Chapter 6

Ben placed the wand in the antique box. He turned to Henry and said “Chieftain, I present you to the Volva Meghan Patel. As you know, she is the wife of my son Kevin.”

“One of his wives.” Meghan added.

Ben gave a small nod to Meghan “Pardon me. One of Kevin’s wives. The other being Carly Patel. She’s the young lady you saw in the kitchen earlier.”

The Chieftain offered an insincere smile as they shook hands. “We will see about that.”

Meghan gave him a predatory smile that any lioness would have been proud to have. “Yes, we will. It’s a pleasure to meet you sir.”

“Mine as well, Mrs. Rogers. Henry will work fine.”

“Call me Meghan, please.”

Ben watched as the two predators sized the other then said : “If everyone will have a seat I’ll pours us some drinks.” He glanced around. “Does everybody want their usual? What about you Meghan?”

“For now, I’d like two fingers of the unmarked bottle.” She looked around at the people staring at her. “What? He asked what I wanted and I told him.”

Ben shrugged and made their drinks, He served Meg’s drink last. “Meg, you might want to...”

Meghan looked straight at Henry, smiled and shot it back. “That’s a bit warm. I didn’t know Si’ Jackson was still cooking.”

“Uh ... he retired about three years ago.” Henry said as he studied Meghan. “He said he was getting old and wanted to quit while he was ahead. What was that for?”

“To help us cut through the crap.” Meghan tapped on the arm of her chair. “I know you have a letter from the Volva before me.” She nodded towards Ben. “I know my father there, went to great lengths to protect my reputation. He wouldn’t have told you until he had no choice. If your wife was one of the Ladies at the Healing House then I know you know.” Meghan shrugged. “I thought we would have it in the open. I spent the last two years of my first marriage as an alcoholic crack whore. I sold sex for drugs. I’ve been clean for a little over ten years. Any questions?”

Henry cut a sharp look at her and was sarcastic when he spoke. “You seem pretty sure of yourself.”

Meghan shook her head. “No, I am sure of the ones who chose and trained me. I am sure of The All Father who let my husband see his best friend one last time to deliver the message. I am sure of a message written to me years before I was born. I am sure of the love of my father there and my mother in the kitchen. I am sure of the love of the Ladies who came to aid a kinswoman they had never met. I am sure of Freyja. Whose intervention on my first husband’s behalf saved my daughter’s and I’s life. She gave me the Seidr to give back to our people. I am sure of Kevin’s love for me and Carly.

The Chieftain’s voice was harsh as he vented his frustration. “How and why do you expect me to accept and explain this to the clan council? Not only do we now have a polygamist marriage. The two women are mother and daughter? Half are Christian. They’ll go ape shit. A lot of the others won’t like it either.”

“Sir, you missed a part.” Meghan said almost looking away from him.

Henry folded his arms as he glared at her. “What would that be?”

“I’m also my husband’s slave.” Meghan said.

Henry shot out of his chair and spun in place. “Shit! Ben, are you trying to kill me? I’ll let you be Chief if you want it this badly.”

Ben held his hands up and shook his head. “Oh no, You’re not talking me into it.”

Henry turned to Meghan. “You’re fucking with me, right?”

Meghan raised her chin and pointed at her collar.

“Your name, a date, and Kevin’s mark.” Henry sat in his chair and covered his face with his hands. “Lord, lord, lord, Ben, now I need a double of Si’s.”

“Yes Sir, Boss.”

Henry looked up. “Don’t Boss, me. I’ll spank you so hard Kevin’s grandkids will grab their asses and cry.”

“May I have a soda please?” Meghan asked.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Ben said. “I even have some Dr. Pepper.”

Kevin gave his father the look. “You traitor.”

Ben laughed and said. “Oh yeah, what are you going to be when you have it at your house?”

Kevin hung his head and pushed out his lower lip. “Whupped.”

“You got that right.” Meg said.

Henry let them laugh a moment then said. “Hilarity aside. How are we going to deal with this and still keep Frith?”

Meghan thought a moment then said. “The Ladies that were at the Healing House already know. They said they would handle their men if they tried to give any grief about our marriage. So a lot of the problem is solved there. The Christians I’m not sure of. I know from Mrs. Addison that while having more than one wife was very rare it wasn’t unknown among our people.”

She sipped her Dr. Pepper and added “I was raised in church but haven’t been since I was twelve or so. I’m not yet sure how to advise you. I am still taking office, so to speak. I do have one pressing matter to discuss with you tonight.”

“What’s that, Meghan?”

“You’re going to put up a job listing. About a week from now a young, pretty, red haired girl about nineteen will apply for it. She’ll have a small star tattoo on her hand. She’s a local girl. A single mom. Don’t hire her.”

Henry looked at Meghan with respect. “I decided to hire another clerk this morning, while I was eating breakfast. I didn’t even tell my wife. Why don’t I want to hire her?”

Meghan’s face was serious and her eyes focused elsewhere. “The F.B.I. is coming. They will recruit her to spy on you. Don’t get angry. She’s not of the Clan. She’s a single momma trying to feed her baby. Help her find a job where she can’t hurt us.”

“Tell her to go see Father Scarpino. He almost always has an inside line to jobs.” Ben said.

“What else do you know about the F.B.I.?” Henry asked.

Meghan shrugged. “Nothing, I didn’t know that until a few moments ago.”

“What am I supposed to do with that?” Henry said.

“Well, common sense would tell you why they’re here. I’ve just recently come from the Healing House. I wasn’t privy to much before then as the three of us were still coming to terms with our relationship.”

“The main question is do you trust Grams Hallwood or not and what has happened since or not. If I’m going to be able to help you I have to have more details.”

Henry sank as he sighed. “The problem is during the war we used hackers to attack the Cartels banks and databases. One of the primary hackers got arrested in an unrelated sweep by the F.B.I. We had no idea how much he knew about us. Our man inside told us they were moving him to a black site to squeeze him like a lemon. We had two choices extract him or kill him. We had less than seven hours to decide and plan. There was too much risk for rescue so we sent in mercs. The dumb asses blew up the car he was in with a missile. They killed four F.B.I. agents in the process.”

Meghan winced and ducked her head. “That was us! I saw that on the news this morning. We’re fucked.”

Henry nodded and said: “That’s our conclusion, too. That’s not even the half of it. They found our informant and to avoid capture, he blew himself up with about eight more agents. If you can get anywhere with it. Let your father or husband know. They’ll get a hold of me.”

Meghan nodded. “Yes, Sir. I’ll be working a lot with Mrs. Addison. She’s helping Carly and I learn what we need to do.”

Henry sucked air through his teeth then said: “There’s another one? Damn it.”

“We’re unsure of her path as of yet. She’ll be my assistant.” Meg said.

Henry looked at Ben. “You let me walk into this.”

Ben settled back into his chair and sipped his drink. “Uhnt uh. The letter was addressed to you, not me. On top of that you wouldn’t tell me anything. I assumed you knew.”

“When you assume you make an ass, well you were already an ass now you’ve made one of me, too.” Henry griped.

Meghan turned to Kevin. “Are they always like this?”

Kevin nodded. “Pretty much. They’ve known each other since High School.”

Henry looked to Ben. “May I switch seats with you, Ben. I have some Chiefing to do while I’m here.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Once the were seated, Henry said. “Thank you, Sir. I need your wife and the younger lady to come in as well. Kevin would you scare up some more chairs, Sir? I want the young lady by her mother please.”