Bellicose, page 8
"What are 'cold feet'?" Azure asked.
"Human slang for chickening out," Kerrie told her.
"Oh!" Then she paused a moment. "What is 'chickening out'?"
Kerrie facepalmed and then explained that to her while everyone laughed.
"Oh, Cinn, the two girls I left at the council house?"
"Kikha and Asah?"
"Oh, is that their names?"
"Yes, and what of them?"
"Are they still here?"
Cinnamon nodded. "I did as you suggested, and set them up as guards for the brothel, to make sure no one's getting killed or maimed. I've also taken them on as my students."
"Your students?" he asked, surprised.
"They need a lot more training, and if they're sworn to me as students, they can't play any tricks on me," she replied with a smile.
"Shrewd."
"Of course."
"Well, that's one less thing for me to worry about. Now, I can hear people outside in the Auction House; let's go see who wants to make life-endingly poor decisions."
"Was that you or your lion… Wait! I don't want to know!"
#
Mihalis sat in the council rooms and smiled. He had Talin sitting on one side, and Jade on the other, and had a hand in the lap of each of them. It'd been several days since he'd told his wives about his talk with his brother and what he was planning. In the council offices and meetings, he was always 'Prince Incubus Nega-Lion', as he was now known in his hybrid form—wings and all. He also used that form in the Auction House most of the time, and was occasionally prowling the streets in the evenings as well.
He'd also used it when he'd visited Cynthia yesterday, and she'd been very taken with it. Then again, he'd used it when he'd claimed her, so no surprises there.
He was letting people slowly get used to the idea. He kept his horns out in his 'cubi form—except when he went to visit Doc Ruxton. His sisters had warned all the guards, because nobody wanted any misunderstandings. They worked for him, after all, and the last thing he wanted to do was kill one of them because somebody didn't get the memo.
He'd found having the girls with him did help, a lot. Giving his lion side more control helped, too, especially when he started to get angry. His lion had no problems with lashing out when it was necessary—as a few unfortunates had discovered already. Unlike his dark elf side, his lion side didn't hold onto anger—it didn't stew. He just acted on it.
Interestingly enough, he found that he and his lion were growing even closer. He also found, when he was holding power from both the djevel power pipeline and the lion power pool, his lion side had to work the lion power, and he had to work the djevel power.
It was a little odd, but they were figuring it out. At least he was back together as one person.
Right now, he was listening to one of the residents, a Lamia, who was in conflict with a pair of Naga—or rather Nagi, as they were both female—merchants. While Naga could be nasty, and were often annoying, the Lamia currently had them beat in both departments.
His lion was pondering if she should be boiled, broiled, grilled, barbequed, or eaten raw, and he was doing his best not to drool at the idea of fresh serpent as he listened to her rant to Cinnamon, who typically presided over these meetings. Then his lion started pondering sauces.
"Merissa, I fail to see the merits of your complaint. Both Eshana and Lakshmi have done what they could to address your problems. More than I or any of the others on the council believe needed to be done. You should have done your due diligence before you bought those necklaces and made sure they were what you were looking for."
"They claimed the necklaces could be enchanted."
"They're copper, so yes, they can be enchanted."
"But I wanted gold! Copper is far more difficult to enchant!"
"You've already admitted you didn't ask them for gold necklaces, Merissa, just ones that could be enchanted. They offered to take them back if you bought gold ones."
"But they want too much for gold!"
"So what? You thought you'd bully them into giving you a better deal? Or did you make a mistake, thinking those copper necklaces were actually gold alloy, and you were taking advantage of Eshana and Lakshmi?"
"I took advantage of no one! They took advantage of me! I want my money back, and I want them fined for deceiving me!"
Milhalis' lion suddenly had an outrageous thought and, smiling to himself, Mihalis encouraged it.
"Merissa," Mihalis said, finally speaking up, "in light of all of this, I was wondering if you could answer a question for me?"
"What?" she demanded, looking at him.
"What is the best way to prepare lamia? Seriously. Do I bake you? Broil? Fillet first? What brings out the flavor the best?"
"Rotisserie," Talin put in. "You cut their serpent body up into four-foot lengths and run a spit through them, then cook 'em over a nice fire."
Merissa was looking at him with her eyes wide.
"Well, Merissa? What do you say? Do you have a preference on how we should cook you?" Mihalis asked, noticing that Brost was trying not to drool.
"I don't want to be cooked!" she screeched.
"Personally, I don't have a problem with raw meat," Mihalis' lion said with a shrug of his shoulders, "but I suspect some of the others would prefer you prepared."
Merissa started to back towards the entrance, her long body curling tightly as she looked side to side at the others.
"All in favor of eating Merissa, raise your hand."
"You can't do this!" she screeched.
"I can do anything I want to, and you've been nothing but annoying and duplicitous." Mihalis noticed everybody had their hands in the air, even Kerrie and Jade. "Now," he continued, "I guess we get to find out if you're delicious."
She cried out in fear and turned to make a break for it. She'd barely moved before Mihalis' sword came out of her chest; he'd drawn it and thrown it in one motion, with enough force that only the slightly wider handgrip wrapped around the hilt had stopped it from going fully through her body.
Her heart pierced, she fell over, dead.
"So, dinner at HoJo's?" Mihalis asked as he got up to retrieve his sword. "I think we're gonna need a cart to haul all this down there…"
Mihalis shook himself out of his little daydream. Cinnamon was finally reading Merissa the riot act. While he wasn't sure if he really could eat her, his lion was still entertaining ideas. She left in a huff after Cinnamon fined her for wasting everyone's time.
"Did you space out there for a minute, Mike?" Talin asked.
He nodded. "I was wondering what she'd taste like, and how best to cook her."
"They're not bad eating," Brost said. "A little garlicky, though."
"Oh? Maybe we should…?" Mihalis teased.
"If she comes back and tries this with someone else, I'm game!" Brost said with a smile.
He noticed Cinnamon had a thoughtful look on her face, so he suspected she was talking to either her lioness or Reagjin. Talin also seemed to be pondering it, while Jade and Kerrie looked a little uncomfortable, and Hengity looked clueless.
Eshana and Lakshmi just snickered at the conversation and went over to talk with Cinnamon for a moment before they left.
That was the last of their business for the day, and the others filed out first, while he just sat there and watched, the girls leaning into him. He made it a habit to be the last one out.
"Letting your lion run wild again?" Talin said in a soft voice once it was just him, her, Jade, Kerrie, and Hengity.
Mihalis chuckled. "It is getting close to lunch time, I'm hungry, and she was annoying. When he started pondering what kind of sauce to use on her, I almost let him go for it."
"So now what? What business do we have next?" Jade asked.
"That's everything on the calendar, unless somebody has anything else?"
"Actually," Mihalis said, "I do. Hengity!"
"Yes, my prince?"
"The lands of those two dead lords, Afgift and Aanwijzing. Any idea how much of it is currently unclaimed?"
"Lord Ennakoida took about a third of the former Lord Afgift's lands. Lord Aanwijzing's, I do not know about. They were the smallest of Prince Talt's holdings."
"What's the process for raising up a lord, Hengity?"
"My prince?" Hengity said, looking at Mihalis in surprise.
"Those lands need claiming, and I intend to go out there and claim them. Not personally, of course, but I thought I could raise up a lord or two, and put them in charge of it after I take their oaths."
Hengity boggled at the thought! That would give his prince five lords! Six if Kova decided to swear to him!
"My prince, the typical manner is to take a biskop, declare him a lord, and then require all the other biskops to swear to him. Once he has five or six sworn to him, he ascends to the next level and becomes a lord."
"Ah, good. Do you know any biskops in those former lords' lands we should be looking for?"
"Sadly, my prince, I do not."
"Are you serious?" Talin asked, looking at him.
"Very. If I don't take it, Bratsch or Basun will. I have no desire to be at parity with either of them."
Talin pondered that a moment.
"That's a valid argument, Tal," Jade said. "I'm sure Kerrie will agree as well. But the big question is, how do we get out there to do it? Not all of us can fly, and I don't think you should be doing this alone, Michael."
Mihalis nodded. "We'll need to get a couple of vehicles."
"If I may be so bold, my prince?" Hengity asked.
"Yes?"
"You might wish to ask Lord Ennakoida if any of the biskops he took from Lord Afgift's former domain would make a suitable lord, and promote them."
"Wouldn't that make that lord more loyal to Ennakoida than to Michael?" Jade asked.
Hengity shook his head. "No, because of their oath, their first loyalty would be to their prince," he said, inclining his head towards Mihalis. "However, the new lord would feel a debt to his former lord, and of course Lord Ennakoida, having recommended the new lord, would feel he had a duty to help the new lord, so as to show our prince that his advice is valuable."
Mihalis smiled as Jade pondered that for a minute.
"Hengity, send the missive to Lord Ennakoida tomorrow. That makes perfect sense, and I want to make sure Lord Ennakoida understands how high a regard I hold him in."
"I will take care of it immediately," Hengity said, bowing to Mihalis, and then quickly leaving the room.
"Okay, so what's the real reason for wanting more lords?" Talin asked.
"Because someone's going to, and I'd rather it was me," Mihalis said with a shrug. "I'm honestly starting to believe Basun is trying to woo Kova and become a prince. That would give him three lords. Bratsch has to be doing something to increase his own number of lords, as well.
"So if I can get my number to four or five, it puts me ahead of any of their plans."
"And increases your chances of winning Kova," Jade added.
"I'm not positive whether I want him or not," Mihalis admitted. "That might make me too powerful, especially if Basun is thinking about declaring himself a prince."
"I thought that was hard to do?"
Mihalis snorted. "No, it's incredibly easy to do, but most djevels lack the imagination to figure it out on their own. Basun is smart, possibly smarter than Ennakoida. He knows about cellphones and how to use 'em. He's been in contact with the two surviving lords in Germany. He had those two lava tubes, and even managed to keep them well hidden for twenty years.
"No, I'm fairly certain he's figured it out."
"So do we have SJ or your Dad fly out some vehicles?"
"Maybe. I think we all need to sit down and discuss it. I also need to talk to Mom Peg and my mom and find out what they're seeing on the intel side of things. They've probably been watching all the open territory pretty closely to try to figure out what's going to happen there."
"Well, we're heading out tonight for Thanksgiving Dinner at your folks tomorrow, so I guess we can talk with them then."
"Sure you want to do it now? It's getting cold out there," Kerrie said with a frown.
"Djevels don't care much for the cold, either, so this way, I can get that dealt with before it warms up, and either Bratsch or Basun send out their people to deal with it."
The three of them nodded in agreement.
"Now, let's get back home and get some food; I'm starving!"
#
"Mihalis!" Cali said and hugged her son as he followed his wives up into the back of Daelyn's Osprey, idling on the landing pad.
"Hi, Mom," he said and hugged her back, hitting the switch to close the rear ramp. She'd hugged each of his wives in succession after hugging Noje, Harmony, Cinnamon, and Natalie.
"What is with the wings and the horns?" she asked after he let go of her.
"Oh, right!" He was in his hybrid form and had gotten used to always having them out. "I'm doing the whole 'djevel prince' thing when I'm in my hybrid form," he told her as he banished the horns and the wings.
"Can you fly like that?"
He nodded. "It also makes it easier for me to access my 'cubi abilities while in my hybrid form. Even got it set up so I can do it when I'm a lion, too."
His mother gave him a thoughtful look.
"Yes, I made one for you, too." He smiled and handed her an oddly-shaped ring.
She looked at it, then back at him, smiling. "How do I use it?"
"You'll have to take off your necklace, so wait until we get home. You open the necklace and slide it over the links, then put everything back on."
"Why not just a ring that you can wear?"
"Because then, when you shifted into your full lioness form, you wouldn't be able to summon your wings."
His mother surprised him by jumping up and down and clapping her hands. "I will be able to fly as a lioness?"
"Umm… I think so? I just finished this yesterday, and I haven't had a chance to try it out."
Cali hugged him again. "Thank you, Mihalis! Did you make one of these for each of your sisters?"
He nodded. "A few spares, as well, that Dad can put in his safe and learn how to make copies of. They only work on lions that are also 'cubi, just be forewarned."
"Why is that?"
"Because of the way I made them, after talking to Troy and getting his help. He definitely understands Dad's whole 'cheat when you do magic' philosophy better than I do."
"Actually, your father learned that from your mother Jolene," Cali said, smiling.
Mihalis smiled back and nodded.
"So, is it true that I'm finally going to have a baby brother?" he asked, looking down at his mother, who grinned happily back up at him and nodded.
He hugged her again. "Thanks, Mom, and yes, I'm also happy that our father wanted another lion son after all the trouble SJ and I have given him."
"I'm just so happy!" Cali said, smiling as she hugged him back, then he had to move out of the way as all the girls took turns giving her a hug and congratulating her as well.
When they finally got done, he asked her about Tanith.
"I swore her into the house," Cali said with a smile.
"So she wasn't under any oath?"
"Oh, she was under one, I just beat her out of it!"
"Huh?"
"A lot of oaths allow for the senior dark elf in the house to claim you, but only if you fail a test of arms."
"How's that work?" Mihalis asked, scratching his head.
"It's part of the oaths most of the houses swear to. That was why I was sold, instead of being offered a test in combat. That, or they were afraid they could not win against me," Cali said with a thoughtful look. "Her oath was also a bit more forgiving than mine was; she was not trained for a specific assassination, after all."
Cali suddenly smiled brightly. "But she is ours now, and in House Valens, she is a valued member!"
"I take it she's happy with the change of events?"
Cali nodded and bounced on her toes a little. "Yes. Seria has also taken the House oaths, preferring to stay here rather than return to her old House."
"The House increases."
"Yes, the House increases. Taeria has told me of the three she swore for us at Shaylee's. Eventually, I will want to meet them. There is no rush however."
Mihalis felt it as they maneuvered to land, so grabbing onto a handhold, he steadied his mother as Daelyn put it down so lightly, he wasn't quite sure she'd landed until he heard the engines spooling down.
Cali hit the switch for the ramp as they waited for Daelyn to join them. Then after the requisite hugs and kisses, they headed to the house to see the rest of the family.
Mihalis was surprised by the turnout; everyone was there. SJ, of course, Troy and his wives, even his older sister Alska, and Deidre's oldest, Celeste was there—which meant Adam was there with his other two wives: Ryla, a tiger; and Jenna, another lioness.
Even Mat and Nug where there!
Smiling, Mihalis took the time to introduce his wives to the members of his family who didn't know them, exchanging hugs, and in some case kisses, with everyone. It was after eleven by the time everyone got settled down, he and his being the last to arrive because they typically only flew out after sunset, which thankfully came early in November.
"So you're looking happier than the last time I saw you," his father, Sean, said, coming over and sitting down by Mihalis and his wives.
"Yeah, I am. Talking with SJ helped a lot. I know things are still going to suck at times, and there'll be problems, but he was right that I shouldn't worry about it. Just embrace it and move on, and remember what matters." Mihalis turned and smiled at Caitin, who was sitting next to him, with the rest scattered around the couch as they talked with their new in-laws.
Sean smiled. "Well, I'm happy to see it, though I think I'm gonna get an 'I told you so' from your brother."
"Oh? Why's that?"
"After he got back, he woke me up, and calmly took me to task for not telling him what was going on, seeing as he's training to be my second in command, has spent years of his life trying to help all of his siblings with their issues, and because you're his closest brother, seeing as you're a lion, and if he wasn't still drunk, he'd consider popping me one for not trusting him with helping you."
