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Loose Threads
One Hundred Seventeen
Ygerna shuddered her way back to reality to realize she was in Iain’s arms. She rested her forehead against his as she got her breathing back under control. “I had forgotten how traumatic your style of travel with someone besides you could be,” she whispered. “I would prefer it if you took me home or used a gate.”
“I’m sorry,” Iain said. “I didn’t think about it either. I’ll think of something for next time.”
“How long has it been?”
“A century and a third.” Iain inhaled deeply. “You smell wonderful. I have missed you so much.”
“I am sorry, Iain, but nothing has changed for me yet.”
Iain chuckled as he released her. “You warned me that your previous pregnancy suppressed your libido for part of it and that, later, it came roaring back with a vengeance. We’ll have fun when that happens this time. Besides, my love for you is much more than purely sexual.”
“It would have been more poetic if you had said that last part first,” Ygerna noted dryly. She smiled when he stuck out his tongue at her.
“Thank you, Emerald.” Iain said to the green Dragoness.
“You are welcome, my lord. Will there be anything else?”
“Actually yes, there is. Please meet us in the holding area. Someone will need to witness this for the undead harem so the explosion in the undead harem can be as maximized as possible.”
Emerald cocked her head curiously. “Maximized?”
“You’ll see.”
“Yes, my lord.” Emerald ran down the hall ahead of them and vanished.
Iain looked at Ygerna. “Do you need to refresh yourself?”
She shook her head. “What do you wish me to do here?”
“Come with me and learn,” he said with a smile.
“It is a good thing that I trust you,” Ygerna said with an answering smile of her own. “One does not normally keep secrets from me.”
“I’m not. I just don’t want to have to explain this several times.” He took her hand and led her down a passage and into a larger, circular room. A large number of sun elves, mostly adults, both men and women, were manacled to the walls. Each had been blindfolded and gagged. There was a small table with three chairs and Emerald, who was watching the prisoners.
Ygerna did a quick count. “You have thirty five prisoners here. Whatever for?”
“Take a seat.” Iain gestured towards the table. “They’re all in a noise suppression field so they can’t hear us, either. I didn’t want to hear them yelling or pleading.”
Ygerna slipped the pack off her shoulders and laid it on the floor next to one of the chairs before sitting down. “Who is the other chair for?”
“Helesatra.” Red smoke poured off of his arm to form the half fiend sun elf. “Ygerna, this is Helesatra Vyshaan. Helesatra, this is my wife, Ygerna.”
Helesatra bowed to Ygerna. “Lady.” She looked at Iain. “My lord, why did you request my presence? Up to this point, I was forbidden to come here, by Eirian’s order.”
“No, it was by my order. Look at the prisoners and tell me what you see.”
She immediately turned and headed for the nearest one. She looked it over and moved to the next. At the fifth, she hissed loudly and stepped back as her eyes began to glow. “My lord, this is my grandfather!” She turned to Iain. “Who are the others?”
“They are all that remains of the Vyshaan bloodline,” Iain said calmly as he sat next to Ygerna. “Now, come sit down.”
Helesatra looked surprised. “My lord,” she asked uncertainly, “I am not equal to you or your wife.”
“I insist. We need to talk.”
Helesatra looked at Emerald. “Note that I was ordered to do this. If Eirian seeks to punish me, I will fight back.”
“Our lord orders and we obey,” Emerald said amusedly. “Sit with them.”
Helesatra turned the chair sideways to accommodate her tail and wings as she obediently sat down in the empty chair. The glow in her eyes faded completely away as she bowed in her chair to Iain and then Ygerna. “My lord, I am ready for this talk you say we need to have.”
“Let me give Ygerna a little history so she knows what’s happening,” Iain told her. “Ygerna, Helesatra is half fiend, sired off of her mother, the eldest child of the Emperor Morefin by the pit fiend Dragel. Morefin had struck a deal with Dragel for the soul of the child he’d sired, when it turned eight years old, in return for fiendish troops to aid Morefin’s forces in their war against pretty much every other elven nation after the Elven Court proclaimed his bloodline guilty of genocide for the past several thousand years and declared a holy war against him and his bloodline. Helesatra’s mother did not survive the birth of her first child, who was Helesatra. She was smuggled out of the palace before she turned eight and lived the rest of her life on the run until she ended up in my undead harem.”
Ygerna was watching Helesatra but turned her attention to Iain when he stopped speaking. “That is quite the story. I take it you have been securing your flanks by removing the obstacle that her family represents so she is completely yours?”
“Something like that. She hates her family and wanted revenge and I could give it to her.”
“Ah, this is like what happened with my mother. You want her to be happy in her life, um, existence with you.” She nodded. “I believe I understand the situation, but that does not explain why you have requested my presence.”
“That’s because we haven’t gotten to that yet.” He looked at Helesatra. “There are two ways events can proceed from this moment. There are only two ways, mind you. In both of those ways,” he gestured at the prisoners, “they all die.”
“Two of them are mere striplings,” Ygerna said quietly.
. Iain nodded. “They die. All of the living bloodline of Vyshaan dies today.” He looked back at Helesatra. “In the first option, either you or I kill all of them today. The leadership of the empire is completely destroyed and then we help the Empire of Vyshaantar to implode, a lot like what happened in the histories that I know about. With this path, you get revenge on your family and you get to destroy everything that is their legacy.”
“That sounds perfect,” Helesatra said with a savage grin. “Can I start killing them?”
“I want you to hear the second option before we make any decisions,” Iain leaned back in his chair.
Helesatra’s eyes began glowing again as her lip lifted to show her canines. “Who decides which option is selected?”
Iain smiled slowly. “You make that decision. I want you to hear me out and then you get to decide which option we take. I will not be upset at you, no matter your choice, for this is your choice and it is completely yours.”
“Then I know which choice I want.” She shrugged. “But go ahead and tell me the other option, my lord.”
“In the second option, they all die. The living bloodline of Vyshaan still dies today. But with the second option, we don’t let the empire collapse.”
Helesatra frowned. “What do we do instead?”
“In this option, I release you from the undead harem and your vows to me and swear you to me as satellite clan. Ygerna uses the Grimoire of Danu to bring you back to life and, as the only living member of the Vyshaan bloodline, and as the legitimate first heir before your death, which they don’t know about, you take the throne as queen of the newly reborn Queendom of Vyshaan and we start the process of bringing them into Grey.”
Ygerna grinned. “You have learned my lessons well, Iain.”
“Between you, Kasserine and some of the others, I’ve had good instructors,” Iain replied blandly.
Helesatra’s eyes had stopped glowing and she was staring at him, her mouth open. She pulled it shut with an obvious effort. “Me? Queen?”
“That’s the situation I was hinting about a few years ago when we killed Dragel. This option is the one in which we’d hear your grandfather’s screams of fury from the Lands of the Dead when he saw you on the throne.”
Emerald was suddenly standing by the table. “You wanted me to witness that you now have the power to bring us back to life,” she said. “We all have decisions to make.”
“Right now, I’m only offering this to people one at a time. I can’t afford to lose you all, suddenly,” Iain cautioned.
“Many of us will not wish to lose the power we have gained through undeath,” the green Dragoness said. “But I will advise Eirian of your words, my lord.”
“You’ll also make sure that Eirian can’t suppress this information.”
Emerald’s teeth glittered in her smile. “Yes, my lord.”
Helesatra was watching Iain. “You would prefer that I choose the second option, wouldn’t you?” Iain just smiled and she grinned back at him.
“This one is smart,” Ygerna said. “I like her.”
Helesatra smiled at Ygerna. “But will you still like me after what I have to say?” She looked at Iain. “I will choose the second option, but there is a condition that must be satisfied before I will agree to it. If that condition cannot be met, I will choose the first option.”
Iain frowned. “What is your condition?”
“I have been studying the clan histories you have and talking with Eirian and the others about what it means to be clan since I am clan, even if undead. I see no reason to be satellite clan when I can do much better than that. If I agree to the second option and become the queen of Vyshaan and let the Empire of Vyshaantar die, I want you to marry me and become my consort. I and our children will then be inner clan and true clan nobility.”
Ygerna suddenly leaned forward as far as her pregnancy would permit and peered into Helesatra’s eyes. “If you have studied our history, then you know our rules.” She laughed and leaned back with a contented smile. “I see. You already love him.”
Helesatra’s face flushed scarlet and the chair skittered away as she recoiled to her feet. “No! I just want the best chances for my children, who will be like me and reviled for our polluted blood.”
Ygerna stood and folded her arms. “He despises liars and you know it. Do not start this with lies or he will deny your wish.” She stepped around the table and held out her hand. “Take it.”
Helesatra shook her head wildly. “I can’t.”
“Take it!” Ygerna’s voice cracked with authority. Helesatra hesitated before clasping hands with the Sidhe. “Good. If you lie to me again, I will throw my counsel against this union and, as I am his wife and you are not yet, he will listen to me over you.”
“I’m a lich,” Helesatra said woodenly. “I cannot love.”
“That is still a lie, but it is one you are telling yourself,” Ygerna said. “Emerald!” Emerald’s head turned to eye her curiously. “Do you feel anger?”
“I do,” the lich replied evenly.
“Do you feel joy?”
“I do.”
“Do you feel hate?”
Emerald shot Iain a look and grinned. “I do.”
“Do you feel envy?”
“I do.” The green Dragoness glanced at Helesatra. “And as you can see from this one’s behavior, we can feel fear.” Helesatra hissed angrily at her and Emerald laughed. “Growl like you mean it, little one, or don’t growl at all.”
Ygerna wasn’t going to be distracted. “Emerald, if all of this is true and you can feel so many other emotions, then why couldn’t you feel love?”
Emerald grinned at Iain again. “There is no reason we cannot, for we can.”
Ygerna, still holding Helesatra’s hand, turned to Iain. “If she were alive, could you love this woman?”
“That’s not a fair question,” Iain said.
Ygerna laughed again. “See how he does not answer and still does not lie to me? This is a skill you need to cultivate. As a queen, you will need to know how to avoid answering questions or giving commitments without lying or seeming to be deceptive.”
“Is this behavior acceptable,” Helesatra asked.
“I am Sidhe. I am fey. If I could not be tricksy I could not live. Of course this is allowed. You must be able to deceive your friends without lying to them. Enemies,” she waved a hand, “they deserve nothing, and especially not the truth. But there is magic that detects lies, you will not always be able to know if it is being employed against you and if you do not lie, you cannot be detected lying.”
“I will remember your words,” Helesatra said quietly. “Yes.”
Ygerna smiled. “Now you speak the truth. Why?”
“I have spent my life on the run from,” she gestured behind her at the prisoners, “them. Iain is the first to accept me as I truly am and he is the only who has stirred himself to help me. When people discover that I am half fiend, they abjure me at best and betray me to my enemies at worst.” She looked at Iain. “He has accepted me as me and, more, has not only allowed me my revenge, he has spent his own resources and placed himself and his clan in danger in order to allow me this. Even though I am dead, he has cared for me as much as the living can.” She looked at Ygerna with desperation in her eyes. “How can I not love such a man?” She looked at Iain. “I know that I am dead and that you will never love us as you love Zilvra or this one, and I was content to merely be close to you. Then you offered me the chance to live again and,” she smiled, “foolishly offered me the chance to make it conditional upon achieving that which I truly desired. I decided to gamble for all, which brings us to now.”
Ygerna chuckled softly. “You will make an excellent sister of mine, young lady, and, perhaps, a good queen.”
“I was middle aged when I died,” Helesatra said.
“And I am thousands of years old,” Ygerna replied amusedly. “I have lived so long that I no longer count the passage of the seasons for any reason except as a tool to remind people like you just how senior I am to them. I have been a queen and a duchess and many other things that you have not, at least not yet.”
“Could you be my advisor,” Helesatra asked.
Ygerna smiled as she shook her head gently. “While you show great wisdom in asking that, I cannot remain here. Iain’s mission specifically requires that he refrain from contact with his family during it.”
“Then how is it that you are here now?”
Ygerna glanced at Iain. “That is a question that I intend to ask as soon as the situation allows.”
Helesatra looked at Iain. “If what Lady Ygerna says is the truth, how is it that she is here now?”
Iain looked from one woman to the other. “This is important and I’ll deal with Nightraven being unhappy with me for it. She won’t kill me or my family and anything else is worth the return for the clan and you.”
Ygerna raised an eyebrow. “You were afraid she would harm your family for any insolence on your part. What has changed that you no longer worry that we are hostages to your good behavior?”
“I’ve had a century to think about it and I’ve realized that I can’t live my life in constant fear of anyone, not and remain sane. I’ll complete her mission to her satisfaction and, if I break a few rules while doing so, I got the job done.” He smiled. “While I won’t enjoy it, anything she tears off of me will grow back.”
“We can fight her, my lord,” Helesatra said.
“We cannot,” Emerald snapped harshly. “Your desire to protect our lord is admirable, but this one is like unto a goddess.”
Iain looked at her. “Like unto?”
Emerald chuckled. “I have been reading for entertainment again, my lord.”
“Are you back to reading Shakespeare again?”
“Right now I am reading Marlowe, Sir Walter Raleigh, Burn’s poetry and James Joyce, my lord.”
“Ooh, classics. I may have to borrow some of those books when I get some free time in a century or two,” Iain said.
“Joyce is the best of that lot,” Ygerna said.
“Of course you think that since he’s Irish,” Iain replied with a grin.
“I say that because I knew him,” Ygerna shot back. “He, of course, knew not who I truly was, but we did correspond briefly.” Her eyes dimmed slightly. “All of my associations with humans were brief by their very nature.”
“Could I correspond with you,” Helesatra asked. “I want to be a good queen.”
Ygerna frowned at Iain. “Is that even possible with the difference in the time streams?”
Iain looked thoughtful. “If she writes regularly, you’ll get a lot of messages in a very short period of time. I suppose I could give her a phone and Theodora could send your twee her letters and you could use your twee to write back at faster speeds than you could ever do so using scrolls and pens. If you’re willing to try it, I can make the arrangements for you get her messages.”
“I am willing. I do not have many responsibilities right now and something to do would be pleasant.”
Iain raised an eyebrow. “Any time you’re bored, just speak up. I have plenty of things that I could ask you to do for me.”
Ygerna blinked and spoke quickly. “I never said I was bored, Iain. Because of my pregnancy, Ninhursag and some of the others have been treating me as if I am made of porcelain and my mother has been assisting them whenever she can. It means I have few responsibilities of any meaning, and no heavy training or fighting.”
Iain looked thoughtful before shaking his head. “Having family visit for specific reasons is one thing. Nightraven would never countenance you staying here for an extended period, even if you are one of our best swordswomen and mages and I could really use your help.” He shrugged. “Especially with her, I need to pick my battles since I’ll probably lose them all.”
Ygerna reached out to him and he took her hand. She pulled Helesatra with her as she stepped up to look him in the eyes for a long moment. “You have grown and changed in the time you have been here. I still see the man I love, but I see newfound strength and some small wisdom that,” she smiled, “I find very admirable indeed. You would definitely make a great Sidhe king.”
“Thank you. So, what’s your decision about Helesatra?”
“I like her. She is smart and will bring strength to the clan, both personally and with the armies of her new queendom. On behalf of the rest of your women, I approve of this union, should it take place, and I would encourage you to fertilize the womb of this woman with your seed.” Helesatra blushed an even brighter red than before. “And I encourage that fertilization to take place soon. Since you seem prepared for my arrival, is the altar ready?”
“It is, and there’s a full moon in two days.”
“I am pleased that you are prepared and even more pleased that you show the wisdom to allow me to conduct the ceremony for Helesatra. Now, Iain, there is one thing you still have to do.”
Iain stood and tugged his hand free from Ygerna’s. He walked around to face Helesatra as Ygerna released her hand and stood beside him. “I accept your condition,” he said evenly. “Helesatra, once you are alive again, will you marry me?”
Helesatra looked startled. “What about Zilvra?”
“While it’s good that you think of others before yourself, even now, this isn’t the time,” Iain said gently.
“My lord, even you must realize that Zilvra.”
Iain put a finger on her lips and she froze. “I realize many things. What is most important among them involving Zilvra is that she is happy with the relationship that she and I have. If, as a result of my marrying you, she decides certain things about my relationship with her, she and I will deal with that just as we have with everything else in our relationship and we will adjust that relationship so that she is happy again.” He smiled slowly. “Another thing that I realize about my relationship with Zilvra is that she does not appreciate my discussing my relationship with her with anyone besides her, unless it’s to Laelra with the purpose of irritating Laelra, which she finds vastly amusing for some reason.” He pulled his finger away. “Do you understand?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes, my lord.”
“You do realize that you’re going to have to stop calling me that, don’t you? It’s exclusive to my dead harem and you may be joining my living one.”
She frowned. “May?”
“You haven’t answered my question yet.”
Her eyes went wide. “Oh. I will marry you, my lord.”
“Good. Tonight, I’ll release you from the undead harem and bind you to me as clan until you return to life. During the time between, you’ll assist Ygerna with her preparations to bring you back to life.” He looked at Emerald. “Tell Eirian I want to talk to her after dinner. My undead harem will provide security for the ritual unless I decide they’ll be too distracted with what’s happening to Helesatra to pay attention to our surroundings. I’ll still video the event so you and the others can review it later.”
“Yes, my lord,” Emerald said. “What of the prisoners?”
“They die today. If Helesatra doesn’t want to kill them, I will do it. There will be nobody of the Vyshaan bloodline to later foment rebellion against our queen because they claim to be the legitimate heir to the throne and some morons listen to her.”
Ygerna nodded. “What of the nobles of the empire who will protest her ascension to the throne?”
“I will attempt to be merciful when I take the throne,” Helesatra said. “But anyone who rises against me will be crushed and their estates forfeit to the crown, as my grandfather’s law currently stands. I will later institute clan law, which will cause more uproar than my taking the throne away from my grandfather.” She looked at Iain. “What of the Elven Court?”
“I’ll explain to them that the people they wanted dead are dead and even provide bodies if they insist. If they try to continue their war against the Queendom of Vyshaan, which will no longer be the Empire of Vyshaantar, then we’ll deal with them too. My understanding is that the elven gods aren’t stupid and should counsel their worshippers that we at least deserve a chance to prove we’re not Vyshaantar under a new name.”
Ygerna smiled. “She will make an excellent queen, Iain.”
“When my lord’s mission is over,” Helesatra said, “you are welcome to visit my realm and see what you have helped me to bring about.”
“I will most certainly do that if I can,” Ygerna said.
“My lord,” Emerald said, “Helesatra is released immediately to assist Queen Ygerna with the preparations for the ceremony. While she did not understand what she was doing or why, she has been heavily involved with the work so far.” She smiled. “Just as you directed, under Project Gloaming.”
Helesatra looked from Emerald to Iain. “My lord, how long have you been planning this?”
Iain smiled. “That is something I’m not willing to answer.”
Ygerna frowned. “How long have you been working on this Project Gloaming, Helesatra?”
“I was given the project nearly fifty years ago.”
“Gloaming was always a long shot,” Iain said quietly. “Many things had to line up properly and any one of them going sideways would have destroyed any hope of Gloaming succeeding. But I knew what I wanted it to do and I decided to proceed as if it would succeed so we would be ready if it did. And it did and we are.” He smiled. “So, should we throw dice to see who gets to kill them?”
“No, my lord, for they are my prey,” Helesatra said eagerly.
“They all die, even the teenagers, and I’d prefer it if you made their deaths quick and clean. Killing your grandfather will complete your revenge. Everyone else needs to die in order to ensure a smooth succession and that’s business, not pleasure.”
“May I inform my grandfather of our plans before I kill him?”
“You may. I wouldn’t tell him that you’re undead right now, though. He has no idea about that.”
“Yes, my lord.” Helesatra smiled. “I will tell him before I do anything else and then he can watch me kill the others while he mulls over what I have told him will happen to his precious empire after he is gone. I will kill him last.”
“We’ll keep the bodies to present to the Elven Court as evidence that their war can end,” Iain added.
“I suggest we only give them the heads, my lord,” Helesatra disagreed. “It takes much more magic to bring someone back to life without most of the corpse, and I don’t want the Court to create and keep in reserve any rivals that might try and do the Court’s bidding against me.”
“She is going to make you an excellent queen,” Ygerna said.
“We’ll do it that way,” Iain agreed. “Emerald, please escort Ygerna to her quarters.” He smiled at the Sidhe. “I’ll be along in a bit to brief you on what’s been going on that I can tell you about so you can bargain with Ninhursag and Theodora for the information.”
Ygerna reached out and stroked his cheek. “Did I say a great king? Iain, you would surely make a historic king at my side.”
“You only say that because I’m offering you a really big hammer to use on them.”
Ygerna chuckled. “No, I say that because you are offering me that hammer and not offering it to anyone else at the same time. That is the difference between a great and a historic king, the ability to keep me happy with him.”
Iain gave her a quick kiss. “I guess I’ll have to stay the Grey then, since I’ve pissed you off before and will again. Now go. I am going to stay and either help Helesatra with the executions while recording them for the Elven Court or I’ll merely record them if she refuses to let me help.”
Ygerna raised an eyebrow. “Do you bear any of these a personal animosity?”
“I do not. What they did to Helesatra, they did long before I ever came here and met her. For me, killing these people is good business. Ensuring that Helesatra kills them neatly and quickly, except for Morefin, is a professional courtesy. It also sets the right tone with the Elven Court and the elven gods in being merciless the way they like their murders, which is as neat and tidy as possible. Now, Helesatra, it’s time to begin. You should probably start by removing His Majesty’s blindfold and his gag. I’ll remove the sonic barrier around him so you can hear him bellow and plead.”
Helesatra’s eyes lit up with a dreadful eagerness. “Yes, my lord,” she said with a purr as she headed for where her grandfather waited.
***
Zilvra’s red eyes contemplated Iain as she sipped her tea. “What will your marrying Helesatra mean for our relationship?”
“Nothing needs to change,” Iain said quietly.
“I have seen Helesatra a handful of times,” Zilvra said amusedly. “I have spoken to her twice and now you are marrying her. Things will most certainly change, if only because there will now be another woman who you will have an enduring relationship with, and one that I barely know. I will have to travel to her realm and her territory to get to know her well and that I am not happy about.” She put the mug of tea down. “What is to be your role within this Vyshaan government?”
“I’ll be the royal consort.”
“That will make you a nobleman. And you will take this role seriously and so you will spend time there, helping her and becoming part of the,” her smile appeared, “queendom, while not neglecting the clan. It is time that you will not be spending here or with me. We both know you will do so and we both know that if you didn’t, I would be very upset with you. Will the wedding be a royal event in Vyshaan and when will it take place?”
“No, and as soon as we can schedule it. There’s no reason to give the nobility of Vyshaan the chance to try and involve themselves in the situation any more than they already will when she takes the throne.”
“What if they refuse her and try to crown someone else?”
“That’s not a choice they get to make. If we must shed more Vyshaan blood while she’s becoming the queen, so be it. Queen she is and queen she will be.”
Zilvra nodded. “Good. The full moon is passing and you will marry her on the height of the new full moon, next month. I will marry the two of you, if you cannot convince one of our goddesses to perform the ceremony, but you should try very hard to convince one of them to do so. You will not bed Helesatra before the wedding.”
Iain raised an eyebrow. “While that’s not likely to be an issue since Helesatra is going to spend the next few weeks getting used to being alive again and having biological activities, may I ask why you don’t want us to have sex?”
“There are two reasons,” Zilvra said as her smile vanished. “The first is that there must be no suggestion that any child she will conceive will be from anyone but you. The blood connection between Grey and the queendom must be certain without any requirement for oaths or examinations if you wish this to proceed as smoothly as it can. Helesatra will not be able to have male lovers other than you until she has presented the queendom and you with at least three children from three separate pregnancies.”
“Interesting, I said four children.”
“Four is satisfactory, but it is the number of pregnancies that is more important than the number of children. Helesatra must show she is normally fertile and is that way with you.”
Iain nodded. “We both understand that. So that’s the first reason you don’t want us to have sex before we marry. What’s the second?”
Zilvra got up, moved around the table and settled into Iain’s lap. “I want us to marry on or before the new moon.” She met his gaze. “I have known that I love you for a few years now, Iain, I just haven’t said anything because I was content with what we have together. I’m not, not anymore. I want to be your wife and I want to be pregnant and I want both before Helesatra gets either of them. Will you give me these things?”
Iain wrapped his arms around her waist and she snuggled into him. “Of course I will. And I’ll speak to Eilistraee and Mielikki about marrying us as well as me and Helesatra.”
“I don’t need my marriage blessed by our goddess,” Zilzra said quietly. “Helesatra will, even if the Lady is not widely recognized or worshiped among the surface elves.”
“I will be glad to marry the two of you as well as Iain and Helesatra,” Eilistraee said. Zilvra jumped in Iain’s arms as the drow goddess sat down in the chair Zilvra had just vacated. She took an empty mug and poured herself some tea. “And Mielikki will be there too.” She settled back in the chair, looking into Iain’s eyes. “Are you aware of all the trouble that this plan will cause?”
“I believe so,” Iain replied. “It would help if you put in a good word with your father for us.”
“I already have,” Elistraee said with a smirk. “My father is overjoyed that the Vyshaantar Empire will be no more and he will guide the Elven Court into ending the war against it once the heads are delivered to the Court. He will be happier when the armies of the new queendom are disbanded and would be even happier if the destruction of Vyshaantar was not at the hands of a dragon and a half fiend sun elf, neither of which worship him.”
“I am a priestess and one of the Chosen of his daughter and that will have to be enough,” Iain said.
“It will be, at least for now,” Eilistraee said in a voice heavy with satisfaction. “You know the religious situation in Vyshaantar is difficult at best, what with the priests of my father and the other good elven deities being driven out of the empire as a result of the Proclamation that started these wars against Vyshaantar. What are your plans for this issue?”
“You and Mielikki are the clan’s patron goddesses and that will continue in the queendom,” Iain shifted Zilvra around in his lap so she could see Eilistraee easily. “The other gods of the Seldarine will be tolerated in Vyshaan, but we worship and advocate for the worship of you and Mielikki. Gods like your mother, no matter where they come from, will never be welcome in the queendom. And the worship of outsiders like demons or devils, will be forbidden and any hint of it will be actively pursued and destroyed.” He shrugged. “That last was Helesatra’s decision, but the Lord of Nessus has been seeking godhood for a while and I don’t have a problem with making sure we don’t have anything to do with him succeeding.”
Eilistraee smirked again. “As one of the two patron goddesses of the newly born Queendom of Vyshaan, I find all of your decisions to be valid and with great merit. The great hunt for this month is in four days and I will marry you and Zilvra at the feast at the end of the hunt.”
“Will you join the hunt with us,” Zilvra asked. “It would be a great honor if you did, Lady.”
Eilistraee shook her head. “I will not, but I thank you for the offer. A great many of my worshippers will hunt that night and I will watch over all of them, as I normally do.”
Zilvra nodded. “Yes, Lady.”
She finished her tea and rose. “I will be back before the wedding to discuss it with you both.” She winked and vanished.
Zilvra leaned against Iain. “I am not moving into your bedroom after we are married.”
“After you told me why, I remembered that none of the women I’m married to do that. It’s just that there are enough of them that I never slept alone.”
She looked up at him. “Speaking of other women, what are you going to tell Ari?”
“I am going to tell Arithallos the same thing I told you, which is the truth about what’s happening. I’m also going to tell her about us getting married.”
“What are you going to do if she gets angry and ends your relationship?”
“Other than trying to convince her to change her mind and missing her if that doesn’t work,” Iain said quietly, “I don’t have many other options. If I wanted to throw her into the dungeons, I have this little problem where I don’t have a single dungeon, much less several dungeons.”
“You would let her go?”
“Zilvra, she’s not mine to keep or release. Nobody is. The only person I own is me.” He smiled. “Will I do everything short of stalking her to try and get her to change her mind if she dumps me? Yes. But that’s all I am willing to do.”
“What about Laelra?”
Iain nuzzled into her hair. “I think it’s time I ended my sexual relationship with Laelra. I have too many responsibilities here, and I’m adding a lot more in the near future. I like Laelra and I like the people of Illhar Mrim, but Laelra and I have never really been more than fuck buddies and I’m going to have a family here soon.” He sighed. “And when she learns I’m marrying you, she’s going to have an attack of jealousy that will last for months.”
“You will find other lovers, Iain.”
“I will, but not in Vyshaan, not for a long time. I’m not doing anything there that might even have the appearance of impropriety that might undermine Helesatra’s power base.”
“Should I meet this other wife of yours?”
“Ygerna?” Iain considered for a few seconds. “I think not. She’s only going to be here for a few days and then won’t return for several hundred years. Once my mission is over you’ll get to meet everyone, including her.”
“If I survive.”
“And if I survive,” Iain pointed out. “But we will both survive until then.”
“I can wait. I want to learn more about them before we meet so that I can make sure they like me until it’s too late for them to escape.”
Iain chuckled. “Yeah, there’s nothing less creepy than me saying: ‘ladies, this is Zilvra and she’s been studying you intently for centuries so you’ll trust her in case she needs to get close and stick a poisoned knife in your back’. I can’t see where that would make anyone uneasy.”
Zilvra laughed and looked up at him. “What do you have to do in order to become fertile again?”
Iain eyed her for a moment. “The procedure is simple and takes only a few minutes. A day after that my fertility should be normal.”
“Can you do this procedure today?”
“Once I do it, I’m fertile until I turn it off. That means I either stop sleeping with other women or I run the chance of getting them pregnant too.”
Zilvra looked into his eyes. “I want you to be fertile for me and the other women you love but infertile for everyone else and I want both of these things at the same time. Can that be done?”
“Let me think for a minute.” Iain leaned back and stared at the ceiling as he considered his options for a few minutes. “There is a way, and I should be able to set it in place in only a day or two, but there’s a small risk of accidental pregnancy.”
“Why and how small?”
“What I’m thinking about doing would be to use my magic to tie my fertility to my feelings for the woman I’m with. If I love them and would like to have children with them, like I do you, I will be fertile. If I don’t love them, like with Laelra, I’ll be infertile. But there is a center region with a couple of women in it that I don’t love but would like to have children with that I might be fertile with if I had sex with them. That’s actually where Helesatra is right now, but there are a few other women who might fit in that category. Most of them I’ll probably never have the opportunity to bed, but we both know that the universe has a terrible sense of humor.”
Zilvra cocked her head. “You do not love Helesatra?”
“She’s undead. I am careful to never consider undead as sexual beings.”
“Is she a person that you could love?”
“She is, and after she comes back to life in a couple of days I’ll start courting her and things should proceed fairly quickly.”
Zilvra nodded thoughtfully. “Is there anyone here who could be in that special category?”
Iain smiled. “Solnys, Naldryn and Shatris.”
Zilvra chuckled. “At least you show an appreciation for high quality women. I know that you and Naldryn were lovers before she married. What about the other two?”
“I’ve never had sex with either one of them. They never seemed overtly interested and so there was never really an opportunity. And now they’re both married and Shatris is pregnant.”
Zilvra nodded. “I wonder what Rardur would say if he knew you desired to breed both of his wives.”
“I don’t think he ever needs to know,” Iain said quietly. “The tribal leaders after his parents died treated him like crap and took his property whenever they wanted. He doesn’t own Solnys or Naldryn, but I don’t want him to think I might ever even consider treating him like the leadership of either tribe did. That kind of behavior is definitely not clan and, more importantly, it isn’t me.”
“And you value his friendship too much to destroy it if you don’t have to.”
“I value the friendship of everyone in his family,” Iain said quietly.
“I wonder if that is the reason that Solnys still doesn’t like me very much,” Zilvra murmured.
“Oh?”
“She would like to have slept with you, Iain, and still does.” Iain looked surprised and she laughed. “Solnys has wanted to be one of your lovers since long before I joined the clan. She never thought it right to ask you to lower yourself enough to sleep with her and so never did. These days she has a much better value of her worth and realizes that you would not have been lowering yourself at all, and that you never thought of her as a freed slave, but she loves Rardur too much to consider finding out you might,” she paused. “What is that phrase I thought so amusing, oh, yes, rock her world during one of the more open weddings and the following orgy.”
Iain frowned. “I don’t use that phrase.”
“Ganieda does and, in the memories that you showed me, April and you were around her when she did. I used it once and the dwarves stole it for their own use.” She slid out of his lap and tugged on his hand. “Come on, we have weightlifting in half an hour and I don’t want to miss it.”
***
Iain landed, folded his wings and waited a few dozen seconds before calling into the cave. “Arithallos, may I enter?”
She appeared in the entrance, staying far enough back to easily avoid any attacks. “Iain?” She stepped forward and bobbed her head in greeting. “You don’t normally visit my home.”
“I have never been invited to,” Iain said calmly. “And I don’t intrude on people if I can avoid it. Hell, I’d wait until you came to visit again, but there’s some news and you need to hear it from me.”
She turned and headed into the cave. “You are invited to visit me any time, Iain. If I don’t want you to visit when you arrive, I’ll tell you.”
He followed her into the caverns. “Thank you.”
She glanced back at him. “At least you asked permission this time. I guess there is a first time for everything.”
“Technically, that’s not true. I asked permission the last time too, when I brought you your restitution for Kardolth’s death.”
“You did?”
“I asked you if I could put the items in your cave. You said I could, which gave me permission to enter.”
Arithallos laughed quietly. “I can believe Xune when she says you’re fey. I once negotiated a bargain with one and talking with you sometimes reminds me of talking with her.”
Iain was following her almost silently. “I have dealt with enough fey that I tend to think and behave a lot like one. Besides, some dragons are fey and they are respected a little more than the ones that aren’t.”
“You mean they terrify some of us even more than they terrify the ephemerals.” The cavern opened into an area large enough for the two of them and she curled up in a depression that had clearly seen regular use. “Is this about your upcoming marriage to a sun elf and the sudden panic sweeping the Empire of Vyshaantar?” Iain gaped at her and she laughed. “Xune asked me what I thought about it earlier this morning and I pretended to know what she was talking about until she’d given up too much information to deny me more when I demanded it from her.”
“Yes, in part it is about that.”
Arithallos yawned widely. “Were you worried I would be upset with you marrying some sun elf?”
“Her name is Helesatra and, no, I didn’t think you’d care a lot since she’s not another silver dragoness. I’ll also be marrying Zilvra.”
Dragons in their natural forms did not show their teeth when they smiled but Iain knew from the cant of her skull that Arithallos was smiling amusedly at him. “I hope you’re marrying her before you marry this Helesatra.”
“I am.” He cocked his head. “I wanted to discuss the ramifications of those decisions.”
“Oh?”
“Zilvra wants children and Helesatra will become the queen of the Queendom of Vyshaan. She will be expected to produce heirs, especially since all of her other family will soon be discovered to have been killed.”
“Were you involved in that?”
“I was involved with their capture, but Helesatra insisted on killing them by herself. The heads will be delivered to the Elven Court to satisfy their First Proclamation and end the wars going on between Vyshaan and everyone else. The heads will arrive at the Court the day after tomorrow, and not long after that, the Elven Court will formally declare the First Proclamation is no longer valid and end the war.”
Arithallos smiled. “You give the best intelligence reports, Iain. While I like Zilvra, and I suspect I’ll like meeting this Helesatra person, what do these events have to do with me or the fact that we are lovers?”
“Because Zilvra wants children and Helesatra does too, last night I became fertile.”
Arithallos went still for a second. “Are you saying that you were infertile before?”
“I am.”
She flared her wings angrily. “You bastard, I’ve been trying to have wyrmlings with you for decades! I thought the gods merely hadn’t blessed us and you, you bastard, were sterile the whole time?”
“You are not clan and what you want didn’t win out against my rules for relationships. I told you I was infertile.”
“I thought that meant it would be hard for us to have children, not that you couldn’t have children at all.” Arithallos growled softly in frustration. “And I didn’t ask you to clarify that statement, did I?” She looked into his eyes. “Are you truly fey, and did you do that to bedevil me for all of these years?”
“I say I’m fey, usually to annoy or caution people. Am I truly fey? I’m not sure. And, Ari, if I had disliked you that much, I’d have just told you no when Zilvra invited you to into my bed. I don’t torture people, especially not emotionally.”
“You know I want more children.”
“I do. And, since I’d told you I was infertile and you hadn’t moved on to someone else, I figured you weren’t in a hurry to have them right now. Or maybe you had some nice silver drake as another partner and he was going to father your children. You do spend a lot of time out here by yourself and I don’t spy on you.”
“Iain Grey, I am not like the other women you associate with! I do not have a different male lined up for every day of the tenday!”
Iain regarded her for several seconds. “Do you disapprove of my lifestyle, Arithallos?”
Her tail flicked wildly for an instant as she stared at him. Then she turned her head in embarrassment. “I,” she paused. “I don’t, not really, but I do.” She looked at him. “Does that make sense?”
“No, but perhaps, if you’ll allow me a few questions, things can get cleared up enough to make sense. Do you perhaps think that my life would be better if I had one woman in my life, perhaps a mature silver dragoness from a good family?”
“Your life would certainly be easier. Too many women have too many demands on you.”
“I was this way when we met and I am, for the most part, content with the life I lead.” He chuckled. “If you think my life is complicated now, you’re in for quite the eye opener when you meet the rest of my family.”
Arithallos uncurled and leaned forward until her nose almost touched his. “Iain, just how old do you think I am?”
Iain’s wings moved as he shrugged. “I know you’re fully an adult. Other than that, where I grew up it was considered rude to ask a lady’s age.”
Arithallos’ tail flicked amusedly. “Iain, I am rapidly approaching the halfway point in the third millennium of my life. Using the terminology that the elves try to label us with, I am ancient. She waved a forepaw at herself, the lack of a bipedal wrist joint making the motion look awkward to his eyes. “My family tends to stay on the small side for a silver dragon, which makes me seem younger than I am. This means that, fairly soon, I will lose the ability to have children. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been trying so hard to have some with you. If I’d known you were sterile, I’d have probably found a drake to get me pregnant and then asked you to help raise the children. I am very fond of you and you are my first choice as a potential father, but I’ll do what I have to if you cannot give me what I want.”
“Up until this point, I have not been able to, but I will be now.” He cocked his head. “Join the clan.”
Arithallos chuckled. “Iain, we’ve discussed this before. Joining the clan would require me to accept certain responsibilities that I don’t feel the benefits are worth.”
Iain shifted to his elf form. “And I had agreed with you until now, when I learned that there is something I can offer that only the clan can give you. So please take your elf form because, where we’re going, it’s a little too tight for a dragon to fit.”
Arithallos eyed him for a moment becoming the middle aged elf woman he’d first met. “Flying is going to be impossible in this form.”
Iain took her hand. “We’re teleporting.” He murmured a spell and they were suddenly standing in a small room made entirely of rock. Still holding her hand, Iain headed for a door in the wall. He opened the door and released Arithallos’ hand. “Go ahead.”
She passed through into a room that was so dark that only her darkvision allowed her to see. Iain entered the room and pulled the door shut behind him. “Lights at thirty percent.”
Dim light began to glow inside the ceiling and Arithallos grabbed Iain’s hand again. She looked around to see that there were several metal tables and counters in the room. One wall was lined with cabinets. There were only a few chairs, but they all had wheels on their legs. “Where are we?”
“This is a laboratory I set up on a small volcanic island not far from Evermeet. They don’t know it’s here and their navy patrols the area so everyone else stays away.” Iain pulled out a key and unlocked one of the cabinets. He opened it, pulled down a small jar with a bit of scale in it, closed and relocked the cabinet before putting the jar on the closest table. “Let me get the viewer.” He retrieved what looked like a jar lid with a crystal center from a drawer and, after unscrewing the lid from the jar, replaced it with the one from the drawer. He turned to look at her. “You’ve met Chaser, the senior ore diviner for the valley.”
“The way they search out ores is incredible,” Arithallos said as she took his hand once more. “I’ve met him. He’s a rather interesting person, even if he is not really a dragon.”
Iain nodded. “He is. One of my projects is studying how the ore diviners do what they do. The spells they use are standard sorcerer and, now, priest spells, but they’re used in rather unconventional ways that nobody else seems to consider. Dwarves, humans and other miners use the much more conventional exploratory mines and then follow the ores when they find them. The kobold way is much more efficient. Sometimes I wonder if they weren’t taught this when they were servants in the old dragon kingdoms and, like a lot of dragon knowledge, it became genetic and is passed down automatically.”
“Have you made any changes in the way they locate the ores,” Arithallos asked.
“I have not. I did change the way they use the divinations. When I found them, they used divination to locate the ore they wanted and then went after it. Now we survey all of the ores we can locate and then plan out how to more efficiently path the digging to keep access to many different ores at once. It tends to make kobold digs look much less like warrens and makes them much more defensible, with better planned choke points and kill zones for the vast array of traps kobolds like to employ.”
“That is very interesting, but what did you want to show me that would convince me that joining your clan would be to my benefit?”
“Chaser is not dragonwrought,” Iain said. “He is a relatively average example of the kobold race.”
“I knew that the moment I met him,” Arithallos was examining the scale in the jar. It was reddish brown, about the size of her smallest fingernail and was otherwise unremarkable.
“He’ll be celebrating his two hundredth and eighty second birthday this winter,” Iain replied.
Arithallos gave him a startled look. “That’s impossible. Kobolds don’t live over a century and a half and Chaser is in the prime of his life.”
“Outlander kobolds don’t live over a century and a half,” Iain said. “When I met Chaser,” he pressed something on the lid of the jar and a hologram appeared above the jar of an ancient kobold. “Chaser looked like this when I met him. This scale is from him at that time, before I gave him a twee.” Iain smiled. “A twee is a special device that, among other things, keeps people healthy for far longer than they could normally live and, if they’re older when they get one, it gradually reverses their physical age until they are at the peak of their strength. It also keeps a fertile female fertile while doing so. If she was fertile and no longer is, it will restore her fertility as it rolls back her physical age.”
Arithallos stared into his eyes. “This is the truth?”
“This is the truth,” Iain said solemnly. “And if you become clan, you will get a twee so we can continue having children for as long as we live.”
“How long does someone with this thing live?”
Iain smiled. “People with twee die from accidents or violence. Nobody with a twee has died of old age in a very long time. As a dragoness, you may continue to get stronger until that death.”
“How many of your clan have this twee?”
“Everyone except for a small handful of holdouts has one. The holdouts have chosen, for personal reasons, not to get one yet. That’s perfectly fine if they are an adult. Under clan law I will not force one of my clanswomen to get a twee, but it is my decision that all of the clan’s children will have them and that decision will be followed. It’s too useful and would help us find them if they go missing for some reason.”
Arithallos walked around the table and looked into Iain’s eyes. “Iain Grey, do you wish to have children with me?” She relaxed when he smiled and nodded. “My family does not marry. My clan believes that marrying is beneath us and for those who are not dragons, but if you insist, I will marry you.”
“Being my mate is sufficient,” Iain said gently.
“I like my cave.”
“Then you can live there,” Iain squeezed her hand. “I’m not going to live there. I’ll visit and stay, but I live in the valley. Our children will live in both places until they decide where they’d like to grow up.”
“I like that,” she said. “What will I have to do as clan?”
“We’ll figure that out as we go. Now, you becoming clan means that the land around your cave will be clan. Would you protest a small contingent if they were sent out to look over the security situation and work on traps and whatnot?”
“I think I would like that.” She smiled. “And Xune certainly will be glad to hear I’m becoming clan.”
“Finally,” Iain said in Xune’s voice.
Arithallos started and then laughed. “That is exactly what she’s going to say and the tone she’s going to say it in.”
Iain pulled his hand free as he touched the analyzer again and the hologram vanished. He swapped out the analyzer for the jar lid and put everything away. Then he took Arithallos’ hand once more. “Let me take you back to your home, I’ll induct you into the clan and give you your twee.”
“Can you stay?”
“I can and I will. I thought we’d go hunting and I could take a look at the area around your home before I bring Quick Bite by to talk to you about housing the security element.” He headed for the door. “This place is covered by a field that won’t allow any sort of transport spells or abilities to work, which is why we arrive and leave in the next room.” He opened the door with his free hand. “After you.”
***
Emerald released Ygerna’s hand. “Was that better, lady?”
Ygerna nodded. “It was just as if Iain were walking with us.” She shivered as the power he’d wrapped her with dissipated. “I feel completely normal. Thank you for bringing me to the Danger Room instead of back to the Sabine House.”
“You explained the change in procedure to Eirian and my lord,” Emerald replied. “And my lord does not wish to cause undo upset within his family.” She nodded as Theodora appeared. “Greetings, Theodora.”
“Welcome back, Emerald. Iain’s undead harem was not included in the return protocol requirements.”
“That is for the best,” Emerald replied. “We are undead and your medics would not work on us. It is likely that this possession detector would not as well.” She looked at Ygerna. “Is there anything else before I return?”
Ygerna slid the pack from her back. “No, and thank you again, Emerald.”
The green Dragoness bowed. “Lady. Theodora.” Shadows slid under her and she vanished into them.
“Welcome back, Ygerna,” Theodora said. “You’ve been gone for forty three seconds.”
“Privacy.”
Theodora’s eyebrow rose. “The entire procedure is covered under privacy, Ygerna.”
“I understand that, but I want everything except I the facts that I have returned and that I am unchanged to be covered under privacy, even from Daya as well as your conscious memories, until I say so.”
Theodora frowned. “And if I refuse to accept your invocation?”
“Then you will have to awaken the command elements of the clan and bring them here to make a decision before I will give you one byte of my memories from my time there. I will be the one to tell them what happened, not you.”
Theodora’s frown became a scowl. “And if I accept your invocation?”
“Then I will ask for an urgent meeting with the command staff this morning right after breakfast and I will release you from privacy at the end of that meeting. The regular privacy of the memories I am supposed to upload will remain.”
“Is this a way to ensure I will make certain that meeting happens?”
“I do not believe that this is quite a clan survival issue, so, yes, it is. As soon as it is known that I have visited Iain and met at least one of the women who will be marrying him while he is away, I will be hounded with questions about what took place. And once they learn that Iain briefed me on two others and what has been transpiring with him during his absence, I will have no peace from anyone. This meeting will let me answer the command staff’s questions all at once instead of over and over again. If I am denied that meeting, I will tell everyone nothing until it does take place or I will negotiate a steep price for each person I inform.”
“Is this really necessary?”
Ygerna shrugged. “Against my wishes, I have been sidelined by the members of my clan and family because I am pregnant. If you expect me to ignore the chance to reward them for their behavior, you have learned nothing about me.”
“I accept your invocation of privacy. Due to circumstances beyond my control, the meeting cannot take place until after lunch, but it has been scheduled.”
Ygerna shouldered the pack. “Then I suggest you warn everyone not to disturb me until that meeting unless you want to watch them be very upset at my lack of understanding. I asked Emerald to return me to outside medical.”
A door opened in one wall. “And she did precisely that. Please come this way.”
Iain Grey
Harem
Ninhursag Grey - Elfqueen & maharani
April Grey - Duelist & beta
Dominique Grey - Blessed Archmage
Pandora - Fiendish Archangel
Zareen - Nightmare
Sofia - Ria
Vanessa – Evangelion
Lucifer – Megami Sama
Ganieda – Snugglebunny Splice
Heather - Elfqueen
Marguerite – Unicorn
Scheherazade – Dread Wolf
Irena – Sanctuary Goth
Lynn – Dire Wolf
Rosemary – Mistoffeles
Dianthus – Elfqueen
Candace – Nurse Joy (kami)
Bellona – Dragonqueen
Elizabeth - Vampire
Outer Clan
Golden Cloud – equine unicorn
Arianrhod -Fey Goblin Female
Satellite Clan
74 male Goblins
89 female Goblins
Queendom / Outer Clan
73 Elves
Dionne - Elfqueen
Adrianna - Elfqueen
Heltu - Wet Queen
14 Wet Elves
Dead Harem
Eirian - Silver Dragoness
Aurum - Gold Dragoness
Skye - Blue Dragoness
Emerald - Green Dragoness
Beryl - Red Dragoness
Julia - human
Ling - Cheetit
Matilda - White Tigress
Liadan - Twau
Sorrel - Armsmistress
Natalie - Blazicunt
Maria – Slutton
Rhea Silvia – Chimera
Alabaster – Dragoness (white)
Onyx – Dragoness (black)
Lapis – Dragoness (blue)
Garnet – Dragoness (red)
Iolite – Dragoness (purple)
Malachite – Dragoness (green with white swirls)
Dabria (was Loviatar) – Dark Queen
Omisha (was Hel) – Demoness
Viersunuth great wyrm blue true dragoness
Helesatra Vyshaan half pit fiend (fiend) half sun elf. Princess of the Vyshaantar Empire.
Talyl – drow commoner
Zarza – drow commoner
Sabrae – drow commoner
Sintree – drow commoner
Alyfaen Dinaen – drow, matron of House Dinaen
Phaerxae Dinaen – drow, former matron of House Dinaen, mother of Alyfaen
Selsharra of Evermeet
Mother Children
Vanessa
Myrna (Age 4)
Saoirse
April
Dorothy: Duelist (Age 3)
Meara: Duelist
Regan: Duelist
Lucifer
Olivia: Megami Sama (Age 6)
Seraphina: Megami Sama
Miram: Angel (Age 5)
Zareen:
Caltha: Nightmare (Age 0)
Kim: Nightmare
Xanthe: Nightmare
Epona: Nightmare
Philippa: Nightmare
Nott: Nightmare
Nyx: Nightmare
Sofia
Anna: Ria
Esmerelda: Ria
Monica Chambers
James: Jamie Harris kid (Age 2)