Grey Chronicles
Twenty Five
(11/10/08 0845 Grey Ranch, Texas League)
Dominique stomped into the office with an annoyed expression that faded when she saw Iain already seated there. “They got you too?”
“Yeah. You have any idea what this is about?”
The Archmage shook her head and grinned before settling comfortably into his lap. “I don’t have a clue, but here I am and I would have to be an idiot to actually turn down a chance to cuddle with you.”
Iain pulled her gently against him. “What were you doing?”
“I’m designing a lab for teaching Bette and Lauren when they come back. A teaching lab is very different from my research lab and there’s a lot of stuff in my private laboratory that I don’t want anyone else knowing. You?”
“Lucifer sent over a wish list of equipment a few days ago. Theodora sent her a price list back and Lucifer made her first order. Theodora and I were planning out the deliveries.”
“What does she want?”
“Since I’m building Celstialville free of charge,” he began.
Dominique interrupted him. “Celestialville?”
“It’s what I’m calling it in my head. As far as I know it doesn’t have a name yet, although I have requested that the words Iain and Grey not be used as part of any name.”
“No Greytown?”
“Fuck no.” He grinned. “As I was saying, because I’m not charging for the construction, most of her list is military equipment and such. Eve and Pandora demonstrated the GAR rifles and Lucifer wants ten thousand GAR-10s, three thousand GAR-15s and twenty thousand G1 and G2 pistols and about half a million rounds of SAP ammunition in each caliber for them. She wants several tonnes of explosives and she also wants twee for every person in the Sisterhood. Theodora and I busy were prioritizing the manufacturing list around what we still want built when Eve popped up and informed me that my presence was required for a vital meeting here.”
“What do you think Lucifer wants with so many kilograms of explosives?”
“I think she’s planning on constructing bolt holes and some bases around the world. I know they brought a lot of construction gear, but explosives may have been harder to get. She’s got the money so we’ll get her everything on the list. To be honest, if we didn’t have the Theodora I’d be working on places to run to as well.”
Dominique cocked her head. “How much are we charging for the twee?”
“Twee were developed under an agreement among the major clans of the time that they would provide them freely to any Tirsuli who wanted them as long as it didn’t beggar the clans manufacturing them. Lucifer is joining us and I will give them to her and hers just as the other clans would have.”
“Do the facts that they have twees and also have access to the SAP ammo mean the Sisterhood is satellite clan?”
“I don’t know. It’s a special case because Lucifer is going to be outer clan and she thinks of them as her life’s work if not her children. And since she and Eve love each other I’m not going to deny her a lot.”
“That’s good to hear.” Eve came in, followed by April and Ninhursag. “And it’s good to see you two being so close.”
Dominique’s crimson eyebrows rose questioningly. “All right, what are you three up to?”
Ninhursag shut the door and leaned against it as April and Eve sat down at in the last two chairs in the room. Eve smiled warmly. “Dominique, how do you feel about Iain?”
Dominique looked even more confused than she had a few seconds ago. “I think you all know that I love him. Where is this going?”
The Megami-sama ignored the question. “Iain, how do you feel about Dominique?”
“I love her. Now answer Dominique’s question.”
Dominique was starting to look irritated again. “It’s questions, Iain. I asked them twice.”
Eve’s smile turned triumphant. “Let’s make sure we’re all clear on this. Iain loves you and you love him, right?”
“I’m starting to lose my temper,” Dominique said warningly.
“Calm down,” April said soothingly. “This is important. Iain, Dominique has been in the harem nearly as long as I have. Why haven’t you married her?”
Dominique scowled and turned to face Iain. “Did you put them up to this?”
He shook his head almost frantically. It made sense when one considered that the Archmage looking at him so unhappily had a volatile temper and was in his lap. “No, I didn’t. We had an agreement.”
“You are the one who wanted to announce it from the rooftops.”
“I still do, but I wouldn’t go about it this way.” Iain looked past her at Eve. “What brought this on?”
Ninhursag chuckled from where she still stood. “Those two decided it has been too long and it wasn’t fair to Dominique. According to them you need to stop mourning your dead and marry Dominique.”
Dominique’s scowl deepened. “That explains them. Why are you here?”
“I am the maharani. Besides, I’m next in line, I hope. At least I am if we’re going by seniority. I’ve never been married and I’m curious how it’s different from what we have now.”
Dominique sighed and glanced at Iain. “You?”
“Can’t. Promised, remember?”
“I release you from it.”
He shrugged. “Not going to let you do that to me. You do it.”
The Archmage nestled into his arms and rested her cheek against his chest as she looked back at the others. “We are already married.”
Everyone looked surprised. April’s mouth dropped. “What? When? How?”
Dominique shifted slightly so she could look up at Iain with her bright crimson eyes. “Do I have to explain it?”
“No, but you know she won’t give you any peace for a while if you don’t.”
“That’s true enough. It was a month or so after you married him, April. We were discussing the future and I asked him if he intended to marry me too. He said that he did. I asked him why wait and he took the hint and asked me to be his wife. I said I would. A little while later I made him promise not to breathe a word of our marriage to anyone else.”
April shook her head. “That’s a proposal, not a marriage. Marriage requires witnesses at the very least.”
Dominique laughed at her without moving. “Those are human rules and I see no reason to let them apply to me. The fact that the humans convinced you that witnesses and a priest or government official of some kind was the only way to make a marriage real is your problem, not mine.” She raised her head and fixed April with a neutral gaze. “Let me explain something to you, girl. I was grown, not born. I had no father and no mother and I don’t miss it. I was never raised to believe that human society was mine. That was for the best since later I was told for centuries that I was never human and could never be human. It made sense to me because humans were my enemy during the formative years of my life. I never wanted to be human, although I did and still do like the idea of clothes. I accepted human rules after the war as much as I did because they had the power to make me do so. My only other choices were death or going feral, which is pretty much the same as being dead.” She dropped her head back onto Iain’s chest. “Iain freed me from having to pretend to accept human society and I never looked back. So I make the rules for me and I decide what human rules I will or will not obey. I love Iain and Iain loves me and if we say we are married we are. If you don’t like it, I really don’t give a shit.”
Eve put a hand on April’s arm as the Duelist opened her mouth. She subsided as the Megami-sama looked curiously at Iain and Dominique. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I didn’t think it was any of your business. At the time you were still treating me like an outsider because of how I joined the harem and that left me more than a little pissed at you during that period. I figured you’d find out eventually when my first children were born and someone made a crack about them being illegitimate. That’s when I’d shove the fact I was married to Iain down your throat. Later you became mostly acceptable, but we have never been close friends, Eve. First you were alpha and then you were just bitter.”
“But if I’d known, I would have,” she began.
Dominique interrupted her hotly. “What, treated me differently? Better? That’s your problem, Eve, you like to put people into categories that fit your human conditioned mind. Married, unmarried, bitch, suck-up, they’re all neat little boxes for you to use. It’s a common failing among celestials, by the way. You know what that does? It keeps you from knowing what people are really like.” She snickered. “Watching Iain as he defied your categories time after time and how it tied your brain in knots has been one of my greatest sources of amusement. He was right to do it, though. Once you’ve categorized someone they’re in that box pretty much forever. I certainly am.”
“What does that mean,” Ninhursag asked quietly.
“You’re guilty of it too, although not as much as Eve is. I was a page in the Order of Pendragon. I was as well trained as any knight. My specialty is offensive magic and tactics. I’m an expert in melee weapons and when I joined the harem Eve saw I was a Dark Elf and put me in the category of support, where I’ve been ever since. When you became alpha you accepted her categorizations of people without ever questioning them, even when you knew she was an awful teacher.” She grinned and sat up in Iain’s lap. “I’ve also been training my husband in swordsmanship and working with him on magic when we’re alone and have time. He appreciates my abilities.” Her smile faded. “So now you know that Iain hasn’t been snubbing me by not offering me marriage. I have been Dominique Grey for a while now. Not that marriage is really that important. It’s not like any of us, married or not, is going to leave him. We have found a home here and that ties us to Iain with bindings that none of us will ever want to break.” She twisted slightly to look at Ninhursag. “Just understand that human rules apply to us just as much or as little as we want to let them.”
The Elfqueen shrugged. “I know, but pokegirls don’t have a society and societal rules of their own, no matter how much we like to pretend we do. Elf courts are stolen from human fantasy and mythology. Even the Limbec Pirates acted like humans expected pirates to act.”
“We are a clan now,” Dominique said firmly, “and in Texas where we have a chance to define our own rules, although, Iain is human and his values are always going to be important to us.”
“Don’t forget,” Iain spoke gently, “that a lot of the pokegirls here were raised in human society and accept it as their own. Some who weren’t also have accepted it or are trying to. I won’t deny them that just so you can redefine who you are.”
Dominique nodded. “I know. You’ll do what you can to make sure that we’re all as happy as possible. Did it ever occur to you that you might be a little less unhappy if you spent less time trying to juggle things so all of us are happier?”
Iain chuckled. “Polygamy is always hardest on the husband, polyandry hardest on the wife. I suppose group or line marriage with more than one husband is best, but it would be too hard on pokegirls to bond with different men regularly.” He looked at Ninhursag. “Is there anything else?”
She was looking at him with an expression he didn’t recognize. “Do you think that you might love me some day?”
With a shock, Iain realized it was longing. “If we live I know I will.”
She nodded and reached for the door. “As soon as you know, you’ll tell me.”
“I promise you I will.”
***
(11/11/08 0730 Grey Ranch, Texas League)
The ring of berry bushes had thickened and glowed with health. In the center the omega arrow that he and Ninhursag had planted was now a tree twenty meters tall with a base over a meter in diameter. Silver leaves cast bright lights in all directions and sprays of red flowers hung so thickly that the tree looked red from any distance. Bees thrummed happily around the unexpected feast.
Iain took in a lungful of the spicy fragrance from the flowers. The smell seemed to have a calming effect and he wondered about potential uses in aromatherapy for relaxation. Then again, Ninhursag was unlikely to approve of harvesting the flowers for their perfume and that didn’t even begin to take into account what the tree might think about it. “I hope that tree realizes that it’s November. Even in Texas winter is right around the corner.”
“I’m sure everything will be fine.” Ninhursag gave him an amused smile. “One does not question a happy tree. One merely accepts the bounty that it chooses to provide us.” She winked. “Just be glad that it’s not a hundred meters tall. If it were its canopy would block the sun to the berry bushes.”
Allison’s ears twitched and then went still. Iain was learning it was one of her tells when she was thinking hard or consulting her twee. Her eyes widened as she stared at the omega tree and then she gave a low whistle. “It’s an entirely new tree that you created.” The look she gave Iain was filled with awe and more than a little fear. She and Daphne were here as witnesses while April provided security and Ninhursag oversaw today’s events.
Iain was there because, well, because it was a ceremony and as clan head he was supposed to take part in clan ceremonies. “I didn’t do it alone,” he said with a defensive tone. “Ninhursag helped and a lot of the credit is hers.”
The Elfqueen glanced at him. “I disagree. You did this and I’m proud that you did it for me.”
Daphne eyed the tree with interest. “Is that where those tasty pseudo chocolate fruits come from?”
“A similar tree produced those,” April replied with a slightly absent air. She had several cards activated and, while not controlling them like some Duelists did, she was rotating seeing through each of their eyes and listening through their ears in turn to monitor for things they might not pick up on. “We’ll know when this one sets fruit if it’ll produce the same thing. Since the trees were all created through magic and this tree was modified further through more magic there is no way to tell if it will behave the same as another omega tree.”
“So it could give something entirely different?” Rosemary’s grin was blinding. “Magic is so neat!”
“According to Dominique and Iain magic has its own logic,” Ninhursag explained. “It is only imperfectly understood and my experience is that sometimes it doesn’t make any sense to the person trying to use it. After today you’ll find that we’re all right and we’re all wrong to some degree when we try to explain how magical effects come about. All anyone with any magical training can say with certainty is that we did this and got this effect. We can expect with a strong degree of certainty that every time we do something the same way we will get the same result, but we can’t give any absolute reassurance of it.”
They stopped under the omega tree. Iain frowned as something seemed to tug at the edge of his awareness.
“You feel it too.” He turned to see Ninhursag watching him and tuned himself to her energy patterns as he’d done once before. The world came alive with the life of the plants and he focused on the omega tree. Without hesitating he stepped forward and pressed his palms flat against the bark.
When he was there for more than a minute, April turned to the others. “Daphne, Allison, Rosemary, Sofia, Ryan, put out a perimeter. Nothing gets in or out unless it’s one of us.” She smacked Ninhursag on the back. The Elfqueen had been bemusedly watching Iain.
Ninhursag blinked and tore her gaze away from her male. “What is it?”
“You’ve been entranced by him. What’s going on?”
“I’m not completely sure.”
“I hate it when you say things like that about him.”
Ninhursag had gone back to watching Iain. “I’m not going to lie to reassure you. The tree called to him and they’re talking now.” She cocked her head. “Mostly it’s talking and he’s listening to it.”
“Why are his eyes silver?”
“I think that happens when he uses powers he learned from me. He should learn to suppress that.”
April blinked. “What did he learn from you?”
“He learned how to see what I see and how to talk to plants from me.” She glanced at April. “I wonder if he could learn card magic from you.”
The Duelist’s eyes narrowed. “I am not going to teach him how to lessen his life energy to power cards. Not a chance.”
“I suppose you have a point.” Iain dropped his hands and Ninhursag touched him on the shoulder. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. The tree wanted to fill me in on everything that’s happened since the last time we talked.”
Ninhursag’s eyebrows rose. “Is that all you two talked about?”
Iain frowned at her before his lips set. “No.”
“So, what else was there?”
His face grew even more truculent. “I’m not willing to discuss that right now.”
“But later you will?”
He shrugged. “You’re a persistent wench so it’s likely you’ll pester it out of me.”
That got a smile from her. “Expect the pestering to start immediately.”
“I do,” he muttered. For an instant he pictured his sword buried in the center of her chest and shook off the image. “Now let’s get back to the real reason we’re out here.”
April was looking into his face. “You’re eyes are still silver.”
He blinked and the silver faded to reveal his normal blue-green color. “Better?”
“Much.” April raised her voice. “Secure the perimeter. Everyone get back here.”
“Perimeter?”
“Iain, I wasn’t sure how long you were going to be chatting up that tree so I set up guard positions.”
“We’re not that far from the house.” He flashed a smile. “And the tree was chatting me up.”
“Whatever. And while I’m sure the feral situation isn’t as bad as it was in Ireland, I’m not going to take chances with your life.”
Ninhursag cleared her throat. “The feral situation is going to get a lot worse than you’ve ever seen it, April, before it begins to settle out. Right now the ferals came from Sukebe’s armies and it’s going to be predator and combat heavy. Only the fact that they’re busy eating the animals is letting the normal prey pokegirls reproduce and raise litters. It won’t be enough, mind you, since the predators are also reproducing at the same rate as the prey pokegirls. In a decade or so there’s going to be way too many predatory pokegirls and they’re going to start starving. That’s when the bloodiest attacks on the humans took place, um, will take place. IOD the memories of that time caused the most hardline rules to be put into place about pokegirls and the defense of cities. That was when there were years when waves of pokegirls nearly swamped the defenses. In some cases they did and towns were blotted from the face of the earth. At that time farms like this will draw every pokegirl for dozens of kilometers. If refugees end up here it’ll just be that much more meat to lure the ferals. Setting up strong perimeters is a good habit to get into before we need them the most.”
“Far be it from me to disagree with the voice of experience. April, also make a note that we will want to expand the area in which we’re hunting ferals as we get more hunters. If we keep their numbers thin farther out we’ll have less trouble in the future.”
“I will, Iain.” April watched as everyone returned. “Now, who is first?”
Ryan stepped forward instantly. “I am.”
Ninhursag pulled out a small bag with the word “Ryan” written on it in permanent marker and opened it. She looked inside and handed it to Iain. He shook out into his hand a golden orb that seemed to pulse slowly. He looked up. “Ryan, are you sure you want to do this? There isn’t any going back once this is done.”
The Ponytaur was staring at the stone. She swallowed hard and spoke without looking away from it. “Will it hurt?”
“No, it won’t,” April said soothingly. “You won’t really feel anything while it’s happening. And afterwards it won’t hurt at all. In fact you’ll feel energized if you feel anything.”
Ryan looked up and into Iain’s eyes. “I’m frightened.”
“You don’t have to do this.”
Sofia put her hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “I will go before you so that you can see that there is nothing to be afraid of.”
Ryan hugged the Peekabu. “Thank you.”
April frowned. “You don’t have a stone based evolution, Sofia. Nobody can predict when you will become a Ria.”
The funny thing, Iain said to his twee, is that once upon a time the evolution of Peekabu to Ria did involve a thunder stone. Someone revised her to get rid of it, which changed reality to make it so. That should have made Where None Has Gone Before into an alternate universe story because Kebi evolved with a stone, but it was after a capricious ruling that pissed me the hell off about pokegirl revisions and stories that was itself an arbitrary decision to make one man happy.
Sofia laughed sardonically at April, making the Duelist scowl at the open scorn in it. “You of all people should know that is not true. Iain can give me what he gave you. It is why I am here today.” She focused on Iain, her ears quivering slightly as they locked on him. “I am inner harem, am I not?”
“You are.”
“I want the final thing that will show I am inner harem. Will you evolve me and grant it to me today?”
Iain looked into her eyes and was, as always, shocked at the level of trust he saw in them. She didn’t trust anyone else the way she trusted him and the thought that he might not be worthy of that trust frightened him. The fact that a part of him was raging against giving her what she wanted by drilling another potential hole in his defenses just to make her happy didn’t help to reassure him, even if nobody else was aware of it.
He also knew that if Sofia had decided that this was what she wanted, asking her if she really wanted this was a waste of time. Without thinking about it he dropped the evolution stone back into the bag and handed it to Ninhursag.
“I will.” Iain took her face in his hands and kissed her gently as the human/pokegirl template he’d used to evolve April flared in his mind. This time, however, things were very different. His own growing power interfaced with the template and he suddenly understood it in ways that he hadn’t with April.
When he’d evolved April he’d just applied the Duelist template to her. Now he knew he could control the result with a precision he hadn’t had when he’d used it on April. If he wanted, he could change how Sofia would look. Eye, hair and skin color were easy. He could give her fur, scales or even wings if he desired. He could even make them inheritable, creating a new pokegirl species. In short, he could manipulate the evolution, hell any evolution, in a way that only Sukebe had been able to do. Looking deeper, he saw the shadows that were the powers given to the legendaries and wondered if not even James had been able to see the full potential of what he’d crafted since after all, Sukebe had in the end only been part of the story while Iain was an author and a truewizard. But after considering for a very long instant he merely made Sofia a Ria, as he knew she wanted.
The glow spread to encompass them both and he heard the gasps from those assembled, but his focus was on Sofia and the changes being wrought as she became a Ria. As he had with April, he purged her DNA of the loose threads that caused threshold. As a pokegirl, any offspring would be Ria. Once she became a pokewoman Sofia’s children would be either Ria or human as chance dictated but any human daughters would not have to worry about ever becoming pokegirls through threshold.
This time he actually felt the delta bond forming and again understood it in ways that he hadn’t before. He knew how they formed and why and, more importantly, how to safely rip them free from himself if required. He could also prevent them from forming during an evolution in which he was a catalyst or how to force one if it wasn’t normally going to occur. Since he could only create them with him as one end of the bond, he wasn’t sure he’d ever find a situation where he’d make one happen during an evolution of a pokegirl he wasn’t interested in.
The glow died and he broke the kiss. Sofia had changed but only in what Iain considered superficial ways. Her hair was still the deep brown-black it had been before and her eyes were still dark brown. On the other hand her ears had gone from pointed and yellow to more of a golden. The shape had changed too and now they were wider at the base and more rounded on the end. Her tail had changed too, becoming more like an artist’s depiction of a lightning bolt than the zigzag it had been originally. The tail’s color had also changed to match the ears. She was wearing her customary blouse and skirt and since they were loose on he would only be able to note any changes to her figure if they were very obvious, which he didn’t see. However, her arms, while still slender, were sleek with more muscle than she’d had a few minutes ago.
Sofia’s hand blurred and she was holding his arm. Her ears flicked. “You were rubbing your chest again.” Her heavy accent and voice were unchanged, although she seemed more, something. After thinking about it for a second, vibrant was the only word Iain could come up with.
April frowned. “While I appreciate the help it isn’t your job to help him stop doing it.”
“It is a sign of weakness. As one of his maharani I do not want him to appear weak.”
Iain stared at her as April spluttered and Ninhursag’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Apparently the changes to Sofia’s mental architecture might be much more profound than her external ones. From what he understood about evolution, it was rather unexpected. Perhaps Sofia was merely more confident in her position, but the change in behavior was rather abrupt. Something occurred to him. Theodora, I’d like you to explore the ramifications of evolving a pokegirl while she has a twee.
Her mental tone was bemused. I shall give it high priority. Sofia’s twee is willing to cooperate and so is she. I can tell you immediately that a quick review of her memories and my records indicate that you are correct and this behavior is not something Sofia would have shown before her evolution. The implications could be rather profound.
Ninhursag’s shock was fading and it looked like that shock was being replaced with anger. “As one of his what?”
“Iain is also Rafael Constanza Delgado Lopez and his harem still exists. I am the maharani of that harem.”
Ninhursag’s mouth dropped. “That’s absurd. It’s an arbitrary distinction and nonsense.”
Sofia looked like she was becoming nervous, but it didn’t show in her voice. “If it was your absurdity and your distinction, would you relinquish it because of the demands of someone else in a harem you were in if insisting on it might gain you status?”
April stared at her like she’d never seen Sofia before and then turned on Iain. “Iain, put a stop to this immediately.” When his expression changed she suddenly realized she’d said the wrong thing. The worried look in Ninhursag’s eyes suggested she realized April had crossed a line too. The Duelist gave him a slightly nervous smile. “I mean all you have to do is make an official statement that you’re combining this fictional harem with your own. Sofia won’t be able to claim she’s a maharani anymore.”
“I don’t think there’s anything to stop. Sofia is technically correct and technicality is the soul of most rankings within a harem. It doesn’t change her position within the harem of Iain Grey, but I don’t see where she can’t be maharani of Rafael’s harem as well.” He looked at Sofia. “You do understand that this does not change your place within the Iain Grey harem.”
Sofia nodded. “It is ceremonial.” Her eyes shifted to April. “But my rank exists.”
Ninhursag looked mad enough to break something or, more preferably, someone. Her face blanked when Iain’s eyes flicked her way.
Ah, pokegirls and the constant squabble for status. It was time to pretend that he had some kind of control of this sort of thing. Iain folded his arms. “So, as a maharani, don’t you think you should stop tweaking April’s tail and talk to Ryan and the others about how evolving feels since that’s why you went first? I would like to evolve them sometime today.”
Sofia looked suitably abashed. “I am sorry.” She turned to the others. “Ryan, as you can see, I did not change from becoming a Ria.”
“You’re more of a bitch,” April muttered. She blinked when she realized she’d spoken aloud and flushed bright red when one of Sofia’s ears rotated to point at her. “Sorry. You didn’t deserve my saying that about you.”
“Becoming a Ria did not hurt,” Sofia continued, still speaking to Ryan and the others, “and I am still me.”
“Does he have to kiss me too?” Ryan looked eagerly between the four people in front of her. “I want him to!”
“That’s Iain’s call,” Allison said unexpectedly. “He will or he won’t as he wishes. Satellite clan has no right to demand anything like that.”
The Ponytaur bobbed her head apologetically. “You’re right. I’m sorry to be out of line in my request.”
The Umbrea fixed him with an interested gaze. “Well? I understand that the kiss is not necessary for evolving her but while Ryan has no right to demand a kiss, you did set a precedent with Sofia.”
“I think it’s a bad idea,” Ninhursag’s voice was firm. “They are not harem.”
Iain looked from April to Sofia, but neither gave any indication of how they felt about the issue. He got the impression they were deliberately staying out of the discussion and suddenly he had that sensation that he was sinking deeper into the morass of harem politics. He could feel it closing over his head as he vanished into it. It felt suffocating.
There are overlapping issues of responsibility involved, Theodora said into his mind. As maharini, Ninhursag will give you advice on this and any of your girls can if you ask them to, but since this only affects the outer / satellite clan they don’t want to interfere between you and your alpha.
Iain managed not to let his shock show on his face. Alpha? What alpha?
During the time you left the satellite clan on the Theodora they had to work out their differences and coalesce into a group. A harem if you will, since that’s what they call themselves even though you have not tamed them yet.
Iain thought furiously. Why did they do this?
They were alone and had no leadership from you or your harem other than Vanessa, who was busy with the girls and paid them no mind. Because of this, it was necessary that they organize in order to keep them from fighting each other all of the time. This group has a leader and it was decided by a meeting of all of the clan except you that inner clan and outer clan leaders would be maharani but the satellite clan leaders among pokegirls would be alphas. Allison is the alpha of the satellite clan until you tame her and then she will become the outer harem maharani. It is expected, of course, that you will bed Allison first.
Of course, Iain thought numbly. Why would I want to break with what everyone seems to expect of me? For an instant he had this wild urge to pull his pistol and start shooting people. He buried where it belonged with the rest of the blackness in his soul. “I think that Ninhursag has a valid point. If I set tradition now by kissing everyone who wishes to evolve who is not part of the outer or inner harem then eventually you’ll have to watch me kiss pokegirls who will never become harem.”
Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “I retract the request,” she stated flatly. Behind her Allison nodded her fervent agreement.
Iain held out his hand to Ninhursag, who dropped Ryan’s bag into it. He shook out the golden stone. “Something that I will enshrine in the hall of tradition is that any person who evolves in my clan will do so voluntarily. Even though I know you’re not being pressured into this, I have to ask the questions I want asked a thousand years from now when we all may be dead.”
Ryan blinked and straightened. “You did not ask these questions of Sofia,” she pointed out.
“That’s true. I didn’t ask Sofia because I know her well enough to understand that she doesn’t speak unless she knows her mind and is already ready for something to happen.” Sofia looked surprised and then colored with pleasure. Iain continued. “Ryan, do you choose to do this of your own free will and without the coercion of anyone else?”
“I do,” she said solemnly.
“Ryan, is this something you want to do?”
“It is. I want this gift.”
I’ll remember to refer to it as a gift in the future, Theodora whispered in his mind. It sets the right tone.
“She’s telling the truth,” April announced. She’d recently learned the truth spell that the celestials knew. Iain wasn’t sure he was pleased that it was spreading throughout his harem, but all he could do was deal with it.
“Then, Ryan, hold out your hand.” The Ponytaur did so and Iain placed the stone in her palm, closing his hand around hers. The glow erupted from both of their hands but only spread up Ryan’s arm. The energy did try to travel to him, but Iain used his newfound knowledge to successfully hold it at bay.
When the glow died, Daphne, Rosemary and Allison gasped. Unlike Sofia, Ryan’s transformation had been significant. Before, the Ponytaur had looked like a typical all-American girl with hazel eyes and shoulder length brown hair wearing an orchid colored knee length knit dress. Now Ryan had blue eyes and waist length hair a bright golden blonde that shimmered in the sun. She was a couple of centimeters taller than she’d been before and much more shapely. But what everyone was primarily staring at was the ten centimeter long gold horn that projected from the center of her forehead.
Ryan stared back at them with a slightly worried expression. “What?”
Ninhursag had brought along a hand mirror and she handed it to the new Unicorn. “Take a look.”
Ryan’s mouth dropped at what she saw in it. “I’m,” she hesitated and then blurted, “I’m pretty.” Still looking in the mirror, she reached up and touched her horn.
April smiled at her. “You’ve got a lot to learn about the new you, Ryan. It’s going to be some time before you’re comfortable in your new powers, but trust me when I say that you should enjoy the changes.” She touched the Unicorn on the arm. “Now, you need to come over here so Rosemary can have her turn.”
The Kitten grinned eagerly. “I can’t wait!” Her ears flicked when Ryan reluctantly held out the mirror. “No, you keep it.” The Unicorn happily clutched the mirror as she stepped over next to Daphne, who patted her on the shoulder.
Iain held out his hand and Ninhursag dropped another pouch into it, this one emblazoned with Rosemary’s name. Iain dumped a pale pink stone that glittered gold into his palm. Close examination would show that the gold was a pentagram that seemed to rotate inside the crystal. He closed his fingers over it and looked at the Kitten. “I know what you say you want, but I would like to ask if you would let me try something a little different with you.”
April and Ninhursag both turned to stare at him. “What are you doing,” the Elfqueen asked.
“This is between Rosemary and me,” he said without looking away from the calico haired Kitten standing in front of him.
Rosemary’s ears flicked nervously before flattening. “Then I must ask what you are doing, Iain. What are you doing?”
“If I use this mana crystal on you, you will become an Ocelolita, which is a perfectly adequate pokegirl breed. However, it has some behavioral tendencies that I am not fond of. I know you want to become magical and an Ocelolita would definitely give you that. However, there is another breed that would give you magical abilities that are much more under your control and it doesn’t have the behavior issues.”
Rosemary’s ears had slowly come back up as he spoke. “You understand that I do wish to be able to do magic. I went through everything that I could become and the Ocelolita is the only one that can do magic.”
“Do you understand what I did with Sofia? I caused her to undergo an evolution that she can go through but does not require an evolutionary aid like a stone or a medal. If I do that with you, you will become a Catgirl. As a Catgirl, the application of a mana crystal will cause you to evolve to become a Mistoffeles. Examine that breed with your twee and see what you think.” He held up his empty hand in a soothing motion. “Just understand that if you decide you still wish to become an Ocelolita, I will do as you want and evolve you to one.”
Rosemary cocked her head. “Could I later become a Nekomata?”
“This is all your choice, Rosemary. If you wish to become a Nekomata we will find you a Tatmon to apply the necessary rune tattoos. If you wish to become an Ocelolita you will be just as welcome as you would be as a Mistoffeles.”
Rosemary smiled. “It might be that you would accept me as either equally, but I have heard that Dominique is not happy with the idea of having to teach magic to an Ocelolita because of the chance I’ll damage her lab. Would she be as unhappy about a Mistoffeles?”
Iain frowned. Dominique?
He felt a brief spurt of irritation. Apparently she was focused on something she considered important. What is it, Iain?
I’m sorry to disturb you, but Rosemary wants to know if you would be happier to teach her if she were a Mistoffeles instead of if she were an Ocelolita.
Now he felt surprise, followed by more irritation. I don’t think it’s important. She can’t become a Mistoffeles. I’m sorry she found out I wasn’t looking forward to training her, but I don’t want her leveling my lab or setting me on fire.
Actually it is a relevant question. I can evolve her to Catgirl and then use the mana crystal to make her a Mistoffeles. Which would you rather teach?
I will be right there. Do nothing until I arrive.
He smiled wryly. “Dominique is on her way.”
She appeared a few seconds later. “Explain.”
He folded his arms. “Answer the question first.”
She started to say something and stopped, staring at Sofia. “You’re a Ria.”
“I am,” Sofia said proudly.
Dominique turned to Iain. “It’s not a coincidence she evolved today, is it?”
“Nope. And before you demand an explanation, we’re about to enter a loop where you demand answers and I remind you that I asked you a question first.”
Dominique took a deep breath. “Rosemary, I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings. I didn’t realize that the person I was talking to would run to you and tell tales. I’ll deal with her later, but I am willing to teach you magic no matter what breed you become.”
The Kitten’s ears flicked. “Would you rather teach an Ocelolita or a Mistoffeles?”
“If I have a choice I’d rather teach a Mistoffeles. They’re much smarter than an Ocelolita and don’t have the Ocelolita wild magic issue that can cause catastrophic problems.”
“Then I would rather become a Mistoffeles,” Rosemary told Iain. “I wish to only cause catastrophes to my enemies and not my clanswomen.” She smiled. “I wish to do this, I am doing this of my own free will and I am not being coerced in any way.”
“She’s telling the truth,” April confirmed.
“I’m already watching you with all of my senses,” Dominique said to him.
He chuckled. “All right.” He dropped the mana crystal into the pouch and gave it back to Ninhursag. “We’ll do this in two steps to avoid any mistakes. Rosemary, hold out your hands.”
The Kitten held out her hands and Iain took them. He looked at the template and, for an instant, considered ignoring the Catgirl step and trying to go straight to the Mistoffeles. However he wasn’t sure that he couldn’t hurt Rosemary and since she was clan and under his protection it wasn’t a chance he was willing to take. But he made a mental note that if the opportunity came up with an enemy to consider something like it again. Then he twisted the template to make a Catgirl before applying it to Rosemary.
The glow erupted from his fingers and spread to cover the Kitten. When it died down, Rosemary was taller but otherwise unchanged. She grinned. “This is awesome!”
“I’m glad you think so since you get to do it again.” Iain let go of Rosemary’s left hand and held his out. Ninhursag upended the bag holding the mana crystal over it. Before he could do more than grip the stone, Rosemary grabbed his hand with her free one. Once more a glow engulfed her. When it died down her calico hair, ears and tail were now a shiny black. “Ryan still has the mirror.” When, trailed by Allison, she headed over to wrestle with the Unicorn for the mirror, he turned to Dominique. “Did you get that?”
“I think I’ll second her awesome comment.” Dominique flashed a smile. “You’re learning to do things that I can’t reproduce. It’s both aggravating and a source of pride that my man is of such prime stock.”
“I still have a lot to learn from you,” he reminded her.
“Oh, that’s one of the things that makes your progress bearable,” she said with a wink. “That and we’re the ones who’ll be using that stock to make better babies.”
April and Ninhursag exchanged a look. The Duelist sighed and nodded. “You tell him.”
Iain’s eyes flicked towards them. “You want me to start taming them,” he said quietly.
“I’m pretty sure I’m glad you understand what we’ve been discussing,” Ninhursag said with a smile. “It’s time.”
Iain touched April on the arm. “It won’t change what’s between us.”
“I know. I just seem to have some Enchantress blood in my family that I’m not aware of. I don’t want to share.”
He nodded. “I will always love you.”
“I know. Some days it’s what gets me up in the morning.”
He looked into her eyes. “April, if you don’t want me to do this, then I won’t. We’ll find another way.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want you to do this and you must. I know you’d refuse for me, but this is bigger than me. I had to get used to every person who joined the harem after I officially did. I’ll get used to them too.” She squared her shoulders. “But something from you would help a lot.”
“Name it,” he said softly.
“I want our shaving time back. It’s our private time together and I miss it.”
“I kind of like my beard.”
She shrugged. “Then I’ll trim it and spend the rest of the time with you. I mean if you haven’t allocated that time to someone else.”
“He hasn’t,” Ninhursag said with a chuckle. “And it’s been a bone of contention in the harem, too. He’s been using it for a little private time.”
“Oh,” April looked down and then back up. “Never mind; I know you need some time to be alone.”
“I miss the time with you too,” Iain took her hand. “And I want to spend that time with you again, but if you ever walk away from it like you did,” he trailed off. “I’m not sure what I’ll do but I don’t think it’ll be pretty.”
“I shouldn’t have done it then and I won’t do it again,” April’s voice was firm. “If I decide I need to be alone for a while, I’ll talk to you first, I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
She nodded. “Then Allison will be first tonight.”
“No, she won’t.” Ninhursag frowned at his statement and he explained. “Look, I know about Allison having to be tamed first and I’m not going to contest that one even though I’m a little irked that I didn’t have any input in that at all. But there’s another tradition that I give the night to someone in the family who has evolved and I think that since Allison and the others aren’t family just yet inner harem should come first.” He blinked when Dominique snickered. “I mean should have priority. That means Sofia is who I want to spend time with tonight.”
The Ria had been standing quietly beside Iain where she was intently watching the conversation. “I would like that.”
Ninhursag smiled suddenly. “Give another perk for the inner harem? You won’t hear me saying no to it.”
“I didn’t think you would.”
***
Iain Grey
Living Harem
Ninhursag - Elfqueen & maharani
Eve Grey - Megami Sama
April Grey - Duelist & beta
Dominique - Blessed Archmage
Pandora - Fiendish Archangel
Canaan - G Splice (Hunter Amachamp & Alaka-Wham)
Zareen - Nightmare
Raquel - Fiendish Rapitaur
Sofia - Ria
Vanessa - Evangelion
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
Slutton
Ranch employees
Daphne - Whorizard
Lynn - Growlie
Chuck - Doggirl
Ryan – Unicorn
Winifred - Rack (German)
Rosemary - Mistoffeles (Uruguayan)
Allison - Umbrea
Silver - Ponytaur
12 Elves
2 Elfqueens - Dionne & Adrianna
Joyce - Milktit
Lake Employees
Heltu - Wet Queen
6 Wet Elves