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"We were prepared; one of ours saw this," Tiearan admitted, refusing to look at me. "We have seeds and such with us." Well, weren't we efficient? I looked up and saw Green Fae, their half-Fae children and the humanoids, all with pouches, bags and bundles. Crates, barrels and other things littered the ground.
"Doesn't sound like you're all that upset over it," I muttered.
"We have moved many times. Our seer predicts that the only reason we will leave this world is if we wish to. That is a blessing to us."
"Uh-huh." I was busy searching through the gathered people, trying to get a glimpse of Redbird and little Toff.
"She does not like being summoned, but she is bringing him," Tiearan murmured. "The child will still not come to you."
"Well, thanks for rubbing it in," I grumped.
"I did not mean it to harm or upset," Tiearan sighed. I wanted to ask him what he did mean, but held off. Redbird showed up, coming to stand next to her father. She didn't meet my eyes, but Toff was in her arms. At least he looked healthy and well fed.
"We are again in your debt," Tiearan didn't sound happy. "And I find myself in need of asking you another favor."
"And what would that be?" I asked. "If it's to kidnap and mindmeld more comesuli children, I'll have your asses off this planet so fast your head will spin."
"We have already passed new laws to add to the old ones, so this will not happen again." Well, it was too bad they hadn't thought about that before they turned to kidnapping in the first place.
"I understand your thoughts on this, and it is unfortunate," Tiearan observed.
"You know, I think I'll send some of the older Larentii to you, and you can all sit down and talk logic while leaving the emotional side out of everything," I grumped. "What do you want, Tiearan?"
"Indis-Banuu," he reverently whispered the word.
"That stuff?" Surnath had given permission for me to take as much as I wanted. The crystal covered farmland everywhere and they were happy to get rid of it. "I'll be right back," I said, and folded to Surnath. I was back in less than ten minutes with a thousand pounds of crystal, which I dumped right in front of Tiearan. "That enough?" I asked. "I can get more if you want. Also, just as a warning, it stays daylight here twenty-four out of the twenty-eight hours every day. I'll have someone come to put up homes and anything else you need. If you're done taunting me with my own child," I said, "I'll go now." I folded away, afraid that I'd become more angry and upset if I stayed.
* * *
"Your daughter has made a grievous mistake." The Green Fae seer came to stand next to Tiearan.
"You have already informed me, seer," Tiearan replied gruffly.
"It bears restating, as you cannot seem to control her," the seer replied.
Chapter 11
"What happened?" I asked, immediately concerned. Jeral was getting attention from Shane and Franklin, and that meant he was wounded. I'd folded back to the palace kitchen to get something to drink. Everybody else seemed to be there, too.
"Do not fear, child, it was a scratch and these two are taking good care of it," Jeral said, lifting my fingers with an uninjured hand and kissing them. I'd reached out to touch his shoulder—I wasn't ready to lose my other uncle. Jeral was reassuring me—he could see the worry in my eyes.
"Frank, you doin' all right?" I asked, shaking off my fear and doing my best to focus on Jeral's healing. Franklin and Shane were patching up a gash on Jeral's arm.
"I'm good. I hear that Oklahoma accent in your voice, little girl," Franklin replied. He looked so much like Merrill, with his black hair ruffled a bit and his piercing blue eyes focused on Jeral's wound. It made my heart hurt to look at him.
"The accent can't be helped sometimes," I muttered.
"I have never been to Earth," Jeral smiled. "It is a nice accent."
"I'll take you, sometime, and we'll get a chicken-fried steak," I said.
"I'll come," Winkler was ready to go right then. "Can we go back to that place you took me, all those years ago?"
"If you want to," I shrugged.
"I want to." Winkler came over to give me a hug. Yeah, I like my wolf.
"Thanks," I said. "Roff and I went by Don's grave. We saw what you, Weldon and Bill did."
"Lissa, I don't want to ever feel like that again," he hugged me tighter.
"Huh. I don't want to see your wolf inside a box, no matter how fancy it is," I grumped right back.
"I hear we need to put up some housing for Green Fae," Adam, Merrill and Pheligar folded in.
"Yeah." My voice was loaded with sarcasm.
"I'll come with you," Winkler offered. Therefore, it was only fair that my entire entourage went, including Rigo. I had to go Looking to determine that Thurlow had accomplished this somehow—Rigo could now walk in daylight if he wanted. I made a mental note to have a little talk with Thurlow—just not now. He came along, too.
"I do not wish to be left behind." Roff had come in and he was a little miffed, I think, that he couldn't go fight spawn with the rest of them. I wondered how his fighting lessons were coming along—Gavin and Tony were teaching him those skills. Rigo had come back from Vionn without a scratch—he was some kind of fighter, I guess.
"I won't leave you behind, honey." I smiled at my winged vampire. He smiled at me over Joey's head; Joey was tending to a slight scale poison on Radomir's arm.
* * *
"How many homes do you need, and what sort of amenities?" Adam asked Tiearan. He had a makeshift table with a rolled out sheet of paper, complete with plans for a village on it.
We ended up with the humanoids on the eastern edge, the half-humanoid in the middle and the Fae on the western side. All had room to grow. Pheligar laid the pipelines for the water supply and each house was hooked up with solar power—all of it run with more crystal—what the Green Fae called Indis-Banuu. Well, they had plenty, now.
"You're welcome to trade with the comesuli, if you want," I informed Tiearan. He was quite surprised that we were willing to put up their village for them. They thought they'd have to start from scratch. Instead, they watched in amazement as buildings went up in very little time, courtesy of the power wielded by the Larentii and Saa Thalarr. Pheligar and Adam put up barns and fences for the animals, too.
Tiearan stopped me before we left them to settle in. "We do not like being indebted," he said.
