Chapter 18: Aftermath

Everyone was quiet for a few moments after Natalie’s departure from the conference. No one said a word, reading and thinking about the various papers that Natalie had Peter forward to the conference.

“Peter, If you don’t mind, I think we should close this session to just the Council leadership. We will let you know of the results of our deliberations.”

“Yes, Sir David. I understand. Gentlemen, have a great week.” Peter said as he withdrew.

After a few moments, Cecile broke the silence and asked “Reggie, Sir David, what are you going to do about this?”

“This what?” Reggie asked.

“This abomination of Henry forming this, Clan. There has not been a single one of these abominations in centuries. And the creation of an Archive of mage names, histories and successive names is a danger to us all.”

“Well, Cecile, I am afraid that while you may have a regulation against it, we don’t. And since we are independent of you, rules don’t go downhill.” Reggie replied. “Frankly what I am more concerned about is the charges and convictions of the three Mages from eastern Europe and their kidnapping and mental worming of two of Mr. Lamberts relatives. Three, counting the lovers mother.”

“Those people were just batteries, not important in the order of things. Anyone with some sense of history knows that. Taking a Prince and two of his sworn men into captivity and then wringing them on the rack is a much more serious matter.” Cecile replied with a scoffing voice.

“The charge of those men going into a foreign nation, take people hostage, and attempt to use them as leverage against a known member of the Wizard community is a serious matter. The fact that Hank bothered to interrogate them, tabulate their actions and offer to send them back alive but bound is simple justice by our rules. And it is the least of the issues here. How did they get to go there in the first place, especially when they were in your custody? What were the conditions of their Parole?” Sir David asked.

“That’s an internal matter of the Over Council of Europe.” Cecile answered. “Not a matter for any other conferences to discuss or debate.”

“I’m not so sure Cecile. I would like to know the answer of that one myself. How did these men, one whom we now know is your cousin, get out of custody and come back to the US to further attack Hanks family?” Reggie asked.

“This is a minor event that’s not worth any investigation. What I want to know is how he managed to assemble this Archive of histories of Mages, Wizards and others, and who all will have access to this? If the authorities gain access to it, the results could be as bad as the Pogroms of the Jews, and of the Gypsies. There were over two thousand early emergent killed by Nazis in that war.” Cecile said.

“Isn’t that how your Council managed to eliminate Hedge Witches west Moscow? Most of them Gypsies, and Jews?” Sir David asked.

“There were some Mages there as well.” Cecile replied.

“Well, Gentlemen, I am not taking action against Hank’s Clan Lambert at this time.” Reggie said. “I feel that I have enough work to read and digest the documents he has sent to me, as well as his announced ethics. I urge you, Cecile, to send me the address that you want the drooling fools shipped to, as well as the tomato paste cans, and the names of the three dead Warlocks that are in Richmond County. Cecile, where do you want me to send your cousin?”

“Send them here. And if you won’t take action against this upstart, we will.”

With that, Cecile Henrard left the conference.

“Sir David, should we let Hank know about that last comment?”

“Reggie, I expect that Hank anticipated that possibility. Which may have been part of his decision to not do the presentation himself this morning. I think I would rather know what he wants to talk to you about.” Sir David said with a sad smile.

“Yea, that’s what worries me a little too. Sir David, I am sorry we didn’t have him placed with a better mentor. One who would have paid more attention to his development.”

“Reggie, Hank developed just fine. Not the way us old timers wanted, maybe, but fine overall. He may be just what we need in these times.” Sir David replied. “Later my friend. I have some reading to do.”

Meanwhile, back at the ranch

“Hank, I think that you made the right decision to have Natalie do the data dump to the Councils. I think that Maggie and Carrie both need you more. They have almost all the connections remade, and Helen has done great as the mom figure, but you are still needed” Paula said.

“I know. Still, I think I left her hanging out on a limb with doing this.” I replied.

“Hank, She’s the lawyer. She also has that thing inside of her to protect her. Quit worrying.”

“Ok. Have her come upstairs to see me when she gets’ out of the meeting, please?”

Of course he would. For Natalie he would make anything. In fact, for family he would make almost anything possible. Suddenly, again, Hank felt the emotion of being in Family. There would be fusses and arguments, and stresses inside. But there were no problems with dealing with those outside of Clan Lambert.

Volgograd Oblast.

“Kajudourich. What am I supposed to do with four drooling idiots, two cans of red paste, and a list of three dead Arch mages? What was the idiot in Moscow thinking when he sent them here? The last one to show up was that idiot Viktor Kaslov. Who tried to hang himself off of a bridge but was cut down by a police officer. Only his brain is as dead as the others.” George Nagy asked. “What was that fool thinking?”

“Our Russian Mage was thinking that you asked for these people last week, and this was what came back from the Over Council today. Cecile sent them to him directly, and he sent them to you. Where else could he ship them?”

“I don’t know. This is some kind of message from that kid in Augusta in America. Don’t mess with my family. I get the message loud and clear. The mind dump I got from his slut Cindy told me that he was dangerous, and this is his way of showing it.”

“Yes, your latest jewel did give a surprising view of this young man. He borders on the legends of Alexander the Greek”

“Yes. And he has the same ambitions. This child has conquered the Fae as surely as if he was sitting his own ass on their throne, and now he dictates his own rules of justice and order to Mages, Wizards and everyone else. I know you say that this is the American mask of civilization, but they don’t behave that way either. Not really.

“You are right. The disconnect between what they say and what they do is the peculiar dichotomy of dealing with the Americans. And it’s something that is isolated to them alone. Still, they are a plip on the glass of history.”

“You mean a bug spatted on the windshield of history. And what’s the game that Cecile is playing? Staying in the background with idle threats when these American Mages and Wizards councils should be taking action against this upstart. Sitting and being helpless when they say no’ they won’t take action.”

“I don’t know that it’s him. Cecile Hanrard might be making a point with you to stay away for a while. I heard that the conference was ugly earlier. He was on the carpet for letting his cousin escape through Russia. And he was told his earlier name from some sort of Archive.”

“We need to question that Cunt in Greece. She’s the only one who had all of the files of connections through her batteries she was selling.”

“We’ve tried to get her, but she keeps moving around. I’m afraid she will jump back to the US and seek to hide there. Then we will never find her.”

Working on Sunday

Well, after the Omelet festival, (Ogernaut is a amazing person in the kitchen) we sat and decided what we were going to be doing and, more importantly, where everyone was going to be living. Or not.

“Hank, I cannot in good conscience leave my daughter and your sister in your bed with you. The girls have to have separate bedrooms, if not a separate apartment.” Helen said.

“Helen. They already have separate bedrooms. Yes, they are in my condo, but their arrangements and freedoms are their own decisions. I don’t push or pull. Not since they went to college.” I said.

“Mom, we are over eighteen. Quit worrying about who or where we are with while we are in this building. I don’t think you could provide better protection anywhere else in the world. What I want to know is where YOU are sleeping? The Guest Condo?” Carrie asked her mother.

“Yes, that’s where I was last night.”

“She woke me up this morning and yesterday” Hank said.

“Really? Mother, wakening up a strange man in his bedroom? Hank, were you clothed?”

“Young Lady.!!” Helen said, red faced.

“Yes, my mom’s still a MILF, right?” Carrie replied with a grin.

On that note, I departed for someplace safe. The Lounge. Downstairs. 5 floors away. Maybe I should sleep on the couch there depending on how long this was going to go on.

“So, what do you all need me to do? Do we have artifacts that need filling?” I asked when I got to the Lounge. “Do the floors needing scrubbing? Clothes being folded? Anything to keep me out of the arguments off the lovely ladies upstairs.” I asked the Lounge Lizards.

I started to call them the Lounge Lizards since the two Dragonets decided that they loved curling up on the edge of the Fumberal. Between them sucking up power and the on-shift gargoyles in the corner doing the same, it was a regular feeding time at the animal farm. And Paula loved doing charging of gems and artifacts, while Jeffery cataloged inventory on books, scrolls, and pamphlets that had arrived from the various museums and store houses. Amelia and William evidently were on break somewhere else. But it was Sunday and everyone Was taking a break.

“We don’t have anything for you to do here, but if you want to check out what is importing itself these days, you are welcome.” Jeffery said.

We had to get a load of newspapers every Sunday to convert to archive books to transfer the contents of the new arrivals. Except for those of the British museum, The British Royal Library, the Vatican library and the different Greek, Turkish, and Cypriot libraries, we always called before we did restoration and copying. I thought it was only polite to make sure the owners knew what their manuals were doing.

Most didn’t complain, or even remember that they even had the books, documents and scrolls. A few wondered how we got them. When we explained that they wandered into our bookshelves, most didn’t believe it. So, we sent them back, and waited an hour, and then called the owners and asked if they still had them, because they had returned to us already.

Jeffery got a real charge out of renewing old scrolls, books and other documents, clearing off all of the accumulated dust and small tears, and sending the refreshed originals back to their owners. Many of them were extremely thankful, being able to actually look at the written artifacts safely for the first time in years.

Paula was aglow these days. Morning sickness safely in the rear-view mirror, she was eating for three. (Twins. Yep, Jeffery and she were fertile.) And she was just now starting to have a “Baby Bump”. Jeffery was absolutely and totally wrapped around her little finger. (Smart man).

Jeffery was leaving tomorrow to do his rounds as a “South Carolina Fish and Game enforcement” officer. We got him identification for that in South Carolina and Georgia, so he was able to wander around in different waters planting gold and silver catcher artifacts. He would visit different places at intervals and harvest the artifacts for content that we shipped to our “Mining operations and refining” company in Brazil. Not that we needed it to keep the confidence of the Fae in our commercial operations, but any additional value was considered beyond polite. Besides, our balance sheet was almost out of sight. I expected that the Georgia Revenue officers would be here (again) soon, once we sent in our April tax payments. Mainly those guys just sat around the table, eating good food, and marking off checkboxes of income and tax money.

We had a bump with a Federal IRS guy in March. His attitude was “where’s the money coming from” from the time he walked in. Standing at the jewelry counter and demanding to see the invoices and payments to do a spot comparison. Jeffery had fun with that guy, taking him upstairs, putting him in a chair in the conference room, and wheeling in three file cabinets and demanding that the agent conduct his inventory there and then. And, under federal and Georgia guidelines, you cannot seize corporate documents without a warrant. After eight hours Jeffery asked the man if he was satisfied yet. Because as a former auditor for the FBI, Jeffery could promise him that there were no loose ends.

“Paula, what can you tell me about the other slaves we got from Pat? Are there any particularly strong talents among them that we can exploit that you can think of?”

“Why? What holes are you thinking of filling?” She asked me.

“Now why do you always think I am looking at holes?”

“Simple. You are male, you are a teenager, and you are a perpetually horny Wizard. Oh, you mean in the organization.” She said with a smirk. This from a woman who insisted she be naked whenever she first greeted me. No. Not going to tell those stories.

“In four months, you will be giving birth. With a simple birth, there are always a time frame where the woman is out of commission regarding work. Since your work here is vital to the income of Clan Lambert, I am looking to find ways to fill that gap with however many bodies we need to keep operations up and running. NO, I don’t want you replaced. I want you supplemented while you are not able to comfortably perform the duties of a mother.”

That got a big grin from Jeffery. And an embarrassed one from Paula.

“YOU are not moving me out of my room over the Fumeral.” Paula said with emphasis. “And I am not renting my room out as an overnight motel.”

“Now, darling, we mustn’t deprive other women the opportunity to make the same sacrifices that you made to becoming such a powerful woman.” Jeffery said in a teasing manner.

“And Hank and I can alternate working at stud duties to help these women mature.” He continued while standing too close to Paula.

SMACK!.

“You were standing too close to make those remarks, Jeffery. Paula, Jeffery was your first, true. But he also grew into the man he has become. And he has confessed that you weren’t his first. We only have limited historical evidence of what really transforms people and I’m not sure that just repeating history is all that good an idea.”

“Ouch. Honey, you know I only have eyes for you.” Jeffery said rubbing his head where the smack had landed.

“It’s your wandering dick I am worried about.” Paula said.

“Hank, tell her I won’t dare wander around.” Jeffery said.

“Paula, I know you are teasing. But my thoughts are that we perhaps might endeavor to discover what transforms the results of Abigail’s breeding plans into Mages or even Wizards, and what improvement in power control can come about as a result. Possibly as a result of simply sleeping. Would you have any issue with us relocating the room above yours? To take advantage of the spill over from downstairs?” I asked.

“You going to dedicate it as a Guest Quarters for visiting women and men? Hank you are starting to sound like Abigail.”

“OUCH. Ok. Motion is tabled. No future plans for the fun room over Paula’s hideout.” I said.

“No, I don’t mean that. Not that way. I get what you are driving at. We are kind of on a fragile stand here with just three of us being real turbo loaders for the wellspring. But the route to that is kind of a border line item, and we should think about all of the outcomes. I mean that Jeffery and I are probably the exception to the entire Mage and Wizard culture. How do we get that lucky again?” I mused.

“It’s going to take a lot of careful research. But I cannot help but think we should plan for it now rather then later.” I said.

“Good point.” Paula said.

I spent the rest of the evening watching Jeffery rehabilitate books, scrolls and single sheets of parchment that arrived on his desk. It was funny to look at the desktop and suddenly see something appear that hadn’t been there before. Archival, Chemical, apothecary, grimoires, and drawings from the last three thousand years, all sitting there on the desk, waiting for Jeffery’s gentle care and repair. Then we duplicated the contents, using old Newsprint as a basis, which build new archived copies, and then sent the suddenly rejuvenated ones back to their source to live in locked archives and climate-controlled rooms for some other scholar to try to decipher. While we had the entire document translated into contemporary language copies here. Yea. It was cheating. And this was how we spend Sunday afternoon.

I found out that the girls and their “mom” settled in the Visitor Condo opposite mine. And It was a silent room I went up to that night.

Another Monday Morning.

No one was here when I woke up. I guess Helen corralled the girls in the Guest Condo, and probably tied them to their beds. Oh well. I wandered out and brewed some coffee and sat and moped about things in general. I wanted to get more information from Natalie about how the conference went, but not without coffee first. I knew better then to see her before my second cup. Else I would be dragging all day.

Walking into the living room, I saw that coffee was already in the pot. Hot. Hmm. OK. After pouring myself a cup, I looked around and saw that the two-bedroom doors were closed.

OK. Drink coffee, go downstairs, get paper, see Natalie and her friend, and get ready to do work. Also ping Pat and see about any flack he has gotten since Sunday. I’m sure there will be something to gripe about. Ok. My personal list of things to do:

1, Talk to Reggie about re-homing Deacon Thomas to him. We managed to kick out all of the reporting pipes that were connected to our dear friend Abigail. And Reggie did complain to me about needing a secretary. Hmm.

2. Get updates this afternoon on what the progress has been with the construction of the Archive. I am sure that my librarian is doing a great deal of work with that.

3. The one I really don’t want to do. Paula and Jeffery. “The Talk”. She asked about the information she wanted to share, and I have a couple of things I want to share with Jeffery. Both of these people are easily the successors to me if something should happen to me. I want Clan Lambert to have a Power Wizard in charge, who has strong affinity to the Fae if something happens to me. I want my work here to continue after I leave. Yes, that maybe is ego talking, but I for one am not indestructible. I have lost too many too soon in life. I need a solid long-term successor in case.

Yea, looks like I got a lot to do that no one else can do. I am not taking life for granted. Unlike Pat, I don’t have anyone to bring the pieces of me back together.

Now, to see what is on the platter for me to do today. First stop, Carla, second Natalie, and then on to the chores she dishes out.

Taking the elevator to the second floor I walked into the reception room and saw Carla talking with Natalie. The conversation was a little heated.

“But I don’t know anything about project management and planning. Or document management and planning. And business management is above me. I never did it before.” Carla said.

“Darling, everyone here gets booted up a layer when someone moves laterally, or up or out. You just moved up. Paula is not going to be doing all of the stuff she does with the Chamber of Commerce, fighting the different government groups, and setting up the different document follow ups, if she’s going to be having babies, doing artifact repairs and filling. Someone has to balance the books and keep us on track. I can keep the legal stuff handled, but someone has to be the switch yard here. You’re the next most capable.” Paula said.

“Good morning ladies. Happy Monday. How can I help?”

“Hank, good, you are here. I was just trying to explain to Carla that with Paula gone, someone has to take over the operations that she did regarding the management of the businesses.” Paula said.

“Funny. Isn’t that my job? To tell her what her assigned duties are and provide her with help in getting them done?” I asked.

Both women turned red. Natalie more so than Carla. “Well, you hadn’t done it yet.” Natalie said grumpily.

“Nope. I’ve been pretty busy. But you are right and it’s my fault that I didn’t prepare for this earlier. And you are right about what Carla needs to do. Because she probably knows more about the things that Paula did without you then anyone else here knows. Right?” I asked as I looked toward Carla.

“Carla, this is my screw up, and I need your help in fixing it. Paula, I’ll catch up with you in a moment. While Carla and I are talking can you get a list together of the collaborative items you were doing with Paula before so Carla and I can set up a order of process and level of work? Then you and I can get together with your list of Honey-do’s for me.”

So, Carla and I sat for the next hour and worked out what she knew that Paula had been working on in addition to the things that we both knew about. It was quite a list. “Carla, who do you know from the pool who can best do your job here?”

“Delores. She has the nicest phone voice and handwriting. I can read some of what the others write. Amelia has the nicest penmanship, but she is the librarian.”

“Good. Get ahold of her and tell her she needs to fill in your job here. You can coach her to be your replacement.”

“Can I also get Paula to help me with the things she was doing? I really don’t want to mess up.” Carla said.

“Carla, I will tell you what I have told everyone else here. Make the decisions you think are best, and if you make a mistake, find me and we will fix it. And if you do make one, keep it as a learning experience so you don’t make it again. All of you are too good in the memory department to make repeat mistakes.”

“Thank you, Master Hank”

“You are welcome. Now, build a list of things you need from Paula, and I will go get her here. One tip. NEVER spring something on someone without an agenda. Have a discreet agenda in place first. No sandbagging.”

“Got it, sir. Paula said that to me a lot of times.”

Next stop, Natalie. Oh boy. I walked in that room and closed the door. “Hank, Thank you. I’m sorry I jumped on her about this but things were piling up and I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Natalie first off, how are you and your friend Lech getting along this morning?”

“Wonderful. He’s full of all kinds of advice, and most of it is pretty good. But you are right, in thinking of what you said, the vacancy was your fault. I should have jumped harder on you earlier. All of the statements of the documents point to you as being “The Owner” of our Clan, and I should have put this on your “to Do” list. Not take it on mine.”

“Yep, and I screwed up letting this go on for too long. You know what the hard part is?”

“What?”

“Three extremely competent women all with skills to do almost everything for the jobs needed and trying to distribute the load across all of them so no one gets overloaded and nothing blows up. Now that’s a challenge. I just must make sure that each of you can do what you do best and have backup when you need it.”

“You didn’t mention that we were competitive as hell.” Natalie said with a smile.

“That didn’t seem like it needed mentioning. Did it?” I asked.

Natalie laughed. “How did you get that fifty-year-old brain into that seventeen-year old body? Here’s the list for Carla to look at and bounce this copy to Paula and ask her if she has any others. And get her list back to Carla so we can look at LOE. Is she finding someone to handle the phones, Email and appointments?”

“Yes, we just did. Delores.”

“Good choice. OK. Enough for me. Now about you.”

The next forty-five minutes I was signing documents. The problem with being a single owner proprietorship of six different businesses is that you have writer’s cramp. When I got to the bottom of the pile, I ran out before she found more. “See You later” I said as I closed the door.

Next stop, Lounge / Library. And Jeffery was there along with Paula. Aha. No time like the present. And except for them and Ogrenaut, the place was empty.

“Jeffery, Paula, can we have a minute in the corner please?”

“Hank, do I need to put my phone in the next room? I don’t want this one melted, I have not yet backed it up.”

“Might be a good idea.” I said.

Getting coffee for three, I grabbed the corner table and watched as Jeffery went to the Diamond Exchange and then came back. Paula looked a little distressed.

“OK. Paula, you wanted to talk with me about the upcoming nuptials to Jeffery, right?”

“Yes.”

“Jeffery, do you have any objections to Paula talking about anything with me? And I mean no boundaries.”

“I admit being uncomfortable about it, but I really don’t have any objections given her background and attachment to you. I would hope that she can come to me with those things first. But you are obviously her best and most trusted advisor. The youngest old grandfather I have ever seen.” Jeffery replied with a smile at the end.

“Paula, tell me honestly what you are concerned about with relationship to Jeff.”

“Hank. I have had three owners in less then a year. Jeffery would be my fourth, if I swear fealty to him. How can I do that without breaking the bonds I have with you? I no longer feel the bonds to Abigail, I never was bonded to Pat, I was just property passed over in forfeit. I want something different but the same with Jeffery. I’m confused and worried.”

“Ok. Here is what I am worried about. An enormous percentage of marriages end in divorce. Now among humans this is a very high and costly thing. Among Fae, it ends in the death of one of the spouses. Wizards and Warlocks almost always see the end of the first relationships as ending in the death of the minor partner. You are both equals. Is that how you feel?”

They looked at each other and I could sense the mental chat. “We had never thought about the mortality aspect. But we both have the same expectancy, given the same evolution we have had.” Paula said.

“I agree” Jeffery said.

“But you haven’t had the same History.” I said.

“No, obviously not.” Jeffery said while Paula nodded.

“So you both have gotten to the same point by different routes. Right?”

Both of them nodded their head at my question. Ok. Now to do the work.

“My folks had a good marriage. The basis of that was that they both knew what the other would do in any specific situation. They both had expectations of each other as partners and as similar people. Where they were different, those differences were minor and not with the relationship. I have a mind game I want you to play for a week. Paula, I want you to be independent, as much as you see Jeffery as independent. Jeffery, I want you to be a Slave, as much as you see Paula as having been a slave. It will be a challenge for both of you to get into the different mindsets. But it will be educational for both of you.”

“Yes master” Paula said.

“Yes. Master Hank” Jeffery said. “Wow. That’s a heavy load on the mind and body.”

“Yep. Don’t get too used to it.” I said. “Now both of you talk about this a bit. I’ll talk with you singularly later.”

“I think we will for a short time. I have to get on the road to collect some artifacts, but I will find you later.” Jeffery said.