Chapter 47

February 6 & 7th, 2007, Tuesday-Wednesday

Yan

Her gamble had paid off – something she wasn’t quite able to believe until her grandmother actually arrived. The jury was still out as to whether she’d be punished for her impertinence. If they got answers, Yan would gladly pay for her arrogance.

Breakfast was delicious – as expected – and the conversation inconsequential. It was also more formal, with most of the submissives being served at hastily erected side tables.

But the covert looks, the subtle evaluations, the quiet judgments ... it paralleled any meal with her family back in San Francisco.

Her grandmother was more amused than anything else. Beebee had turned on her considerable charm and sweetness ... which could be a good thing or the prelude to a figurative bloodbath. Yan was sure it was the former in this case ... mostly sure.

Donna and Abby were proud of Jason’s handling of Bethany, as was Yan ... but it was different with the two of them. Donna and Abby were like proud parents. He could present as a Dom already ... with his spouse’s help he would be a Dom.

The previous night had more firmly established Galena’s dominance over Jessica and Chatsirree. The results were far from subtle – the two switches were not seated at the main table. Both of the women looked tired and very chastened.
Jason was comfortable ... he interacted with Beebee as if she was truly his beloved grandmother. It must have been rather lonely for him, growing up without close grandparents on either side. She knew his father’s parents lived in Spokane and didn’t get along with his mother, Gloria. And his mother’s parents had disowned her after they discovered her ‘evil and deviant impulses’. They’d tried to get custody of Jason after his father had died. That attempt ended when Gloria remarried.

His relationships with his true grandparents were inextricably linked with their – and his – relationship with his mother. It would be interesting if their suspicions about one of Kari Maxwell’s final gifts to Jason were correct. How would he react to a ‘Mother Gloria’ he could fuck?

Thanks to Galena, Yan was aware of Chorale’s growing pains, and had a pretty good idea why Magda and Lori were ‘visiting’. They’d arrived with Beebee, but after their initial greeting, the two had been relegated to the submissives’ tables. Best as Yan could tell, they were okay with that. Their presence disturbed Yan to a degree. Her plans, perhaps in opposition to her grandmother’s, involved good relations with Jason’s step-parents.

She was going to need more coffee. No matter how the discussion went, it was going to be an eventful morning.

Jason

“Are you ready to discuss business, Beebee?” he asked after the dishes were cleared from the table.

“If you and my granddaughter are, certainly.”

“Otter, rearrange the other tables around this one. It’s their lives we’re discussing as well as our own. They deserve to be present.”

“Yes Sir.”

“‘Llita, I’m sure the house staff can handle keeping the coffee and such going. Take a seat.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Grandmother,” Jason said, “I’m sure you can understand that, given how crazy our lives have been, we need ... we want to know what you have planned.”

“No hints, no secrets – unless they’re pleasant ones...” Yan said.

“But the ground keeps shifting under our feet,” Jason continued, “and we’re really tired of the uncertainty.

“Do you have plans for Yan to run Plum Blossom?” he finished.

Beebee laughed.

“Most certainly not! I love Yan far too much to do that to her. I plan to have her run your House.”

Beebee waved any protests away before they could be spoken.

“Whether you like it or not, you are, effectively, your own House. That doesn’t mean you won’t head Chorale some day; for now it’s just a statement of fact. Your constellation may change, may morph, into many different configurations over time.

“As it happens,” she continued, “I have need of a large and vigorous House in San Francisco.”

“You do?” Jason replied, his voice less sure than before.

“Yes ... your mentor Dayna is facing a long road to ally the younger members of our Society with Plum Blossom. She is making progress, but currently, after recent events, most of them are ... disinclined ... to have anything to do with the establishment at all.

“That leaves me ... leaves Plum Blossom, without as much support as I’d like.”

“If I may, Grandmother,” Yan said, “I thought you were stepping back...”

“I have. I am. But there are still ‘big picture’ issues I’m uniquely equipped to handle.”

“You haven’t stepped back at all except in the public perception,” Yan said.

Beebee smiled and for a moment Jason saw the Madam behind the Grandmother.

“And your point would be what, granddaughter?”

Jason was sure no one missed the steel in her voice.

“It helps to know who we’re really going to be dealing with when we move to Canglang,” Yan replied, her voice as hard as Jason had ever heard it.
“Don’t worry, darling Yan,” Beebee replied, the steel gone from her voice as if it had never been there at all. “Even if I truly abdicated this very day, or died this very instant, my plans for all of you are set in stone – at least as far as Plum Blossom is concerned.”

“So, Grandmother,” Jason said, worrying he was about to step into a buzzsaw, “we move to Canglang, our own House, to bolster Plum Blossom’s political position?”

“Yes,” Beebee replied. “And once there, you’ll participate in Society.”

“Grandmother,” Donna said, “my apologies, but how? The Nelsons still want us dead.”

Beebee motioned for another cup of tea.

“I am confident that situation will have resolved itself by the time you take up residence at Canglang. If it hasn’t, of course you won’t be exposed to danger by attending Society functions.”

“Grandmother,” Jason said, “I’m afraid the Nelson issue won’t ever be resolved.”

“Nonsense, my dear. It will be resolved even if your father-in-law and I have to kill every member of the Nelson family.”
Jason felt momentarily queasy at the thought before mentally squaring his shoulders and replying, “I hope it comes to that, actually.”

He saw the looks of shock on some of their guests, Galena in particular.

She would get over it or she wouldn’t. Either way it wasn’t his concern.

But...

“I believe Galena has some questions for you, Beebee...”

Yan

She watched her grandmother pledge Plum Blossom’s support of Galena and her people in whatever way was desired for however long was desired.

Andrea left her position at the center submissives table, knelt behind Galena, leaned forward, and whispered in her Domme’s ear, before returning to her seat.

“Madam Gao ... so you’re willing to put us on Plum Blossom’s teat indefinitely?”

“Yes, dear, I am. You’ll be expected to do your part in our Houses’ plans, but frankly I don’t care if you choose to live a life of sloth and idleness when you’re on your own time. Far more of my own family do that than I’d like, and I can’t trust them to do the jobs I need done in Society matters.”

“So, part of their time won’t be their own,” Yan said.

“Yes ... I’m generous but nothing comes without strings, granddaughter.”

Her grandmother always ran schemes within schemes ... even if Beebee herself wasn’t aware of the exact details. She put pieces in positions of advantage for some future, as-yet-unimagined move in the game.

Stacking the deck, to mix metaphors.
Providing it was ever safe for her spouses to come out of hiding, it was going to be very interesting in San Francisco Society.

Jason

“I love my step-parents,” he said, “but there’s no denying Marin County is more pleasant than deep Central Texas ... and there are disagreements in my House I don’t want my family anywhere near.”

“So you have no objection to my plans for you and your people, grandson?”

“None, grandmother.”

He knew his spouses and concubine were with him – that had been discussed while they were cleaning up and dressing before coming downstairs.

What he didn’t know was what he and his did next.

“Grandmother, I leave negotiating with the Grimes to you and given recent news, you should speak with my father, Harry.”

“Ain’t that the truth?” Galena muttered.

“You talk about us as our own House, Grandmother,” Jason continued. “Most of us have no idea what that would look like for us. Your advice would be welcome.”

“On that note, let’s adjourn for a while,” Madam Gao replied. “I could use a nap.”

“Uh, one last thing, if I might?” Jason said.

“Yes, grandson?”

“Georgia, the flight attendant on our trip here? She was so helpful, so professional ... we all think she deserves a hefty raise.”

“Then she’ll get one and she’ll be told it’s based on your and your family’s recommendation,” Beebee replied.
“Thank you, grandmother,” Jason said. “Enjoy your nap.”

“Why do I feel like I fucked up?” he asked.

“You didn’t, my love,” Yan replied. “Grandmother is fond of leaving issues like that as an exercise for the student.”

“I suppose it will disappoint her if we reconvene later with no more idea than we have now?”

“That’s a very safe bet,” Yan replied. “Luckily, we have plenty of wiser heads to seek counsel with.”

Jason looked at the warm and loving faces surrounding him and said, “So ... where do we start?”

“Excuse please, Masters, Mistresses...” Giada said. “Phone call for Milady Donna.”

Donna

“Dad, that’s great news!”

“Well,” Thad Newton replied, “I hope you’re right. I’d almost given up on a more or less peaceful solution.”

“More or less?”

“There’s always going to be risk, as long as Cancer and Caprico are...”

“Alive?”

“Yeah.”

“So...”

“Yeah, soon as it can be managed.”

“And the price on our heads?”

“I don’t know. Word gets out there’s no money behind it, interest will die out.”

“You hope.”

“Yeah. So, darling daughter, tell me something good.”

“Uh, Mistress Maxwell really wants this marriage with Jason...”

“Lots of goodies?”

“Oh my god, Dad ... she’s sent more livestock than I’d dared hope for. We’ve got staff for days and the reasonable expectation of more to come.”

“And all of it’s young and gorgeous?”

“When it’s not young and handsome.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes ... and Jason has dealt with that very open-mindedly.”

“Good man.”

“I know. More and more I realize the night I met him is one of the luckiest, if not the luckiest, night of my life.
“I, uh, I hesitate to ask ... have you heard from Mom?”

“She’s inflicting herself on Chorale South ... but not as a Domme. She’s a servant, a supplicant seeking sanctuary.”

“You’re shitting me!”

“No ... and from what I’m hearing through channels, she doesn’t have much fuck-up room. As much as she’s pissed off folks, Vida’s going to toe the line or get bounced out on her ass.”

“Is it wrong of me to think she deserves all this?”
“Maybe a little ... at this point I’m mostly sad for her ... but she went out of her way to buy this karma, and I can’t begrudge you some justifiable schadenfreude.
“Of course, if you’re really broken up about it, daughter dear, you could make arrangements to have her brought to wherever you are...”

“Oh fuck no, Daddy ... and fuck you for suggesting it.”

“I’ll let you slide on that one, I deserved it.”

“How’s your new lover treating you?”

“Well ... but given how long she was with Nelson, and how deeply the corruption and depravity went in the House, there are nights I want to sleep with one eye open.”

“Well, tell her if she ever betrays you, your children will make her life long and torturous.”

“I may do that.”

Jason

When Donna returned to the table, she looked happy, sitting down next to him and murmuring “We’ll talk later.”

“So,” Jason said, “before we start deciding how we want our House to be run, I think we should get hold of Kari Maxwell, run the whole idea past her.”
“I don’t think it will be a problem,” Yan said. “Unless negotiations between Grandmother and your father go seriously awry, you’ll still be heir apparent of Chorale. Still, I agree we should talk to her about it...”

“Jason, sweetie, listen to your Auntie Kari...” she said over the speakers.

She sounded amused, which relaxed the ball of tension in his gut.

“Auntie? Auntie Kari?” Yan said.

“Okay, your fiancee Kari. Far as I’m concerned, whether you’re the heir of Chorale or not, the benefit to me and my House remains the same. I’m marrying the son of the Grimes. It’s the connection to them, not to the House, that primarily interests me. I trust your adoptive father to make sure my interests are not forgotten. Between you and Nadereh, I have complete confidence this is going to be a very productive – and lucrative – marriage.

“Now, unless there’s something else, not to be bitchy or anything, but do you know what time it is here?”
“Oh shit, oh god, I’m sorry!”

“Don’t freak,” Kari laughed. “I won’t have any problem getting back to sleep.”

“No you won’t, Mistress,” a female voice said in the background.

“Don’t ever worry about calling me when you want to, Jason,” Kari said. “You wanting my counsel is an honor you do me.”

“Uh, okay, if you’re sure...”

“Very sure.”

Jason ended the call.

“Goddamn that woman has a sexy voice,” Donna said.

“Yes she does,” Jason replied. “And I have no chance with her at all, while you, beloved, might have quite a good chance.”
“I’m pretty sure I would, but I won’t test it. The one time we met her, I got the feeling Mistress Maxwell plays for keeps.”

“Under all her smiles and generosity, I’m pretty sure Mistress Maxwell is a shiny steel dinosaur,” Abby said. “Hard, cold, and devouring – or more literally, obsessed with making money.

“Not to say those smiles and that generosity is fake,” she continued. “Just that philanthropy isn’t her driving force.”
“Well, we already know she isn’t afraid to commit a lot of resources to achieving her goals,” Susan said. “This ‘wooing’ she’s doing to wed Jason ... day-um.”

“And two more gifts to come,” Jason said, leaning over and putting his face on the table. “They’re going to be livestock, I just know it.”

“Has there been a problem with the livestock you’ve acquired, Master?” Samantha asked.

“No, none ... I’m very grateful for you all ... it’s just ... look, in a relatively short time I’ve gone from a loner, someone without many if any real friends or friendly acquaintances, to where I am now.”

Jason looked at the people gathered with him.

“You’re all blessings, blessings I still don’t feel I’m worthy of ... and there’s so many of you.”

He closed his eyes, shook his head.

“I just get overwhelmed sometimes.”

Abby and Donna put their arms around him.
“‘Overwhelmed’ isn’t all bad,” Yan said. “But I think it’s time for church.”

Yan