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A Little Blue
Nine
08/14/09 2150 M8, Scotland
Ciaran was reading his handheld and looked up at the soft footsteps. He nodded to Lilith and went back to reading until he realized she was standing in front of him. He laid his computer in his lap. “Yes?”
She cocked her head. “May I sit?”
“Of course you may.”
“Thank you.” She settled down gracefully, smoothing her skirt over her knees. Nobody had pants that were modified for tails, so she and Libby both wore skirt and blouse. Ciaran made a mental note for another potential sales item. He’d also noticed that neither girl had more than one outfit and both were slowly turning gray from being worn all the time and probably washed infrequently.
He leaned back against the rock he was using as a backrest. “What is it?”
Her ears flicked. “Which works better on you, a direct approach or being circumspect?”
“That probably depends on whether you’re talking about a conversation or not. I prefer direct conversations.”
“Then I’ll be direct.” She faced him squarely. “I want you as my man and I want to join your family. I’d also like a new name.”
Ciaran sat up so fast that his computer slid off his lap to splat to the ground. He picked it up slowly and carefully wiped it off to give him time to process her statement. “This I didn’t expect.” He smiled slightly. “That’s why the meeting with my girls. You were seeking their blessing.”
“One of the things I like about you is that you’re not afraid to show you’re smart. That’s exactly what was going on.”
He didn’t bother to ask if she’d gotten it. If she hadn’t he’d have heard the fighting or Lilith wouldn’t be here right now. Also, Ceres would not have picked this time to go foraging if she’d lost a battle to Lilith or was concerned that Lilith would try to sneak her way into the family. “I have to ask why you’re interested in me.”
“Of course you do. There’s a lot of detail involved, but in the interest of brevity I think you’re fascinating and a good match for me. You are worthy of my loyalty.”
“That’s a very big thing for Mazouku, isn’t it?”
“It’s one of the most important things we can find in someone, but it’s so rare that most of us never dream of it ever happening. I certainly didn’t expect to ever find someone like you, but now that I have I am not going to let the opportunity pass if I can. If you let me, you’ll find that I bring a lot with me, both for you personally and for the family as a whole.”
“I kind of wish I’d been there to hear the discussion between you and the others.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I really don’t know what to say.”
“You’re supposed to say that yes, you want me to join your family.”
He smiled. “You would say that.” His brow furrowed. “Why do you want a new name? Victoria and Eliana already had names and Ceres didn’t so I gave her one at her request. You have a name.”
She made a face. “Yes, I’m Lilith. Can you imagine how many of the so called evil and demonic pokegirls are named Lilith? I’ve met twelve others and that’s not if you count the ones named Lilly. I am unique. I am special. I have the same fucking name as a whole bunch of other pokegirls and I hate it.”
“If you do join the family, I’d prefer it if you stopped with the profanity.”
Her ears flicked. “Really?”
“I don’t use it. There’s no reason for it and I don’t really like it all that much. “
“You haven’t said anything before this.”
“You weren’t trying to become a Sullivan before this.”
She nodded. “That’s true. If you want, I’ll stop. It may take a little while, though.”
“I understand.” He shook his head. “I am really not sure what you could see in me, but I can accept that you think you see something worthwhile in me. I’ll talk with the others. If they give me their blessing, then I’ll welcome you into the family.” He flashed a grin. “At least nobody announced that they took a vote and it was five to one in favor so I should just accept the results.”
“We would never do that to you, Ciaran.” Lilith’s ears flicked. “When they tell you that they’ve agreed to accept me, will you take me to your bed tonight?”
He pursed his lips. “No, I don’t think I will. I still don’t feel completely well and I wouldn’t want to give you short thrift.”
Lilith got up and moved to sit down again, this time next to him. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I want to lie with you as soon as I can. I’ll forgive you if the first experience isn’t perfect. I’ll learn how to satisfy you properly as we get to know one another.”
“And I’ll learn what you like at the same time,” he said.
Her ears suddenly flattened. “Something just occurred to me.” She turned to look into his eyes. “Do you want me or am I just being as arrogant as everyone says Mazouku are and I am making the mistake of assuming you do?”
What she saw in his eyes made her ears go even flatter. He smiled slightly and his eyes lightened. “That’s a simple question with a complicated answer. I grew up with a certain set of presumptions that were mostly taught to me by my parents but they were ones that I eagerly accepted. We’re Catholic and that means I knew I’d grow up and one day I’d meet a good Catholic girl and we’d fall in love and get married and live out our lives with however many children God blessed us. If I were really lucky this girl would also be Irish. I had a couple of girlfriends in school, but nothing that lasted. But that was the world before the war and the Ciaran who lived in that world isn’t me. That Ciaran would have taken over the farm as part of all that, but I just gave that dream to my sister because that Ciaran no longer exists. She’ll do a far better job of managing the family lands than this Ciaran ever would.” He smiled ruefully. “Better than I would.” He took a deep breath. “The problem now is that I’m more of a man adrift in a stormy sea than anything else. I’m not sure what I want. I took the job with Iain because I didn’t get to meet a pokegirl at his dinner party and I had nothing better to do. I went to meet a pokegirl at his dinner because I hoped that it would make my life better, but I was still drifting then and I’m still drifting now. I suppose that by catching ferals and taking them out of the wilderness I’m helping since they won’t attack other people and won’t continue breeding in the wild, but if that’s the purpose of my life I haven’t realized it yet.” He rubbed his eyes hard. “You are very pretty. So are Victoria and Ceres and Eliana. Your ears are cute, too, and nobody else has anything like them. But I don’t know much about you as a person and, for me, that’s where wanting someone comes from. So physically I do lust after you, and I will sleep with you because you have to have it and I know that if we waited until I knew you well enough to want you for you, you’d be feral.” He touched her on the knee. “I hope the truth is enough for you.”
Her ears came up. “It is, at least for now.” She placed her hand over his and squeezed gently. “You were right that answer was complicated. None of my tamers thought like you did. They merely saw my body and my powers and were satisfied. But your words just tell me that I made the right decision with you.” She smiled. “I guess Libby will be able to lord over me tomorrow that she has a person and I don’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“Last night Lieutenant Baker didn’t have any sort of spells on her tent. Tonight she has a spell that prevents sound from entering or leaving it. I presume that means she and Libby are fu,” she broke off, “having sex and she doesn’t want us to hear them.”
“You can tell that?”
She nodded. “I know a lot about magic. It’s one of the things I will bring to the family. And as long as we keep it quiet, it’s an unpleasant surprise for our enemies.”
He grinned. “I like unpleasant surprises for our enemies.” Suddenly he yawned hugely. “If you’ll excuse me, I think it’s time for bed.”
He froze when Lilith took his head in her hands. “I am willing to wait to have sex with you,” she said softly as she leaned towards him, “but I am not willing to wait for everything.” She firmly rubbed her cheeks against his before releasing him. “Good night, Ciaran.”
08/15/09 0610 M8, Scotland
Victoria banked and slowed. Above her and a little behind, Lilith mirrored her movements. Their wings folded and they landed outside camp almost at the same time. Ceres nodded to them from where she stood guard a dozen yards away. Lilith scuffed at the ground with a shoe. “Victoria, you know that Ciaran wants to send Amy and Mai back to Texas and let them go.”
She nodded. “I do.”
“If we were to accidentally move them from the pokepack’s storage to an outside pocket, and waited for long enough, they’d go feral and we could sell them. Amy did try to kill Ciaran after all and she’s getting off without any punishment.”
Victoria gave her a sharp look. “That’s wrong and you know it.”
“I thought it might be, but it never hurts to ask. I might be mistaken about what’s wrong and right.”
“Don’t ask that one ever again.”
Lilith smiled cheerfully. “I won’t.”
“What are you so happy about?”
“This morning everyone verified what I told Ciaran last night. That means he’ll have sex with me soon. I’m getting what I want and I have every reason to be happy because of it.”
Victoria chuckled. “That is a good reason to be happy.” They came up to Ceres. “The road ahead is clear for as far as we traveled. While we’d like to find more ferals besides the Ponytaur and Rapitaur you caught last night, I’m glad Ciaran doesn’t have another chance to get into trouble.”
Ceres didn’t smile. “He’ll manage quite well without ferals, I’m sure.” She glanced at Lilith. “This may sound insulting, but I don’t really mean it to be, but until you’re actually in our family I am not going to task you with anything.” Her attention returned to Victoria. “That means we are not changing our deployment.”
“Libby became Tamsin’s last night,” Victoria pointed out. The Nekomata had made the happy announcement at breakfast. Tamsin, on the other hand was red eyed and grouchy until she’d drank almost a quart of their precious coffee.
“She did and it does not change what we do, at least not yet. Her primary job as far as I am concerned is that she gets to keep an eye on Tamsin and she’s the primary shepherdess for the prisoners. We still get convoy security. I wouldn’t trust her to protect Ciaran since she’s not family.”
“Why are we going to Edinburgh,” Lilith asked.
“Our employer requested it and Ciaran thinks it wise to listen to his requests. We’re supposed to shoot some video and get other information on the city. After that we can move on.”
“Where are we going after that?”
“I believe we’re going to Ireland after that. Ciaran’s parents are from there and he has nostalgic memories of the tales they told him of it. We’ll also make contact with the Irish government and give them the full list of things our employer is offering for sale.”
“Where in Ireland did his parents come from?”
“Ciaran hasn’t said. We met his family and nobody mentioned it to me, either. Victoria?”
The Angel was already shaking her head. “No. Beibhinn was jealous of Ciaran getting to come here but she didn’t say anything about anyplace specific. It was a more generalized envy.”
Ceres nodded. “I got that impression too. I’ll let Ciaran know we’re ready to leave. Tell Eliana that she’s on point and that the deployment is still the same.”
08/15/09 1100 Edinburgh, Scotland
They could finally see the outskirts of Edinburgh and Ciaran focused his eyes. The view zoomed and he could see the wall that was being constructed around the city. The construction looked to be much farther along than the one around Glasgow, but that made sense for two reasons. First, Edinburgh was the titular capital of Scotland and right now the seat of the Royal government and, second, Edinburg was closer to the current border between Royal and Blue land and thus to any fighting.
On top of the wall he could see patrols moving from place to place. Closer examination showed that the patrols were tamers and pokegirls moving together. Considering that pokegirls were primarily vision hunters and that because anyone on that wall would be easy for flying pokegirls to spot, putting tamers and pokegirls on the walls was more than prudent.
Of course, the downside was that every pokegirl on that wall was unable to join the mobile units and those were the ones that would be taking the fight to the rebels. Both sides knew that the war for the British Isles would not be settled by garrison forces.
He looked at Ceres. “I know Libby has been moving the prisoners along with only Tamsin’s assistance but please put someone else to give them a hand. Once they realize how close they are to the city this is where they’re most likely to panic and make a break for it and I’d hate to lose them to escape or death this close to getting rid of them.”
“That’s a good idea,” she replied. “I’ll get Victoria to help.” She looked past him to Lilith and nodded. “I’ll be right back.”
Lilith returned the nod without comment. She’d apparently decided to start her self-appointed job as his bodyguard before she’d been formally inducted into the family.
As they approached, Ciaran could see that someone had put in fields of potatoes, beans, turnips and oats in an arc around the exterior of the walls. Everything looked like it was growing well and would probably be ready for harvest in less than a month unless a plant pokegirl was speeding the process along. Then it might be ready in a few days or even sooner.
Their group, several pokegirls and humans, with three humans tied in a coffle, was unusual enough that a squad of infantry from the gate post moved to meet them before they could approach the gate. A heavily armed sergeant held up his hand as his team spread out behind him. “Stop.”
Ciaran pointed at Baker as the group ground to a halt. “This is Lieutenant Baker and you need to talk to her.” He dropped his voice. “Ceres, please take Tamsin’s place with the prisoners.”
She nodded and moved towards the prisoners, two of whom showed sudden panic on their faces. Baker quietly conferred with the sergeant and soon his squad had fallen in around them as they continued on to the gate.
There they had to wait for a quarter of an hour until a trio of military police showed up to secure the prisoners and their equipment before taking them away for processing. As soon as they were gone, Baker turned to Ciaran. “You’ll be staying in VIP quarters again, and this time so will I.”
He hefted his pack back into position. “Show me where it is and we’ll get settled before going out to see the city.”
Baker sighed. “I was hoping you’d want to clean up and rest today. I’m supposed to stay with you, remember?”
He grimaced. “When did the United Kingdom become North Korea? All I’m going to do is some shopping to see what’s for sale here and start recording the videos Iain wants.”
“Which is exactly what a rebel spy would do and your paperwork for your girls is not going to put at ease the suspicious minds of people who see you videotaping our defenses without a military escort.”
“Saints preserve me,” Ciaran muttered. “I have to have a watchdog here too?”
“We are at war with people who can look and sound just like we do, Sullivan, and people are suspicious of strangers and strange activity. And you’d be both. If I’m not there you’ll be reported and the police will come and they will scrutinize your paperwork and girls as closely as they can. You might even be brought in for questioning if some officer isn’t satisfied with your answers.” She smiled. “And since you don’t give complete answers to questions that even I ask, it’s likely that’ll happen fairly quickly.”
“Maybe we’ll camp outside of Edinburgh.”
“Did I mention the hot water available in the VIP quarters?”
He smiled. “That’s just cruel.”
“It isn’t if you take advantage of it.”
“Let’s take advantage,” Victoria said quickly. “Please?”
Ciaran shook his head. “You get today and today only. Tomorrow morning at 0500 you will get a wakeup call from me if you’re not already moving.”
“We need more than one room,” Victoria said firmly. “A suite would be even better than getting multiple rooms, but we cannot all stay in one room. I’ll forgo the hot water and we will camp outside the city if we have to instead of staying in a single room.”
Baker nodded. “I’ll see about getting you a suite. If not I should be able to get two adjoining rooms.”
“Three, please,” Ciaran said. “I won’t have my ladies being forced to sleep on top of each other like logs. That puts them two to a room and gives me my own room if I want to sleep alone.”
Lilith’s eyes widened but she didn’t say a word as Baker shrugged. “I’ll see what I can do, but this is the capital and everyone who wants to try to hobnob with the leadership comes here to do it.”
“You could stick us in a hotel.”
“I can’t do that. I have to stay near you and I can’t stay in a hotel, so you can’t either.” She held up a hand as he opened his mouth. “Yes, I know it’s not the most reasonable thing, but here a mere lieutenant is not going to be billeted in a hotel.”
“If we got a suite in a nice hotel,” Lilith said, “you and Libby could have a room if we have enough of them.” Behind Baker, Libby smiled slowly.
Baker gave Lilith a long look. “That doesn’t seem right, but I’ll keep it in mind.” She looked at Ciaran. “By the way, what breed is Lilith?”
“She’s a Splice as far as our handhelds can tell,” he answered. “And she won’t tell me unless I guess it. Didn’t you scan her?”
“I did and I get different results each time. Splice does seem to predominate, though, so that’s what I’ll put her down as. I was hopeful that you knew for certain.”
Ciaran shrugged. “Nope. I thought about locating a telepath and having her find out, but my handheld keeps suggesting that one of her breeds is a dark type, so that would just be a waste of money.”
“Why do you let her behave so impertinently? I’d make her tell me.”
“Texan, remember? We don’t work that way.” He stretched. “Do you want us to wait here while you find us some lodging?”
“That would be nice, Ciaran. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She hurried away with Libby close behind her.
“She trusts you not to wander off?” Lilith sounded amused. “She’s too trusting.”
“She is. I won’t leave, though. I want her to believe we’re nice and obedient, at least within limits. That way if we do have to bail on her she’s unlikely to be watching out for it.”
Eliana grinned. “A little trust goes a long way. The less you use the farther you go.”
Lilith blinked. “That is very profound. And it’s quite accurate.”
“It’s one of Iain’s quotes.”
It’s from The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries. I have put the list on your computer.
Ciaran blinked and pulled his handheld out. He chuckled to himself and put it away again. “Victoria?” She looked at him. “I believe you still have the Frisbee.”
She smiled suddenly. “I do. But someone needs to watch our gear.”
“I was planning to. But you can start teaching Lilith how to play.”
“Don’t forget I want a different name,” she said to him in a low voice.
“I’ve been thinking about it. I think I have one.”
“Oh?”
“You’ll find out after you join the family, which hopefully will be tonight.”
Her ears came up and her tail twitched as she smiled broadly. “Yes!”
08/16/09 0630 Edinburgh, Scotland
Ciaran stepped out the bedroom and looked around with satisfaction. While not the luxury hotel Victoria had been angling for, the four bedroom suite was more than acceptable. The bedrooms opened into a central room that did extra duty as a lounge and communal area. It reminded him of the dorms he’d seen when he’d visited a couple of colleges his friends from high school had managed to get scholarships to. If the carpet was a bit threadbare and the wallpaper was scratched and damaged in a few areas, well that just reinforced the dorm feel to the place.
Behind him, Lilith yawned loudly. “Why aren’t you as exhausted as I feel? You didn’t sleep much last night either.”
He glanced behind him. She was standing in the doorway watching him with amused eyes. Apparently she had no nudity taboo since she hadn’t bothered to put anything on before following him out. “I’m a morning person. No matter how tired I am I’m still fairly awake and active early in the day.” Ceres’s pack had been left in the central room and he retrieved a thermos. “Of course,” he said as he opened it, “some fresh coffee doesn’t hurt. Do you want some?”
Her very human nose actually twitched as she inhaled the smells coming from the thermos. “It’s fascinating that you have coffee every day. Do you have any idea how much that is worth here?”
“Tamsin gave me a rough cost estimate and I passed it on to my boss.” He poured some coffee into two camp cups and handed her one. “I’m afraid we don’t have any cream or sugar right now.”
She sipped at it. “This is fine, Ciaran.” Her ears rotated to lock onto him. “Now that I’m in your family, I want that new name.”
He put the thermos back into the pokepack and sat in one of the chairs at the table. “I hadn’t forgotten. I’ve been thinking about it and I was wondering if you might like the name Elsa.”
She canted her head sideways and regarded him with an unblinking gaze. “While I admit I haven’t heard of anyone else named Elsa recently, why choose that name for me?”
“My mother is an avid reader and has a large collection of books that date back for years. One book was about a lioness cub that was raised by this couple and later taught how to fend for herself and returned to the wild where she survived for a time. The lioness was named Elsa and you look like a Lioness.” His eyes swept from her head to her feet and back. “Right now you’re a Lioness without any clothes, but one nonetheless.”
A smile danced at the corners of her lips. “Does my lack of clothing bother you?”
He shook his head. “Quite the contrary, but we are in Scotland which is one of the most straight laced places in the world. Here in the British Isles the Royals try to make all of their pokegirls wear clothes and I suspect the Blues do too.”
“They do. The reason I’m not wearing that dress is that we showered this morning so I am clean and that dress was anything but. It stank. It’s also starting to fall apart. I washed it in the sink while you were finishing your shower and hung it up to dry. It will be ready for me to wear in an hour or so.”
“We’ll find you new clothes today. What do you think of Elsa?”
She smiled. “If I didn’t like it you’d know already. I am Elsa.”
“You’re Elsa Sullivan,” came from another door. Eliana grabbed Ceres’s pack and began releasing breakfast. “Ceres wanted you to know that everyone except Tamsin and Libby are up and that as far as she’s concerned those two are your responsibility.” She looked Elsa up and down. “It won’t be a good fit but if we look through my clothes we can find you something to wear, at least for now.”
“Thank you,” Elsa replied.
Ciaran knocked firmly on Tamsin’s door. A questioning voice mumbled something from the other side and he chuckled. “Ladies, it’s time to get up. We have people to do and things to see.” There was another questioning mumble. “You can sleep some more if you want. You can sleep for as long as you want, too, but just like I warned you yesterday we leave in two hours with or without you.” Something soft thudded against the door and he laughed. “You really need to learn to pace yourself or Libby is going to kill you that way.” He headed for Eliana. “What’s for breakfast?”
She gave him a look. “There’s no cook fire. You get the same thing we had yesterday.”
He scratched his chest. “I wonder if we can find some eggs for sale in the market.”
“You might,” Elsa said as she found her plate and bowl, “but they will most likely be quite expensive. I know they are in Blue. The BLSF eats first and everyone else gets to content themselves with peasant food.”
“Peasant food?”
She nodded and began filling her bowl with rabbit stew. “That’s what Nancy called it. It’s mostly oats, barley and wheat. The animals they have are being used primarily to rebuild their numbers and so few of them are being slaughtered. The ones that are usually go to the elite and the military.”
“There’s fish,” Victoria said as she joined them. “They weren’t hit as hard as the land creatures by the Red Plague and already recovering.”
Elsa dipped her spoon into the stew. “That’s true. There’s lots of fish but fishermen are still coming to terms with the new hazards pokegirls have added to their ancestral fishing grounds. A lot of them are not surviving the lessons.” She looked up. “It’s quite the quandary for the Blue government. So many industries need pokegirls to protect them or help them somehow but the military has to be supplied with them or the Royals will crush them. Providing extra pokegirls to stabilize the situation in Royal territory so Royal army is free to campaign against the Blues is going to put a huge amount of pressure on the Blue government and make the Blue commoners very restless. If the Royals are eating better than the Blues, it will show the Blue people that the promises the Blue government made are emptier than they thought.” She held up the spoon of stew. “Pokegirls, of course, not being human, are fed reasonably well since we can’t starve and fight at the same time, but it’s mostly oats. The soldiers get the meat. I haven’t eaten this well in a very long time.” Then she focused on her food.
“Iain and I didn’t even think about that potential market,” Ciaran said wryly. “Fishermen will want pokegirls as badly as farmers and they’ll jump at the same plans Iain had for the agricultural industry.”
Ceres sat down next to Victoria. “What about the mining industry? It’s not as hazardous as fishing is from pokegirls, but if the Royals can increase mining production that will help their homegrown manufacturing.”
“What they need to increase is their army,” Victoria said. “Everything else should be to support that. After the Blues are defeated then they can work on everything else.”
Ciaran shook his head. “You’re confusing the government with the people it rules. The government is in a mortal fight with the Blue government. The people who live in land claimed by either side are not. They’re just the pawns used to fight the wars that the governments tangle themselves in. There is no way that everyone on the other side of the battle line actively plotted to overthrow the British government. Yes, the Royal government needs more troops and firepower, but the people need food, medicine and medical care and shelter. Spiting the people’s needs for the government’s wants shows neither government has its people’s best interests at heart. But as it so happens, Iain intends to help both government and citizen,” He smiled thinly, “hopefully for the long term detriment of all of the governments.” His smile vanished. “You know, there are likely to be groups in Blue land who are fighting the Blues as best they can. Maybe we should contact them.”
Elsa shrugged. “Most of them that I have heard of have been destroyed by now. They have had over five years to consolidate their hold. The Blues are brutal towards what they consider traitors in their own land in the hopes of suppressing new groups from forming.”
He frowned. “Historically that just drives them underground and helps them to evolve into cells and such. Still, we don’t have any information on them and I’m not going to wander around Blue land asking people if they’re fighting a clandestine war against the Blue government. That’s just asking to be killed.”
“You? Showing reason?” Victoria smirked at his stony glare at her. “I’m glad to see it. We have enough to do as it is that will put you in danger.”
Everyone turned as the door to Tamsin’s room opened. Libby came out and nodded to them. “My mistress wanted me to get her some coffee. May I?”
“Good morning, Libby.” Victoria poured two cups and handed them to her.
Libby’s ears and twin tails stilled in surprise. “I only need one cup for her.”
“The other is for you if you want it.”
She transferred her attention to Ciaran. “I wasn’t allowed coffee before, sir.”
“I’m sure that’s true, but this isn’t before. This is now and this is my food to share and I want to share with you. And if Tamsin has something else to say about this, please let her know that she can say it to me.”
She took both cups gingerly. “Thank you, sir.” Then, with a quick glance at him, she fled as if to get away before they could take the coffee back.
He looked at Elsa. “You didn’t say anything about not getting coffee with the Blues.”
“That’s because I don’t bother with their fu,” she hesitated, “stupid rules. When I wanted coffee I got some. I didn’t see any reason to bother them with the fact that I was getting it, so there wasn’t any trouble,” she smirked, “outside of them blaming each other for the shortage in supplies. For a while they actually had two people making the coffee to make sure the pot wasn’t being made too strong or the coffee hoarded. Templeton kept it under lock and key in his backpack but I made a copy of the key the first time I had to guard them while they bathed.” Her ears flicked. “Not that I’d do that here. I think the only time I couldn’t get something I wanted was if we were out of it and this looks like too nice a place to screw up by trying to steal from people outside our family.” She glanced at him. “Unless I have your permission to do it so we all know and accept the possible repercussions involved. Right now I’m inclined to ask first.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“What happens to me if I break your rules?”
“You leave,” Eliana said. “If it’s serious enough and you were warned Ciaran will ask you to leave the family and never come back. His warning isn’t subtle, either, so you won’t miss it.”
Elsa’s mouth dropped for a second. “That’s it?”
“We’re all adults here,” Victoria said. “We are expected to act like it and we bear the responsibilities for our actions. On the other hand, there will not be any tamer ordered beatings either or withholding of his attention by someone higher ranking in the family. Ceres is our titular leader and she can’t forbid you from seeking out his attention or him from seeking you out for the same.”
“What if I don’t want, for example, to train with the family or something else that Ceres thinks is important?”
“Training is important,” Ceres said. “If you don’t attend training and there’s not a good reason for it I will speak to Ciaran about it. We will decide if and when to discuss the situation with you and, once again, if it’s too much of a problem you will probably be asked to leave and given transport to Texas so you can find someone more to your liking.”
“What if I like Ciaran enough to want to stay but I don’t want to train?”
“If you don’t want to train here to help protect him then you don’t like Ciaran enough for me to trust you around him. If you have a particular problem with the training regimen, then you come to me and we’ll see if we can accommodate you without hurting the quality of the group.”
Elsa shook her head. “You are entirely too logical about this, but in a way that’s illogical for combat groups to use. I don’t know whether to be amused or annoyed about it.”
“You should be amused,” Eliana said. “Annoyed says ‘I want to be Lilith again’. Amused says ‘I’m part of this family’.”
Elsa blinked and then laughed. “How about I change the subject entirely so I can be amused? How much coffee do you have?”
“You should have said ‘how much coffee do we have’,” Ceres said quietly. “You are one of us now and you should never forget that. As for the coffee, we have as much as we want.” She smiled crookedly. “We bought green and roasted coffee beans from Iain’s family when we were in Texas. I can grow the green coffee into coffee plants and harvest them in a couple of days if I don’t care that they’ll die soon after. Cleaning them and roasting is fairly straightforward so we effectively have all the coffee we want. I have a lot of herb and vegetable seeds, too, but I’m always looking to add to my collection so if you see anything interesting, let me know.”
“Do you have cocoa?”
Ceres shook her head. “No I don’t. But if we find some I know how to process it. In fact, a friend and I are both looking for it.” Ciaran suppressed a grin. Ninhursag had taken quite an interest in the Tantrasaur since she’d never seen one before and the two had become friends and even trained together. She’d taught Ceres a lot and both had promised to share any beans that they found with each other.
“Ok, ladies, we need to organize this a little more. For those who haven’t heard, Lilith wanted a new name and she has now become Elsa. Today we will be shopping for clothes and gear for Elsa and videoing anything we think is interesting.” He glanced at the closed door. “These plans are subject, of course, to Tamsin’s whims. We’ll also be replenishing the stocks we can’t find while foraging and trying to come up with more ideas about what these people might be interested in purchasing. After breakfast, I believe it’s my turn with the dishes while you ladies get ready to go. Eliana, please remember that you offered to let Elsa pick something to wear out of your stuff.”
“I haven’t forgotten. She’s shorter than I am but taller than you so some of my dresses will still be acceptable on her.” Eliana took Elsa’s hand. “You’re still not wearing clothes. Let’s see what I have that you might like.” She led Elsa into her bedroom.
“That’s good.” He filled his bowl and started on his breakfast. “Maybe we’ll look for a small mill to turn grains into flour. Bread would be good with a lot of what we eat.”
“I’ll add it to the list,” Ceres said. “Do I need to wear my clothes here?”
“It probably wouldn’t hurt.”
“Then I will.”
08/16/09 1920 Edinburgh, Scotland
“I have to what?”
Baker didn’t look happy herself but she didn’t retreat. “The Ministry of Security’s representative wants to review your video and remove anything sensitive from it. He’s afraid it might fall into the wrong hands and compromise Edinburgh’s security.”
Ciaran grabbed his temper firmly in both hands and held onto it, but his eyes still flashed angrily. “Why wasn’t I told about this requirement before I started shooting?”
“I didn’t know about it.”
“That means they just decided to do this to you,” Ceres said.
“Let it never be said that I didn’t try to cooperate in this,” he replied acidly. “Get his equipment and I’ll transfer the video over to it for his viewing pleasure.”
Baker suddenly looked less happy. “He won’t settle for that. He says that the only way to ensure you don’t leave a copy on your computer is to examine it, too.”
Ciaran’s face froze for an instant before relaxing. “Now he doesn’t trust me to keep my word and he wants to confiscate my private property?” His voice was almost conversational. “I take it you couldn’t find words small enough to explain to him that there are only a few things he could try to do that would offend me more and still have those words be large enough to transfer information to him?”
Baker didn’t quite wince. “I did try, Ciaran.”
He shook his head. “I know you did, Tamsin, but that doesn’t make this any more palatable. I can’t stop him from sending a team in here to take my handheld at gunpoint, but he will have to torture me to get the passwords for it.” Her eyes went wide. “And if he decides to confiscate my computer and keep it on the principle that if I don’t have it I can’t sell the information to the rebels, I am done here. We will leave Edinburgh immediately, shortly after that we will probably leave the United Kingdom and hopefully Iain can find someone dumb enough to let your government run roughshod over them without complaint because that person is not going to ever be me.”
Baker’s face had grown ashen. “What will you tell Iain?”
“I’ll tell him exactly what you’re worried I will; the unvarnished truth. That your government, the so called good guys, keeps changing their rules to suit themselves and don’t give a single concern towards the things that Texans hold valuable. Oh, yes and that they’re thieves and that we have no business supporting either side in this conflict.”
“Ciaran, isn’t that a little excessive?”
“I have been shot by an official representative of your government and he did it so he could try to claim Victoria as his. I have been harassed, illegally detained, had my property pawed through on general principles and now you’re telling me I am about to be robbed at gunpoint and you think my response is excessive? Go ahead and tell me that this is just the way things are done here in jolly old Scotland.” Baker’s eyes were huge and Libby’s were even larger. “Look, I don’t blame you for this, but if your government thinks it’s fine to employ thugs then it is like the man who lies with a dog and is surprised when he rises and finds he has fleas.”
Baker rubbed her eyes. “I, I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you. Oh, and Tamsin?” She dropped her hand to look at him with an expression that mingled curiosity and dread. “If a contingent of armed guards arrays themselves outside our room while you’re gone or takes up station around the building with their weapons pointed toward it, we won’t be here when you return. I will answer messages from your com number, though, so you will still be able to get in touch with me.”
“Please don’t leave, Ciaran.” Baker’s eyes were pleading. “We need you and we need the supplies Iain is sending. Let me do what I can first before you do anything too precipitous, please?”
Ciaran’s face was unyielding. “Until that point happens, we will remain here, Tamsin. After that you are obviously no longer in control and we are not safe from the British government.”
“We are never safe from them,” Victoria muttered. “But under those circumstances we will be lot less safe than we were in Glasgow.”
Tamsin looked at Libby. “Come with me. Don’t speak to anyone unless I permit it.”
“Yes, mistress.”
Baker squeezed the Nekomata’s hand. “I just don’t want you to accidentally reveal something I need to keep secret.”
Her ears came up. “Yes, mistress,” she said again in a much more cheerful tone.
After they’d left, Ciaran looked at Ceres and made a motion with his hands like he was using a broom. She nodded and got her handheld out of her pack, activated an app on it and began walking around the room as he looked at Victoria. “We’re not leaving right now, but make sure everything is packed and ready to go on a moment’s notice. If they do deploy against us we are unlikely to get much warning.”
“We’ll be ready.” The Angel grabbed Eliana’s arm. “Help me with this.”
“Ok.”
Elsa watched with curiosity as Ceres walked from room to room. The Tantrasaur returned quickly. “There are no bugs here.”
“Good.”
Elsa snapped her fingers, making him jump. “That’s what you’re doing? I should have realized it.” She gave him a wry smile. “Can I help?”
“Sure.”
“Thank you. Ceres, keep an eye on him. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She vanished.
Ciaran stared at the spot. “What was that?”
Ceres smiled slightly. “Apparently she has the ability to teleport. She hadn’t mentioned that before, but that’s pretty typical for what she is.”
“Oh?”
“A lot of the members of her breed are extremely paranoid. Considering their reputation it’s probably justified but some of them take it to an unhealthy extreme. If they were any more paranoid they’d keep secrets from themselves.”
“Some of us do,” Elsa said from behind Ceres. “Keep secrets from ourselves, that is.”
The Tantrasaur jumped halfway across the room with a snarl and spun. Flames danced around her clenched fists for an instant. “Don’t do that!”
“You shouldn’t worry, I won’t. I don’t keep any secrets from myself,” Elsa replied innocently. “I trust myself implicitly to have my best interests at heart.” She turned to Ciaran. “I went back to where we met and scouted the house that Ceres and Eliana looted to get my first bowl and cup. It’s empty and I’ve blocked the doors with furniture to help and keep it that way. We now have a bolt hole if we have to run.”
“That’s a good idea.”
Ceres folded her arms. “You didn’t tell me you could teleport.”
Elsa smiled broadly. “No, I didn’t. And I’m not giving you a list of everything I can do, either, just like you wouldn’t if I were in charge. Don’t get your tail too far out of joint because I surprised you. You promised me more surprises the next time we fight, remember? It wouldn’t be fair if I couldn’t surprise you as well.”
Ceres glared for a second before relaxing. “How many can you carry in a single jump?”
“Me and one other, but since everybody except Ciaran can go into a pokeball, we can all leave in one trip.” She glanced at Ciaran. “I can make multiple jumps in a short time, so we could leave part of the family here to bloody pursuit until I return a minute later to retrieve them too. I figure he won’t go for that since slaughtering Royals won’t help what he’s trying to do.”
Ciaran nodded. “I wouldn’t. I take it you don’t have any objection to the slaughter itself?”
She shrugged. “Everyone dies. People who attack me or you or the family are, to me, just exercising the choice to decide on the time and place that they die.” She flexed a hand and claws slid from her fingers. “I have no qualms about helping them carry out that decision.”
“As long as you don’t make that decision for them I think it’s a fine philosophy,” Victoria said as she eased next to Ciaran. “We are ready to go. Elsa’s clothes have been divided up between Ciaran’s and Ceres’s packs. Do you think we can get her a pokepack of her own?”
He nodded. “I already contacted Theodora and requested it. There’s supposed to be a delivery to the Royals in four days and the transport will divert from its primary course to drop off the pack and some other supplies I’ve requested and pick up our captures for Iain. At that time, if by some miracle we’re still here we will leave the city and rendezvous with it.” He rolled head to stretch out tense neck muscles. “So we are ready to go?”
“We are,” Ceres answered.
“Now the waiting begins,” he said. “What shall we do to pass the time?”
“That might take them some time. And, in the meantime, what of the rest of us,” Ceres asked.
Victoria grinned. “There are three of us. I bought some decks of cards during our shopping. Do you know how to play Rummy?”
“No.”
Victoria looked at Ciaran, who shook his head. “Do you want to learn?”
“I think I remember something from the stories about how it’s not smart to play competitive card games with more than one pokegirl at a time,” he said slowly.
Victoria made a face and then grinned. “Coward.”
He gave her a mock glare and sat down on the floor. “You just wait, woman. I’ll make you eat that word. Deal those cards.”
“Ceres?”
The Tantrasaur plopped down next to Ciaran and curved her tail around him without touching. “Challenge accepted.”
08/16/09 2245 Edinburgh, Scotland
Lieutenant Baker paused outside the door to the suite and dug in a pocket for her room key when she heard Victoria’s yell. “You are so dead, Eliana!” The menace in the Angel’s voice was unmistakable.
She unlocked the door and yelped as Libby picked her up and moved her out of the way before she could open it. “I go first, mistress.” The Nekomata opened the door just enough to slither into the room. She was back a moment later. “It’s all right, mistress.”
“What is happening?”
Libby’s ears flicked and she grinned. “There is a battle in progress and people are understandably excited about it.”
“Let me see.” Baker shoved past the Nekomata and stopped at the sight. “Victoria is threatening people over cards?”
The Angel shot her a glare before returning her attention to the cards in her hands as Ciaran looked up from his and shrugged. “Pokegirls take all of their games seriously and Eliana did apparently deal Victoria’s plans a serious setback.”
The Samhain grinned triumphantly. “I did.” Her eyes sparkled. “And I am not done yet, either. I will win this hand.”
“You wish,” Ceres growled.
Baker shook her head as she looked from one girl to the next. Ceres didn’t look up and Elsa gave her a quick glance before staring fixedly at her cards. From their body language, each of them seemed ready to hurt someone else. “Ciaran, can I speak with you?”
He put his cards down. “I’m conceding, ladies. When one of you goes out, score my cards and let me know how badly I’ve been skunked.” They all but ignored him as he got up. “Let’s go into my room to talk.”
Baker glanced at her girl. “Libby, get something to drink if you want and try to relax.”
“Yes, mistress.” The Nekomata sat down where she could watch the game, ears up and focused on the table. “This looks like fun. Maybe I can play in the next game.”
Ciaran shut the door behind Baker and gestured at the bed as the snarling in the next room subsided to a dull roar. “Have a seat.” He took the only chair in the bedroom. Once she’d settled down on the bed he leaned back and steepled his fingers together. “I am sure you did your best. What was the final decision?”
“I will pass along a copy of your recordings to the persons who will review it. If they find anything objectionable, they will let me know and we will proceed from there.” She smiled. “I think they decided to be more understanding since we received word from the Grey family that the next shipment is going to deliver a half a million rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and two thousand L7A2 machine guns and spare parts to go with them.”
Ciaran smiled slightly. “Is that what they told you is in the shipment?”
She suddenly looked wary. “Yes, why?”
“My understanding is that you’re right, but that there is also going to be more than that. It’s probably classified on your end, though. You’re government is big into playing I have a secret.”
She frowned. “You have a complete list of what’s being delivered?”
“I was told I do. Iain is serious about helping you crush the rebels and I think he’s being pretty generous with his support. He’s giving you some of the equipment outright and for the rest he’s letting your government take out loans from him to use to purchase what he’s sending you.” That wasn’t entirely true, but Ciaran didn’t see a reason to explain that Iain was letting the British government give him land in exchange for the equipment he was selling them. The agreement allowed the British government to buy back the land at the same value they were assigning it any time in the next twenty years. It was essentially a zero interest loan with the land serving as collateral. It also gave Iain a quasi-legal claim to the land if the Royals lost to the Blue League and he was more than willing to defend it from the rebels in that situation.
Privately Ciaran wondered if Iain was not looking for a way to have a fight with the rebels and he hoped to find out what, if anything, his employer had against them. He suspected it would be in one of the stories he hadn’t gotten around to reading yet and made a mental note to allocate a portion of his dwindling free time to that endeavor.
She nodded. “I doubt I’m being told everything that’s going on between Iain and the government and, to be completely honest, I am content that I am not. What I don’t know I can’t give away, after all.”
“I understand that.” He picked at a bit of fluff on the arm of his chair. “I can give you the recording whenever you want it or do you want to wait until I’m finished with everything?”
“I am supposed to give them the day’s recordings at the end of the day. How long do you expect to be in Edinburgh?”
“I was intending to stay for a week or so but after this came up I’m souring on that idea. I think we’ll leave the day after tomorrow or the day after that. Do the Royals still control Ballantrae?”
Baker blinked at the sudden change of topic. “I’ll find out in the morning. Why do you ask?”
“I’m headed to Ireland now and I want to find a crossing point. The UK is happy with Iain so I think I can indulge my desire to see my ancestral homeland now. Are you coming along with us there too?
“I believe I am supposed to but I’ll find out tomorrow. We have an agreement for free travel to and from Ireland so going there is not going to be a difficulty.” Her mouth tightened. “So do the rebels, but everyone is supposed to consider Ireland as neutral territory. In fact, that’s where the negotiations are being held. Not that those are ever going to go anywhere considering what the rebels are demanding.” She paused for a second. “Do you want me to stay here in Scotland?”
He smiled. “Tamsin, I’ve gotten used to having you around and you are more than welcome to keep traveling with us. Besides, you are part of my mission. Speaking of that, did you contact Ygerna about Iain’s request for a meeting?”
She nodded. “I spoke to the Knight Commander and he relayed the message to Her Majesty. She has not yet responded or, if she has it was not relayed to me. It is possible that she is communicating directly with the Grey family.”
“I’m not sure she’d consider Iain worthy of that, but I suppose anything’s possible. Still, until we know something definite you’d better stick with us.” He grinned. “At least until we leave to return to Texas. If you go with us at that point, mother may just start trying to plan a wedding.” He cocked his head. “Do you have any family?”
Baker shook her head. “Most of the knights are born into the Queen’s service from families that have served her for many generations but a small percentage is found by wizards going through orphanages for children with talent. I was one of those. Someday I’ll either marry or have children with another knight and they will start my own hereditary line of knighthood for her.”
“So you’re fertile?”
She blinked and rubbed her eyes. “I wasn’t supposed to let that slip. The British think I am not.” She eyed him for a moment. “I keep forgetting to keep my normal boundaries with you.”
“It’s probably because I already figured out your biggest secret and you need someone you can relax around. Does Libby know about the Order?”
“She does. We’re working together to see if we can learn some of each other’s magic.”
“That sounds interesting.” He chuckled. “I was tested for magical talent while I was training at Iain’s.”
“What did they determine?”
“According to them, I have some small magical talent. It’s about the average for any living person.” He shrugged. “It smacks of witchcraft to me and I told them I wasn’t interested in learning anything about it.”
Baker’s eyebrows rose. “Do you have a problem with the fact that I am a mage?”
He snorted. “If I did I think you’d already know. Whether or not you work on improving a talent is a personal decision. My decision was that it violated some of my religious beliefs and I wasn’t interested.”
He looked up as the door to the bedroom opened and Victoria peered in. “What time are we getting up, Ciaran?”
“I don’t see a reason to change my schedule because you want to play cards all night. I’m getting up at five. You’re free to do what you want.”
She nodded. “I’ll shut down the game and make sure everyone gets to bed then.”
As the door shut Baker frowned. “You said that oddly. You’re getting up at five instead of we’re getting up at five. Why?”
He smiled. “I don’t make them get up when I do. They’re adults and can make those decisions for themselves.”
“But they always get up when you do.”
His smile widened. “That’s because they found out the first time they decided to sleep in that while I can’t make them get up I’m also not going to wait for them to get around before I go about my day. I don’t dictate their schedule and they don’t dictate mine.”
“You’d go out and do things without them? I find that surprising.”
“So did Victoria and Eliana the first time I did it. We were camped and they decided they were too warm and comfortable to get up when I did. I had breakfast, cleaned up and went exploring some empty houses in the area. When they couldn’t find me they got a bit excited.”
“I can’t imagine why. That was incredibly unfair to them.”
“And holding up my day because they’re in the mood to be lazy isn’t fair to me.”
“You’re manipulating them through their feelings for you.”
He grinned. “What, surprised that a man can do that too? It’s a well-honed weapon in a woman’s arsenal. My sister uses it all the time on pretty much everyone around her except mother.”
“I repeat; you are not simple at all.”
The door opened again and Elsa came in. “Can anyone join this discussion?”
“We’re both clothed and sitting apart from each other. Satisfied?”
Elsa flashed a toothy smile at Ciaran. “You’re confusing me with Eliana.”
“Am I? First Victoria came in to check up on us and now you’re doing it.”
Elsa’s ears canted. “I’m not just doing that. I’m also seeing which of us is sleeping here tonight.”
“Ceres is.”
She nodded. “Where are you sleeping?”
He chuckled again. “Here.”
A brief smile flitted across her face. “Do you know if Ceres shares?”
“I don’t think it’s come up yet.”
“I can ask her.” The door started to shut.
“Elsa?”
The door paused and she looked at him curiously. “Yes?”
“You didn’t think to ask if I share.”
Her ears stilled before her cheeks flushed slightly. “You’re right. I didn’t. Do you?”
“It hasn’t come up yet but I don’t think I feel like it tonight.”
She cocked her head. “Is this because I didn’t think to ask you?”
“Does it really matter why I said no to you?”
She hesitated. “I think perhaps it does. Will you answer the question?”
“We’re getting up in less than six hours and it has been a long day. I’m tired.”
“That makes sense, I guess.” She started to shut the door again and stopped. “You don’t know this but I never asked any of my previous tamers if I could spend extra time with them. They were like oatmeal, a way to get by without starving. I was with them when I had to be. You’re different.”
“I appreciate your feelings for the situation and will keep that in mind.” He grinned. “And thanks for the ego boost.”
She winked. “You’re very welcome. Good night.”
“Good night.” As the door closed he turned to Baker. “Tamsin, I should wish you a good night as well.”
Baker got up. “You said five in the morning?”
“I did.”
“Does that rule about sleeping in apply to me too?”
He shrugged. “Let’s not find out. I’m currently rather irritated with your government and while I don’t blame you for it, you are a convenient target.”
She smiled and headed for the door. “It would make our working and personal relationships rather difficult, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes. I like you, Tamsin, and I’d like to keep it that way. Good night.”
“Good night, Ciaran.”
Ciaran Sullivan
Victoria – Angel
Eliana – Samhain
Ceres – Tantrasaur
Elsa – Mazouku