Family Matters
© 2022 by M. Mitch Marmel

Thumbnail art by  tegerio, color by  marmelmm

Part Eight.



Tali:

My ears went flat as the little wolfess let out a deafening, high-pitched “SQUEEEEEEEE!” that I swear echoed off the mountains several hundred klicks north of us. The ghost, Princess Grace, merely smiled and said, “You were saying, my dear?”

“Well,” I said, “did you see anything strange, down there at the pond?” I had a recorder running.

Grace replied, “Oh, do you mean a huge, maternal skunkess?”

I blinked, and blinked again when I realized that the mephit ghost in front of me seemed quite a bit more substantial than she had been when I first encountered her. “Erm, yes.” If I recall my reading on the subject, most deities (good ones, at any rate) are associated with light to some degree, so I guessed that furs would see what they wanted to see; Constantine at the Milvian Bridge, for example.

Which reminds me. I had to get those earrings back to Fausta sometime. That was one heck of a party.

“Did she impress you with her power?”

“Yes.”

“She have three eyes, only the middle one with a pupil?”

I nodded.

“Her tail seemed full of stars?”

“I didn’t see that, but it makes sense.”

“No” Grace said, “I haven’t seen Her.” She laughed as my ears dipped. “Being dead, my dear, I can sense Immanence when it draws close.”

“You seem a bit more . . . here, at that.”

“Thank you! Sadly, it’s only temporary. One day, little Aedith called upon the Brilliant Light to protect her, and it was so bright that I was actually corporeal again.”

“Really?” I asked, astonished.

“Elves Don’t Lie.” She leaned forward and beckoned me closer. “Do you know what I did?”

“No.”

She giggled like a schoolgirl. “I kissed the Master.”

I gaped, openmouthed, at her before I started laughing. “How’d he react?” I asked when I got my breath back.

“Oh, I think he was quite embarrassed. You see, I’m not wearing anything, and his wife was there.” She basked in my appreciative gaze for a while, but then she grew more transparent and she sighed. “It never lasts,” she remarked. “Death does have its drawbacks.” She brightened as Missy and Ooo-er, now clothed (Missy in her jumpsuit and Ooo-er wearing her pearls), came up the hill, with their daughter between them. Aedith was practically dancing with happiness.

I was reminded of Franq and Jesi at that age, and smiled happily. Even if he wasn’t the father, Matt would be quite thrilled at the idea of another child.

If he knew what was good for him.

“We’re headed back to the Lodge,” Missy explained when she and the others had gotten closer. “Care to come along?”

“Sure,” I replied. “Let me get dressed, and I’ll join you.” I loped off down the hill.

And paused.

Something that Fuma had said, about being able to make even Winterbough pregnant.

Something clicked, and I decided that I’d send another message when I got back to the wagon.

After lunch, of course.


***


Tessie:

“What do you mean, ‘Do it again?’”

I’d spent the entire morning sweeping, dusting, and scrubbing every room in the house, without using any of the household cantrips that I know.

And she wants me to do it all again?

“Yes,” Mrs. Fletcher said, giving me a severe glare that, Elves Don’t Lie, made me feel like a bug pinned under her hoof. “They may think that this is ‘clean’ in the Empire, but it is not up to our standards.”

“The Master – “

She stamped a hoof. “You will not speak of him in this house,” she hissed at me. “You are here because the [First of Eldest] requested that I teach you two things, and not above two things.” She took a breath before saying. “Now, you will prepare lunch for the two of us.”

I knew better than to argue, although I could feel my tail snapping back and forth a bit. “Yes, Ma’am.”

While I prepared a few dishes – salad for two, bread with butter and honey – the Regalia muttered in my head, “She has a point, you know.”

“What?”

“You really missed quite a lot.”

“But it was already clean there!”

I could hear the Regalia chuckle. “Girl, you need to get with the program. There are ways you do things, and the way other furs do things. So, you dress up nicely for Temple days in Albric Tor, and wear filmy silks and a smile in Rajjan Tor. Right?”

“Well, yeah – “

“This is one of those times.”

Mrs. Fletcher ate the food I set down for her, and when she was done she said, “It is well that you know how to do some things. Now,” and a long, thin branch that had all of its twigs trimmed off appeared in her paw. “You will clear the table and clean up, and while you do so I will teach you words.”

I reached for a plate, and the switch swept down and tapped the edge. [“Product of pawcraft, round and flat, to bear food upon the table.”]

I tried to repeat what she said, and when I reached for the plate again, the switch tapped my knuckles. [“Product of pawcraft, round and flat, to bear food upon the table.”]

I said it again, and reached for the plate.

“Ow!”

She hit my knuckles with the switch.

“This . . . may take some time,” the Regalia said. I didn’t know it could sigh.


***


Anastasia:

After lunch, I was in my office at the Annexe, meeting with a small group of the [Doe-Moot] that could be described as the Marital Relations Committee, going over a list of likely candidates for Sixth. We had already met twice before Westersloe got back from Eastness, and had established some criteria for my son’s mate.

Her strength and accuracy with a rolling pin were at the top of the list.

With Westersloe’s return and the revelation that Sixth had gotten Tessie pregnant, matters had accelerated somewhat. Inheritance in Elfhame descends upon the daughter, so Stella would get everything; there was very little financial incentive for the doe who was selected. Still, there were a few perquisites, namely proximity to [First of Eldest] and her household.

In between sips of tea and nibbles on some of the truly excellent vanilla sponge that Sturmhilde had made for us, we had set to our task and soon had the list of names narrowed to five. They were all immigrants from Licksburg, second or even third generation in one case, and all had fully embraced the Vale’s customs.

They were all educated, they were all good cooks and had demonstrated that they could keep house to an Elfhamian roe-doe’s exacting standards, and none of them had shown any sign of being, as one doe put it delicately, of being “flighty.”

All excellent choices.

We were enjoying the last of the sponge when Nippy appeared at the door. “Excuse me, Ma’am.”

“Yes, Nippy?”

The ermine approached with a small note on a silver tray. “From the Master, Ma’am.”

Westersloe, bless him, knows better than to come to my door when I’m conducting business. “Thank you, Nippy,” I said as I plucked the message from the tray and opened it.

Ah.

The Eastness delegation had gathered enough seeds that, they felt, they could bring back to their homes and plant. They had also spoken with some of the local farmers, woodworkers and smiths about what could be bought and what Eastness could sell. Obviously, the Tithe Barn had to be kept stocked, but all in all the local industries would welcome the extra business. Plans were also being laid to send a caravan south, over the [Stranger’s River] to begin traffic with the rest of Faerie.

My presence was requested to help see them off as they Gated back to Eastness.

My dear mate may constantly protest that he knows nothing of Statecraft, but I think he does fairly well for someone who hasn’t gotten that education. I like to think that I’m rubbing off on him.

I adjourned our meeting and noted that it wasn’t raining. The skies looked chancy, however, so I remembered to bring my umbrella with me.

Westersloe was talking with the delegation’s magic-user when I walked up to them. My mate smiled and said, “I’m glad the weather’s holding off.”

I glanced up. There were a few very small patches of blue sky showing through breaks in the clouds. “For now.”

“For now, yes.” We chuckled at that, and I smiled as the head of the embassy strode up.

He shook paws with Westersloe before taking off his hat and bowing. “Thank you very much for your hospitality, First of Eldest. The blessings of the Brilliant Light be upon you and Elfhame.”

“You are very welcome, sir,” I said, smiling at him. “May the Stars light your path home. I hope that you get home safely, and that your Council is pleased with what you’ve found here.”

“I have little doubt of that,” the fellow said, and he turned and headed back to their wagon. The ants were prodded into action, and they slowly drew the wagon up the Greytor, vanishing as they entered the Gate.

“Well, I hope they get home,” I said. Travel by Gate can be very tricky, but there were a few points where one could Gate non-stop. Like between here and Licksburg.

And no, I have no intention of ever going back there.

Westersloe and I were walking back to the Lodge when our ears swiveled at three voices raised in song.




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