Bhavacakra
Sixteen
(9/10/06 0500, Wolf Lodge, Texas League)
Kerrik waved to Morwen as he jumped off the railing outside his room down to the ground. She waved back. The Vampire was perched on top of his hotel room and was setting up her sketch pad as she waited for the sun to appear. “I managed to levitate up here!”
“Good job,” he called back. “But if you wake up Whisper, it won’t save you.”
Morwen blinked and nodded frantically.
He chuckled and jogged for the weight room. After setting up the weights, he lay down on the bench and scooted under the bar, but instead of reaching for the bar, he let out a heavy sigh. “I can’t believe I’m having sex with a freaking elf. Part of Hell that normally has desert temperatures has to be experiencing snowfall right now.” He snorted. When he spoke, his voice was a high contralto that was nothing like his normal tone. “‘So, Kerrik, you had sex with your first elf in several thousand years. How did it feel? Did it make you nostalgic for home?’” His voice dropped to normal. “No, auntie bitch, it felt a lot like pussy.” He snickered. “Face it; they wouldn’t think she was an elf. The women there would take one look at her and become ill. The men would figure she was either completely non-elven or some kind of bizarre hybrid.” An evil grin flitted across his face. “Maybe someday I’ll take her to meet mother. No, that would be really mean to Autumn and she doesn’t deserve that.” He shook his head and reached for the weight bar.
Kerrik had finished up his second set of reps with the free weights and was resting for a few seconds before moving on to the leg weights when pain exploded up his right arm. His eyes widened in shock and his jaw clenched. Examining his arm, his ears went flat as he watched silvery fur spread down the length of the limb. It thickened and grew longer in seconds and the curve of the arm began to change as well, the bones shifting shape beneath the muscle.
He hissed and his words were growled between clenched teeth as he brought his will to bear. “I. Rule. My. Self.” His eyes narrowed to slits as he stared at his arm and there was a sharp noise as a tooth cracked in his mouth. A thin line of blood ran down his chin.
The arm’s changes slowed and stopped, but it was almost a minute before the process began to reverse itself. Eventually his arm looked normal. Kerrik lay back on the bench and went limp for several minutes. Finally he pulled himself upright, wiping the blood from his face and licking his fingers clean. He eyed the leg bench warily before pushing to his feet and heading for it. “There’s only one way to find out if it was the exercise or just an unpleasant coincidence.”
(9/10/06 0700, Indian Lodge, Texas League)
“Are you sure you don’t want to go, Autumn?” Morwen gave her a concerned look. “There’s no telling when we’ll go into a town again.”
The Elfqueen patted her stomach. “I’ll be fine, girl. Kerrik and I don’t want to run across William until after my kits are born if we can avoid it. He knew I was heading south, so staying here is best.”
“What if he shows up while we’re gone?”
“That’s not very likely, but if it happens I’ll hide inside the weaver. According to Kerrik, not even a hyperbeam can open it up. He says the exterior is armored with something that would take a nuclear lance to cut, whatever that is.” She shrugged. “He said I’d be safe there and I believe him. He also left me a com and rest assured that I will call for help if I just think I see something unusual.” She looked behind the young Vampire. “Raven is gesturing for you to join her.”
Morwen whipped around. “Crap. See you, Autumn.” She ran up the hill to where the Archmage was standing with her arms folded. “Hi. I’m not late, am I?”
“No, but I’m getting tired of looking for people. Find Whisper and you and her make sure Misery is waiting with you both in the parking lot in five minutes. She is not to go to her room for anything else. Neither is anyone else.”
“Yes maharani.”
Raven gave her a tiny smile. “I’m glad you show me some respect for my position. I just wish the others did. Now go.”
“Has Kerrik seen your new outfit yet?”
“I haven’t had the time to show it to him. I’m going to find him now.”
“I wish I could watch his response.”
Raven shook her head. “I’ll tell you all about it. Later. Whisper, now.” She watched Morwen pull her cloak tightly around her and race off. She briefly got a far away look in her eyes as she consulted with her twee and then headed for Kerrik’s office.
He was sitting at his desk and reading something on his pokedex when she came in. “We’re ready to go.”
He looked up and stared. “Whoa.”
“You like? I was hoping you would.” She was wearing a miniskirt that stopped just below the curve of her ass and a tight top that left her midriff bare. Her amethyst hair had been braided into two pigtails that fell over her breasts and on her feet she wore sneakers that were the same icy blue as the skirt and blouse.
“People are going to think I’m a child molester, but you are hot.” He cocked his head. “Are you wearing panties?”
She smiled broadly and stepped up next to his chair. “Why don’t you find out?”
She shivered when he ran his hand up her leg and under the skirt. She went up on her toes when he squeezed her ass gently. “Well, what did you find?” Her voice had dropped and taken on a husky sound.
“What was I looking for again?”
“Panties,” she whispered.
“That’s right.” He winked up at her. “I found something, but if they’re panties they seem kind of wispy.” He flipped up the skirt with his hand. “And they are, too. But I suppose they do meet the definition of panty.” He pulled her into his lap and cradled her against him. She sighed contentedly. “Where did you get the outfit?”
“Morwen scanned some images from the computer in her drawing stuff into the weaver. She said you might like this, so I decided to give it a try.” She looked up at him. “I don’t look too young, do I?”
“Some people might say you do, but to me you look like Raven being sexy.”
“Do you care about the opinions of others?”
“Not particularly.”
She nodded. “Then I don’t either.” She pushed herself upright and twisted around to face him. “Morwen knows a lot of stuff that I don’t. Stuff about being pretty and making a man want her. A lot of these things are important to harems. I don’t know any of that. Maybe she should be maharani.”
“We’ve had this talk before, Raven, and I haven’t changed my mind. Morwen can’t be my maharani for a couple of reasons. She’s not a pokegirl, which means she can’t share my bed. She doesn’t have any experience leading anything, unless she was part of some organization in school. The last time I checked, this isn’t school.” He stroked Raven’s hair, tugging gently on the end of the braid when he got to it. “Most importantly, I want you to be my maharani. I have yet to find fault with the way you do your job.”
“I fucked up when I gave the Earth Mother technique to Nippon.”
He stroked her cheek. “Yes, you did. But that wasn’t you being maharani. That was you trying to do my job and decide how to allocate our resources. When you focus on doing your job, you are an outstanding maharani.”
One of her eyebrows went up. “And how many maharanis do you know?”
“Branwyn, Svetlana, Ginevra and Poppet are all, each in her own way, an outstanding maharani, even if Poppet isn’t really in a harem. Helen would be a great one too, and you can see it in how she exercises command of her kitchen. You are still learning the job, but you show every sign of being as talented as they are. Since Morwen knows more than you do about something and since I won’t let you eat her brains so you can know it too, as maharani, you need to put her knowledge to work. At least you should if you think it’s valuable.”
She got that look she did when she seemed to be memorizing his exact words. The intensity was sometimes a bit frightening, and it once more reminded him to be very careful of what he said around her. “How do I do that?”
“Have her give classes. As you pointed out, Morwen is the only member of our harem with this information. Make her use the weaver to manufacture what she needs in the way of makeup or whatever you ladies want to learn and have her give lessons on how to use it properly. Then you reward her somehow so she wants to give the best lessons she can.”
“How should I reward her?”
“You’ll have to figure that out on your own. I’m not the maharani and I’d probably fuck things up if I tried to do your job.” He patted her on the rump. “Now get up. We are supposed to go to Austin, and if you keep me late I’ll have to find a way to punish you for doing so. Considering that outfit, it’ll probably involve some spanking and that’ll definitely lead to other things and then we’ll be here all day.”
Her face lit up. “It would?”
“You can count on it.”
She gave him an impish look. “We could go to Austin tomorrow.”
“We are going to Austin today. You distract me too much as it is.”
Raven slid out of his lap. “And the maharani’s job is to make sure your wishes get carried out.”
He watched her put the mask she kept for everyone else back into place and silently hoped for a day when it would no longer be necessary. “It is, but your wishes are also important.” He stroked her cheek and she leaned into his touch. “They’re very important to me.”
She kissed his palm before pulling away. “It’s good to hear that. Now, Morwen is supposed to be getting everyone else together. You’ve briefed Autumn on what to do if she’s attacked?”
“I’ve told her to scream for help if she even sees anyone other than us. I don’t want to wait for the actual attack. The kits are developed enough that they might survive outside the womb, but only if they receive prompt medical care involving equipment we don’t have and had damned well better not need. They’re better off where they are, at least until it’s time for them to be born.”
She nodded. “Then let’s be off.”
In the parking lot, Misery was checking her pistols. She was wearing combat fatigues and heavy boots. In shoulder holsters she had a brace of 15mm pistols, while on her belt were a pair of kukri and pouches containing spare magazines. Kerrik grinned. “No grenades?”
The Mini-top grinned back and patted a belt pouch. “I brought some flash-bangs, but I don’t think we’ll see trouble so I decided to go lightly armed.”
Behind her, Morwen rolled her eyes as she pulled her hood up against the sunlight. She was wearing a lightweight cloak that looked like it was made of silk, but was actually a far tougher synthetic. It was a brilliant green with gold embroidered phoenixes all over it. It was closed, but he knew that under it the Vampire wore shorts and a blouse of the same fabric, but with the colors reversed.
Whisper looked comfortable in a black and gold gypsy outfit in which the skirt draped to her ankles. Her green hair fell in heavy ringlets to the middle of her back. No weapons were visible, but Kerrik knew that the Cabbit had secreted a 10mm pistol and at least one knife somewhere on her person. Although largely symbolic since she wore it to rub in the fact that Morwen wasn’t allowed guns outside of training while she was a pokekit, Kerrik had tested her with them and discovered that Whisper was a crack shot with any firearm she held.
Kerrik was wearing cowboy boots, black jeans and a bright blue short sleeved button down shirt. Over the shirt he’d put on a lightweight leather jacket that was dyed a couple of shades of blue darker than the shirt. It acted to conceal his pistols in their shoulder holster. His hair was put up under the cowboy hat he wore and sunglasses hid his eyes. He chuckled as looked the assemblage over. “Considering how much attention you ladies are going to steal, I could have dispensed with the disguise and nobody would have noticed anything unusual about me.”
Are we ready to go? Whisper’s tail flicked idly. Your chariot awaits.
He glanced at Raven. She nodded and he turned back to Whisper. “Let’s go.”
Morwen’s eyes bugged when the Cabbit lifted off to create the deck of her construct. “What is that?”
I am more than just a pretty face. Whisper grinned. I am also a gorgeous body, a quick and agile mind and sometimes I display attributes of the Cabbit’s evolution, the StarlightXpress. The construct grew around her, forming a ramp and hatch on the side closest to Kerrik. Gate one is now boarding with express service to Austin. Her ears flicked as everyone boarded. Do you want another orbital bounce, Kerrik?
He shook his head. “It’s only about four hundred miles to Austin. Let’s take the scenic route. It’ll let us establish teleport points along the way should it become necessary. Whisper, start by heading north. Once we get to I10 then go east until we hit Austin. I want to land outside the city and go in on foot.”
The construct lifted off to hover about a thousand feet off the ground before racing north.
(9/10/06 1000, Austin, Texas League)
Kerrik checked his pokedex and frowned. “Whisper, please bring us to a halt.”
The construct slowed as heads turned to look at him. We are now motionless. What is the matter?
“We’re at an altitude of a thousand feet and seven miles from Austin. The horizon at this height is almost forty miles. Why can’t I see the city’s skyline from here?”
Raven, Misery and Whisper exchanged looks while Morwen moved to peer through the front of the construct to try and see the city ahead of them. You are not aware of what happened to Austin during the war?
“I take it if I did, then I wouldn’t be surprised right now?”
That’s correct. Austin had several manmade lakes located upstream of it on the Colorado River. When the city was attacked by local pokegirl forces towards the end of the Revenge War, the dams were blown by infiltrators, starting with the uppermost one. The demolition teams then waited until the water from the first lake reached the next dam before it was destroyed and so on with the other dams. When the combined wall of water reached the city, a unit of Foxxsea specially trained to work together raised the wall of water until it was three hundred feet high and stretched for over two miles on either side of the river as it swept through the city.
“Shit.”
Misery nodded as she took up the story. “After the tidal wave swept through the city, pokegirl forces leveled every building more than two stories tall that still stood. It made sense, because by this time in the war our forces were very tired of sniper teams. The final effect was that essentially, Austin was blotted from the surface of the planet.”
Morwen made a strangled sound. “And we’re worried about individual feral attacks back on my world? If they ever form armies again, we’re doomed.”
We find your world’s attitude about pokegirls amusing too. Fortunately for them the ferals will never organize.
Raven snorted. “You’re a Vampire now, Morwen. You’d be on the army side.”
“No, I wouldn’t. My loyalties lay with Kerrik and he wouldn’t do that.” Whisper barked the feline cough that sometimes passed for her idea of laughter.
Kerrik ignored the exchange as he shook his head. “Still, that kind of devastation without weapons of mass destruction is pretty impressive.”
Misery grinned. “You should let Autumn know.”
“I should let her know what?”
“That you’re impressed.” The Mini-top’s grin widened. “She operated all over the southern United States and northern Mexico. Autumn was in command of the forces that destroyed Austin during her campaign in Texas.”
His ears flicked for several seconds before he smiled slightly. “You know, let’s not mention that to the Austinites. Whisper, take us down to treetop level and land about five miles from the edge of town. We’ll hike from there.”
(9/10/06 1100, Austin, Texas League)
The city looked like a sand castle that had been run over by a stampede of cattle. Not a building in sight had more than one story and every one that had been multi-story had been flattened. Debris was scattered everywhere, choking the roads with piles of concrete and steel so badly that once open thoroughfares had been converted into impenetrable mazes. Only along the river was there no rubble. It had been scoured clean and flat, as if someone had swept the area with a giant broom. On either side of where the tidal wave had run, walls dozens of feet high had been created by the remains of what had once been buildings, cars and people.
Morwen just stared at the ruins piled to either side of them. She looked pale. “How many died here?”
Raven shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“This took place before the Red Plague,” Kerrik said as he looked around. “At that point, the population of the city of Austin was nearly three quarters of a million people and it had never been seriously attacked, so it wasn’t evacuated. The devastation from the tidal wave is a path approximately six miles wide. At a rough guess, over a hundred thousand people died when it came through.” The young Vampire turned green as he continued. “Demolishing the city should have easily killed at least another hundred thousand. Probably the final butcher’s bill was higher than that, especially since it’s very likely that the pokegirl forces took losses as well.”
“Oh my god. Autumn did all of this? Please tell me you’re not going to keep her around.”
Kerrik reached out and took her hand. “She did what she was supposed to and she did it well. Now, if it becomes necessary, she’ll do it for me.” He looked around again. “However, I can understand why she wants to live a more peaceful life. As an Elf and now as an Elfqueen, this was probably not easy to do. They had done nothing to anything that she held valuable, and yet she still had to kill them. That’s never easy. Isn’t that right, Misery?”
“Fucking right, you are. It’s easy to do, but not easy to live with.” The Mini-top was alertly watching their surroundings. “Is there anyone here?”
“Satellite surveillance shows them to be rebuilding Austin just north of the ruins, and moving into them as they can clear the debris.” Kerrik motioned ahead of them. “We just head north and follow the river to it.”
The new community was small enough to fit within the area scoured by the wave, and was a neat collection of wooden and stone buildings that stretched for nearly two miles on either side of the river. A sign was posted on the edge of town. It read: “City of Austin, population 30,000”. Someone had hand painted the words “or so” underneath the population number. Another sign noted that squatting would not be tolerated for more than two days and anyone wishing to purchase land from the league needed to go to the Land Development Office.
A loud bang to the east caught their attention. Barely visible against the gray of the wall of rubble was a small cloud of smoke that eddied briefly in the breeze as it dissipated. Part of the wall peeled away to crash to the ground in a spray of rock and steel, revealing more rubble behind it as the demolition team moved forward to examine the results of their work.
Raven looked at Kerrik. “Do you want a security element?”
“No. We’re not looking for trouble, and in urban areas a defensive perimeter can easily be misconstrued as a threat. We need to head for the Land Developers Office and see about buying the land around the lodge. I’d like to purchase a good sized chunk for Autumn and any Elf types that decide to move in.” He smiled absently. “That and I prefer my neighbors far away.”
A Ladyba was sweeping the porch of a storefront with a twig broom and she smiled to them as they walked up. It faltered slightly when she examined Misery, but recovered quickly. “Good morning.”
Kerrik touched the brim of his hat. “Morning, ma’am. Can you direct us to the Land Development office?”
She nodded and pointed further north with one arm while not pausing in her sweeping. “You go on up the street three blocks until you get to Capitol. Then you turn right. It’s another couple of blocks after that, on the right side of the street.” She looked them over again. “I noticed that all of you are wearing new clothes. That’s unusual here. If you’ve got extras that you want to sell, you should talk to my master, Robert Gilchrest. We own this store and are always interested in purchasing good salvage.”
Kerrik nodded. “I’ll keep it in mind, miss?”
She smiled widely enough to give her cheeks dimples, but without any of the air of coming on to him that he’d always seemed to get on Prime. “I’m Annette.”
“Thank you, Annette.” They headed up the street.
Raven glanced behind her. “That was an odd one.”
Morwen smirked. “She’s got a good tamer. She’s healthy and well mannered.”
Does that mean your manners will improve once you start getting tamed?
“Hey!”
“Enough.” Raven’s voice was curt. “When we’re not at home, foes are outside the harem, not inside.”
I apologize, Morwen.
Morwen looked at Raven and blinked at whatever she saw in the Archmage’s eyes. “Thank you, Whisper.”
“Here’s where we turn.” Misery nodded at a sign announcing Capitol Street.
Traffic started to pick up and Kerrik’s ladies drew more than their fair share of attention as they moved down the street, from men, women and pokegirls alike. One of the women stopped in front of them. “I don’t mean to intrude, but where did all of you get those clothes?”
Raven smiled. “We brought them with us. Later, we may be opening a store here.”
“Really? I’ll be looking for it then.” She moved on and, after a few seconds, so did they.
The Texas League Land Development Office was a storefront with several signs indicating that it was also the Texas League Post Office, Texas League Volunteer Defense Force Signup Post and the Austin Polling Depot.
A bell on the door jingled when Kerrik opened it. A pokegirl behind the counter was sorting through some envelopes. She was easily as tall as Autumn, was covered with a light dusting of yellow feathers and wearing a pair of worn bikini panties. Kerrik recognized her as a Chocoboob. She looked up when the bell sounded and smiled. “Morning. As you can see, I haven’t left for the mail run to Dallas, so you’re still in time if you want to send some post. Can I help you?”
Kerrik nodded. “Morning. I’m here because I’d like to purchase some land, and a sign on the edge of town told me to come here.”
“You’ll need to talk to Buck about that.” She raised her voice. “Buck, you’ve got people here needing a league official!”
A man came through a door behind the counter, nursing a cup of something steaming and aromatic. “Hi. I’m Buck Hartman. You want a cup of chicory?”
“Thank you, but I think I’ll pass. I’m Kerrik Wolf, and I and my ladies would like to buy some land. I understand we have to buy it from the league?”
Buck nodded as he put the cup down on the counter. “Sally, you stay out of my coffee.”
Sally gave the cup a disgusted glance. “I’ve had coffee, Buck. That nasty stuff isn’t it.”
He chuckled. “It’s all we’ve got, girl. Anyway, when the Texas League formed, it confiscated all of the land. When we took over from the previous government, rest their souls, we needed a source of income and started selling off the land so we could fund dismantling the government we don’t need and pay for what little we do.”
“What about the league taxes?” Morwen gave him a puzzled look. “Don’t they pay for everything?”
He smiled. “Well, miss?”
“Morwen.” She glanced at Kerrik. “Morwen Wolf.”
“Well, Miss Wolf, we don’t let the government steal from Texans here, so there are no taxes. As soon as we took over from the previous government we ended all taxation.”
That’s the second time you mentioned taking over from the previous government. What does that mean?
Kerrik shook his head and pointed at the Cabbit. “That’s Whisper. Fortunately she’s a telepath since she can’t talk. The Mini-top is Misery and that is Raven.”
“Thanks, I’ll try to remember all of them.” Buck eyed Raven’s body appreciatively as he picked up his cup again. “When the UN decided to take over and made the leagues, Texans were already considering withdrawing from the US and we even had a referendum about it that was coming up on the ballot. The United States kind of neglected us to protect what was thought to be more important to the ones in Washington. During the war, military forces tended to protect the northeast more than the rest of the country. We knew they didn’t have the manpower or supplies to protect the whole country, but when they moved some of Texas’ National Guard units to Boston it was a bitter pill to swallow. As soon as the announcements were made about the leagues, and that Texas was going to be divided up between Sunshine and Indigo, the Texas Senate met with the Governor and decided to form our own government. To make it look like we were going along with them until we could build up our own tamer forces, it was decided to call it the Texas League. The Governor became the League President and off we went.”
“Then the pokegirl army decided to come and visit us. We didn’t even know they were there until they blew the dams on the lakes and the word about that didn’t reach the city until it was too late to do anything about it. When the tidal wave blasted through Austin, the President was addressing the Senate. We think the Texas Rangers were trying to get him out of the building and to a place of safety, but if they were it didn’t work. The Capitol building was within the wave’s path of destruction and there weren’t any survivors. The new government kind of cratered and we stepped in to help and ended up becoming the government.” He smirked. “There’s even a small movement to make those pokegirls heroes of the league.”
Misery burst out laughing.
Kerrik watched her for a few seconds. “What are the rules about pokegirls?”
“They’re the same as the rules for everyone else. You live life pretty much as you want as long as you don’t infringe on other people. You can’t use force or coercion to make people do things they don’t want to. I hear there are some pokegirls that have problems with our lifestyle, but unless someone breaks the rules we don’t treat them any worse or better than anyone else. Of course, everyone is allowed their own prejudices, so they may not be welcome in every private establishment, but then there’s a pokegirls only club here in Austin, too.” He eyed Kerrik briefly. “We realize they have to have certain things and a pokegirl is free to ask anyone she wants for taming. They’re free to say no, too.”
“What about transferring pokegirls between tamers?” Raven played with one of her braids idly. “How’s that work?”
Buck shrugged. “That’s between the individuals involved, but if money or other trade items change hands, half of it belongs to the pokegirl being traded to do with as she sees fit. Now, if she’s feral, she is property until she’s tamed, but at that point she becomes a person. Deliberately letting a pokegirl who is a member of your group go feral, however, is as much a crime as murdering one. If that happens, a Ranger will probably get involved.”
“What about battling? You do know that a lot of pokegirls like to compete by fighting, right?”
“Yup. As long as everyone in the fight is a volunteer and understands that they could be hurt or killed, it’s not the league’s business.” He drained his cup. “It’s also not our business to put anyone back together afterwards, so it might be best to arrange medical care beforehand.”
Morwen frowned. “What about setting up a hospital or medical center for pokegirls?”
“We’ve got some healers in town and they do house calls. Doctors haven’t done that since before I was born. I realize that before they were destroyed the hospitals had some fancy equipment in them. However, one of the healers is Jack Danby, and he has a Sorceress who can duplicate almost everything they could do with some of her spells. She’ll teach those spells, too, for a fee. Besides, after watching my dad lose the battle against cancer, I’ve never felt that hospitals are anything except places to go while waiting to die.”
Raven cocked her head. “What are the rules for tamers?”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you’re asking, Miss Raven.”
“Who registers them? What rules do they operate under, that sort of thing.”
“Well, because pokegirls sometimes have a hard time telling their tamer no, the Texas Rangers investigate reports of cruelty, but then they do the same for interactions between regular folks. Other than that, if someone can catch and tame a feral pokegirl or convince a tame one to be with him or her, it’s not the league’s business. As for registering them, you make a list of people with certain things and a government will immediately use it to control them. We had enough of that with the US.”
Morwen stared at him in shock. “That’ll never work.”
“I don’t want to say you’re wrong, Morwen, but it’s worked for nearly ten years now.” He waved a hand around him. “It worked well enough that the rebuilding in Austin and elsewhere in Texas is going faster than any government could have done it, and without robbing everyone blind to do so.”
Sally grinned. “Don’t forget that Texas tamers kick the ass of the Leaguers every time they fight.”
“We haven’t won every battle, Sally, but I’ll admit we’ve won most of them. But then, that only makes sense. They’re fighting to take over what they think is theirs while we, and by that I mean both tamer and pokegirl, fight to stay free. That gives us an incentive to fight harder than they do.” He opened a drawer. “Now, while I’m willing to reminisce all day, you came here to buy some land. Did you find a plot you liked, or were you looking for something specific and needed some help? Most of the available land will be on the edge of Austin, although from your ladies I don’t think you’ll have much of a problem with feral attacks from the ruins. What’s for sale inside Austin is much more expensive, since people see it as being a lot safer than the outskirts.” He looked mildly amused “Sometimes it is, too.”
Kerrik smiled and took off his sunglasses. “I’m not interested in buying land in Austin, at least not yet. I want to purchase some land in Jeff Davis County.”
Buck stared at him. “There’s nothing out there. The closest people out there live in El Paso, and they’re busy with the Sunshine League.”
“I want to live there. I’m already homesteading and figured I might as well make it official so someone doesn’t show up and try to eject me for trespassing.”
“Let me get the paperwork on that part of Texas and see if anything has been sold to anyone, but if I remember rightly you should be able to buy as much of it as you want.” He turned towards the door to the back and hesitated for a moment. “You are aware that the Sunnies claim it, right? We don’t have any volunteer forces over there and you’ll be on your own if some of them show up.”
Misery grinned. “If they start something, it’ll be so much the worse for them.”
Kerrik nodded. “She’s right. If I have title to the land from Texas, I will fight for it.”
Buck grinned at the Mini-top. “That’s the attitude.” He looked at the Chocoboob. “Sally, go see if Carston has left for lunch yet. If he hasn’t, ask him to come by here right away. Tell him I’ve got someone here who is living in West Texas.”
“Yessir.” The Chocoboob put down the envelopes with a look of pleasure and ran past Kerrik and the others. The door slammed behind her.
Kerrik frowned. “Is there a problem?”
Buck shook his head. “No, not at all. It’s just that we haven’t had any information about that part of Texas in a while and Carston will want to talk to you about it.”
“Who is he?”
“Oh, sorry. Captain Carston Garrett is the head of the Texas Rangers. Now let me find the ledger for that part of the state.” He disappeared into the back, returning several minutes late with a large ledger. He put it down on the counter and opened it up. “While a bit inconvenient for most Texans, we’ve set up a master ledger system here and it’s the only legally binding one for the initial sale of land in Texas.” He looked up. “We’re not really happy with it, but it’s the best we can do with the technology we’ve got. There are land offices in Dallas, El Paso and Houston, but sales there are not valid until entered into my books. That’s one of the things our postal system handles. When someone was living on the land before the war, we’ll give it to them, but most people fled to the cities and they were all heavily damaged during the pokegirl campaign of 2001.” The ledger was divided by tabs and he picked through them before finally opening one and quickly reading what was there. “It’s like I thought, nobody lives in Jeff Davis County. How much would you like to buy? Right now land is 500 SLC per acre out there.”
You are using SLC?
Buck grimaced. “We’d rather not, but paper dollars are not only fragile, they’re worthless. Nobody is minting anything I’d like to take, but what we’re doing is collecting gold from the ruins of the cities. Anyone, at any time, is able to ask for and receive their money’s worth in gold.”
Kerrik nodded. “Haven has real coinage. Could you use their money?”
“We’ve only just heard about them and we don’t have any way to get in touch, and little way to pay if we did.”
“I may be able to help with that. I can either contact Haven, or you can contract your coin production through me until you get a mint of your own set up. I’ll charge a reasonable percentage of the total value of the coinage you want and you can pay me out of the reserves you have on hand. I’ll guarantee weight and quality on delivery. If you use Haven weights and metals, there won’t be much of a setup time once you decide on a pattern and delivery time can be fairly prompt.” Kerrik pulled his pokedex from his belt and activated it. “I’ll get you some ETAs on delivery.”
Buck’s eyes widened. “You have working electronics?”
“Yeah. Haven is manufacturing electronic and other items for sale, and I’ve got access to some too. The Indigo league has purchased some, as has a private concern in Capitol. I’m supplying Nippon.”
“Could you pay in trade goods and coins? Our volunteers can use everything they can get against our would-be conquerors.”
Kerrik smiled slightly. “That won’t be a problem.”
“If you’re going to be that good about it, I need to make sure you buy a lot of land.”
“How much can I purchase?”
Buck grinned. “The land out there is selling for 500 SLC an acre and the county is 1.45 million acres.”
“What about the surrounding counties?” Kerrik was using the calculator function on his pokedex as he spoke.
“What about the surrounding counties?” Kerrik was using the calculator function on his pokedex as he spoke.
“All the land out there is about the same price, but using existing boundaries makes the paperwork a lot easier.”
He looked at Raven. “The county is a little over twenty two hundred square miles. That should be enough for everyone.”
She frowned. “You’re talking about a lot of money.”
“Don’t forget the equipment. Most of what the Texans might need should be at Vallation, and I know that Virtue has been stockpiling valuable minerals. Owning that much land means you won’t have to ever worry about anyone else spoiling the view on our mountain.”
“I think I’d like that. I know it’ll make her happy, but it’ll give the rest of us a really large area to cover defensively. Still, it’s your decision and we can make it work.” She grinned. “And it’ll give Morwen a lot of training in working with a group. It’ll be good for the rest of us, too.”
Kerrik turned back to Buck. “It comes out to seven hundred twenty four million and eight hundred thousand credits. How would you want to divide that up between coinage and equipment?”
Buck’s mouth dropped. “You have that kind of money?”
“Don’t forget I’m supplying Nippon and they’re paying me in gold.” His eyes met Buck’s. “I’m currently their only supplier, although I suspect they’ll reverse engineer some of the simpler things soon enough. Historically, they do that a lot. To be honest, I figure I’ll get a lot of that money back eventually through satellite communications subscriptions for your people who’d like to talk farther than to the people in a single city.”
“That’ll play havoc with the post, although we’ll still deliver a lot of packages.”
Misery shrugged. “It just means you’ll be able to shut it down earlier and take it private.”
Buck snorted. “It’s already privately run. I’m the local owner. I also just happen to be the guy who’s in charge of the land sales so I put my office in my business.”
“How did you end up with that?”
He shook his head. “Morwen, I was dumb enough at the time to say ‘yeah, sure, I’ll do it’, and I haven’t been able to find anyone to take the job from me since. I get a stipend from the government for holding the position, but it’s deliberately set low enough that I need a real job to keep me fed.”
What do people here eat?
“We get by with whatever we can find. Things get a bit dicey in the wintertime, what with most of the livestock falling to the Red Plague, but we manage. The ground up around where the lakes used to be is very fertile, and there are some farmers raising crops there. They’re using some pokegirls to help, which increases yields a lot. Meat is still pretty scarce, though.” He pulled a form from the still open drawer and pushed it shut. “Now, give me a minute to fill out the purchase agreement and then I’ll have to contact some other people to decide on the equipment we want. Do you have a price list?”
Kerrik pulled it up on his pokedex and handed it to Buck. “Here you go. Sorry, but I didn’t bring a printer.”
Buck smiled as he began copying the information onto another sheet of paper. “I am definitely going to need some of these.”
The bell jangled as Sally returned. She was followed by a burly man with a leathery weather lined face wearing faded jeans and a cotton shirt. A woman with short blonde hair and green eyes was right behind him. She wore clothing similar to the man’s. The man scanned the room professionally before focusing on Buck. “You wanted to talk to me?”
“This is Kerrik Wolf. He’s here to buy some land where he’s been homesteading. It’s out in Jeff Davis County. Mr. Wolf, this is Captain Carston Garret, the commander of the Texas Rangers.”
Garret looked Kerrik up and down before giving his pokegirls the same intent examination. “The last I heard, that region was crawling with Sunny tamers.”
“We’ve been out there for a couple of months and haven’t seen anything except a few feral pokegirls. If anyone lived out where we do, we’d have found them.”
The brunette snorted. “And just what makes you so certain?”
Misery grinned. “Do the names Whisper and Misery mean anything to you, ponytaur?”
The woman blinked. “My name is Lisa. I know who they are. Why?”
It is because you are talking to us. I am Whisper and the bunny is Misery. We have checked the area and there isn’t anyone else living out there.
Lisa’s eyes went wide. “What, what is your business here in Austin?”
We are here with our tamer to purchase land for a home. We have broken none of your laws, unless you wish to hold a past that did not involve Texas against us somehow.
Garret touched his pokegirl on the arm. “Who are they?”
She didn’t look away from Whisper. “You’d probably consider them to be Special Forces, Captain. They were good enough at their jobs that humans included them in the select few that were called the Deaths.” She glanced at Raven and Morwen. “I’m not sure about them.”
“The women of my harem are not a threat to anyone who is not a threat to us.” Kerrik’s voice was harsh. “And I’ll thank you to remember your own laws. They haven’t done anything here.” His harem began to drift into positions around him.
Garret’s eyes narrowed. “Nobody said they did, Kerrik. You need to stop reacting to something that hasn’t happened yet.”
Kerrik took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You’re right. I was overreacting and I apologize for it. Relax, ladies. Nobody has offered us any offense.” He watched the pokegirls around him until he was sure they were standing down. “Buck here intimated that you’d want to talk to us about the conditions around the county. Do you?”
“I would. Have you seen anyone else out there?”
“No, I haven’t. I’ve looked, too. I wanted to make sure the area was uninhabited before trying to purchase it from Texas government.”
Garret grinned. “That makes you smarter than a whole raft of other people. How much land are you going to buy?”
“Well, Buck teased me with the idea of buying the whole county. It sounds good; he just needs to talk to some other people to determine how much of that Texas will want in coins and how much they’ll want in equipment.”
“Mr. Wolf here can get us the same equipment the Indigos have been fielding against us in Louisiana.”
“Really? I don’t really care, but if the Indigos start accusing us of anything, I guess I need to know. Are you stealing this stuff from them?”
Kerrik grinned. “They have been trading with the Kingdom of Haven for that gear. I helped Haven set up their supply lines and I have access to an entirely different supply that makes the same things.”
“You do? How does Haven feel about that?”
“King Shikarou had better feel that the world is large enough for us both. I’m not going to sell to the Indigos, so his market is safe from me.”
“Why aren’t you in Haven?”
“I like Texas. Raven is my maharani, or alpha, and she’s lived here since the war. She doesn’t want to move and I don’t see why we should. I also like your form of government and I want to help keep it going.”
Garret’s eyes lit up. “That’s nice to hear. Do you think you can keep in touch and let me know what’s going on in the West? Right now the Sunny forces have been leaving us alone while they consolidate territories that aren’t organized against them, but it’s only a matter of time before they come here. We’ve got lots of oil and natural gas that everyone seems to want. We’re also organized and doing better than the average, mostly thanks to getting government out of the way. That makes us more desirable.”
Kerrik nodded. “Then there’s the fact that you told the leagues to go to hell. If you can make it stick, then others might get similar ideas and begin resisting too. They really have to crush you before that happens, and they have to do it thoroughly.”
Lisa glanced at Garrett. “Well, he understands the political situation. With Misery and Whisper, the Sunny force will have a hard time taking him out unless they’ve got organized military units already.”
Raven snorted. “That’ll just give us more of them to kill. I fought against military units during the war and it didn’t save them.” The room was suddenly filled with predatory grins that made the Ponytaur stir restlessly.
Kerrik sighed. “We are not going to go looking for trouble, but we won’t run from any that comes our way.” He turned to Buck. “I know you need to talk to some other league officials before you can decide how you want the payment divided up, but do you have any idea of when I should come back to find out the terms?”
Can you come back in two days? I should know by then.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem.” Kerrik smiled. “I hope all of you have a nice day, but I promised my ladies some shopping now. Where’s the best place to do that?”
Garret shrugged. “Lisa?”
The Ponytaur smiled. “Turn right after you leave here and head for the river. Once you get there, go north and you’ll hit the market. Otherwise you have to wander around and hope to find a shop that’ll have something you want.”
“The market sounds perfect.” Morwen grinned at Kerrik. “Let’s go!”
(9/10/06 1800, Wolf Lodge, Texas League)
Autumn watched the construct land in the parking lot and dissolve to reveal her new family. “How did things go?”
Morwen gave her a glare. “You didn’t manage to kill everyone, if that’s what you’re asking.”
The Elfqueen’s eyes flicked away. “I did what I had to do, no more and no less.” She jumped when Kerrik put his hand on her shoulder. “You, too?”
“Not at all, Autumn. I know what it’s like to have follow orders you don’t like. All I can say is that you did a professional job. That bit with the river and the lakes was very clean and well thought out.”
She looked into his eyes for several seconds before nodding. “Thank you. I tried to minimize casualties where I could, but my orders were specific about certain things.”
“Did you do that anywhere else?”
“I did similar things in Corpus Christi, Galveston and to a lesser extent, Houston, but in those cases I used the power of the ocean instead of rivers.”
“There may be troops from the Sunshine League coming here to try to claim our land. Could you fight them?”
She rubbed her stomach and nodded slowly. “I don’t want to fight anymore, but I will defend our home. Were you able to buy the land you wanted?”
He bought more than I ever imagined he would. Whisper was using her telekinesis to move the things they’d purchased to the front door of the lodge. If you can see it from here, we own it.
The Elfqueen’s eyebrows went up. “How much,” she asked quietly.
“The entire county or, if you will, over two thousand square miles.”
She gave him a pleased smile. “You offer me quite a queendom. I will strive to make it worthy of the trust you have given me.”
Misery glanced their way as she headed by with some of the things she’d bought. “Any Elf types show up yet?”
“It has only been a day, Misery. Few of my kind know how to teleport and those who might have never been here.”
“Some of you can fly.”
“Oh? And just how many Elfqueens have you seen flying?”
“Can I count the ones I threw?”
Autumn shook her head and looked at Kerrik. “Are there any adults here?”
“Just me and at the moment I’m not an adult either. Misery, stop teasing Autumn right now. You know just as well as everyone else that nobody is going to show up for at least another day and most of them will trickle in over the next couple of weeks.” He blinked when his pokedex chirped at him. “What the heck?” He looked up. “I have mail.”
Raven gave him a curious look. “Who from?”
“Shikarou.” He keyed the display live.
The message wasn’t from Shikarou. Instead it was Gwyneth’s holographic image that appeared over the pokedex. The blue haired Elfqueen was seated on her throne and smiled at him. “Colonel Kerrik Wolf, amongst the Elves here there has been felt a very powerful Elfqueen call from somewhere to the northwest of Haven. Kasumi estimates that the source of the call was from somewhere in Texas. You are hereby instructed to investigate the source of the call and report back your findings. In any case, you will transmit any findings every three days until the source is investigated. Once you have determined where this Elfqueen is, you will be given further instructions. Gwyneth, queen of Haven, out.” The display froze and slowly became blank.
Raven looked from it to him. “What are you going to do?”
“That further instructions bit makes me suspect I’ll be tasked to stop this,” he flashed Autumn a grin, “mysterious Elfqueen from bothering Haven’s Elf population.”
She gave him a cautious smile back. “What are you going to do?”
“Excuse me but the maharani still has the floor. That doesn’t answer my question.”
He looked thoughtful for a moment and then aimed the pokedex at himself. “Begin recording.” The electronic item chirped again to let him know it had activated. “To Queen Gwyneth, Kingdom of Haven.” He waited a few seconds. “Gwyneth, it’s good to hear from you. I’m glad you’re doing well and I hope that everyone else there is too. Apparently there is a misunderstanding about my status, as reflected in your orders to me. In order to end this confusion, I quit. End message.” He waited for the chirp. “Virtue, go ahead and change my status to reflect that I’m giving up my commission and inform Selene that I am no longer affiliated in any way with Haven. If Shikarou decides to remove me from the access list for Alexandria, tell her that I just need to know about it. I won’t contest. After that, check to see if any elves on Haven want to emigrate here and if so, use one of the tugs to provide them with transport to the lodge.”
“Yes commander. What about Bastion and Vallation?”
“I see no reason to forbid Shikarou or his family access to Bastion, and make sure he understands that I have no intention of denying him access to the manufacturing equipment there, ever. As for Vallation, that’s ours and I don’t see why we should share.” He frowned. “I’m forgetting something. Oh, yes. Virtue? Send the message.”
“The primary message and all ancillary messages have been sent, commander. Selene refuses to let you quit and has instead retired you with full benefits from the Haven Royal Army.”
His ears flicked. “There are benefits?”
“You get unrestricted and free access to all pokegirl centers in Haven.” There was a pause. “Of course, that is after they get built. Currently they do not have any.”
Kerrik began laughing. “I’m glad the benefits are so tangible. Well, if they try to tell me that I’ve been called back to duty, I’ll just ignore them. I am so sick and tired of people thinking that I exist just to make their life easier.” He looked at Raven. “Does that answer your question?”
She smiled and nodded. “I think so. Are we completely cutting our ties with Haven?”
“No, just anything official. I’ve still got a lot of family there and I’d like to be able to see them whenever we can, but I’m done being their lackey. That whole colonel thing wasn’t my idea in the first place and it has long since lost any charm that it might have had.”
This isn’t about Poppet, is it?
Autumn frowned. “Poppet? The turncoat Unicorn?”
“Yes and no. This one came from Pokegirl Prime, but we know this world’s one too. She said something that really upset me and then we went back in time and when we returned the timeline had been altered slightly and now she never said what pissed me off. In fact, we’re the only ones who are aware she ever said it, which means I can’t hold it against her since this version never uttered the fateful words.”
Autumn frowned and looked at Whisper. “Did you understand what he said?”
Not the first time he said it, or the second, third or fourth time, either. It’ll probably take you a while, too. His understanding of time is very impressive and sometimes he forgets we’re not in his mind with him when he becomes obtuse.
“I’m glad it’s not just me.”
Misery grinned. “Oh, no, when he starts talking about magical theory the only person who doesn’t get a headache around him is Raven. If you ever hear the words cusp, probability wave, asymmetric wave functions, or temporal anomaly come up in any conversation with either of them, your best bet is to suddenly have to go to the bathroom or perhaps beat yourself unconscious with something solid.”
Everyone laughed.
Autumn broke off suddenly and sighed. “Thanks, Misery. Now I have to pee.”
Kerrik shook his head. “Ladies, take your loot off and have fun. I’ll be in my office if anyone needs me.” He watched everyone head in different directions except for Whisper. “Can I help you with something?”
Her tail lashed idly as she shook her head. I wanted to volunteer to go to Haven to retrieve anyone who was answering Autumn’s call. My construct would be easier for them to accept than a robotic tug with a cargo container for them, no matter how nice it happens to be. Would you mind if I did that?
“Not at all, and I thank you very much for the offer. When you go, please see if Autumn would like to go with you. If she’s going to be their new queen, it might help if she said you were ok. If you’re willing, once we pick up any potential new recruits on the satellite as they head into our land, you can go see if they’re what we think they are. If not, and they’re feral, we can start thinning them out now.” His ears flicked. “And by that, I mean capture them. We can always sell them in Austin or El Paso to people who want to have pokegirls.”
That is an excellent idea and I’ll speak to our resident Elfqueen about it as soon as I get my things put away. She headed off.
He settled into the chair in his office and stared at the wall for a moment. “I’m going to need a bigger map.”
“What you need is a display with zoom.” Elizabeth froze when she realized that two pistols were aimed at her chest before she’d finished speaking.
Kerrik shook his head and holstered the pistols as he dropped back into the chair he’d jumped out of when the Vampire had spoken. “Not many people startle me. Fewer survive the experience.” He smiled slightly as his ears flicked. “You are very lucky I don’t have my powers or you might be free atoms right now and I’d be without one of my favorite daughters-in-law.”
“I think Shikarou is aware of that, and if he’s not, Branwyn is. That’s why she wanted us to come and talk to you.”
“Us?”
Elizabeth pulled a pokeball from her pocket and released a familiar form. “Us.”
Kerrik leaned back in his chair. “Helen, it’s good to see you again.”
The former Milktit smiled warmly. “Don’t I get a hug?”
“After we finish with why you two are here. I take it Gwyneth got my message, and I actually was expecting Shikarou to come himself.”
“He’s busy being rather unhappy at Gwyneth. Branwyn suggested that the two of us might get a better response than him when he is angry. Gwyneth knows she’s not supposed to give you orders.”
Kerrik smiled. “See, Raven, that’s what I mean when I say that Branwyn is an outstanding maharani.”
Helen stiffened slightly when the Archmage’s cold voice came from behind her and Elizabeth. “I see that they were stupid enough to think that they could sneak in here without Whisper sensing them or tripping my magical wards. Maybe Branwyn is hoping they’ll have an accident so she’ll get more time with her tamer. You should have shot them to help them remember to arrive outside our home next time.”
“I might point out that was all Elizabeth’s fault. Helen wouldn’t have been so foolish, but she was in her pokeball for the transport.” He looked at Helen. “You know, now that you’re a kami, you should be able to learn to teleport. It’s not a difficult spell for someone who is as determined to master magic as you are.”
She blinked and her ears went flat. “I was told differently.”
“It was probably someone who can lie to you, or perhaps they’re not as adept as you’ve proven to be and are hoping you won’t show them up.”
Helen’s ears went back. “I hadn’t thought about that possibility. I’ll look into it when we get back home.” She cocked her head inquisitively. “Why did you have to resign your commission? We could really use your help.”
“I didn’t want the damned thing in the first place, but I accepted it as part of the charade so the Indigos would respect me and Jamie. I never intended to be at anyone’s beck and call again, especially since I have ladies who need me to be around to help them. I certainly didn’t accept the commission so someone could give me orders. I’ve done that so many times it’s no longer the slightest bit of fun.”
Elizabeth sighed. “We really need to know who is calling the Elf breeds around here. We’ve got a dozen or so Havens who want to go to it.”
Kerrik shrugged. “Her name is Autumn. I was going to arrange transport for the Havens who want to join her.”
The Vampire stared. “Autumn did this?”
“I don’t see what the big deal is. My understanding is that all dominant Elfqueens can call.”
“The distance for the call isn’t usually measured in the thousands of miles, Kerrik.”
He smiled sagely. “So Gwyneth is jealous? That does sound like her. And I imagine she doesn’t want to lose a whole slew of her subjects. How many Elves are we talking about?”
“A dozen. Most of them are cavalry, but two are from the ones trained to use firearms. She’s really upset over it.”
“She’s having a shit fit over twenty two pokegirls? And that’s only if the cavalry’s steeds want to go with their riders. Gwyneth really needs to take a deep breath and just let them go.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “She is going to let them leave, right?”
“I don’t know, Kerrik.” Helen spread her hands placatingly. “And Shikarou will let her do whatever she decides.”
“I see I was smart to leave while no one was thinking about trying to forbid me.” He clasped his hands on the top of his desk. “I would recommend that she let them go if they want to leave, or else maybe Haven isn’t really as different from the leagues as I thought.”
Helen’s mouth firmed. “What do you mean by that?”
“Shikarou and I conceived of Haven as a place where people could be free, but it seems to be turning into a pretty standard fiefdom if they’re not free to leave it.”
“Now see here,” Elizabeth began hotly, only to pause when Helen waved her down.
The former Milktit was looking thoughtful. “I hadn’t thought about it that way. We are free inside the harem, but the question of whether or not there is a double standard for those outside it hadn’t occurred to me.”
Kerrik nodded. “There is, and it’s one of the reasons I decided that Texas might be a better place to live. I’m sorry if my opinion about Haven upsets you, Elizabeth, but the idea was supposed to be that pokegirls could be people too, and that they were free to live where and how they wanted. If Gwyneth isn’t willing to release them from any oaths they might have made and allow them to leave if they want to, then she’s just another despot, and if Shikarou backs up that decision so is he.” He sighed. “And if that’s true, I shouldn’t have convinced Teresa to live there. Hopefully, Carver and her pokegirls are happy where they are but I’ll still feel guilty if I didn’t see the whole picture and misrepresented what Haven is to her.” His eyes swept from Elizabeth to Helen and back. “Now you two know that Autumn is the one making the call, and you know that I’m not going to stop her. Since Autumn is part of my family, I’m certainly not going to keep her from exercising her prerogatives as an Elfqueen. Even if it weren’t Autumn, I definitely wouldn’t take Gwyneth’s orders to get involved in something that isn’t my business.”
“Will her people be able to leave if they want to?”
He nodded. “She’s already agreed to that and I know she wasn’t lying. While I won’t stop her from being an Elfqueen and summoning other elves, if Autumn wasn’t willing to listen to my requests about it, she wouldn’t be doing it here and she wouldn’t be part of this family.”
Raven stalked around the room to stand next to Kerrik. She was still wearing the outfit that she’d worn to Austin, but at the moment it was hard to look past the anger glittering in her amethyst eyes and see anything sexual at all about her. “You are family, and you are always welcome here and we hope that we are still welcome in Haven. However, except for Morwen, all of us here have taken the coin of other masters and done their will, even if in the case of myself, Autumn, Whisper and Misery that coin was empty promises from Sukebe. We’re tired of taking orders from anyone and we’re not going to do it again for a long time, if ever.”
Kerrik slipped his hand into hers. “Well said.” He looked at Helen. “I hope that neither of you are angry with us for this decision, but it’s not open to debate.”
Helen smiled. “You know I’m not angry with you. I’m a little disturbed that you may see things that I missed in how Haven is run, but I think I’ll have a talk with Shikarou and see if you’re right and if anything can be remedied if you are.”
“And if it can’t?”
“Raven, Shikarou is my husband and I love him and I’m happy with him. If I can’t change his mind, I’ll just wait a while and try again.”
Elizabeth snorted. “And in the meantime, dear sister, you’ll be sounding out Kasumi, Svetlana, Dorothea and the rest of the harems to gather as much support as you can.”
Helen gave her an innocent look. “I might have a word with some of the others, but is that so wrong?”
Kerrik stood. “I can see we’re coming to an impasse on this discussion, so let’s change the subject to something important. How is Celestine doing?”
“For a woman in mourning for the death of her husband, she’s as well as can be. Her pregnancy is going well and Candace is keeping a close eye on her and the kits because of the stresses she’s had.” Helen crossed the room and stepped into Kerrik’s arms. “That’s better. We shouldn’t fight.” She pulled away and kissed him gently. “Father.”
He gave her an amused look. “Does she blame me for Graeme’s death?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “No, she blames Sanctuary and her mother. It might be easier for everyone if she did blame you. At least if she did, she could have it out with you and get some of the screaming and crying out of her system. Poppet is being very supportive of her, although Jamie is a bit worried that she’s going to get out her bottles for his sperm.”
Helen chuckled. “He should be resigned to the idea. It’s as certain as the sun coming up in the morning.”
Raven grinned. “She has probably already collected it. Ginevra and the rest of Jamie’s harem would happily help with something like that, and a little spit shouldn’t harm the sample.”
Helen’s mouth dropped, but she recovered quickly. “You could be right. I keep underestimating her and I’m not sure why.”
“It’s probably because she’s got this reputation for being a cold bitch in the family. It tends to cover the fact that she’s a very intelligent and calculating woman and, in fact, not really cold at all. She just spent the last three hundred years being almost obsessively focused on what she thought was important.”
Helen blinked. “How do you know all of this, Raven?”
“Kerrik held her and several other members of your family up as being representative of what an outstanding maharani could be and I used my twee to examine their known pasts. None of the women he mentioned were cold or unfeeling, but each of them, is in her own way, extremely driven.” She smiled. “I’m trying to become a better one myself.”
“You disapprove of us, yet you use my family as an example of how to be a better alpha?” Helen looked puzzled. “Kerrik, you are a study in contradiction.”
“I don’t approve of how Haven is organized. That has nothing to do with my feelings for my family or my objective assessment of their respective abilities. Besides, I didn’t use Gwyneth as an example.” He smiled. “So, can you stay for dinner?”
“I’m afraid not. We have to get home and report on our failure to get you to reconsider your retirement. Am I correct in my deduction that if Gwyneth tries to reactivate you that you’ll ignore it?”
“No, I’ll laugh in her face.”
Elizabeth snickered as Helen nodded. “I was afraid it might be something like that. I’ll just tell her that it’s not going to work.” She stepped into his arms again and rested her head against his shoulder. She spoke softly. “You see things differently than Shikarou or Faelan does. Do drop by more often so that the rest of us can get your perspective on being kami or sidhe. Otherwise we’ll take our cues from them.”
He hugged her tightly. “I’ll try, but I’m also carving out a new home. Any of you is welcome here if you need someone to talk to or a place to stay. Send Elizabeth here with the rest of the teleporting members of our family so they can make the parking lot a destination point.”
“You want Circe and Stardust to know where to find you? You’re Stardust’s special project, you know. She wants to understand what makes you tick.”
“I’ll refer her to Whisper if she becomes a problem.”
Raven raised an eyebrow. “I’ll refer her to me if she becomes a problem. It’s a good thing Shikarou has two of them. It gives him an already installed replacement.”
“I’ll tell her you said that.” Helen pulled away enough to look into his eyes. “Hopefully without offering any insult, is your harem a healthy place for a pokekit like your young Vampire?”
“It’s not a good place for a child, if that’s what you’re asking. However, Morwen’s childhood ended the day she thresholded and she seems to be doing well here.”
The Milktit kami nodded. “I would like to meet her on my next visit.”
“I think she’d like to meet you, too. She misses her mother and you might make a good surrogate. It’ll be good practice for your next child.”
She frowned and cocked her head before her eyes went wide. “Are you saying what I think you are?” When he nodded, she hugged him hard. “That’s wonderful.” A rare impish look appeared on her face. “Branwyn is going to be so jealous.”
“Have fun with it.”
“Oh, I will.” She turned to Elizabeth. “It’s time to go home.”
The Vampire stepped through her and wrapped her arms around Kerrik. “I am not going to leave without getting my hug, too.” She winked at him and took Helen’s hand. “I’ll be back in a few days to work with Morwen some more.”
“Good. That reminds me, she levitated today.”
“Excellent. She’s still way ahead of the curve.” They vanished.
Raven pushed him into the chair and plopped into his lap. “So what now fearless leader?”
“Tomorrow we go back to the long list of things we need to do. In a couple of days, we go back to Austin and purchase our new home. By that time, something else will probably have happened to make all of our plans past that completely moot.”
“Ok, that covers tomorrow and past. Are you going to fuck your loving Archmage until she can’t walk tonight? All those people staring at her so hungrily in Austin has made her very horny.”
“Oh, well, I guess we can’t have her being that horny, so you go ahead and tell her to be in my room in about two hours.”
She snuggled against him. “Consider it done.”
Kerrik Wolf
Harem
Raven: Archmage
Whisper: Cabbit
Misery: Mini-top
Morwen: Vampire pokekit
Autumn: Elfqueen