The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2
Chapter 182

Part 26

"They stick together like a pack of thieves, covering for each other and lying for each other constantly. They flatly refused to swear a vow of justice on the Truthstone until I forced it on them when they were nine, because I simply couldn't stand having them constantly lying to me and I was tired of having to interrogate them psionicly all the time.

"They're willing to do almost anything in the name of 'just having fun'. They bullied the other children in Homestead and picked fights with the Sylvan. They skipped their lessons and their chores at every opportunity. They're almost never angry and tend to take everything in stride with a laugh, including any discipline they might be subjected to.

"They haven't taken part in hardly any of the community military training or exercises, or the ones we did with the Sylvan, because they won't follow orders and no one else wants to work with them. "I've spent more of my time being angry and arguing than a man should have to face in a millennium. Everyone argues with them, then everyone argues about what to do about them. I spent a lot of my time as forty-five people, one to keep each of them out of trouble, and one to enjoy life and get everything else of a practical nature done.

"Even my relationship with Talia and Alilia has been strained at times.

"We just couldn't get through to them at all until two years ago, when I told them that we were never, ever going to let them leave Hiliani, even after the time-bubble opened, until they developed some maturity and responsibility. They thought we were bluffing, until I swore to it on the Truthstone. That finally got through to them. At twelve years and three months old, they're still not nearly as reliable as you are at seven, but at least now they're trying.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, I love them all to bits with all my heart, and if there'd been only one of them it probably wouldn't have been much of a problem. If one of you three had turned out like that it wouldn' have been any harder than what any parent of a willful and precocious child faces. They're no worse than some of the kids I grew up with. But with forty-four of them at once, all egging each other on all the time, it's been a trial."

He paused for a moment for a sip of tea and a bite of a tart, and Talia smiled and laid her hand on his arm.

"But at the same time..." she gently prompted.

He smiled and swallowed. "At the same time, The love of a child is always a wonderful, wonderful thing, and each of them is a unique and beautiful person. We've had an incredible amount of fun with each and every one of them. Despite them often being brats and missing you three so much, Talia and Alilia and I have enjoyed a lot of really beautiful love in the last thirteen years.

"And the love I've shared with the Volunteers is a constant blessing."

"It's hard not to love them." Talia smiled.

"We had to, it was either that or strangle them from jealousy!" Alilia laughed. "We couldn't keep them out of our home or out of our husband's bed, so we had to take them into our hearts!"

"Yes, it sure hasn't been all bad." Mark smiled. "We've had a lot of love and a lot of happiness along with the problems.

"I suppose I shouldn't have made the forty-four out to be such incorrigible brats the first time I told you about them. They really are a lot better now.

"But right after re-melding and realizing what it's been like with you three for the last few weeks out here in the real world, it reminded me so strongly of what it was like raising you on Hiliani, and the contrast is so striking that I can't figure out for the life of me why they turned out so different from you, and all of them so similar in their attitudes."

"And maybe you just needed to vent some frustration." Fire laughed.

"Maybe." he agreed with a smile as he ruffled her hair.

"Where are they now? Still on Hiliani?" Val asked.

"No. Yazadril, Nemia, Dalia, and Bezedil came out with us, but the rest of the Homesteaders, especially Hilsith and her research team, didn't want to lose any of the three years remaining in the time-bubble before the scheduled opening. So we left and had the gods close it up again right away.

"Our other selves and the Volunteers are taking the forty-four on a tour around Kellaran. At their request, the first stop is Kraka for a day, and a night at the Dragon's View Inn.

"We told them they'd get to meet you after we'd had some time with you to reacquaint and enjoy being with you again."

"Why did you come out of the time-bubble early, but with only three years left to go?" Six asked. "Did the forty-four start to feel constricted in there, like we did?"

"They didn't feel constricted, but they did insist on it." Mark told them. "I'll let them explain it to you. To be honest, they don't do a very good job of explaining it to us, but it has to do with you three."

"Us three?" Fire asked with a mischievous grin. "You know, we've never been to Kraka. Let's go see what they're doing and ask them about it."

"Not right now." Talia insisted with a patient smile. "You've only had two hours sleep, and you've been missing too much sleep lately. You can cover for it with Alertness spells and whatnot, but it's not good for you.

"Let's all go back to bed, and you can sleep with us. I'm really looking forward to cuddling with you all for the rest of the night. We'll go meet your brothers and sisters in the morning."

"All right." Fire agreed, and was caught by surprise by a yawn.

"See?" Alilia laughed. "Now off to bed, all of us."

They all snuggled up on the huge bed in the master bedroom, but the children didn't try to return to sleep immediately. Instead they waited patiently for their parents to fall asleep, occasionally keeping each other awake with a gentle psionic nudge.

When they were sure that the adults were deeply asleep, the three siblings deeply Linked, and carefully Read their parents' minds. Not wanting to intrude too deeply, yet wanting to know all of the truth of a matter, they worked with painstaking precision. They Read only the thoughts and experiences that directly concerned their forty-four new siblings, then carefully withdrew.

"We should have been there for them." Six thought to his sisters. "We could have dealt with this, we could have protected them from all that anguish. Being stuck in the time-bubble wouldn't have been that bad We were selfish."

"Who knew we would need to protect our parents from our brothers and sisters?" Val responded. "But you're right. We didn't want to go back in the time-bubble and we refused to be separated from them, so we forced them to be separated from us. All the pain of missing us and being apart from us for thirteen years, that's our fault.

"I don't see what we can do to make it up to them for the hurt and anxiety we caused them, except to try to love them extra well, and make damn sure that it doesn't happen again.

"We'll stay real close to them for the next few years, they'll need that from us. The part of them that was out here with us for a few weeks is so small compared to the part that was away for thirteen years, and we should give them our complete devotion for at least thirteen years to make it up to them.

"And while there's little we can do to take away the anguish that the forty-four have already given them, we can make damn sure that they don't do it any more!"

"Right." Six agreed. "With what we just got from Father and Mothers, we can get a good Read on the forty-four from this distance. Let's go get 'em."

They spent half an hour taking a deep Reading of each of the forty-four, and another ten minutes to decide what they were going to do and formulate a plan. Then they acted.

It was a beautiful tropical day in northern Kletiuk when they arrived in Kraka. The Hilian Volunteers and their forty-four children were sightseeing in sixteen groups spread out all over the ancient and abandoned city of the dragons, each group having a copy of Mark with it. Six, Fire, and Val joined the group that included copies of Talia and Alilia as well.

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