Magic. 301
Copyright© 2024 by James McDonald
Chapter 19
Memories of the Reception line, 2001
I was 27, My (New) wife was 29. We were newlyweds and the reception was amazing.
When Reggie had offered his residence in New Orleans for the reception, we were delighted. And it was a great party. The invitees ran the spectrum of the Hedge witches that resided in Maryland to the grand leaders from England, Germany, Italy and Latin America and almost the entire American council of Mages, Witches and others. Almost all of Clan Lambert’s humans were here, wearing their bracelets so that the non-humans could share the experience. (Dragons are a bit too big, so they would not have fitted.)
Karen was still amazing in her pale off white gown. “I wasn’t virgin when I met you, Hank. So pure white is not really appropriate. But I do wish you had been my first.”
“Darling, I feel the same. And I must say the experience has been a transformation.”
“Hey, you two. Don’t get too sickeningly sweet here. That syrup is causing diabetes in the whole Clan, not just those of us in the Palace. Besides, Karen, the kid’s memory is kind of weak.” Cindy said to both of us.
“Now, Cindy. Don’t be jealous. I had college level experience. Easily beyond High School-hottie Girlfriend.”
God, I hope that they were both teasing me. I thought men were the ones who were supposed to compare notes.
“Yea, I guess it’s like wine. It does get better with age. Up to a point.” Cindy said in our ears.
“True. But then it turns to vinegar, and then I guess I must get a different vintage” Karen said in response.
“I guess that means a trade in in a century or so.” Cindy said. I swore I heard a snicker in her voice.
“Possibly. I’ll let you know.” Karen said in response.
And this was the kind of chatter that went on in my mind while I was standing in the end of the line awaiting my guests. Some things just don’t need to be overheard. Especially when you are in the receiving line for your guests at your wedding reception.
The line went briskly. The European Mage community only had a few representatives, and somehow the English slipped by without a comment. Reggie and Janice (our hosts) were next to us when Jeffery and his wife halted to talk with us for a minute, and I was curious about the last-minute diversion to Maryland.
“That’s something that Jeffery dreamed up. It was a magnificent view, wasn’t it?” Paula said.
“Yes, it was. It was an amazing vista, with Frederick in the background. How did you get that arranged?”
“Jeffery arranged it. I am not sure how he managed to have it all outside, but except for Salsbury, the view there was almost unmatched.” Paula said.
“Well, it surely was enchanting. Well done.” Janice Van Houten said. “Remind me to keep him in mind for planning the next outdoor event.”
Almost everyone had things to say about our ceremony and its location. And they all were very happy for us. Even the Iron Circle Mages were impressed. “Not bad scenery for a bunch of colonials.”
It wasn’t until after the reception ended and Karen and I were looking to bolt away for our honeymoon that Natalie asked that we convene a quick meeting of the Executive council.
It was then that Karen and I got the explanation of what we avoided by going to Maryland. And what the cost was to our friends from across the sea. The sprites, dragonets and dragons all volunteered their recording in a unified crystal of the events, and its outcome.
“Karen, I think that this is one of my leadership moments. I would appreciate it if you let me take the lead on this just this time.” I thought to my new wife.
“Hank, I trust you. We will talk about this later.” She replied.
This mental conversation stuff was what people married for thirty years seemed to have. I wonder how my dad and mom managed this. Now I know. It’s magic.
“Ok, Jeffery. Obviously, these events are now history. What do you think we should have done to avoid the need for this outcome?”
“Hank, there was a clear attempt to disrupt our celebration. They clearly intended harm to you and Karen. And they intended to harm Karen first. This was planned, carefully managed, and it was carefully executed, with deliberation beforehand. This was not an impulsive action, and it had malice aforethought in their conduct. From our intelligence there appeared to be no possible diplomatic method to prevent this event. Robert was committed to this course of action. And so, we took effective defensive measures to prevent their success. I realize that this may affect the reputation of Clan Lambert, but I didn’t see any way to avoid this.”
I had to think carefully about my response here. What I said and what I commanded from this moment on would forever paint the reputation of Clan Lambert. How do I make this event reflect on our reputation internally and externally.
“My friends, Karen and I are going off on a honeymoon tour. When we get back I intend to find out what the stance is with the Greater Council regarding the actions of Lord Barron, Sir Thomas and any other groups which want to conduct offensive actions against us. And we will deal with them as necessary then. Helen, keep up the good work. Jeffery and Deamonous, both of you continue to do as you have done in the past. Imagine what threats come after us, and compile plans to counter them. Barbara, keep being the wonderful example of a mother that you are. But all of you, make sure that you prepare a cohesive and thorough briefing on the actions you detect, with their quality and quantity of value that we must defend against. And Natalie, ping me if anything comes up that you feel needs my attention and action. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, Karen and I are off.”
Honeymoon, Springtime, 2001
Our first stop? Greece. The Greeks had the longest history with witches, but writing about them only sort of bubbled up and down. While there were older writings, the best collections were written about in Athens and in Constantinople (which was next on our list) and the constant shift back and forth between the two of them for historical writing about Witches and Creatures. We really weren’t too interested in the Christian writings, as most of it was pretty much condensed in “burn them, stone them, kill them,” blathering’s in many confused texts. These two were collectively the oldest sources of writings of any real accuracy about witches, wizards and the use of magic.
Besides, it was safer here then on the eastern end of the Med. While the Aramaic language texts (Bible and Koran) and much of the supporting stuff was in the Aramaic language that predated 1000 BC, there was very little interaction with Witches, Mages and the like. All these interactions held them as middle steps between man and Satan. Very little was written about good witches in the ancient texts. (Jewish or Moslem)
The countryside and villages and cities of Greece (if you could call them that) were amazing examples of grandeur in architecture. I must admit it, no one knows how to build buildings like the Greek and Turks. We did all the normal junk, like swimming in the Aegean, walking along the road of Thermopylae (where the Greeks held off the Turks for three days), and looking eyes wide at the examples of what the country had to offer.
From there, we sprinted to northern Italy and looked over the mountains of the southern side of Switzerland. And in all of our travels, the pearl of languages saved us infinitely with all of the dialects of language and local custom.
We tripped over to Monaco, and then to southern Spain and marveled at the construction of cities going back over a thousand years. And wondered what Augusta would be like after that span of time.
“At the rate we tear things down and rebuild them, I doubt we will have any examples of any substance. It seems that we can’t seem to keep anything up” Karen said with a laugh.
“What about the World Trade Center?” I asked.
“These places are not as tall but are far older and far more often renovated. These are living buildings. New York is a new city barely a toddler in terms of age of these buildings. Its going to take a lot of years before we see if New York is the same ageless city that is European or English. And there are others on the way. Taller is not really an important element except to the nation it’s in.” Karen replied.
“You are right. They already are building taller things. Like Petronas in Maylaysia. And elsewhere. But you are right, we should go there next.”
And so we did. Among the places we went to, we saw a similarity in terms of the energy of the population. For instance, Singapore was an amazing example of the Crown Colonial behavior that went right. Hong Kong was an example of Chinese energy in a former British colony. All in all it gave us a good view of what colonial period Britian was like.
From British to Spanish colonies, we went to the Philippians. And encountered may hedge Witches and some mages as well. They were customers of our Caldron for sales and supplies, and they were very gracious hosts.
We agreed to bypass most of the continent of Southeast Asia as things were unsettled. We did a short visit to Seoul Korea, to look at the growth that nation had undergone and were amazed at the manufacturing of automobiles, ships and everything else. All the while hearing stories about starvation in the north of the thirty-eight parallel, Korea was a nation under siege while being busy and as normal as possible.
On Saturday afternoons, Eastern Standard Time, we sat in conference with Natalie, Peter, Jeffery, Barbara and Helen to talk about current events from the Clan perspective. This was to prep Natalie as Clan leader for the Sunday meeting that we could observe (not participate) between the American, English, and European collectives. So far, no public comments from the English. The greater council had evidently had not been informed about the activities of the English against us. There was no mention about twenty missing men who were involved in the planned attack against us. (And the subsequent failure.) The Wedding celebration was discussed, but so far no one really mentioned why we did the diversion from Tennessee to Maryland. (Though there was admiration about that and the reception later. Ressenham commented in written communication to Natalie that the scenery reminded him of Alpine Germany or Austria.)
Jeffery thought it was typical hubris. “It didn’t matter and so we don’t mention it”.
Natalie had different ideas. “You two keep your geas up wherever you go. And don’t let Robert or Brimstone get very far from you. And for gosh sakes, stay away from England.”
“Yes, mother. We’re leaving Singapore now and from there we will be bouncing around the Pacific.”
“Just remember, that’s a former English property. No idea at all of how many sources of information that Barron has there. Keep your heads down.”
“Yes, mother.” I said.
Which was probably the smartest advice that I ever actually listened to.
Augusta
While we (Karen and I) were trapsing around on our honeymoon, Natalie thought it would be a good idea to get some broader intelligence about what was going on across the Clan. “We need an internal intelligence briefing as well as external.” She said as she convened the next meeting of the executive committee. Helen was invited to stay around for this session. “Well, Jeffery, are there any more surprises for me as an aftermath of the little firefight in Tennessee? Any other things I should know about?” Natalie asked after Hank and Karen were safely in Greece.
“Natalie, you specifically told me to advise the Dragon Corp on measures to safeguard the Clan at the Hand fest celebration, and to ensure that there were no threats to Clan Lambert people or their guests. Deamonous presented me with intelligence that was vetted by Sprites working with Helen about a possible threat, and we took the time and measures to prevent it from being a serious threat to our people and our guests.” Jeffery said in response.
“OK. Who dreamed up the idea of the paired canopies and laying anti weapon mines in the fields around the celebration areas?” Helen asked.
“That was a team effort to eliminate possible threats that we had heard of from our Sprites. We managed to get the first field test in Brazil with no issues. So we had high confidence that they would work as designed.” Jeffery said with a smile.
“None that it would have mattered, according to previous statements from Jacque and Robert.” Paula said in defense of her husband.
“I’m not angry. But I do want to be kept updated on any and all future plans for defensive measures. It gives me confidence and lets me know about how to properly respond if and when someone cries about being beaten to a pulp.” Natalie said with a chiding tone in her voice.
“We can do that. But we have to keep Hank from pulling people out of defense research and putting them back into some other long range plans he has at heart. Rebuilding human bodies is still in his mind about the Crystal Palace.” Jeffery replied.
“Jeffery and Natalie and everyone else. We published a letter at Christmas that fully explained to Hank that we were satisfied with our status here. And that we were not pressuring him to do any rebuilding of bodies as long as we had our lives here in the palace. With the armlets that are so prevalent in and among the fae and the human members of Clan Lambert, we can visit with greater freedom then we could have imagined. Get the Kid to quit worrying about us. We’re happy. Even his predecessor has quit complaining.” Cindy said.
“You know how hardheaded he is. I think it’s the guilt that he didn’t head off the attacks early enough to save all of you.” Natalie said.
“Well, smack him on the head. Give him the Marine recruit treatment. Refocus on things that are important.” Cindy said with exasperation.
“Cindy, you knew him for only a short while as alive. Can you imagine redirecting him from what he wants to do?” Natalie said.
“Yes. I can imagine you eventually getting through his thick head to do what we want. It should only take about twenty or so years. Perhaps you can get Karen to help?”
“Convince Karen? She’s as stubborn as Hank is.”
“So. We all work together. Sooner or later, he will wake up and smell the coffee. Won’t he?” Cindy said with a laugh.
“Ok. Jeffery, as the advisor to the Dragon Corp, and the Guardian gargoyles, I am charging you with informing us of the status of all weapon and tactics developments. I also want circulation of all defensive capabilities that those groups are undertaking. Helen, you are already getting input and information from the Sprites doing transport for The Witches Caldron, and I would like you to have a reader’s digest version of the things they find and what you Know, Believe and Think their information means. I can appreciate the move from Tennessee to Maryland and the pre-positioning of defense measures. But I think we deserve a little wider dissemination of information about those measures.” Natalie said.
“Do we have time now to bring all of you up to date with all current projects and measures?” Jeffery asked.
“How long will that take?” Natalie asked.
“How much time do we have?” Jeffery asked.
“As much as you need” Natalie said.
She was to regret this.
Smiling, Jeffery then led off with a detailed description and status of resources, intelligence gathering activities, defensive proposals, shipping standards, defensive projects in flight and their progress and estimated completion, offensive projects and their progress and estimated testing, and offensive intelligence gathering operations. And the total discussion of all this only took 6 hours.
“And that’s the summery of the projects that The Dragon Corp, Threat Assessment, and the Palace Guard Gargoyles have currently. And the Witches Caldron delivery group is actively capturing information while it is under a one-minute absolute shield rule. Which we explained a month ago.” Jeffery said in summation.
“Yes, I know. Each Sprite is guaranteed relief and rescue within one minute of the alarm of any threat to them. What’s your average response time right now?” Natalie asked.
“Since the Elves took over dispatch and location of the Sprites in delivery or intelligence capture, the average response time is twenty-five seconds from alarm to the rescue team’s arrival. Teams consisting of Sprites to provide eyes, Gargoyles to provide capture and restrain, and Dragonettes to provide superior firepower if needed. And either a Power Wizard or a Dragon in overwatch. And before you say anything, remember, it’s better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it.” Jeffery said with a smile.
“Jeffery, it’s not fair to use Hank’s father’s favorite saying against me. I wasn’t going to say ‘isn’t that almost too much’?” Natalie said with an embarrassed smile.
“I never would have thought that of you, my dear friend.” Jeffery said in response.
“I would” Deamonous said to the group.
June 25, 2001.
Sir Thomas Heatherington was sitting in his office at Downing Street, contemplating the stack of paper that has accumulated on his desk over the weekend.
“You would think that with spring breaking out, there would be minimum of paperwork” he thought to himself. Suddenly, a chime sound in his office and a bright light occurred in a corner. Followed shortly by the small, female and diminutive form of a Sprite. Standing on a rather large black Tumi travel bag.
“I hope I am not disturbing you, Sir Thomas. I have here the collected items we found in the fields of Tennessee, along with a quartz crystal copy of the elements that covered that engagement from multiple perspectives. They are all ours, of course. We didn’t capture the feelings and emotions of the teams that were sent to disrupt the ceremony.” The Sprite cheerfully said. “Our clan Administrator suggested we return those items to you for distribution among the next of kin.”
“This sort of reimbursement went out in the nineteen hundreds” Sir Thomas said. “But I will pass on these to the next of kin where we can. And thank you for Clan Lambert’s consideration of those who have fallen in service. I want to tell Lord Lambert that I for one do not desire to have any more casualties suffered due to these items of conflict.”
“I would also like to pass along our invitation to reach out to you for resolution of the issues that Lord Barron has currently with the new and modern Clan Lambert. We do not want to continue the sins of the past. We also, however, like the American experiment, do not intend to bow down to English desires. FDR is long dead, and there is no sentiment to replace those bindings of fealty.” The sprite continued.
Thomas sat in silent shock at the language that the Sprite used. Clearly someone was teaching diplomacy to the Fae.
“This sounds artfully close to the truth, my small friend.” He said aloud.
“If you don’t have one already, permit me to provide you with a copy of Clan Lambert’s Charter and its’ various addendums. It’s almost word for word an extension of the treaty with the Fae, Wizards and Mages that was done several years ago. The only additions are the ones specifically dealing with Clan Lambert’s behaviors under those treaties and the various addendums. It’s not very large.”
“Thank you. I will see to the distribution of these items. And Sprite, how may I call you”
“I’m known in human language as Sunrise. Simply use my name aloud, and if there is no one else or no monitoring device here, I will appear here in your office. Do you want me to act as a communications channel?”
“I think that would be convenient. We don’t have such a channel as others apparently do.” Sir Thomas replied.
“I was supposed to offer it if you had given any sign of interest in future communication. I look forward to the mutual service” Sunrise continued with a smile.
“That’s a lot more convenient” Thomas thought. “After that disaster a few days ago, we need some sort of reasonable and quiet means of peaceful communication. Regardless of what Barron thinks.”
Where the hell are they? And what are they doing?
“Where the bloody hell are they?” Robert Barron thundered to himself in his office. His fifth wife was apoplectic about her nephew’s disappearance. And Robert had no explanation for her due to her “normal” status. She was much younger (about three hundred years younger) and as a battery, she hadn’t been all that successful. And her three children hadn’t produced any single sign of magical capability.
“IF that damn Georgia woman was where I could get to her, I would wring a refund out of her body.” He thundered. “Four successive batteries and none of them bred anything of substance.”
“Interesting that others have not had that difficulty, Lord Robert. Perhaps it has something to do with the battle you had with Lord Lambert before we had him canned.”
“He was quite adept at cursing people. I wonder what it was that he hit me with during that battle in Scotland.”
“Well, except for Guilford, none of your seed have any sort of success with evolving to Mages.”
“I wonder if this damn colonial chatter about Genetic and chromosome mapping could mean anything. The Germans tried a lot of that in the last war but didn’t seem to have any success.”
“The period was too short. None of the children matured to puberty before the conflict ended. And the ones in the labs in Bavaria were all moved out to south America.”
“Well, we probably should do some follow up about this. Maybe that damn Clan has the right idea about researching our history. We need to find out. I don’t intend to play catch up with the colonials.” Robert fumed.
What can you tell us, Robert Lambert?
Meanwhile, after Hank and Karen went on their Honeymoon trip, Cindy, Ariel and Cecile asked Robert Lambert (the original) to come into a mental meeting along with Natalie, Barbara and Paula. Helen was dialed in as well, for two reasons. First, her history major in college, and second, her work in Threat Assessment.
“It’s a good thing we are all just images, otherwise the I would be drowning in estrogen” Robert said when the meeting started.