften.

  "We could prop it up if you let me refuse to sell them for less, you know," Sawyer finally told him.

  Sean sighed and shook his head. "I need to keep those flowing out to the lycans. But our production rates aren't going to be going up for a while, so the supply is very much fixed."

  "Well, the demand isn't tapering off at all. Mind if I start selling them overseas?"

  "Just keep the majority of them selling here for now," Sean told him.

  "Okay, Kid. Not a problem. And that'll help me keep the price from going too soft. The folks in Europe are willing to pay a good price; they're used to things being expensive."

  Sean nodded and then had a thought. "Oh, you wouldn't be able to get any deals on Blackhawk helicopters would you?"

  Sawyer smiled. "I might, if you don't mind slightly shot up and used military hardware."

  "Talk to Deidre, we're definitely in the market."

  "Will do, Kid! Say hi to Cali for me! Definitely don't see enough of her."

  "Sure," Sean said and, gathering up Daelyn and Jolene, who were both now chatting with Marx, they said their goodbyes and left.

  "So, home?" Daelyn asked.

  "Umm, let's stop by our lawyer's first. I need to check in with him on the casino stuff as well as some other business."

  "Well, can we grab some food first? I'm starving!"

  Sean nodded. "Sure, I'm hungry too. Jo?"

  "Just as long as it's not drive thru; I'd rather sit at a table than eat in the car."

  "Sounds good!"

  "Ah good! You're home!" Roxy said when they finally walked into the house. "Now, all o
f you get cleaned up and dressed, we got a wedding to go to in a couple of hours."

  "Wedding?" Jolene and Daelyn both asked together.

  "Wedding?" Sean echoed. "Who?"

  "Max and Chad have decided to tie the knot before you drag the two of them off to Canada on another campaign," Roxy told him with a smile.

  "Where are they getting married?" Jolene asked.

  "Out at Claudia's. Max had been thinking of Antique Angel, but her mom didn't want to hear of it."

  "Plus there's gonna be like a thousand wolves there," Peg laughed, "so they needed the space."

  "That many?" Daelyn asked.

  "Well, all of Chad's pack will be there, because he's the alpha, and Max's mom is the eastern pack alpha, so you know she's going to turn them all out."

  "And we're going to be sending most of ours as well," Roxy said, "because Chad isn't only our friend, he's also the leader of our armies."

  "Then there's all the other lycan groups who'll probably figure it might be a good idea to show up when their boss's right hand man is getting married."

  "Their boss's?" Sean asked.

  "Yup, you, Lion-boy!" Peg giggled.

  Sean shrugged. "I guess it makes sense."

  "I just want to know when you are getting married," Sean's mother Louise said, coming into the room.

  "I thought we already were," Sean joked.

  "Really, Son! All your friends are having weddings; you'd deny your mother a chance to attend yours?"

  Sean sighed, feeling a little guilty, and looked at Roxy, who was also looking a bit guilty.

  "My mom's been dropping hints too," Roxy said, looking around at the others.

  Jolene shrugged. "I'm sure it would make my mother happy, if we ever start talking again."

  "Oh, my Aunt and Uncle would be thrilled," Daelyn chuckled, "but you're going to need a couple acres of beer for all the dwarves who'll show."

  "Yeah, my mother wouldn't complain," Roberta asked.