Legend of Ransera

Posted: **Wed Aug 23, 2023 11:04 pm**

66 Glade 123

The High Minister of the Sky Islands was a much grander sounding title than it shook out to be, not to mention it was a popular rather than official designation. Even so, there were days in which the position had benefits.

Yesterday, for instance, had delivered to him the first fully complete explanation of what was going on down in the warren's lair of the creature known as 'Lyra'. Stefan had known it must be hers, deep down in his bones, as soon as he'd stepped into the circle of filth. It hadn't been any magic on his part, it was instinct, good human intuition, just as he'd had when he'd first met her. He hesitated to even assign a gender to the thing that had, without a doubt, been responsible in some way for the destruction of his homeland. Whether she had been an agent of Kalzasi, working for her own foul purposes or a combination of the two made not a whit of difference.

A vicious smile had broken his face as he'd read late into the evening the previous night. Not only did the dossier contain all the information the Order had been able to garner at the sight and then deduce and discover later, but it also contained their suggested course of action. There were many ills in the world, and even his little corner of it, that Stefan Dornkirk could not fix, but if he could have chosen one to put to bed, it would have been this one. Thus he'd been in his laboratory long into the night using the newest info to make final adjustments to the aether net he'd been working on with the hope of imprisoning the architect of his family's fall. Perhaps, he admitted to himself as he'd closed the folder, locked his private workspace and headed home so late that Deinerin had suggested (and he had accepted) the rescheduling of his appointments on the morrow so that he might get enough sleep and spend a day with his family, that it might be wrong. Wrong to choose to contain and remove the cause of so much of his own personal pain, the object of his own hate, rather than, say, removing the Eclipse so the world would not starve. Thankfully, he did not have that power, and he did, or would, have the power to handle the one who had stolen his brother from him, figuratively, and then literally.

It was morning now, and he'd woken alone, late in the morning, in Eitan's bed, having crawled in there after discovering the ladies nestled together in his own bed. The younger man had been about his own early morning duties, but it was still nice to be surrounded by his scent. Deinerin appeared a few moments after he'd woken, somehow knowing, as always, and asking if he'd like a tray. Stefan had accepted the offer but asked that it be brought to his own suite, where he might share the meal with his wife. Even if she had been up earlier, she might still come and join him while he broke his fast.

Throwing a robe over his sleeping trousers, but not bothering with a shirt or slippers, he walked the short distance between the two master bedrooms and went to sit at the little, intimate table they'd had set up even before they'd moved in, so he and Delia could start their mornings together. It was a habit they had been forced to break often of late, but not more often than they observed it. Deinerin would inform Mrs. Dornkirk, if she was already dressed and about the house, and, if she were not, she was likely to emerge any moment in a dressing gown of her own, or so he could hope.

Posted: **Wed Aug 23, 2023 11:23 pm**

When Delia Dornkirk appeared, she was, in fact, dressed. However, she was dressed in trousers and the like, albeit tailored to her figure. She had taken to dressing thusly when it would best support her work for the day; old dresses she hadn't liked anymore were cannibalized. So much fabric was a waste, and while she was quite aware that their appearances were important as symbols to the people, she tempered it with her own sense and sensibility. She still swished into the room, in any event, tousling Stefan's hair before taking a seat.

His wife had titles as well, most of them unofficial. She had help with Amalia, help with the household, and enough intelligence and skill that it would be a crime for her not to set them against the challenges facing their people. She, and to some extent Lucrece, managed to lead the woman as role models, those not otherwise occupied with jobs and tasks for military, Order, and the like. Her own sisters had been as fine at captaining airships as any man, but she had rebelled by embracing more traditional femininity—trousers notwithstanding.

Delia sat in the chair next to him, enjoying closeness even when there was plenty of room to spread out. She had been up and busy, and was only now ceasing for a moment because they had a standing appointment and her appetite didn't normally kick in until she had been awake a while.

"Darling," she said pointedly, "if Eitan will accompany me to Gel'Grandal at the end of the season or beginning of next, we ought to be able to tie up loose ends with Daddy's will, bring some intelligence and capital to Zaichaer, and be back in time for my ovulation. While it's a month away, I'm going to put you back on a healthy diet so your seed will be strong and healthy. We want everything in order to create the best of Dornkirks, now don't we?"

Her voice dropped a bit at the end, something he would recognize as a sultry promise the way a prey animal froze at the scent of its predator. One thing about a shirt in that style, when she bent over to touch his knee like that, little flashes of skin peeked out at him, somehow more tantalizing than when she was gloriously naked before him.

Posted: **Wed Aug 23, 2023 11:43 pm**

Appearances were important, and this was why Stefan had made no objection to his wife having tailored and then wearing outfits that were better suited to a factory than a tea table. They did not have the manpower to distinguish between genders, all hands were needed, and if the leading family could show that even the highest lady in their coalition could don a pair of trousers and roll up her sleeves when the times called for it, who else could possibly object to the work they were given?

The garments were not immodest, and were, at times, quite fetching in their own right. Stefan did not think he would develop a preference for them, but part of that was his upbringing and part of it was that he had very little opinion on ladies' fashions to begin with.

"Good morning, my love." He greeted, catching her hand as she sat and kissing it softly before turning to the tray that had been deposited with enough food for two, as well as a tea service. The 'tea' service, was, in fact, filled with coffee, and he poured for both of them as he listened to the new information. Of course, he knew how his wife preferred her drinks, so he handed her cup over without needing to break her stream of thought. It was just as he had released the cup that he realized the point of what she was saying. Thankfully he had not taken a sip from his own yet, though he was reaching for it, else he might have choked.

"Oh." He said, then cleared his throat. Stefan Dornkirk did not blush, he'd had it trained out of him quite early, but his body showed its abashment in other ways, ways Delia, as well as the other adult members of their family, knew well.

"Of course. Yes. Um." He took a moment to collect his thoughts, sipping as he did so. "I am sure Eitan can be spared and I've been set one of the small yachts we recovered to be ready for your use whenever you should need it. I thought you might be willing to swing by and speak to General Vonnegut on your way back. And... Are you sure you're ready, already?"

It had been nearly a year since the birth of their first child, biologically speaking that was plenty of time but the process had been particularly difficult for Delia and Stefan would not have been bothered in the least if she had chosen to wait a few years before risking it again. They had the Order doctors with them now, and, in dire need, the Greymalka, but, still, discomforting his wife in any way severely discomforted Stefan.

Posted: **Wed Aug 23, 2023 11:59 pm**

"Thanks," she said for her coffee, then reached out to touch his cheek where a pretty blush wanted to spread but didn't. "And I appreciate your concern for my health, but I do believe I will be quite ready. Amy is a healthy girl now, and we have quite the array of doctors, midwives, and healers. We finally have our population relatively steady, but the people need the hope of new marriages and new children to remind them what they work so very hard for." She smiled. "Even my dear husband."

Delia took a sip with relish, though perhaps she was thinking more of the coupling they would do in order to create another baby more than the coffee itself. Even they were adulterating their beans with chicory, which tasted good enough, but was meant to keep the supply of coffee from disappearing too quickly to be replaced by the odd trade coming their way.

"If you think Vonnegut will listen to me or, better yet, Eitan, then I am certain we can fly by. I trust she won't shoot first and ask questions later if we come flying Zaichaeri colors."

She paused, then looked more carefully at him.

"Something is the matter, Stefan. What is it?"

As their engagement had been on-again-off-again for most of their lives, the young mother had had plenty of time to study him, to know him, and it was fortunate they had finally married because it would have been an awful waste of time to learn a man so well who wasn't going to be her husband.

"Good morning!" Eitan was in his shirtsleeves for the anticipated day with the family, even if he had gotten up early to see to a few things before he let himself enjoy the day. One did get the idea that even though he hadn't shared his wife's bed the night previous, he had just come from bedding her. "Luca ought to be along shortly," he assured them, then poured himself some coffee as well. "Why is Stef certainly not blushing right now? Are you teasing him, Dee?"

Posted: **Thu Aug 24, 2023 12:42 am**

"Mm," He hummed as he listened, perhaps it wasn't Delia who was not ready to accept the risk to her life, perhaps it was Stefan. He hadn't been there for her birth, and, however useless he would have been to aid in that circumstance, however important what he had been doing had been, it still felt like a failing. His decision, which he had argued with both his parents and his brother who had stood opposed, was that he should be there when she went into labor. He'd been adamant on the matter.

But then, he hadn't been. Taking a slow breath he buttered himself a piece of toast and before taking a bite answered,

"Of course you're right." They needed to be the examples, show that hope was strong enough to bear children and so was Zaichaer.

"I think seeing that our faction contains strong women in positions of leadership, particularly strong women from families full of them, it might help." That Stefan himself felt wholly unable to bring to himself bring to the table whatever the General wanted was a fact that he hadn't spoken about but he suspected Delia knew anyway. They had formed an alliance of survival, and ships went between the Islands and the Forts on a regular schedule, even if it was a ship that hadn't been there before, flying their colors would be enough to at least allow a landing. He would never have asked his wife if it were not so and she knew it, so he need not answer that question directly.

"Nothing is wrong, I just..." Putting down his food and drink he reached out and took her empty hand, cradling it between both of his larger ones and meeting her eyes just as his oft-beloved but currently ill-timed brother-in-law burst in. As such Stefan finished the sentence with a quiet,

"Worry." Before reluctantly releasing her hand. They could discuss his fears another time. Stefan cleared his throat yet again as Eitan took a seat at their table. There were ever so many ways in which a Dornkirk might do so, and each said something different. This one meant 'You certainly make an entrance, don't you?', and also 'I know we're all as intertwined as a thicket but you could still knock.', with just a little bit of 'Oh, dear, I'm quite embarrassed and trying to hide it.' sprinkled in for flavor.

"Good morning." He said, not unfriendly, just adjusting, he added cream to Eitan's coffee and then made up a cup the way Luca liked it as well. "We were discussing your upcoming trip to Gel'Grandal. The yacht should be ready well in time, and I've asked that you both stop by and speak to Vonnegut on your way back."

Perhaps that would cover it, perhaps not. The Eitan and Luca both often refused to let go of something once they had a whiff of it.

Posted: **Thu Aug 24, 2023 1:29 am**

"Mhm," he agreed, sipping his coffee with wide, innocent eyes. It had been decided, after all, that Stefan was going to take one of those rarest of things: a day off. Eitan had assumed that he was invited. "I can go if I've interrupted." He was poised to leave, but Delia shook her auburn head.

"Time enough to discuss Vonnegut and Gel'Grandal before we go," she explained. "We have nearly a month, after all." Her eyes remained on her husband for a moment, however, sensing that he was holding something back. She didn't know if it was her presence, Eitan's, or if he just wasn't ready to share. In any case, she reluctantly looked over some mail that was waiting for her. Her brother quietly sipped his coffee, the afterglow not spoiled, though sometimes he did wonder if he irritated Stefan, who was just too good a man to complain.

None of them wanted Stefan absenting himself from house and home, family and friend, hiding behind his work from the people for whom he made such sacrifices.

Eitan had come back to see if Stefan was awake and found him gone; it had felt natural to seek him out, and he had seen that Delia and Lucrece were awake.

The quiet stretched out for a while—just a few sips of coffee here and there, the occasional shuffle of paper in Delia's hands. Then Eitan cleared his throat quietly.

"Your Dienerin told my Dienerin that we were having a family day. Have any firm plans been made yet?" He had already seen to what needed doing, including proving vehemently to his wife how attractive she still was after pregnancy and childbirth. He was ready to snatch a bit of leisure (until and unless someone showed up with an emergency for him).

Posted: **Thu Aug 24, 2023 1:54 am**

The interesting thing was, Stefan would have been willing to discuss his fears concerning a second pregnancy and the dangers it posed with Eitan as two married men who loved their wives and had both endured their labors. He would have been willing to discuss the same fears with Delia as her husband, but he found himself unable to discuss the topic with them both at once.

It took him only a moment to recall, however, that he had not actually wanted to discuss the topic of the worry in the first place. Not yet, at least. If Delia desired more children and felt up to producing them, physically and otherwise, Stefan would not tell her 'no'. Not unless a healer or doctor could show him proof that it would cost him her life.

"I see." Was his slightly arch reply to Eitan's explanation of both his presence at that hour and his state of casual dress, but it wasn't said stiffly. There was a bit of play about his mouth that was both welcoming and pleased whilst he pretended to remain stoic. Picking up his abandoned bit of toast he took a bite and chewed while questions were asked and then shook his head.

"I didn't have anything, to be honest, I was up half the night reading The Report from the Order and was told, quite firmly, that today was going to be a family day." It was well known that while Stefan and Eitan might run their little world, the duel Dienerins ran them. Taking a boiled egg from the bowl of them he put it into his egg cup and removed the top with a long-practiced gesture, saying while he did so,

"I thought maybe we could take the children outside; put down a blanket for Little Brenner, get some exercise chasing Amy about?" He looked between the two he considered his spouses (even if he would never have said so out loud) as he spoke, gauging them for approval or the opposite.

Most of the grounds at the Hall were taken up for growing food but that included fruit trees and there were several nice spots where one might picnic or similar. The outside world might still be frozen over but it was perpetually summer on the parts of the Islands that could be used for farming. As silly as it might feel in his head, a simple stroll through the blooming orchards with his family while not having to fight off any disasters or worry over plans sounded as perfect as he could imagine just then. Even if he had been rather hoping to find a way to get Delia back out of her well-tailored trousers before they really began their day. Eitan always seemed to get the jump on everything, even marital relations.

Posted: **Thu Aug 24, 2023 4:54 pm**

"Oh," he said knowingly, when he figured which Order report he was referring to. They either came from him or from Agata, and a lot of the time, Agata gave hers to Eitan to share with Stefan since the brothers-in-law lived in the same house and were frequently in cahoots and in each other's company.

He also wasn't sure whether Stefan would be ready to discuss that already, or how much of his feelings surrounding that he had shared with Delia; if Lucrece entered the room, he would likely not want to share at all.

Delia refolded a letter and set it in one of her tidy stacks, eyes turning to her husband curiously.

"Give their nannies a break," he agreed with a lopsided grin. "All right. Whenever Luca gets here, we can prepare." He was glad that, with so much of his house's greenspace given over to food production, someone among the gardeners, farmers, and Kindred had made the executive decision to ensure that all the space between fruit-bearing trees was carpeted in lush, soft grass.

The ground cover left enough space around each trunk for them to monitor the trees, but otherwise, a bit of seemingly frivolous grass. Sometimes, Eitan would wander out barefoot in the middle of the night just to feel it under his feet, to connect with this piece of Zaichaer he had taken with him into the skies, to remind him of what remained down below.

"Well, then," said Delia, completing her last stack, then stacking her stacks crosswise to be dealt with later.

Posted: **Thu Aug 24, 2023 9:23 pm**

It had not occurred to Stefan that Eitan wouldn't pick up on exactly what he was referring to as he assumed Eitan, as a member of the Order, got all such reports first. It was quite a long report, and Eitan had a lot to do, even more than Stefan most days, so it would make sense if he hadn't found time to read it yet. Either way Stefan was looking forward to gentlemens drinks after dinner, an hour or so in which they would be alone to talk. Both of them were eager to have revenge and see justice served, and there was a chance for that now.

Even so, he wasn't about to miss the rest of the rare day of time with his family by trying to rush toward one pleasant moment out of what he hoped would be many.

Moments like this were close enough that Stefan could almost imagine himself back in the early days of their marriage, sharing a table with Eitan, before he'd been married, and Delia, before she'd become pregnant. The two of them teasing and laughing and him playing along as much as he could. It had been the happiest he had ever been for a prolonged period, the freest he probably ever would be. Not that the additions of Luca and the children hadn't made him happy, but the losses that had come with them had torn any hope of peace from him for years, if not decades to come.

"Should I have Deinerin ask the cook to bring out picnic food around noon? If we eat then the children will certainly want a nap and we could spend the rest of the afternoon, the four of us, if that is alright?"

He looked from one born-Angevin to the other, looking for approval, objections or further suggestions.

Posted: **Mon Aug 28, 2023 11:34 am**

And so it was that when Lucrece joined them, they were quick to take their little family out into the orchard for lazy play time in the sun. One hoped that eventually, Reiner and his family would join them for such things, but that wasn't a thing to be rushed. Amalia was, perhaps, the most thrilled, having four parents attend her at once, as well as her little cousin, whom she called "bruh bruh" or similar, perhaps a childish attempt at "brother."

Baby Angevin alternated between laughing at everything everyone did to amuse him, and making obvious attempts to crawl after his elder cousin. Just a few days shy of six months, he likely wouldn't crawl for at least another month, though the determined set of his face when he was on his belly, eyes tracking Amalia, made one wonder if he wouldn't be a wunderkind in that regard. Later, his parents would regret not naming him there and then, though Delia would hear about it in a few weeks when the epiphany of Leir Angevin's will startled it out of Eitan.

They picnicked, lounged a bit, and then Amalia fell asleep against her father's chest. Baby Angevin made another look of pure, uncomfortable concentration, and Eitan laughed quietly. They returned to the house so the baby's nappy could be changed and both children could take their naps. Some of the adults did as well - naps were an unheard of luxury for them.

Then there was play upon the balcony where they could see the Windworks floating near enough for a short commute but far enough that there was no fear of them colliding in inclement weather. Amalia knew it as where her daddies went to work, and thus, was interested, but not entirely sure she liked the place that took them away from her. Later, the adults dined and the ladies retired early, hoping for early nights of full sleep. Eitan and Stefan remained behind with night caps though the night was quite young.

Eitan knew the discussion was coming, but he didn't broach it himself. Instead, he removed his shoes and then shifted, turning so he could rest his bestockinged feet in Stefan's lap. This wasn't necessarily a request for their massaging, but he wouldn't protest. It was comfortable to be upon the same couch, reclining and relaxing.

"To more days like today," he murmured, raising his glass.

Legend of Ransera

Surprises and Revelations ['Eitan']

Surprises and Revelations ['Eitan']

Re: Surprises and Revelations ['Eitan']

Re: Surprises and Revelations ['Eitan']

Re: Surprises and Revelations ['Eitan']

Re: Surprises and Revelations ['Eitan']

Re: Surprises and Revelations ['Eitan']

Re: Surprises and Revelations ['Eitan']

Re: Surprises and Revelations ['Eitan']

Re: Surprises and Revelations ['Eitan']

Re: Surprises and Revelations ['Eitan']