Four #3
April O’Leary, the cyber-Dryad daughter of Sylvester’s other niece, January, has been able to upgrade a decent amount of human technology to work in the Summerlands.
Before her, we were constrained to sending messengers and finding the fae whose magic allowed them to communicate over distances.
Now, the press of a few buttons can summon help—assuming the person you’re trying to call also has one of her upgraded telephones.
I’m pretty sure most of my swarm of teens and young adults would sooner give up their clothing than their mobile telephones. I opened my contact menu and scrolled until I got to Chelsea, then pressed the button and waited.
She answered on the second ring. “Do I need to grab Raysel and head for Florida?” she asked. “It’s way late there, but we could sneak in a few roller coasters before the parks shut down for the night.”
“No, nothing like that,” I said. “Have you been to Saltmist yet?”
There was a pause, during which I could almost hear her blinking.
“A few times,” she said, finally. “Dean wanted me to know how to open a portal there in case there was an emergency at Goldengreen while he was visiting his parents. Dad can’t open a route that deep, so I get to be the taxi again. Why do you ask?”
“I need you to be a taxi.”
There was a thumping sound as she flopped backward on whatever surface she was sitting on. “Come on, Toby, really?”
“It’s for a good cause,” I said.
“What could possibly be a good-enough cause to interrupt movie night? Dean’s already here, so I know you’re not asking me to go and fetch him.”
“I’m at Shadowed Hills right now. I just had a big fight with Luna. And Sylvester finally took my side.”
Chelsea sucked in her breath, sharp and surprised. “Wait, really? Against the Duchess?”
“Yeah. I think he’s having a panic attack right now. He’s definitely falling apart a little bit, and I need some backup here. I need you to go to Saltmist and ask Simon if he’s willing to come and support his brother. Please.”
“I can do that.” Recalcitrance had been fully replaced by eagerness. “I can do that right now. I’m going to do that right now. Where in the knowe are you?”
“I’m right outside Sylvester’s study. If you bounce to your quarters, your dad will be able to open a portal into the study itself.
” Knowes have a tendency to rearrange themselves when they get bored or restless or just feel like there’s a more convenient route for getting the dishes to the kitchen.
Most teleporters can’t really navigate them by portal.
As Sylvester’s seneschal, Etienne had a rare gift for always opening portals exactly where he wanted to be inside the knowe.
Chelsea didn’t quite have the knack yet.
“Got it. I’ll go get him, and I’ll see you soon.”
The line went dead. I put the phone back into my pocket and opened the study door.
Sylvester was still sitting behind his desk, but he had uncovered his face and was looking wearily at Tybalt, who was leaning against the desk, weight balanced on one hip and arms crossed, looking like every dirtbag cousin to have ever appeared in a production of Romeo he wasn’t dressed for court, or for company. But he was here.
I caught a glimpse of Etienne behind him before the circle closed, taking the smell of the enchantment with us, and Simon was left in the room with myself, Tybalt, and his brother.
He approached the desk with slow caution, hands low at his sides, and bent slightly, tilting his head so that he could get a better look at Sylvester.
“Brother?” he asked.
Sylvester made a strange choking sound, like he couldn’t allow himself to believe that this was happening. “You came,” he said.
“Of course I came,” replied Simon. “All you ever had to do was call. I’ll admit, having one of Dean’s friends suddenly appear in the central nursery and start begging me to come away with her was a little bit surprising, but it wasn’t the strangest thing that’s ever happened, and it worked.”
“Chelsea has a range like no one else I’ve ever met,” I said. “I’m glad she was able to find you. Did she interrupt anything?”
“Honestly, no,” he said, with a small grimace.
“Helmi would prefer Pat and I not get underfoot when she’s trying to feed the girls.
We just get them excited, thinking we’re going to take them to their mother, and they can’t go to their mother every time they see us.
It doesn’t work. Dianda has business to conduct, patrols to lead, and court to hold.
She spends as much time with them as she can, but sometimes we have to leave matters to their nursemaid. ”
“This is normal for the noble houses,” said Tybalt, voice low—he was speaking purely for my benefit. “If the mother has duties to perform, it is expected that a nursemaid or childminder will care for the babies until she’s able to return.”
“I did actually know that, sweetheart,” I said.
“Nannies still exist in the mortal world.” May filled something of that role in our household, although it wasn’t nearly as organized as it would have been for the nobility.
I rose from my chair, yielding it to Simon, who sat and promptly reached for his brother’s hands.
“I’m going to go ahead and give the two of you some privacy,” I said. “Simon, you should be able to get home the same way you got here, when you’re done with your visit. Sylvester, I’m sorry for all the trouble. I didn’t mean to—”
“You caused no trouble at all today, my dearest,” he said. “If anything, you forced me to see and acknowledge the trouble that was already going on, and I should have seen a long time ago. I don’t want to lose my daughter over this. I refuse to lose my daughter over this.”
“Good,” I said. I paused to smile at Simon. “We should catch up before you go back to Shadowed Hills.”
“I would like that,” he said, and returned his attention to Sylvester as, side by side, Tybalt and I left the room.
It was no real surprise to find Etienne waiting for us in the hall outside the study, Chelsea by his side. He turned to give us an earnest look.
“Is all well with our liege?” he asked.
“No. But you know that. All hasn’t been well with our liege for quite some time.” I glanced back at the closed door. “I’m hopeful that maybe this can be the beginning of things getting better around here.”
“That would be … amazing,” said Etienne, wearily. “I love my liege and I love the duchy to which I am sworn, but things have been difficult for a very long time now.”
“Yeah,” agreed Chelsea.
I shot her a wry smile. “You say that like you were there.”
“I know everyone I talk to tells me my dad is the sort of guy who’d rather dance naked in a grocery store than break the rules, and he went out and had an affair with exactly the sort of mortal you’re not supposed to have affairs with, then didn’t stick around to find out whether or not she’d gotten pregnant in the process,” said Chelsea.
“I exist because he was under too much stress to do things the right way. I’m pretty down with existing, don’t get me wrong, but …
that doesn’t say ‘healthy workplace environment’ to me. ”