The day after they returned from their honeymoon, Joanne went to visit with the kids at the home. She knew Nim would be having surgery soon and she’d be busy helping him and would only be able to come for a portion of each day. Thailyn removed the block on Nim’s bellyfire. “Shunati’s doing much better. I think we should do the surgery tomorrow.” “Already? We just got back. I have responsibilities to catch up with.” Thailyn smiled. He could tell Nim was still nervous. “Pt’this and Ti took care of your emissary job and Ann and Andy have been helping Jaidu with her magic. It’s just mage sight and spell shield so far.” “Ann’s helping with the mage sight? She has the worst mage sight of anyone.” “That’s because her own magic is so strong. It blocks her from seeing other magic. If her mage sight wasn’t weak, she’d have the same problem Andy does with brightness only she would be blinding herself so she couldn’t look away, even those goggles he wears wouldn’t help her. “Everything is under control. We should get this done and over with. In a few days, you should be able to start back to the emissary work at least. It’s not as strenuous and you can sit while doing it. Once I can close the incision, you can do a little more, help Ann and Andy with Jaidu, but you’ll be limited on your casting. And, you won’t be able to transform or use your bellyfire.” “I understand the last two, but why can’t I use my magic?” “Because we’re also going to patch you right away. This way, Shunati can assist in that too and learn the new technique.” Nim nodded. He didn’t like it, but he knew he had to get it done. He’d had arguments with Ann about taking care of one’s self, knew all the arguments, and knew he had to do it. “Can I ask a favor?” He asked instead. “What do you need?” “Can you try to talk Jo into blocking the bond for the patch?” Thailyn shook his head. “Actually, we’re going to try something. You know you can’t be sedated or put to sleep for this. My mother knows a trick with her voice that can put someone into a trance that’s similar to being sedated. She did it for Andy and it soothed Ann through the bond better than whiskey. And, it didn’t interfere with the procedure. We’d like to try it with you and Joanne too.” Nim nodded. “And what about during the surgery? She said you said she wouldn’t feel it because I’d be asleep, but I feel her when she’s sleeping.” “This is a different type of sleep. If I cut you while you were asleep for the night, you’d feel it too. She shouldn’t feel it, but every bond is different. If she does, there will be a block ready. They may take turns, but someone will sit with Jo the whole time and keep an eye on her.” “Thank you.” “Is it okay if I make Jaidu’s vial beforehand?” Nim asked. “I don’t see why not. I don’t know how it’s done, but you were able to make one for my mother. I don’t think there should be a problem.” “It doesn’t take a lot of magic. I can do it with just my straight magic.” “Then it should be no problem.” **** After that, Nim and Ann created the vial. Jaidu was in class when they finished so they couldn’t give it to her yet. And Shay wanted to be there when she first changed. Then Ann asked if he’d help them scry Andy’s parents. They hadn’t told them about Ann’s pregnancy and Thailyn felt the spell might be too difficult between the healing patch and the pregnancy. He agreed. With Andy there too, he cast the spell for Carla. “Hi, Mom,” Andy said when he saw her. She was in the kitchen. If Andy had to guess, he’d say they were in the old chrome canister on the counter. She jumped and looked around and saw them. “Andy, Ann, hi. Let me get your father.” She hurried off and they could hear her yelling in the distance. “He’ll be here in a moment,” she said returning. “Hi Carla,” Ann said. “Hi, Mrs. Mathis,” Nim said. She smiled. “Nim, call me Carla.” “Yes, ma’am,” Nim said. “How’s Jo?” “She’s good.” “Are you helping with the spell today?” Carla asked. “I am.” “Who’s helping with what spell?” Steve asked, coming in. “Nim’s helping with the scrying spell,” Carla said. “Why?” He asked. “I don’t know. Ask him.” “Maybe Ann should tell you,” Nim said. “Is there something wrong?” Steve asked. “I had to get patched again. There was an incident the other day and my shield got over energized, and I came close to ripping. I’m also pregnant.” Carla squealed like a teenage girl. “Really?” “Congratulations,” Steve said, wiggling a finger in his ear as if to clear it. “How far along are you?” “About two weeks.” “You can tell that early?” Carla asked, surprised. “Only a strong healer can tell that early. My birth father is here and he was trying to figure out why I wasn’t getting pregnant and discovered I already was pregnant. “I have to be careful with which spells I cast. That’s why Nim is helping today.” “We would’ve scried sooner, but we needed to wait for Nim to get back,” Andy explained. “Were you visiting Jo again?” Carla asked. “No, ma’am. She’s staying here now. We were on our honeymoon.” “You two got married? Oh, congratulations.” “Thank you.” “Did she tell her parents? Do you want us to call them?” Carla offered. “No, thank you. She called them before she came, and her mother wouldn’t take her call so she left a message.” “That’s so sad. Jo is such a sweet girl. I may just call that woman and give her a piece of my mind,” Carla said. Nim looked confused. “She means she’s going to tell her what she thinks and it isn’t good,” Steve explained. “Think Sapphire and one of her lectures,” Andy said. Then Nim understood. “That isn’t necessary ma’am” “How have you two been?” Andy’s asked. “Nothing much going on here. I’m still in AA and doing well at that. The weather’s been terrible, but that’s March for you.” They spoke a while longer. Ann told them briefly how it turned out Remtani’s pledged was her aunt and that Shay was her grandmother. She left out the details about Shay’s captivity and Jaidu’s being raised as breeding stock. There were a lot of holes in the story that if Steve and Carla thought about it, they’d have a bunch of questions. But, they were used to Ann and Andy not being able to tell them many details. They also talked about a visit once the baby was born. Nim and Andy were still looking for a passage close to where Andy’s parents live since Ann didn’t like riding in cars or planes. There were little pinhole passages between worlds that could be opened and used as a gate. The gate from Paosij to Chicago had once been a pinhole that had been opened and held open for a long time with eta-vie. The eta-vie had since been removed, but the gate stayed open. The closest pinhole they found to Colorado was in Arizona. Steve and Carla said they’d be able to use that one since Ann probably wouldn’t want to travel for a while and they couldn’t transport with a newborn. They then said their goodbyes so Nim wouldn’t get too drained. **** That night, Ann and Andy were woken by a roar of a dragon. “What was that?” Andy asked. “It sounded like a mating cry, but who?” “Thailyn?” Andy guessed. “He’s the only single dragon here.” “But who is he with?” “Ask him,” Andy suggested. Thailyn? Was that you? No, I don’t know who that was. “He says it wasn’t him,” Ann told Andy. They lay back down to try to sleep. “I wonder who it was,” Andy said. “We’ll ask around in the morning.” All of you, it wasn’t me. I’m alone, Thailyn cried through a community call. Ann cringed at the pain. Then who was it? Pt’this asked. That was me. This came for Mishtali. We’re sorry, Shay sent. We didn’t know that would happen. Why? Ti asked. They’ve been mates for hundreds of years. Try thousands, Nim sent. Must be the damage to the bond. Thailyn theorized. See I told…, Shay started. Stop, please, stop, A new voice came. Ann heard the pain she felt echoed there. What the…? Who...? Guys, it’s Jaidu. Stop sending, Ann sent. She sat up. “What’s going on?” Andy asked. He had felt the pain of the telepathic conversation. “Jaidu,” Ann said, pulling on a robe over her nightdress. “That was her?” Andy sounded confused. “What? No, sorry. The mating cry was Grandfather. The bond was damaged. But, Jaidu heard us talking. She hasn’t been trained telepathically.” Andy grabbed a shirt and followed Ann. They found Remtani in Jaidu’s room holding her as she cried hysterically. “I don’t know what happened. I heard her screaming. I thought the roar scared her so I came in to check on her. Then, she was asking someone to stop something,” he explained. “Sorry. That was us dragons. We were discussing the mating cry telepathically. We forgot Jaidu would hear us.” She knelt by the girl. “Jaidu, sweetie, it’s okay. We’ve stopped. We’re sorry. It hurts less if you relax. Try to calm down. Shay will be coming here soon.” You are coming, right? She sent. We got a little turned around. We’ll be there. “She got lost, but she is coming,” Ann said. “Shay was there,” Jaidu insisted. “It was an accident. We didn’t mean to hurt you. We were just talking,” Ann said. “Talking? It was so loud.” “I know. Dragons are telepathic. We can communicate without talking. But, because you and I are half dragons, it’s too loud and it hurts. When a group is talking it’s even worse. I’ve had special training and I’m used to pain so I can handle it some. We forgot there was someone else who would be affected. We didn’t mean to hurt you.” Jaidu nodded. “What was that noise?” “That was Grandfather. It was a mating cry.” “Mating? With Mother? What about her and Father?” Ann glanced at the men not knowing how to answer. They both looked at a loss too. Fortunately, Shay and Mishtali came in followed by Thailyn. “Maybe your mother could answer that best,” Ann said. “Sweetie, are you okay?” Shay knelt next to Ann. Jaidu nodded. “I think so. The voices just hurt so much.” “I’m sorry. I had no idea it would hurt you. Ann doesn’t have pain.” “I do. Tonight’s conversation felt similar to when I had cracked my skull. I’ve had special training. Before that, it was much worse.” “I’m sorry, Jaidu,” Thailyn said as he checked her. “This was my fault. I started the community call.” “It’s mine. I was the one giving the mating cry,” Mishtali said. “Why were you with him?” Jaidu asked Shay softly. “What about father?” Shay hugged the girl. “That’s not a conversation for the middle of the night. We’ll talk soon.” “Tomorrow?” Jaidu asked. “Tomorrow, I need to help Jo and Nim, remember?” “I had forgotten,” Jaidu admitted. “And you have to meet with Elos for your lessons. But, I promise. We will talk soon okay?” Jaidu nodded. She looked at the others. “I’m sorry to have upset everyone tonight.” “Jaidu, you’re the last one who should be apologizing,” Remtani said. “If someone is hurting you, you need to say something. No one is supposed to hurt you. Remember?” Jaidu nodded. “Good. Why don’t you get some sleep? Master Elos won’t like it if you are too tired to do your work.” She nodded again and crawled back into bed. “I’m going to stay with her,” Shay told the others. They said good night and left. “Are you okay, Rem?” Ann asked in the hall. “I guess. I’m used to being woken up in the night by screams and other noises. It was the comment about Shay and her father. She’s so smart and picks up things so fast, but this, thinking what her father did was okay, she keeps believing it.” “This is more than just learning,” Andy said. “This is unlearning something she’s been told all her life. Just like you were raised to believe the throne is your birthright, she was raised to believe things about her father and about herself. How long would it take for you to accept it if someone told you that you had no right to the throne?” “But I do have the right, by law.” “Okay, what if I told you so did Ann? I’ve looked and I talked with Elos and Nim. There is no law forbidding her from becoming queen. It doesn’t matter that Emeton and Tylan aren’t her birth parents. It doesn’t even matter that she’s only half human. Emeton and Tylan legally adopted her. That gives Ann the right.” Remtani started to say something and stopped. “Really?” He finally said. “See my point?” Andy asked. Remtani nodded. “I do.” “Incidentally, so will any children you and Jaidu adopt,” Andy added. Remtani looked at him and smiled. Andy hadn’t been researching this for Ann. He had been doing it for Remtani. “I may ask you to be my legal advisor when I become king,” he said. “You already have me as your karate instructor. You have me teaching enough karate classes I barely have time for my other responsibilities.” “We’ll work something out. By then, I hope we can have several instructors.” “Fists, Solvnor, Merton, Crito, and Mikna are the ones I’d recommend. They’re learning quickly and show the ability to teach others. Solvnor and Crito have already worked with the beginners’ class some. Remtani nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.” “And with that, we are going back to bed. We have a busy day ahead of us,” Andy said taking Ann’s hand.