Killian

by T. N. Tarrant

  “But I apologized!” Cheryl objected.

  Arnold fell to his knees in shock, staring in disbelief at Shiloh.

  “And I accepted your apology, Mistress Cheryl. However, your behavior during your tenure here has been such that in the short time since I took possession of this estate, I’ve had numerous, repeated complaints. You have every right to believe as you wish, Cheryl. However, you do not have the right to browbeat people with your beliefs of their damnation simply because they don’t believe as you do. The only reason I didn’t evict you immediately was my concern for James, who has slowly begun to thrive here despite your treatment of him. Since Lady Masrei has taken him into her custody, I need not fear for James’ good health and can now take the appropriate steps to return peacefulness back to this estate,” Shiloh told her.

  Her shoulders slumped, Cheryl turned Lady Masrei. “My Lady?”

  The Artris shook her head. “It’s his estate. He can evict anyone he wishes. If you like, I have a property that could use good help, as long as you don’t behave disruptively. Gather your belongings and I will assist you to get there.”

  Shiloh turned to Lady Masrei. “None have, nor do I, complain of their work ethic, all I have spoken to have claimed them good, productive, honest workers. I have even been told they are willing to help their fellows, an always-welcome trait. However, their religious… uh… evangelizing is not welcome here, and they have not listened to any exhortation to stop.”

  She nodded. “I understand. This is not the first time.” She turned back to Cheryl. “I wish you would understand the difference between welcomed opinion and browbeating.”

  “What of my son?” Arnold spoke for the first time, looking pleadingly at Lady Masrei.

  “James will be staying here. The Tii-su believe he and Jaden both will recover best in the care of Ladies Zahirris and Larrestes, as well as in the influence of the good people of this estate. I have seen nothing to doubt the Tii-su judgment.” Lady Masrei was gentle as she spoke to Arnold, but there was no doubt she believed what she said. “Arnold, I have no objection to supervised visitation with your son, for both you and Cheryl, but it will not be for some time. James is grievously injured, and I believe that injury is directly the result of his upbringing. You and Cheryl failed to teach him the truth about lifemates, which led to great injury done both to Jaden and James. They need time to heal.”

  Cheryl was too stunned to protest. Sherry indicated that several of the other tenants come along to escort Cheryl and Arnold, as per Shiloh’s orders.

  “Lady Zahirris, I give you the fostering and guardianship of James Masrei, my cousin. Do you accept?” Lady Masrei asked formally.

  Shiloh gave her a slight bow as tradition demanded. “I accept, Lady Masrei. I will care for him to the utmost of my ability.”

  She nodded. “Then, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go assist with Cheryl and Arnold.” Shiloh nodded back, and she leaned down to give Jimmy a gentle kiss on the top of his head and then gave Jaden one as well. “Don’t worry, Jimmy, you’re in good hands. Go now, you and your lifemate could use a nap.”

  David spoke. “I noticed Cheryl and Arnold went to the House. Is there somewhere else the boys can rest?”

  One of the tenants stepped forward. “This way, milords. I have a guest room the younglings may use.”

  Tristan nudged Araminta to follow her brother, his Miisen, and Tii-su David. Then he turned to Shiloh. “Well then, my Lady, could I con you into the nickel tour of the estate?”

  Shiloh managed to chuckle. Although a blatant tactic to keep Shiloh from coming into contact with Cheryl and Arnold before they left, he agreed. There had been enough drama, no need to encourage more.

  Chapter 17

  The following three weeks were tiring, but not as much as the first week with Jaden and Jimmy. Although the two boys and Araminta continued to sleep between Shiloh and Killian every night, they slowly began to spend time on their own as the weeks progressed.

  Jenaia, Tristan, David, and occasionally their fourth mate—whom Shiloh was surprised to discover was Matthew, Lady Sorai, an extremely rare occurrence—spent a great deal of time with them. It soon became obvious they were going to have issues being apart. The three Tii-su believed that Jimmy’s initial rejection of Jaden, and then Jaden’s rejection of Jimmy, had caused both to develop a fear that bordered on a psychotic phobia of being separated from each other. For now, it wasn’t an issue, but it could become so later on in their lives if they didn’t learn to function alone. Jenaia surmised it would be years before they would feel secure enough in each other to even try. Her recommendation to both Killian and Shiloh was to have Kelia examine them in a few years, and if she felt they were ready, for her and her Miisen Saul, Lady Nerris, to work with them. Kelia and Saul had separation issues of their own, and they were the only ones Jenaia knew of that might be able to help Jaden and Jimmy effectively.

  When Lady Masrei visited next, they discussed the best way to proceed. It was decided the two would be kept together and split their time between Shiloh’s estate and Killian’s, perhaps even visiting Lady Masrei on occasion. The two would continue to work around the estate doing chores well within their capabilities—Jaden, because of his age, Jimmy because of his developmental issues. Although they worked well together, they were still supervised closely due to bouts of suicidal thoughts; there were just too many ways to get hurt on a working farm. Even when they were allowed to be alone, the Tii-su kept close psionic track of them, on a few occasions shutting both down into a forced sleep before they could injure themselves or each other, physically or emotionally.

  Shiloh and Killian often found themselves working together in Shiloh’s study. Since Killian had already volunteered to help Shiloh learn the ropes as Artris, he took the opportunity to do just that. He taught Shiloh how to manage several estates remotely, what questions to ask, and how to find out who best to talk to on each one. While he told Shiloh there were many things he wouldn’t get unless he was onsite, Killian also assured him that teams of Artris had already inspected each Zahirris estate and found every one of them but Shiloh’s birthright functioning as it should, and Shiloh’s estate was slowly getting itself back in order.

  “So you have some time before you need to go to each one yourself. And Dana and I will go with you for your yearly inspections, and you will come with us for ours.”

  By the fifth week, Jaden and Jimmy had improved considerably. The acceptance and support from everyone had a tremendous healing effect on both younglings. As they healed, Shiloh and Killian were able to steal more than a few minutes alone time and Araminta returned to Rimalia to resume her training.

  By the sixth week, Tii-su David decided the boys could sleep alone, although they remained in Shiloh’s suite in case they needed Shiloh and Killian. Shiloh and Killian didn’t engage in any making out or heavy petting, because they never knew when the boys would come crawling into bed with them, but they appreciated being able to sleep next to each other again. The three Tii-su gently teased the two about being ‘so close and so far’ but they both felt oddly okay about it; they were learning more about each other in this extremity than they would have in months or years of a more normal courtship.

  By the end of the eighth week, Jaden and Jimmy had managed to sleep a few nights without crawling in with Shiloh and Killian, and it had been several weeks since they’d fallen into such a negative loop that they tried to hurt themselves.

  At twelve weeks, Jaden and Jimmy were returning to their usual selves more and more, although neither was as easily entertained as they had been. Before he returned to his own estate, David did place a few inhibitions in their minds, which would force the boys to seek help rather than harm themselves; this normally wasn’t done with Miisen, but the circumstances were unusual. With that precaution, David felt they had recovered enough to be left to heal themselves and each other without so much interference from the others in their lives, although David did “order” Killian to stay
another two weeks in the US, before he returned to his own estate. Considering the sheer amount of damage they had done to themselves, the boys were recovering very quickly.

  Lady Masrei had been concerned about the age difference: that Jimmy was physically fully adult—including having the normal sexual responses—while Jaden was only barely entering Rimalian adolescence. She wasn’t worried Jimmy would find Jaden’s childish body attractive, but since the two couldn’t be separated…. Jaden might be exposed to sexuality in a far more graphic fashion than books and learning films from school. Normally, even with as interlocked as lifemates’ minds were, an adult Rimalian who had a child Miisen could keep the child out of the more sensual areas of the adult’s mind and experiences. James just did not have that ability, as his own mind was still quite child-like. David had chuckled quietly, explaining he’d already headed that problem off at the pass. He had placed a light inhibition against masturbation in Jimmy and placed a light hypnotic suggestion in Jaden’s mind to simply “not see” any erection Jimmy might have. It would further delay Jimmy’s sexual and mental maturity, but better that than Jaden be exposed prematurely, especially considering that although Jimmy might physically be ready for sex, because of his slower mental development, it wasn’t even in the back of his mind yet. David told them that by the time Jaden reached adulthood at fourteen, Jimmy’s mind would have caught up a little more completely with his body.

  As part of their treatment of the two, the Tii-su had worked extensively with Jimmy to undo his mother’s teaching that homosexuality, and sex not intended for procreation, was a sin. The Tii-su also carefully mentioned to both males that there was nothing wrong if they found themselves attracted to each other later on, that it was normal and healthy, when they were both old enough. In the meantime, the light psionic inhibitions would help preserve both their innocence, until they were both old enough to decide for themselves. David wouldn’t even have to go undo it, the blocks were constructed to gradually fade as the two got older, allowing them to progress naturally.

  Because Jimmy needed more stability than Jaden, an informal custody arrangement was developed. The two would split their time, year by year, until Jaden was fourteen. Then Jaden would most likely decide where they lived. At ten years old, Jaden was still a child, albeit a very mature one, and entering adolescence for a Rimalian. As such, along with being the son of the last Larrestes Artris, he was accustomed to a certain amount of responsibility, and it wasn’t long before he asked Shiloh what his responsibilities would be while he was on the estate.

  All in all, the Tii-su were certain the boys would be fine, leaving everyone sighing in relief. However, the incident had sent shockwaves throughout Rimalian Society. With the fact Rimalians were beginning to integrate more with human society due to a higher density of population, the Tii-su and Sennrojai decided to quietly teach all the children and young adults how important it was to accept your Miisen and protect that bond, no matter the gender of one’s Miisen. No one wanted a repeat of the near tragedy.

  One of the odd benefits of the situation with Jaden and Jimmy was that Shiloh’s relationship with his tenants greatly improved. The other was that his tenants picked up on the relationship between Killian and Shiloh and seemed to approve, even conspiring to give the two a few minutes alone time fairly regularly. It took a while for Killian and Shiloh to catch on, but when they had, they’d laughed their asses off.

  Chapter 18

  A week into Killian’s “vacation,” one of the children came running into the house screaming for help, that several women were trying to kidnap Jimmy. Shiloh, Killian, Sherry, and Keith had been in Shiloh’s study, going over the estate accounts, using it as a teaching opportunity for Shiloh. The four of them scrambled out of the house, bringing their daggers out.

  The scene they found stunned them. Several women surrounded Jimmy and Jaden and were themselves surrounded by the tenants. Great, Shiloh thought. A hostage situation. Jimmy and Jaden clung to each other, even as two of the three women tried to separate them.

  Shiloh strode forward followed by the others, the crowd letting them in and closing behind them. “What goes on here?”

  “I am Amalie Nyirej, James’ fiancée, Lady Zahirris. Today is our wedding day and I’m here to collect. These are my attendants.” She indicated the two women with her.

  “Lady Masrei denied the arrangement, Mistress Nyirej. At the present time, James isn’t capable of entering such an agreement,” Shiloh said as calmly as he could. He didn’t really care if the women got hurt but he didn’t want anything to happen to the boys.

  “Lady Masrei isn’t his mother, and Cheryl assures me that James is capable enough of entering into marriage. James comes with me, to marry, then we will return to take our place among your tenants,” Amalie replied. She said it like she thought Shiloh would agree to that, like it had already been agreed upon. Did she really think Shiloh was that stupid?

  “You need my permission to become one of my tenants, Amalie,” Shiloh answered coldly. “Release them now, then seek out the Magistrate to register a complaint about Cheryl’s bad faith arrangement.”

  “There’s no bad faith. She’s told me of your trying to pervert a decent young male. She also said that it was unlikely that you would allow him to leave as he wishes. Therefore, we are taking him. He belongs to me, now. You have no say in it, Lady Zahirris,” Amalie replied haughtily.

  “NO!”

  The denial was psionically and vocally screamed by both Jaden and Jimmy. Before anyone else could move, Jaden had taken his dagger and stabbed Amalie in the back, dropping her like a rock. Jimmy, following his Miisen’s lead, drew his blade and stabbed the woman who kept trying to pull him away from Jaden as Jaden stabbed the third woman in the stomach. The tenants all moved to grab the injured women, pulling them away, as Shiloh, Killian, Keith, and Sherry made for the boys. Shiloh found himself thanking Deity the two had been allowed their daggers back.

  As Sherry and Keith grabbed Jaden’s and Jimmy’s wrists, gently forcing them to drop the knives, Shiloh and Killian held the boys between them, in an attempt to soothe and calm them.

  “Call the Tii-su,” Shiloh ordered. “Assist the women, and someone call the Magistrate.” He hugged to the two shaking, terrified males tightly, listening to Killian murmur softly to them.

  Within minutes, the women were being given first aid and several of the tenants had joined Shiloh and Killian in hugging and calming Jaden and Jimmy. Then the Tii-su and their assistants arrived, obviously with a Sennrojai’s help. The Sennrojai said they would wait for the call from the Tii-su and whisk them and their patients to the Hospital on Rimalia. No one wanted to answer questions in a human hospital if it could be helped. Many Rimalians feared Sennrojai and their psionic abilities, but Shiloh thanked Deity for them.

  The Magistrate, who turned out to be Lady Ertrai, arrived courtesy of a different Sennrojai, a huge man Shiloh had never seen before.

  The man concentrated on the group of Tii-su and the injured women, who suddenly disappeared. Then he turned his attention to the small group surrounding Jaden and Jimmy. Both of the males were still crying and shaking, but they were a little calmer than they had been. He focused on the boys; they slowly calmed as he approached.

  He held his arms out. “Come here, boys.” The man’s voice was deep and rumbly, and the boys slowly moved toward him, letting him enfold them in his embrace. He looked at Shiloh. “Lady Zahirris, I am Catan Jinn. Hello again, Lady Larrestes.” He and Killian exchanged nods. “I will attend these two, including Verifying why they stabbed those women, while you speak with Lady Ertrai.”

  Shiloh and Killian nodded, touching the boys gently before turning to Lady Ertrai.

  She gave Shiloh a small smile. “Well, Lady Zahirris, you’re certainly providing a lot of work for all of us recently.”

  “I suppose I could say it’s not my fault, but I won’t bother,” Shiloh replied.

  “Tell me what happened.”

 
It took time, but eventually the whole story was shared. Lady Ertrai was very psi-sensitive and didn’t need a Tii-su to tell her whether or not she was getting the truth; she could pick up on the lies herself.

  Then Catan came over, still with his arms around the boys, and confirmed that Jaden had felt his Miisen under threat and had acted accordingly, and Jimmy had acted to protect Jaden from retaliation. Lady Ertrai received a call, then reported the Tii-su had gotten the viewpoints of the women as well. All three women were currently in surgery, and would be a long time in recovery, but it was believed they would live. Jaden and Jimmy both relaxed, as did Shiloh and Killian; Killian didn’t know how his sensitive little brother would handle killing someone. He didn’t think Jimmy would have coped well, either.

  Shiloh thanked his tenants for coming to their assistance and told them to take the rest of the day off, other than looking after the animals. They all made a point to touch both Jimmy and Jaden gently before they wandered away. Then they left, making their way into the House.

  § § § §

  Later on, Lady Ertrai and Catan joined Shiloh, Killian, Sherry, and Keith in Shiloh’s study. The Lady Ertrai proceeded to tell them about the convoluted thread they had discovered.

  Amalie was Anan’s cousin, and Cheryl and Anan were friends. When Cheryl and Arnold had been evicted from their last home because of their pretentious preaching, Anan invited them to come to Morgaine House. After the Council had made their ruling, Anan had been pissed and had asked Cheryl to keep her informed of goings-on with the estate because she wanted to use the information to get revenge.

  Anan and Cheryl had already decided to marry Jimmy off to Amalie so that Amalie could move onto the estate as Jimmy’s wife and be available to cause trouble, when Cheryl and Arnold had been evicted. Amalie agreed because she liked the look of Jimmy; with his being borderline retarded, she believed he would be easily controlled and not cause her any trouble, just look pretty and do what he was told. Cheryl would simply tell Jimmy to beg Shiloh to let Amalie live on the estate with him and work there, since it was quite obvious to Cheryl that Shiloh had a soft spot for Jimmy.