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Grey Chronicles
Eighteen
Iain sat at the desk in their hotel suite and stared at the three pokedexes in front of him. Are you really that worried about what you’ll find? If you’d like I can do it for you.
He sighed softly. “No, Theodora, it’s my job.” He pulled the Austin Drummond pokedex to him and activated the mail app. “Apparently they haven’t twigged to the Austin identity yet.” There were, however, two messages from Peony. Iain thought for a second and ignored them for the moment. Then he touched the screen on the Kerrik Wolf pokedex. “Shit.” There were twenty six messages from the Blue League. He began scrolling through them. Most were from the Ministry of Defense, but only two were from Caleb McHugh. The rest were from lower ranking members of the ministry. One was from an Admiral Dominic Stephens or one of his staff. Two were from Monica. And one was from Colin Llewellyn.
Iain began with the ones from league functionaries. They started out with requests for an explanation as to why he hadn’t reported to his duty station and quickly became demands. Then they started invoking regulations about dereliction of duty and abruptly ended after threatening courts martial. “Cheerful lot. At least nobody mentioned a firing squad or Dildoqueens at dawn.”
“What did you expect?” Dominique put two mugs of hot chocolate in front of him and dragged a chair over beside his before claiming one of the cups for herself. “You did tell McHugh to go fuck himself.”
“Oh, I haven’t got to his messages yet. Those were just from the underlings.” He keyed up the first message from McHugh.
The Minister of Defense looked liked he’d had a very bad day at work. He glared into the camera and his mouth was twisted as if he’d bitten into something rotten. “Admiral Wolf, I have been informed by President Llewellyn that your resignation is not accepted and that you are still in active commission with the Blue League. You are to contact me as soon as you receive this message so we can figure out what in the hell I’m going to do with you.” The screen went dark.
Dominique was grinning widely. “Now there’s a man who got something crammed way up his ass and didn’t enjoy it. I get the impression Colin was rather firm with him.”
“We’re not supposed to enjoy the distress of someone that much, Dominique.” Iain grinned back at her for a heartbeat. “No matter how well deserved it happens to be.” He activated the second message.
McHugh was wearing a different suit from the first message and had gotten a haircut. “Admiral Wolf, I know you said you’d be unavailable sometimes, but it has been nearly a month and I have not heard from you. Call me immediately when you receive this message.” The screen went blank.
Iain checked the header codes. “He’s given me his personal com codes this time. I guess I’ll contact him after I see what Colin and Cherry have to say.”
Colin Llewellyn looked gravely into the recorder. “Admiral Wolf, I realize that you were badgered into giving your resignation to Minister McHugh and that he accepted it. Normally I would stay out of the politics in the BLSF, but unfortunately, I cannot allow that resignation to stand. The Blue League needs your experience and your knowledge more than you need to leave her service. To that end, in my capacity as commander in chief of the Blue League Security Force I have expunged the resignation from your record and you will remain in active duty until the Blue League no longer needs your services. When you get this, I request and command you to contact the nearest BLSF office and await instructions.” He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Kerrik, but I can’t let you leave us again. Besides, you still need to come get your painting or you’ll hurt my feelings as an artist.”
“Well, he’s a consummate politician.” Iain sipped at his cocoa. “Do you think I should do what he wants?”
“I thought we were planning to stay less than a month.” Dominique’s crimson eyes were hooded as she looked at him curiously.
“Oh, we are. Anything I tell anyone otherwise is going to be a tissue of lies. I just wanted to know your opinion.”
“When did the president send that message?”
Iain checked the timestamp. “It was just after McHugh’s first message and,” he switched to the main mail directory, “a few days before Cherry’s first one.”
“If you want that painting, you’re going to have to play the president’s game at least long enough to get it.”
Iain nodded. “I know, but it isn’t worth getting my ass locked up and then having to have you ladies spring me from prison.” He toyed with the pokedex idly. “In the end, it’s nothing more than paint on canvas and I’m not putting us in jeopardy over it.”
“How long have we been gone?”
“Just about a month.” Iain double checked to make sure. “Were you trying for a one to one passage of time on the differential between here and there in your gate spell?”
Dominique frowned. “Differential?”
Iain suspected he was about to get in trouble again. “Time passes at different rates in almost every universe. Your gate spell already adjusts for the fact that if we crossed over to the universe we live in, it would be at a time that’s roughly equivalent to this universe’s and therefore three hundred or so years in the future from when we’re living there now.” Dominique now had that look that warned him she was thinking about glaring at him. “When crossing universes, you can also adjust for the differential rate between universes so that time passes one for one between them, like we have experienced here, or you can change differential so that the experienced time change varies between them. For example, the differentials could be changed so that while we were in the other universe for a month, only a few days or hours would have passed here. Then when we go back, the differential could be reversed so that only a few hours passed back home while we were here for a week.” She was definitely glaring at him now. “Don’t get pissed at me because I didn’t think to bring it up. You’ve trained me not to. I wasn’t consulted and you get mad if anyone volunteers any suggestions.”
“And before you protest that you’re not really that bad,” April sat down on Iain’s other side with a cup of tea, “I’ll call you a liar even as you open your mouth. I remember Scheherazade offering you suggestions and you doing everything short of physical violence to get her to go away and stop bothering you. You either trust the cosmic awareness more than any of the other mages in this family or you’re just jealous that somebody else can have a good idea once in a while.” She snorted when Dominique transferred the glare from Iain to her. “Ask yourself this: are you mad at Iain because he didn’t tell you this or is it because he had the temerity to think of it when you didn’t?”
Dominique took a gulp of her cocoa and began coughing as she sucked it down her windpipe. Tears streaked her cheeks when she was done. “I wish I’d known about this before we came here. Having us gone for only a few hours would have kept Iain out of all the trouble his messages say he’s in.”
“Then stop treating people with good suggestions as if they’re offering you a maggot infested squirrel carcass,” April snapped back. “They’ll tell you more when you do.”
Dominique raised her nose haughtily. “And how do I tell between good suggestions and the stupid ones?”
“In the beginning you won’t be able to, but you’ll figure out pretty quickly who offers good ideas and who doesn’t.”
The Archmage grunted sourly. “Can we go back to our universe and try this again or will that screw up the timeline for us?”
Iain frowned. “Time travel, which is what that would essentially be, is always unpredictable. I think that in this case we should just go from where and when we are and deal with the consequences as we have to.” He keyed up Monica’s first message. “And speaking of consequences, let’s hear what she’s got to say.”
Monica looked about the same as she had the last time Iain had talked to her at her retirement. The only obvious change was that she looked more rested than he’d ever seen before. She smiled at the recorder. “Iain, I hope this finds you and your harem in good health. I’ve been busy getting settled into our new home. You’ll find our address appended to this message and I hope you won’t be a stranger. I heard about what happened between you and Caleb. I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone who knows you at all, but your resignation just gives him what he wants.” She frowned slightly and glanced down before resuming. “I’ve also heard what President Llewellyn did in reinstating you and, personally, I think he did the right thing. We need you here and we need our new cruiser fully operational with every little sneaky trick you can give them. I know you have probably decided that you’ve washed your hands of the league, but you said you’d do this for me and I’m not willing to let this go. Call me so we can discuss it.”
Iain leaned back as the message ended and stared at the ceiling. “She’s good. If I’d made her promises she’d have me dead to rights. And she was very good at toeing the party line about my reinstatement and the league needing me.”
Dominique looked at him over her cup. “Did you really expect her to be any other way? She’s a Blue to the bone and that to the marrow.” She blew on the cocoa. “When did she send the second message?”
“Yesterday.”
“I’m betting it’s more of the same.”
April grabbed his arm as he reached for the play button. “Wait. She gave away something we weren’t quite sure about. She called you Iain.”
He and Dominique blinked together. “Fuck me,” the Archmage said softly. “She did. Well, that definitively answers that. What else does she have to say?”
Iain opened the message. Monica’s hair had grown an inch and there were dark circles under her eyes. “Iain, back in the day Jamie told me about how his grandfather had some kind of medicine that would stop morning sickness. I know you’re not him, but you know a lot of the things he does. If you could get me some of this medicine, I’d be very grateful. I only have a touch of it, but even with healing cycles Cammie gets sick every couple of hours and it makes me vomit when she does. And the two of us set Undine off. If you could get any of this medicine I would be eternally grateful.” Monica blinked and turned green. “Oh, crap, she’s doing it again.” She stabbed at something below the recorder’s view and the message ended.
Dominique snickered and April wacked her on the back of the head. “Hey!”
The Duelist glared at her. “I happen to be pregnant. If Iain can get this medicine that Cherry was talking about and doesn’t, if I get sick I swear I’ll puke on you every chance I get.” She suddenly smiled sweetly. “And in two days it’ll be a month and Canaan will become pregnant if she wants to. At that point you can wonder what she’ll do if she becomes violently ill due to morning sickness.” Her smile widened. “I’d be more concerned about the violent part than the ill part if I were you.”
Dominique sighed. “And now I’m in trouble again. Iain, do you know how to make this medicine?”
“Nope. It’s regular magic, not truewizardry.” He took the cup from Dominique’s hands and put it on the table next to his. “However, I know what it is supposed to do and if we use the delta bond while you access the awareness it might lead you to a useable recipe.” He gave April a hard glance before returning his attention to Dominique. “And then everyone can bargain with you for it.”
Dominique grinned and slithered into his lap. “Sounds good to me.”
April frowned. “Is that necessary?”
Dominique glanced at her and rubbed her cheek against Iain’s. “Absolutely.” She repeated the process with her other cheek and then kissed him lightly. “Not for the magic, but to scent mark him in front of you.” She fixed April with a slightly threatening stare. “He does not belong to you and you do not hit me unless there’s a fight. Because if you do again, there will be one.”
Iain spoke quickly to forestall whatever April’s response was. “Are you done using me as a prop?”
Dominique shifted around to press her back against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. “Never. Besides, we can search for the recipe this way.” She looked back at him. “I am well aware that April gets personal time with you every day when she shaves you. I, on the other hand, have spent the recent past away from you pretty much all day every day and the only time I spend with you is when we fuck. I miss the physical contact, Iain.” She shot April a look tinged with hatred. “You have a problem with me?”
April swallowed whatever she was going to say and shook her head. “No, sister, I don’t. You’re right and I should have remembered that as part of my position as beta.”
Dominique took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Please don’t forget again.” She twisted around and looked back at Iain again. “What about you?”
“If I had a problem with you or this, your ass would already be on the floor and pissed as hell. Just don’t use me to aggravate others again or I’ll spank you and there will be no makeup sex for a long time.”
Dominique looked into his eyes for a moment before speaking without looking away from him. “April, I’m sorry that I deliberately antagonized you. It was uncalled for and I’ll try not to do it again.”
“I’m sorry that I put you in a situation where you felt you had to make sure your place in our family was still valid.” April patted Dominique on the shoulder.
Dominique nodded without breaking eye contact with Iain. “Better?”
He regarded her for a second. “Better.” He licked her nose, grinning as her face wrinkled up. “Now let’s find that recipe.”
Dominique went back to lying against his chest while he rested his chin on the top of her head. Their eyes closed simultaneously and their breathing slowed. A few minutes later Dominique’s crimson eyes blinked open. Her vision flicked around the room but her eyes were unfocused. Finally her gaze sharpened. “I have what you want, April.” She slid out of Iain’s lap and turned to give him a look April didn’t recognize. “Do you mind?”
He chuckled. “I understand that I will never be more than the third most loved thing in your life, Dominique. Go do your research and make April her potions.”
April watched the Archmage leave the room. “Where is she going?”
“Dominique always has some lab equipment in her stuff.” He poured the two cups of hot chocolate together and began drinking it.
“Can I ask what two things Dominique loves more than you?”
“She loves magic more than anything and she will love our children only a little less than her magic. After that, if I’m lucky, comes her love for me.” He reached for the Kerrik Wolf pokedex. “Let’s see what this admiral has to say to us.” He keyed the message up. “It’s a text from a Lieutenant Andria. She’s on the admiral’s staff and wants to welcome me and my harem to the admiral’s command. She’s going to be the liaison and, as soon as we receive orders to report, will provide the welcome packet and any other information we need for our new duty station.” He frowned. “It was sent after my resignation and before Colin jerked it back. Since she hasn’t sent me another message, it may be that they are no longer expecting us.” He tossed the pokedex on the table. “We’ll ignore it for now.”
“What do you want to do first?”
“Why, I want to do the fun stuff.”
***
I’ve pulled the plans and records for the building and it is a five bedroom detached house that is listed as grade II on the historical preservation lists. They were a little south of Bristol. According to records, the original building, of which forty five percent remains, was a grain mill built in the fifteenth century. Its listing means that it cannot be modified without the permission of the local government.
“It’s pretty,” April said thoughtfully. “I’ve never had a garden like that. It reminds me to look at the shopping list and what herbs and aromatics we have on it.”
Iain had to admit she was right. The building was paneled in a rich brown and shingled in black. Rows of nicely curtained window suggested the house had four floors and the lawn, while small, was well manicured and bordered by what looked like a traditional knot garden on its north end. “Apparently she’s not doing too poorly in her retirement.”
“The fireplace is a fake.” Canaan’s tone was clinical. “But that makes sense. Wood smoke often draws feral pokegirls. Some tamers use fires laced with chips of woods like cinnamon to lure bug or fire pokegirls.”
“I don’t see any signs of security,” Pandora muttered as she scrutinized the house. “Shouldn’t she have security?”
“Cherry is retired and we saw with Harris that once you’re retired the league expects you to maintain your own security.” Iain headed up the graveled driveway towards the front door. “Unlike Harris, however, Cherry still has her harem and it’s fairly formidable.”
The door opened as he reached it. “Thank you, Kerrik.” Undine favored him with a smile. “I am glad you respect the power my mistress’ harem wields.” She cocked her head. “Perhaps you now regret giving me away.”
Iain regarded her and smiled thinly. “Do you really think I’d give you the satisfaction of answering that?” Her eyes lit up as he continued. “Why don’t you let Monica know that I’m here to visit and I have those anti-nausea potions she was requesting?”
Undine stepped out of the way. “Come in and have a seat. Do you want some refreshments while I get my mistress?”
“No, that’s not necessary,” Iain gestured April ahead of him into the sitting room Undine indicated. “But thanks for the offer.” He glanced at her belly. “How’s the baby?”
“He or she is doing well,” Undine touched her stomach. “Thanks for asking and I’ll be right back. I must get the mistress” She headed up the stairs.
April sat down. “Looks like Monica managed to win Undine’s respect.” She sat primly, with her feet flat on the floor. “Considering she was traded away because her first tamer was dead and she was pregnant with possibly a human child, I can see how it might not take combat to win her loyalty.” She turned to Iain. “How could the family give away what could be one of their children?”
“I don’t know.” He grinned. “You’re asking me to explain human behavior when I’m not even sure I have ever really been human. Even if I was, I had a fairly solitary childhood and I’m pretty sure I was never properly socialized.”
Canaan snorted derisively. “That’s good for us. A regular person wouldn’t have accepted me or Pandora without all sorts of preconditions and preconceptions. And a regular person wouldn’t have been willing to give Sofia the room she needed to sort out what she really wanted from herself and the others around her. They’d have insisted on trying to help her; or worse, insisted on taming her and only driven her farther away. And a regular person would have listened to us when we said you should just get rid of Sofia and her troubles.” Her antenna shifted and she glanced at April. “No, we never came right out and stated it that baldly, but there was some broad hinting from a lot of people that if she wasn’t part of the harem she had no place with us.”
“Stop that!”
“I cannot, as you well know. Or are you being like Iain and requesting that I only answer questions you explicitly ask?” April glared at her and Canaan chuckled, only breaking off when they heard footsteps at the top of the stairs.
Monica looked like she had in the last video but Camille looked terrible. She was thinner than he remembered and her normally lustrous yellow skin was dull and underlain with a heavy grayish cast. He was startled to realize that it made her look kind of like some of the dead ladybugs he’d sometimes find in windowsills.
He’d originally been going to bargain with them for a reasonable price, reasonable considering that they couldn’t get this from anyone else, with a hefty discount for the fact that they were friends. But when they reached the bottom of the stairs Iain pulled out the sample vial he’d brought to sweeten the pot and handed it to Camille. “Drink this. It’ll get rid of your nausea for a day.”
The Ladyien eagerly popped open the vial and sucked down the contents. She sighed loudly and tension that lined her body seemed to just drain away. “Thank you, Kerrik.”
“I know you already know about Iain and I really prefer that name. I’ve met Kerrik Wolf and I don’t want him to decide I’m impersonating him. He has sharp axes.”
He jumped when Canaan snarled furiously behind him. Camille has stolen Iain’s seed and is carrying his son!
Iain whirled and threw himself sideways as April came out of her chair with a roar of rage. They collided and for an instant stood chest to chest. April’s expression of fury became one of ultimate horror as Iain collapsed sideways, the energy blade that had been thrust through his heart tearing out of his body through his shoulder and severing his right arm.
The energy blade vanished and April threw herself down next to Iain, pressed her hands against his body and poured her life into him to keep him from dying. “Eve!”
A second later April was joined by Eve, Pandora and Ninhursag. Dominique started to join them but Ninhursag shot Monica a look. “Dee, secure them.”
The Archmage turned and made a cutting motion with her hands. With a squawk, Camille dematerialized into energy and shot upstairs to return to her pokeball. A yell sounded elsewhere in the house as Dominique’s spell affected Undine and Donna as well. Dominique summoned her staff and leaned on it as she gave Monica an evil look. “You sit down and be quiet,” she hissed, “because if I have to make you sit I’m not sure I can control my strength enough not to tear you in half.”
Zareen appeared with Raquel and Sofia. Dominique didn’t look at them as she spoke. “Secure the house and make sure there aren’t any other humans here. Pokegirls should be in their pokeballs, but if someone knows how to leave like we do, they might have gotten out again. Unless it’s Camille, feel free to beat the crap out of them.”
Monica stared in shock as Canaan looked at Sofia. “You’re with me. Zareen is with Raquel. The Nightmare grinned and led the other three from the room. “What is going on, Dominique?”
“I said be quiet.”
Monica sat up stiffly. “I will not. This is my home and you are holding me illegally. You will explain yourself to me.”
Dominique raised her staff and lowered it again with a thump as she reconsidered what she was going to do to Monica and got a firm grip on her anger. It still leaked out in her voice. “Did you really think that we would not discover the truth about Camille and what she carries?”
Monica went white. “How did you find out,” she whispered.
“Canaan read Camille’s mind, you idiot,” Dominique snarled back. “If Iain dies, I will carve your heart out of your chest and then I’ll try to beat everyone else to Camille.”
Relief trembled in Eve’s voice. “He’s going to live. Now for the arm.” She glanced to the side. “April, you’re pushing too hard. We’ll take it from here.”
April fell back from Iain and sat. Her clothes and hands were soaked with Iain’s blood. Tears fell like rain from her cheeks as she stared blindly at the activity around him.
***
You really need to spend more of your studies on healing magic, his twee chided him. If you survive, one day you will be like Kerrik.
“I don’t know if I want to ever be like Kerrik,” Iain replied.
You know what I mean. He took three explosive bullets in the heart and healed fast enough that he still almost cut you in two. As for the rest of it, you’re already a lot like him and yet vastly different. Between you and me, I like the differences and am glad I’m in your head.
“Thanks,” Iain’s voice was wry, even inside his skull.
More importantly in the short term, dedicated focus on healing would allow you to know how to deaden your nerves so that you could avoid the pain that we’re going to experience when you wake up. I’ll do what I can, but it won’t be enough. His twee sounded worried. I know you can survive it, but it will draw yet another scar across your soul.
“I doubt it’ll be visible against the rest of them.” Curiosity stirred within Iain’s mind. “Can you tell what would happen if I let myself die?”
His twee hesitated for what seemed like a long time but was in all actuality milliseconds, which was a long time considering their current circumstances. I will ask you what you ask others when the truth is unpleasant. Are you sure you want me to answer that?
“So, lichhood awaits me.”
Right now it does, but that does not mean that is what your entire future holds. Necromancers command death, not the other way around. With enough knowledge and power, you could potentially cheat becoming a lich and escape into true death. Another pause. However, it would be far easier just to not die in the first place.
“And that would necessitate my focusing on healing instead of offensive magic. Someday I would like to learn how to defend myself.”
Right now it is more important that we learn how you protect yourself. Me too.
“I can’t do that if I’m unconscious.” Iain gathered his will and forced himself through the pain towards consciousness.
***
Iain’s body jerked and he began screaming in a high shrill voice. “Fuck, he’s awake!” The edges of Pandora’s voice were ragged with panic. Her hands glowed and she pressed her palms against his temples. “He’s fighting me! I can’t put him back under!”
Eve stopped what she was doing long enough to lean over and look into Iain’s eyes. “Your screaming is distracting us. Let Pandora put you to sleep.” Iain jerked his head sideways as he clamped his teeth together. His screams subsided to loud groans through gritted teeth. “Damn it, Iain, stop being so stubborn.” He shook his head again.
Ninhursag glanced behind her. “April, find something to put between his teeth before he shatters them.”
The Duelist whipped off her belt and used her energy blade to chop off the first forty centimeters. She folded the piece in half and moved around to sit at Iain’s head, holding the piece of leather up where he could see it. “Iain, this goes between your teeth. Open.” He opened his mouth and April carefully placed the strap between his teeth. “Bite down.” His teeth clamped on the strap and April cradled his head while the others worked on him.
It seemed like forever but was only a few minutes before Eve sat back. “His body can heal the rest.” She looked down at him. “You’re not going to have complete control of your arm until everything finishes knitting, and that won’t be for several more hours. If we bind it, it’ll be out of your way.”
He turned his head and spat out the leather. It had been bitten almost completely in two. “Do it.”
Ninhursag looked at April with neutral eyes. “This is family business and we will discuss it later in private. For now, we’ll pretend that this hasn’t happened. But you will keep a grip on your temper around Camille or I’ll put you into storage.”
April nodded meekly. “I understand.” She looked down at Iain. “Well?”
“Help me sit up so they can tie my arm down.”
Monica gave her captor a triumphant smile. “Kerrik, I mean Iain, make Dominique let me go.”
He didn’t look at her as April levered him upright. “Dominique is fine where she is and so are you. Even discounting that this got me skewered by one of my wives, I am still not happy with you.”
Raquel jumped down the stairs and held up three pokeballs. “There wasn’t anyone we weren’t expecting. Canaan and Sofia are investigating a barn in the back. I think we should put these into a pokepack. I don’t think anyone else knows how to see outside a pokeball, but lots of girls can leave theirs if they work at it hard enough. The only problem, of course, is that we didn’t bring a pokepack with us and I can’t teleport. Yet.”
Pandora and Eve were making a sling for Iain’s arm. Pandora was supporting him, so April got up. “I’ll go get a pack.”
Iain’s head came around. You are not to do anything to hurt yourself. The slightly guilty look he got back told him he’d been right to be concerned.
She looked around, relaxing slightly when she realized that he was only communicating with her. I almost killed you. I’m too dangerous to be around you.
No, you’re not. I forgot how dangerous it could be to get between two fighting pokegirls and I got hurt. But I did accomplish my goal.
She gave him a curious frown. What, to get carved up?
It was to keep you from committing cold blooded murder. Ok, hot blooded murder.
Her face set. You wanted to keep your son alive. I understand.
That did not factor into my decision, my love. Killing someone is not the same as slaughtering someone. Having murdered someone is something that I’m not sure you could live with and I don’t want you to have to try. That’s why I stopped you. I don’t care about Camille or some fetus within her womb.
She tasted the sincerity in his thoughts and nodded once. I care. Not about Camille per se, but about the child. You should care about him too.
Then you’d better stick around so you can make sure I do.
I will. She vanished.
Eve began stripping off the remains of his shirt. “I know you and April were talking. Is it something that Ninhursag and I need to know about?” His shoulder holster strap had been sliced through too, so she removed the pistol in its holster and handed it to Iain. He awkwardly stuffed it in his belt.
The Elfqueen smiled amusedly. “Good save, including the maharani in the conversation.”
“I do understand politics. Iain?”
“I was letting her know that I was stupid and it’s not her fault.”
“How were you stupid?”
“I put myself in the middle of a pokegirl battle. I know better, but I didn’t think. I just acted.”
Ninhursag’s eyes were puzzled. “Camille and April were battling?”
“Camille wasn’t aware of it, but yes.”
Pandora shook him slightly. “You knew it was a battle and still you threw yourself into it? What on earth for?”
“April isn’t like me.” His eyes met the Archangel’s. “Like us. She couldn’t live with what she was about to do.”
The three pokegirls exchanged a look. “I’ll grant that,” Ninhursag said, “but why was April about to butcher Camille?”
“It’s the same reason she’s mad at Vanessa,” Eve responded softly. “April wanted to present Iain with his first children. When she was told that Camille was pregnant with Iain’s child, she went berserk.” She patted Iain on the shoulder. “He saved Camille’s life.”
Pandora gave Iain a long look. “Should you have?”
“It was to protect April from having to live with what she’d done more than it was about saving Camille. Right now I’d just about be willing to kill her myself.” He glanced towards where Dominique was standing guard over Monica. “Her too.” He held out his hand to Pandora. She took it and effortlessly pulled him to his feet. “Raquel, tell Canaan to stop dicking around with whatever she’s doing and get back here.”
“Yessir!” The Rapitaur raced up the stairs.
April appeared. She had a pokepack slung over one shoulder. “I brought Iain’s since it has clothes for him once he’s cleaned up. Monica’s harem is already in storage.”
Iain unbuckled what remained of his shoulder holster and handed it to Eve as he turned to face Monica. “Ninhursag, I want you to police up all evidence of our presence here, both in the house and outside. When we leave, Eve or Dominique will use a DNA erasing spell they worked up to make sure we were never in this area.”
“I’m on it. Pandora, you’re with Iain.” She looked at Eve. “I’ll want to learn that spell.”
Monica gave him a worried half smile. “I know you’re unhappy with me, but let’s not do anything hasty, all right?”
“Unhappy does not even begin to describe how I feel right now, Monica. I thought we were friends and now I discover you’ve done this.”
“We are friends, Iain.”
“Then why didn’t you ask?”
She shrugged. “You’d have said no.”
“You’re right. And you should have respected that decision. But instead you decided that Camille needed to bear what is pretty much my son.”
“Camille volunteered.”
“Who suggested it to her?” Monica was silent. “If it was you, it could be argued that she didn’t want to refuse her mistress what she would have seen as a reasonable request since she’s almost delta bonded to you and therefore it wasn’t really voluntary.”
Monica folded her arms. “I say she volunteered. What are you going to do about what just happened here?”
“I don’t really have a plethora of options. What I’d prefer would be if you would give me your honest parole in which you agree to cheerfully work with me and pack your belongings so you can move home with us.”
“So you can take Camille’s child after it is born?”
“I’m talking about you, Donna and Undine, Monica.” Iain smiled thinly. “As far as Camille goes, I’m taking her, with or without you. I could kill her for doing this, but I don’t want to punish the child for the misdeeds of her womb. But even if I wanted to, April and Eve, among others, would scream bloody murder if I decided to leave Camille and the child here to the nonexistent mercies of the Blue League. Are they the ones who put you up to this?”
Monica shrugged again. “I was informed that the league intended to proceed with the idea and I wanted to make sure that the child wasn’t raised to be nothing more than a Blue League puppet. That’s why Camille volunteered to be the mother. They hope he will have your abilities.”
“I bet they do.”
Monica watched him intently. “What will happen if I don’t give my parole?”
“I’m either kidnapping a member of the household of a former minister in the league or I’m stealing her property. Since I still have business in the league, I would be forced to ensure that neither event could be reported. Unfortunately you’ve proven pretty resourceful, which limits my options.”
“You’d kill me?” She seemed surprised.
“With regret, but yes I would. I’d also regret killing Donna, but if I kill you she’ll have to die as well.”
“A parole given under duress is not binding.”
“I’ll point out that I asked for your parole without threatening you. The only reason you know what will happen if you don’t give your parole is because you asked. I did not say ‘do this or die’, so technically you were not under duress when I asked.”
“You didn’t say you’d regret killing Undine.”
Iain chuckled. “No, I’m trying really hard not to lie to you right now. Undine has been, to me, at worst an absolute bitch and at best a snarky bitch. I would not regret killing her.”
“But Undine is pregnant too and farther along than Camille. You’d be punishing her child for the sins of the mother.”
“Camille carries what is genetically my child. Undine does not. That is a huge difference, at least to me.”
“You’d kill a child?”
“Monica, it wouldn’t be my first time, but for the record I’m not a life begins at conception believer. It’s not a child until it can live outside the womb without invasive medical aid. I’m not sure how far along Undine is and I don’t really care.”
If worst came to worst you could remove the fetus and I could finish its development in a tank, Theodora told him.
That’s none of Monica’s business, but thanks for the information. Something occurred to Iain and his eyes narrowed dangerously. “How many others are there?”
Monica looked blankly at him. “Others?”
“How many other women are carrying children from my DNA?”
“As far as I know, none. This was an experiment to see if your powers were inherited.”
“She’s telling the truth,” Pandora muttered, “as far as she knows, that is.”
“If there are other surrogates they would keep her in the dark about it since she’s retired,” Dominique said acidly, “and even if she were still minister, unless the program was military she might not know even then.”
I could determine if there are others, Iain, but if there are, what would you do? I only ask this because just knowing would only bring my family pain and if that’s the only reason I recommend against investigating.
Iain frowned. Theodora was right. Still, he had to know. Go ahead and see what you can discover. Just don’t tell me until and unless I ask for the information.
Yes, sir.
He returned his attention to Monica. “So, about your parole?”
She sighed and closed her eyes. “Upon my honor I give you my parole. Neither I nor the members of my harem will work against you or aid others in working against you.” Her eyes opened. “Can I have my girls back?”
“She intends to honor her words,” Pandora said.
“Good. Monica, thank you and I think I’d like the parole of each of your girls too. They’re people and all are honorable.”
“Will you kill anyone who won’t give it?”
He shook his head. “No, I’ll keep her in her pokeball until we’re someplace where she can’t cause any harm to me here.”
“Then why bother with their parole in the first place?”
“I wouldn’t want to be separated from my family and I don’t want to do that to you.” He smiled. “Besides, they’ll probably want to help you pack.”
Monica nodded slowly. “I’d like them with me.” She frowned. “Are we still friends?”
“No, we’re not,” April snapped.
Iain glanced at the Duelist. “Monica, is there anything else you’ve done that is going to piss us off?”
“I can’t answer that. I don’t know what will anger you or the members of your harem.”
“She has a point,” Pandora admitted reluctantly.
“Yeah, she does.”
Eve interrupted him. “Monica, you thought that we were not going to be happy when we found out about Camille, didn’t you?” The redheaded human nodded reluctantly. “Is there anything you’ve done that you think will make us angry?”
Monica hesitated and then sighed. “I’d been instructed to contact the MoD when you arrived and let them know you were here. I did so before coming downstairs.”
“Ever the loyal Blue pokegirl, aren’t you,” Dominique sounded sad. “They tame you and you are loyal to them unto death.” Monica’s jaw muscles bunched and her eyes hardened. “Don’t like hearing it? You got bent over and fucked up the ass by Blue and then they tossed you aside when they’d used you up. And yet you’re still loyal to them. That sounds just like pokegirl behavior.”
Monica spat the words through gritted teeth. “I gave you my parole. I won’t do anything like that again until I’m released from it.”
“What if our actions threaten the league?” Pandora regarded Monica with faint curiosity. “Will you parole hold true then? You gave your word to us, but your oath to the Blue League is still binding, isn’t it?” Monica glared at her stonily. “I see it is. Which way will you go, loyalty to the league or preservation of your personal honor?”
“She’ll betray us to the league.” Canaan was coming back down the stairs. “Zareen and Sofia are going to stay upstairs and keep watch while we’re here.”
“What do we do with her then?” Pandora looked at Eve. “I don’t want to kill her either.”
Iain started to speak and stopped as his right arm went into convulsions inside the sling. He grabbed it with his left and fought it to a standstill. “We’re not going to betray the league today, so we take her pokegirl’s paroles and pack the house for the move.”
You could take the entire house. A transport could easily load the whole thing, with the exception of any outside piping. I’ll move it carefully enough that nothing should be damaged.
Iain had a question. Don’t you need to be closer to control a transport in real time?
I can send one and you can meet it in space and fly it to the Earth’s surface. Once there, the loading process will be under the control of the transport’s software. There shouldn’t be any problems with moving the entire structure. You can also send Monica and her harem to the Theodora on it. That is the only reasonable place to keep them until we return to our home universe.
Canaan chuckled. “She thinks we’ve been in Ireland the whole time and have a home there. Monica, you are in for a series of shocks I will enjoy witnessing.”
Send the transport in the morning. Eve and I will head back and meet it with the one we’ve got. Iain shook his head. “April, let’s start taking the harem’s paroles. We’ll start with Donna.”
***
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 - Peekabu
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 - Ponytaur
Winifred - Rack (German)
Rosemary - Kitten (Uruguayan)
Allison - Umbrea
Silver - Ponytaur
12 Elves
2 Elfqueens - Dionne & Adrianna
Joyce - Milktit
Lara - Milktit
LakeEmployees
Heltu - Wet Queen
6 Wet Elves
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