Chapter 2 Kian
KIAN
Sunday morning breakfast was supposed to be relaxed.
That was the whole point of Sunday mornings—a slower pace, no meetings, no calls, no urgent decisions that could reshape the fate of the clan.
Just Kian with Syssi and Allegra, eating pancakes or waffles and chatting about nothing consequential so he could pretend for a few minutes that the world wasn't a complicated mess.
But his mother had called earlier to ask if she could join them, and it wasn't like he could refuse.
Not because she would be offended, although she might be, but because she never invited herself without a good reason, and this morning it was probably for emotional support because she was going through a rough time.
Okidu appeared with a coffee carafe and refilled his cup. "Should I start serving breakfast, master?"
"Not yet. We are waiting for the Clan Mother to arrive."
"Oh." His whole demeanor brightened. "I wish I had known. I would have prepared a more festive meal."
Kian smiled. "There is no need. She will be happy with whatever you serve. The Clan Mother is much less finicky about food than I am."
"Yes, master." Okidu bowed. "Indeed." He retreated into the kitchen.
Subtle nuances of social interactions were still beyond Okidu's current level of awareness, or sentience, so Kian shouldn't have been surprised that his butler hadn't tried to refute his claim and pretend that he was not at all choosy about what he ate, or a 'pain in the butt' as Amanda succinctly referred to his strict veganism.
Kian closed the news app he was scrolling through and looked out the breakfast nook window, where a purple butterfly was hovering over a flowerbed.
It was still performing its dance when Syssi walked in with Allegra, and Kian motioned for both to come over and look out the window.
"Pretty," Allegra said, pressing her little nose to the glass. "Pewpule."
"Very good," Syssi said. "It is purple." She turned to Kian. "Isn't she amazing? Most children her age can't name more than two or three colors."
"I know my princess is one of a kind." He leaned over, pulled Allegra onto his lap, and started peppering her little face with kisses.
She laughed but immediately started to wiggle out of his hold. "Stop, Daddy. Nana is coming."
As if Nana had anything to do with his kisses.
He wanted to point that out when the doorbell rang, and he and Syssi exchanged looks.
Was it a coincidence? Or was it one more manifestation of their daughter's growing precognition talent?
One day, Allegra would be a powerful seer, likely surpassing her mother. So far, her ability mostly manifested in boosting Syssi’s whenever her mother needed help to sharpen the resolution of her visions, but there had been a few occasions where Allegra had seemed to display clairvoyance.
A moment later, his mother swept into the breakfast nook wearing a purple-colored gown, and Kian shook his head.
Another coincidence? Was the universe trying to tell him something?
Annani looked regal and composed, her face as flawless as ever, but Kian knew his mother well. Her expression held a hint of tightness that no amount of composure could fully mask, and the set of her shoulders was a fraction too rigid.
She was holding herself together through sheer force of will.
Still, when she bent to scoop Allegra up, her smile was warm and genuine because she could never fake her joy in her grandchildren, though it was not as bright as it usually was.
She was worried about Khiann. She was always worried about him, but it was reaching critical levels now that they were so close to retrieving him, but not sure what they would find.
"Nana!" Allegra shrieked, wrapping her arms around Annani's neck and kissing her grandmother's cheeks the same way Kian had kissed hers only moments earlier.
"My precious girl." Annani hugged her tightly. "Did you sleep well?"
"I dreamed about Harold!"
Annani blinked. "Phoenix's frog?"
"Yes. I want a frog!" Allegra declared.
"No frogs," Syssi and Kian said simultaneously.
"Phoenix has a frog!" Allegra's lower lip jutted out in a pout that she had inherited directly from Amanda, which was concerning because when Amanda deployed that look, the battle was already lost.
But Kian wasn't going to be defeated by his toddler daughter. "We're not getting a frog, and that's final."
Annani carried Allegra to the table, sat on her chair, and arranged her granddaughter on her lap. "What is wrong with a frog? They are harmless creatures."
"Don't encourage her," Kian muttered.
"I would never." Annani's eyes sparkled with her signature brand of mischief.
"May I offer you tea, Clan Mother?" Okidu asked.
"Actually, I prefer coffee this morning."
"Of course." He raised the coffee carafe and leaned across to fill her cup.
She covered it with her hand. "Not before Allegra sits in her highchair. We do not want any unfortunate accidents even though we heal so quickly." She looked down at Allegra. "Right, precious? No ouchies."
"No ouchies," Allegra repeated solemnly.
Okidu placed the carafe on the table a safe distance away from Allegra's reach and then extended his arms. "May I?"
She went willingly to him and didn't fuss when he secured her in her highchair.
"Nana drinks coffee," she said in a magnanimous tone, as if Nana had been waiting for her permission.
"Thank you," Annani answered in the same tone. "Nana likes drinking coffee with Mommy and Daddy."
Okidu poured her a cup and then returned to the kitchen to bring the first course, which consisted of pastries and a selection of fruits arranged with the care afforded to a still-life painting. He set it down on the table with a bow and began serving Annani first.
"Thank you, Okidu. Everything looks beautiful and appetizing as always."
"There is more to come, Clan Mother."
She smiled. "Of course."
After he returned with pancakes, eggs, and wonderfully seasoned home fries, they all got busy pouring syrup, cutting fruit, and redirecting Allegra's attempts to eat exclusively pancakes and nothing else.
It was nice. Normal. A Sunday morning that felt like what Sunday mornings were supposed to feel like.
Kian watched his mother over the rim of his coffee cup, wondering if she was about to share with them what was bothering her.
Annani waited until Allegra demanded to be let out of the highchair, dragging Okidu with her to the family room to watch her favorite Sunday morning kids' show.
Funny how she never needed to ask what time it was to know exactly when her show was about to start.
Another coincidence? Or maybe an internal clock?
His mother set her coffee cup down, and the shift in her expression was subtle enough that only someone who had been watching for it would have noticed.
"How are things progressing with the excavation?" she asked. "Any changes since the last time we talked?"
At the beginning, they had been getting twice-daily updates from Losham, but since the answers continued to be the same and nothing changed, Kian had reduced the calls to once a day.
He also hadn't felt the need to update Annani when there was no news to report, but perhaps he should have, to save her from imagining what he wasn't telling her.
"They are progressing slowly," Kian said. "Nothing has changed since we last talked on Friday. Losham still estimates about two more weeks before they clear enough debris to reach the chests or the chamber that Navuh described."
"He said two more weeks on Friday," Annani said. "Should it not be twelve more days now?"
"It's just an estimate, Mother. They might be done earlier or later.
Don't forget that they are doing everything by hand without using any heavy equipment because that's what we told Losham to do.
We don't want them to rush things and cause additional collapse that might cause further damage to the chests. "
It was also possible that not all the booby traps had been set off, and the crews working there might trigger those that hadn't, but Kian didn't want to add to his mother's anxiety.
"I wonder why he's using only human crews for the removal of debris. His explanation that they are more careful is nonsensical. Immortals can be just as careful when so instructed and much faster."
"Losham is in a difficult situation. His brothers are watching his every move, and deploying a large number of immortal warriors to dig in Navuh's basement would raise questions.
The brothers don't care about the human crews and what they are assigned to do.
It's much easier for him to keep pretending that there was nothing out of the ordinary in the basement when he's taking his time to dig it out. "
"That makes sense," Annani conceded. "We should talk to Navuh and question him again. But this time, I want to bring reinforcements. I just cannot decide if I want Morelle and Mia to come with me, or if Mia alone will suffice."
Kian straightened in his chair. "When did you change your mind about getting into his head?"
"He is playing games with us, and I need to know the truth. By myself, I might not be strong enough to breach his protective walls, but I might do that with Mia enhancing my power and Morelle siphoning his out. They can pretend to be new nurses in training."
"That's a good idea," Syssi said. "But I think you should make the first attempt with only Mia by your side. Two new nurses in training will raise his suspicions, especially when one of them is Morelle. She doesn't exactly blend in."
"No, she does not, and Areana has probably told him about our newly-discovered twin siblings, including their descriptions." Annani frowned. "I am surprised that he has not mentioned them yet."
"Maybe because he is jealous," Syssi suggested. "You found out that you have another sister and brother, while he has none. Mortdh only fathered one son, and that was Navuh. Did he father any girls?"
Annani shook her head. "Mortdh was the one who originally came up with the idea of faking having children with his concubines by letting them sleep with other males and claiming the children as his own.
I assume that Navuh got rid of any male siblings as soon as he came to power, but I have no idea what Mortdh did with the daughters born to those concubines.
I assume that he got rid of them early on because it was more difficult to induce them in secret than the boys.
After all, if they were his, they would have been born immortal and not need to transition. "
"I’m not going to ask how he might have gotten rid of them.” Syssi shook her head. “I wonder if that's what Losham is planning. Even though he is not Navuh's real son, he thinks that he is, and his brothers are a thorn in his side."
"And ours." Kian lifted his cup to his lips and took a sip.
"If not for them, Losham could have put the chests on a ship and delivered them to us.
But the Fates never make anything simple.
Right now, our best course of action is to let Losham's excavation continue while Onegus prepares the extraction team.
If Losham can't deliver the chests to us, we go ourselves with the EMP. "
"I'm glad we have a contingency plan." Syssi took a sip from her coffee. "It certainly beats worrying and fingernail biting."
Annani smiled. "You sound like Kian."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It was meant as one." Annani squeezed her hand. "Most of the time."
Kian ignored the qualifier. "The plan is ambitious but solid.
The only thing I'm worried about is deploying an EMP over the island.
I hope Turner is right about it being contained to the specific area, but even if that's correct, I'm still concerned about aircraft flying in the vicinity at the time of the explosion.
They will just fall out of the sky, and I don't want those deaths on my conscience.
Turner is trying to figure out how to designate the area as a no-fly zone on short notice.
We've never deployed an EMP, and frankly, it scares me. "
"Me too," Annani said. "I would much rather that Losham send us the chests. Perhaps we can come up with another contingency plan? Something that does not require an EMP?"
Kian shook his head. "We've looked at it from all angles and brainstormed ideas, and this is the only one that has any chance of success."
"Do you think Navuh is being truthful about the chamber?" Annani asked.
"Honestly? I think he's playing games, but I'm not sure what he hopes to achieve by that. He keeps trying to buy himself time, which doesn't make sense because no one is coming to his rescue."
"Unless he knows something we do not," Annani said, echoing the concern she'd raised at Friday's dinner.
"Navuh is always several steps ahead, and we have already reasoned that he might be counting on Losham to figure out that we have him and mount a rescue, but we know it is not going to happen.
Even if Losham wanted to save Navuh, he could not find him. "
"Thank the fates for that." Kian refilled his cup with fresh coffee. "He knows that our base is in the general area of Los Angeles, but that's it. He doesn't have the resources or the intelligence to mount a rescue operation on our turf."