Repercussions and Revelations
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Pairdra watched as comprehension and horror dawned on his
children’s faces. Both Mai’zi and Hainien looked a bit ill, as though they had
just swallowed something spoiled. After a few more seconds, Hainien began to
quake under Saelen’s steely glare. Mai’zi was more focused on Xander, and was also
shaking.
“Well?” Saelen demanded with a growl. “What is a fitting
punishment for treason?”
Hainien looked over at Pairdra, begging with his eyes for
his father to help him get out of this situation. Pairdra didn’t move a muscle.
It was time the children were shown just how destructive they could be—and what
happened to those who had no regard for others.
Xander didn’t soften at all until he saw tears rolling down
Mai’zi’s face. He’d always been a sucker for crying children, and his own kids
knew that. However, this time he was pretty sure the tears were genuine. They
both looked absolutely terrified.
Saelen resisted the urge to gather Hainien up in his arms
when the boy choked back a wail. His resolve weakened further when the youth
wiped his eyes and sniffled. Still, it was important that they learn their
lessons.
Finally Hainien found his voice. “We should apologize,” He
said to the room in general.
Pairdra’s jaw dropped. That’s it? He’d expected begging
and pleading requests that they not tell a soul—that they make something up. He
certainly hadn’t counted on his kid just suggesting that they confess.
Saelen looked at Xander, questions in his eyes. Was that a
good idea? How should they handle it? The youngest of the kids’ fathers thought
about the situation for a few minutes, while his kids fidgeted nervously on the
bench.
“Ok. Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to go over
to the elder’s house where the dalhari are recovering. When
we get there, the two of y’are going to apologize to
the diplomats, in front of all of us and the elders too. Then, y’ll wait for the elders and the diplomats to decide what
should be done with y’. Do y’understand?” Xander
asked, looking hard at his children.
Both Mai’zi and Hainien nodded slowly. “Good. We’re
leaving right now, so I suggest y’two figure out what
y’re going to say when y’get
there,” Xander said, standing up. Before they left, he handed each kid a
washcloth to wipe up their faces. Once everyone was ready, they headed out,
Xander in front and Saelen and Pairdra in back. The kids stuck together,
talking quietly every once in a while. For once, they were glad they lived so
far from the center of Caildin; otherwise they wouldn’t have had any time at
all to think up something to say.
···•••·•••·•••·•••···
Needless to say, the family’s appearance at Yark’s door was a surprise. The elder wasn’t expecting any
company, much less the five of them. “Xander! What
brings y’…and the rest of y’r family, here tonight?”
Xander stepped up onto the platform and pulled the elder
aside. “We need to speak to the dalhari, all of us. Are there any other elders
around?”
Yark nodded, still confused. “Yes,
several are talking to the diplomats now. Can’t this wait?”
Xander shook his head. “No. It has to do with their
injuries.”
The elder blinked. “Hmm…I see. Well, I’ll allow it, but
not for very long.” He figured that the kids wanted to wish the dalhari well or
something. He wouldn’t have let them go in, but their parents were well-known
in the community, and Pairdra himself had been there when the accident/sabotage
had occurred.
Xander motioned to the kids and they all walked inside. He
watched as Mai’zi and Hainien took in the exotic appearance of the two dalhari.
Despite their injuries, the two diplomats didn’t look to be in too much pain,
but they were obviously not happy about their situation.
“Good evening,” Saelen began. The elders all quieted and
the dalhari turned their attention to the new arrivals. “Please allow me to
present Mai’zi and Hainien, our children.” He said in the trade tongue.
“Hiya,” the blue dalhari said.
The gold one smiled and waved.
“They have something they’d like to say to you,” Pairdra
added.
Mai’zi shuffled around a bit, and then nudged Hainien. Her
brother just looked up at the dalhari, eyes wide. She pushed him harder and his
mouth opened.
“I’m sorry you’re hurt so bad,” He began, using the trade
tongue since he didn’t know dalhari and wasn’t sure if they spoke siv. “It’s all my fault.”
The elders looked at the little boy like he’d lost his
mind. The dalhari’s expressions weren’t much different.
“We were playing a trick on our dad,” Mai’zi began. “It
worked really well, too!” The dalhari laughed weakly. They liked harmless jokes
as well as anyone did. “But he didn’t like it, not at all.” Her face fell.
“He and our other dads yelled at us, because it was a
little bit…incautious,” Hainien continued. “See, we fermented a bunch of ghain mash and put it in the bath tub.”
An elder’s mouth dropped open. “You…”
But Hainien plowed on. “It smells really bad. Adyeta fell
in the stuff. Then we got him to fall into the river too!” After that
statement, his face joined Mai’zi’s one in reflecting unhappiness.
“They lectured us and made us clean up the mess,” Mai’zi
said. “It took a long time and was really messy.”
“Then they made us go to bed,” Hainien said. “But we
didn’t go. Instead, we snuck out the window. We were really mad. I mean, it was
just a joke.”
“So we ran off into the city. Eventually we stopped under
a platform. We were yelling a lot, and tearing things up, because we were so
mad,” Mai’zi said.
“We didn’t know that the platform was going to be used for
anything,” Hainien whispered.
“Or that you would be on it, before the vines grew back
in,” Mai’zi added.
“We didn’t do it on purpose,” Hainien whimpered.
“But we’re really sorry we did it!” Mai’zi concluded.
···•••·•••·•••·•••···
Complete silence greeted them.
The elders just stared at the kids. Their carefully
nurtured diplomatic efforts had been endangered by the local practical jokers?
And it had been nothing more than an accident?
The dalhari didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. While
they hadn’t been as alarmist as their siv contacts, they had assumed that
someone had done it with malicious intent. These were just kids, though, and
not even very old kids. How did you punish a ten year old for something they
didn’t even mean to do? Vaishi thought about Laio’s
daughter, Rali. She could get herself into a world of trouble, but no one even
considered hurting her because of it…even when her antics caused chaos. He
couldn’t condone any type of severe punishment for the children. After all,
they were innocents. Knowing that the entire incident had
been a series of coincidences made him feel a little better. No one was
targeting him and Fain. Of course, they were still going to be bedridden for a
couple of weeks, until they were healed enough to travel. Even with this new
development, they would be leaving as soon as they could. Since the ‘attack’
was a freak occurrence, they would continue to fulfill their diplomatic roles
from their sickbed.
Saelen, Pairdra and Xander stood behind their children,
waiting for the sky to fall or the world to end. Even if the dalhari laughed
off the incident, which wasn’t likely, the elders could still do a lot to the
kids—and them, for being the adults responsible for them. None of the three
thought that the kids had even considered that—their jokes might just get their
dads in a lot of trouble.
The elders were thinking right along those lines. They
dearly loved the three Avrel mak; as warriors they
were among the best in the hold, and each fulfilled a needed position in the
training of guards and sentries. However, there was no guarantee that they
could control those hell raising little bastards. They were only children now
and they’d managed to disable two diplomatic representatives, thus endangering
the wellbeing of the hold. Gods only knew what they could accomplish as adults.
Knowing the luck of the refugees, they’d burn the hold to the ground, or invite
a plague into their midst, or poison everyone or…well, the list went on and on.
Finally Yark spoke, his voice
halting. “That was enlightening. Perhaps we should…adjourn to discuss
the…ramifications of this…revelation. Saelen, may I recommend you escort
your…children home? That is a very good place for children to stay—snugly
within the walls of their houses. The elders will meet to consider the
situation. Fear not, though, we shall notify you of any decisions we agree
upon.”
Saelen nodded and pushed the kids toward the door. He had
a very, very bad feeling about this.
After the family had left, the elders turned to Fain and
Vaishi. “Do you wish to press charges?”
Fain’s jaw dropped. “Against children?”
Ach’nil shook her head. “No,
their parents, of course. Such irresponsibility shouldn’t go
unpunished.”
Vaishi shook his head. “No. Punishing the parents will
also hurt the children. We don’t want that.”
Yark looked frustrated. “But something
must be done! An example must be set!”
Fain rolled his eyes. Elders could be so stuffy
sometimes. “Perhaps we should return to the subject in the morning, when we
have the energy to expend upon it.”
The elders looked contrite, realizing for the first time
that their guests were in fact still injured. Actually, neither dalhari was
that tired, but it would get rid of the elders.
“We will return in the morning. Call out if you need
anything,” Yark said as he escorted the other elders
out.
“What a mess,” Fain commented as Vaishi extinguished the
candle next to the bed.
“Indeed,” Vaishi murmured as the room was cast into
darkness.
···•••·•••·•••·•••···
Saelen watched Xander pace around their bedroom. They were
all equally worried about what was going to happen, but Xander expressed it
more physically than either he or Pairdra. If the siv didn’t calm down soon, he
was going to be quite literally climbing the walls.
“We might be exiled,” Xander muttered softly.
“I doubt that,” Pairdra replied, closing his eyes.
Xander’s frantic movements were making him dizzy.
“They could throw us out of the hold. We’d be outcasts,”
Xander cried toward the ceiling. “We won’t be able to show our faces in public
again. Hells, we can’t do that now.”
“You’re overreacting, Xander,” Saelen said. “They’re not
going to do any of those things.”
“How can you be so sure?” Xander shot back. “They can do
pretty much anything they want.”
Pairdra was tired of Xander’s worrying and fretting, so he
got up and grabbed his mate, throwing him over his shoulder. Saelen shifted on
the bed to accommodate them. When Xander opened his mouth to protest, Saelen
slapped a hand over it, glaring at him. After a moment, Xander shrugged and
laid back to go to sleep.
···•••·•••·•••·•••···
When they got up the next morning, Xander and Pairdra
found a note on the door from the elders. Apparently the old farts had gotten
up extra early to decide just how to get back at them for having naughty
children. They reluctantly readied the kids and headed over to the main hall,
where the elders had indicated that their judgment would be held.
Most of the hold was waiting for them when they arrived. So much for low-key,
Xander thought harshly. Sometimes he wished the elders would just fall
out of a tree.
“Ah, they’ve arrived,” Yark
announced loudly. Before they could even find their seats, the elder was making
announcements, discarding the usual accent for his best formal voice.
“As you are all aware, we have found the culprits of the
heinous attack on our honored guests. It so happens that some vile, ill-behaved
children fomented this sabotage. We have been informed as well by the children
themselves that this is not their first act of unfriendliness toward others.
This leads us to believe that they have been left neglected and that their upbringing
has been lacking direction and guidance.” Yark paused
a moment for effect.
“Which means, of course, that it is
unwise to punish the children for this crime, since they are not truly to
blame. No, the fault lies in their parents, who have shamefully ignored
the more vital aspects of childrearing, resulting in wild, uncontrollable and
incorrigible little beasts. To that end, we have determined a proper course of
action to remedy this situation and ensure that it does not occur in the future.”
Xander, Saelen and Pairdra looked at each other in
disgust. Even the kids were making ugly faces. Yark
was milking this for all he could. They had realized as soon as he’d started
talking that the elders had purposefully had them arrive well after the meeting
started, allowing plenty of time for the leaders to describe the situation in
graphic, sordid detail.
“What we have decided is that one of the children’s three
fathers will resign his position as an active warrior with the Avrel mak. He will come under the direct tutelage of one of the
elders, to be instructed in proper childrearing techniques. When he is not
being actively trained, he will assiduously monitor his children, to assure
that they do not engage in further mischief. This program of treatment will
continue exactly as described until the children reach their majority, in
approximately fifteen years, or until the elders determine that the situation
is irreparable and that more drastic measures need to be taken. Such measures
may include separating the children from the deleterious effects of their
present home,” Yark concluded.
The family stared at each other. What?!? That was
preposterous! They were going to make one of them become a housefather? They
were going to be sent back to school? Because their kids
played lots of jokes? Xander glared at Yark
and stormed out of the meeting hall. Saelen paused to inform the elders that
they understood the terms of the punishment, then he and the others left as
well. The trip back home was unpleasantly quiet.
“Adyeta?” Mai’zi whispered, watching Xander
storm toward the house.
Xander whipped around. “What?”
“I’m sorry,” She whimpered, starting to cry.
Xander stopped walking and went back to her, grabbing her
up gently. “I’m not mad at y’, honey. It’s the elders. They’re so full of
shit.”
Mai’zi laughed at Xander’s profanity. She agreed with him;
the elders were full of it. “What are y’going
to do?”
Saelen sat down next to them, holding Hainien, who was
upset much like Mai’zi. He didn’t like his fathers suffering because he’d done
something wrong. “We don’t know yet, Mai. We’ll have to talk about it first.”
Pairdra nodded. “It’ll take some time.”
“Which one of y’is
going to stay at home?” Hainien asked quietly between sniffles.
Xander sighed. He didn’t want to, but he was the least
experienced and least needed of the three. “I will. Don’t worry, I promise to
be annoying for the elders.”
···•••·•••·•••·•••···
When Xander got out of his first ‘lesson’ with Yark, he was spitting mad. The older siv was one of the
most pompous, self-serving bastards he’d ever met. Forget anything nice he’d
ever said about the elder council. They were closet sadists.
He was supposed to go home to police his children, but
they were in school. Apparently the elders weren’t worried about their behavior
around other children. It made no sense to Xander. But since they were
occupied, he had time to kill. His route home took him past Yark’s
house. He resisted the urge to rip it to shreds. Pausing above it, he thought
for a moment. The dalhari were still staying there. Perhaps he should drop in
and apologize again. Hey, it was worth a shot.
When he arrived, he was pleasantly surprised to find them
alone. They were quietly discussing something, but since they were speaking
dalhari, he couldn’t understand them. “Hi,” He said, peeking in the door.
“Hiya!” Fain said, recognizing the siv.
“Come in! You’re Xander, aren’t you?”
Xander stepped in and shut the door. “Yeah, that’s me. Sorry
to bother you, but I wanted to apologize once again. I know you didn’t come
here to be laid up for months with broken bones.”
“Ah, it’s ok. We heal fairly quickly, so we should be
alright in a few weeks,” Vaishi said.
Xander relaxed a little. “That’s good, really good.”
“Your name sounds familiar. Have we met before?” Fain asked the siv.
Xander shook his head. “Nope.”
“Are you sure? It’s an unusual name, unlike any siv name
I’ve ever heard,” Vaishi inquired.
“I’m sure we’ve never met, and it’s not siv, but human,”
Xander replied.
“Ah. Well, that explains it,” Fain said, still confused.
It didn’t sound like a human name either.
Vaishi changed the subject. “We heard about the sentence.
It’s quite harsh. Are siv punishments always so stringent?”
Xander sat down heavily in a nearby chair. “I wouldn’t
know. It’s the first one I’ve received, and one of the few I’ve ever witnessed
since I came here.”
“Oh,” Fain said. “You lived in Ieccra before? Didn’t you
keep the same laws?”
Xander nodded. “We did, but I only lived there a few
months before we came over here, because of the invasion.”
“Where did you live
before? Tragith, perhaps?” Fain inquired.
Xander shook his head negatively. “No, I didn’t live
around the siv at all before I came to Ieccra. I was changed right before I got
there.”
“Oh! You were human. Your mates turned you?” Vaishi
inquired, his normal tact muffled by the curiosity of meeting a changed-siv. He
didn’t know many changed-humans, other than Laio.
Xander laughed harshly. “Not exactly.
The t’kth-vaali found me wandering in the forest and used siv blood to
tenderize me for dinner. Saelen and Pairdra had been captured with me, but they
escaped and rescued me. The rest is history.”
Vaishi and Fain shared a knowing glance. The t’kth-vaali
had been significantly more aggressive during the past century, pushing to
acquire more land. They used brief, violent alliances with the maith to get
what they wanted. The maith didn’t mind, since they were also short on space
and could easily kill the t’kth-vaali if they so desired. “Was your village
destroyed by the t’kth-vaali raiders?” Perhaps that’s how he’d been captured.
They had been appalled to learn about the raiders annihilating human villages
in their efforts to take over Ieccra. So many lives lost…
Xander grinned. Maybe they’d get a kick out of his story.
After all, he was something of a novelty in Caildin. “Not
exactly. They did find me in a village, but it wasn’t mine. I just
wandered into the middle of a raid.”
Vaishi looked confused. “You were just in the middle of
the forest?”
Xander nodded. “Yup. I sort of
landed there. Well, actually I sort of appeared in this cave on a ridge right
on the border between Ieccra and Cajniv.”
“Appeared?” Fain echoed.
“Yeah. I’m actually from another
dimension. My ex-fiancé sent me over here because I called off the wedding,”
Xander said. There! That should shock them. He was himself shocked when they
didn’t react the way he’d expected.
“You too?” Fain questioned.
“We have a friend that happened to! It was a long time ago, but he just
appeared out of nowhere. One of Vaishi’s cousins was there and rescued him from
a t’kth-vaali and a gupwur. He lives in La’iv now.”
Xander’s eyes bugged out. There was another person this
had happened to? Of course, the chances that they were from his home world were
slim to none, but it was weird nevertheless. “Well. How common is it for people
to just show up here? The siv here haven’t ever heard of it happening before.”
“You’re the second one I’ve ever heard of, after Laio, and
as I mentioned, that was a long time ago,” Vaishi remarked. “What was your
world like?”
Xander grinned. “There are a lot more humans there, and a
few demons and vampires as well. It’s also a lot more advanced, with
electricity and television and chocolate.”
Fain nodded excitedly. “You sound just like Laio! He used
to be a vampire, before he came over here, and he still tells stories sometimes
about ‘driving cars’ and ‘watching the telly.’”
Vaishi laughed. “He certainly does. You should hear him go
on about it.” The dalhari frowned and pursed his lips. “Bloody hell, I need a
fag!” He said in a credible impersonation of Laio.
Xander cackled. “Gods, that’s funny! You sound just like
Spike!”
Fain’s jaw dropped open. “Spike?”
Vaishi stared at Xander. “You know Spike?”
Xander looked curiously at the dalhari. “Sure. He’s this
vampire from my dimension.”
“Not any more,” Fain murmured. “He’s not a vampire
anymore, and his name isn’t Spike; at least, most of us don’t call him that
now.”
“Huh?” Xander muttered, utterly confused.
Vaishi stared seriously at the siv. “Remember the story
about the guy that appeared a long time ago from another dimension, Laio?”
Xander nodded slowly. “He wasn’t always called that. When we met him, he was
just Spike.”
Fain watched in horrified
fascination as Xander slid out of the chair and onto the floor in a dead faint.
“Well, that went over well,” He remarked to his mate.