Sins of the Parents

Tomorrow was going to be my first top level military meeting, with both the high general and my mother as head of state. Merely being a princess wouldn't be enough to get me into one of those meeting so I could only assume that it was much more serious than anything I've done before, which is odd because I've grown too much make to effectively make use of my disguise ability. I'm now twenty-seven years old and I was now towered over even most dragons gijinkas. I was to meet my future husband so he could give me a briefing to prepare me for the briefing.

At the castle, I met Maoirous Sevenwoods Latios, my fiancé. We haven't officially started a romantic relationship or made plans yet. "Sheiaral. I haven't seen you for months."

"It's afraid I'm a bit nervous," I said, "Adulthood is so close. I'm going to have to think about marriage."

"You have nothing to be nervous about." He gestured me to follow him down the castle halls. I thought about this last statement of his. He was young among the royals and never married, but has he had sex before? "Sheiaral, I tried to be polite but your thoughts are pretty clear. Don't worry about it too much; all you questions will be answered soon."

"For the past three years, I've felt that I've been out of the loop. I'm the youngest of our species and the only one who isn't an adult."

We stopped at a particular wall.

"I've never been able to figure out this secret passage way," I said. There were a bunch of differently weighted tumblers that look a lot of focus behind the wall, with a bunch of numbers marking the different positions. I've try to just control all of it, but it seemed to me that it was meant for multiple psychics.

"The first twenty-five tumblers are the first twenty-five digits of pi include the three," he said, "I'll handle the other half."

"Mao, you really believe in my telekinetic abilities to give me this many," I said.

"Well, if you can't do as many as me," he said, "Then we made this trip for nothing."

Well, it looks like my powers are already on par with other Latias and Latios. I focus on the mechanism for the secret passage, putting all my tumblers in their place. The wall opened and we walked down the diagonally staggered stairway which was a type of teleport trap. A psychic would likely perceive the stairs in a completely practical position that was completely different from their actually position. It's the same principle that makes it so drawings and perspectives can fool eyes, but it involves deaths by teleporting confidently into solid mass.

"I know the digits of pi are supposed to be a secret, but I question the absolute confidence in the notion that we are the only nation that knows the first fifty or so," I pointed out, "What's the other twenty-five?"

"More pi, except my mother made a mistake calculating it," Mao said, "but the mistake was discovered before either of us was born. The pi was originally supposed to be a spy trap so we could capture infiltrators within this passage. Please don't use any active powers until I say so or we could be in a lot of trouble."

At the bottom of the stairs there was a bunch of bars in a wall. They looked like they could be slid around.

"It looks like there are many billions of combination," I said.

"The bars are for lifting. This entire wall can be lifted," Mao said.

"The solution is lifting?" This was actually quite a clever was to hide a solution, and many spies wouldn't have the shear strength even budge it. "Like the tumblers, it's going to take both of us, isn't it?"

"Yes"

We got down and lifted. It took a lot of effort from me as my body isn't used to making such an effort. Eventually, the wall was lifted and it locked into place.

"Well, no spy has ever gotten this far," Moa said, "Know it's time for you to learn the true nature of our family."

"Yes," I said as we dropped the wall on the other side.

"We are likely not going to ever live as a married coupled should, and we may not even marry at all," Mao said, "We are just too closely related."

"I know you're a cousin on both sides with the closest side being second cousins, but there is a good chance for healthy children."

"I'm not a cousin on both sides. I'm your uncle."

My heart raced. So this means I'm never going to be married. Neither of us would be willing to be in a true relationship knowing this."

"So, I guess infidelity is a reality in our family, despite all the claims otherwise. So I guess you're not the son of that traitor."

"No, and that's the reason why he defected," Mao said, "The truth is that your grandfather, who is my real father, took at least two married Latias as mistresses. This habit of out species is now known to be common since long before the Worldscourge in the Fairwater lineage as great warlords tend to be popular among the ladies."

"Go on," I said.

"Well, keeping the bloodline tracked is a true headache as we can't be sure of whose anyone's father is, except that were pretty sure about your own dad. Your own father was the last of his own family. He was barred from ever fighting in wars because of the battlefield loses of his kin in the Year without Miracles, and it was a good thing because he was able to make three great children. There is also one other latios, with a small "l", who was the last of his kin, and we're very sure he doesn't have secret children we can take advantage of."

I almost stupidly said "your father" out of shock. I closed my mouth and let him continued.

"Robearo the Defector of the Sevenwoods was cheated on by his wife and has no true children. He was upset so much by the infidelity that he betrayed our nation. He at swore off the name Latios and Sevenwoods and pridefully calls himself Defector. While it is important that I appear to be of his traitorous blood, the Alliance's governments would no doubt know I'm just another Fairwater.

"Now follow my footsteps directly and try to memorize them," he said helping me to avoid some unknown trap.

"So if he was too returned, we would probably try to have him impregnate a bunch of Latias in secret instead of executing him," I said.

"He strongly believes in fidelity as a greater virtue than others. It's pretty much would have saved our family if we didn't sleep around in secret. He's willing not to sleep with a bunch of Latias just to doom our race. He's principled in a most evil way.

"Your dad, on the other hand, chose to help us keep the royalty strong despite our transgressions. He was treated horribly by our family."

"But he married the empress," I said.

"Yes, but it was too late. Had he been her first husband, she could had much more children. He loved your mother from the beginning, but like every available Latias at the time, she had nothing but contempt for him. Since he was short and barred from military service due to being the last of his family. He was rejected by your mother more than once, and she married another man. The first marriage bore no fruits and we ended the marriage through assassination that your mother agreed to, so that your dad could produce children freely."

"By the bloody path to Hell," I said. "I'm the result of assassination? My dad was undesirable? None of that was his fault. They should have known that his inflicted shortness wouldn't affect his children."

"Love can be both complicated and simple. He was the lowest status and had unimpressive attributes. He had few friends among the Latios, and it slowly became clear that he had those tics. He even lost he inheritance at the age of four."

"Okay, but this assassinating the king consort is a big deal. It would have been easy just to let my dad make babies with my mother and pretend the father is the reigning king consort?" I questioned, not believing they would go through such measures.

"That may have been true in many cases, but your dad didn't look enough like the king consort. The traits of the father are sometimes obvious in the children. For that reason alone, he was assassinated so the empress could remarry your dad."

"Wow. Ironic it's that none of us have his eye or hair color."

"Well, our genealogy task force are still studying how eye and hair color is inherited across the sexes in our race. Besides there are other signs. Your brother inherited his motor tics and your sister got much of his face. You look the most like him. Also, in my opinion, you also seemed to have inherited his mother's unique butt."

"Could you not talk about my butt when discussing assassinations in the reigning royal family?"

"You butt was relevant to the topic. Things have skipped a generation before, and I hypothesize that it was clearly passed down through your dad's side of the family. One could come to the conclusion that you are Roseaie's granddaughter from the shape of your waist and the precise largeness of your butt alone, which would be a disastrous to how the world views our nation's leadership. There are drawings of her from before she bore children and it's a perfect match."

"Could you stop mentioning it and get on with the serious stuff," I said.

"So everyone in the species knows about the assassination. Even Robearo the Defector would have figured it out."

"Yes, but don't speak of it ever. He died of natural causes from this point on."

"Okay so wouldn't they have made my father attempt to impregnate someone else and keep that child a secret to save our race?" I asked.

"You're on the right track. However, he is related to many of us still. Also, I should mention, you happen to have a half-brother, but on your mom's side."

"What!"

"Inbreeding has been a concern for over a thousand years. 1300 years ago, a Latias was born to parents that unknowingly shared the same father. Record from that time as rare. The poor daughter had a distorted face and had learned worse than commoners from the lowest races. She never learned to speak and her mental powers only devastated those around her with horrible images and violent emotions. Her mind was more threatening to herself as she attempted to speak to people who went there. She was allowed to grow up and eventually bore a child of her own. It was a son, and he grew to adulthood healthy and intelligent by his grandparents. However, the son was murder by his own mother for no reason."

"That sounds like the legend of Elisa the Mad, but with our species." I said, "But how much of it is true?"

"There is no way to be sure what is true, although I left out the details that we have huge doubts about. At that point in time, history becomes legend. The pattern of retardation has reemerged along with other signs of deformity. We don't want it to get out that these individuals exist. The deformed are often put to death before the reach the age of naming, but others only showed the signs mentally much later and then put to death. This is the reason why we what five years instead of a month to announce a newborn Latios."

"That's horrible. It's probably the gods' way of punishing us for our transgressions," I said, "My father was rejected by my mom and the other Latias. Adultery now defines our heritage. Every Latios should have had right to have children, but that was taken away by their wives and cheating Latios. It's less obvious because they don't bear the children, but we're suffering because we really didn't respect them."

"Perhaps," Moa said.

"And that we spill our blood in numerous wars. We would not have the problem if we were wiser," I said, "It's really does seem like the legend of the gods punishing us for our blindness. We didn't respect the lesser races of creation, and we don't respect the men of our own race. I'm sure we don't respect the women either, but the trap the gods made happens because marriage is forgotten. Every member of our species is equally important, even the less skilled and non-veteran men."

"Gijinkas are never perfect," Mao said.

"But it's like our race revels in being bad. They really should have at least tried being good gijinkas. For example, there are plenty of slave races around here to use for sex. Sure, lesser races probably aren't as good a dragon gijinkas are at sex, but we even have dragons as slaves. If we could stop at sex slaves and concubines, than we wouldn't have been in this mess."

"Well, most Latias and Latios only have sex within the species."

"Really?" I said, "Having sex with a slave or a subject seems like such a better and obvious alternative than adultery. Sure, nothing is as good as sex on our level, but we should only get that with our spouse. At least when we have sex with other species, they will get to experience the highest level of sex and that's something they'll never experience otherwise. It's really selfish not to consider them."

"I supposed that is a good idea, but I've feared that our species has been existing on borrowed time since the Worldscourge," Mao said.

"Well, I've never believed in the gods before, but this certainly seems like something they cleverly set up to destroy us if we strayed from our path. Being the ones blessed to rule the nation, maybe even the world, would have required higher standards. We weren't wiped out by the Worldscourge, so I think the chance exists that our species can be change, if we act better to our subjects, ourselves, and the world."

We got to a door that didn't appear to have any sort of trap. We were deep underground. When Mao opened up the door I gasped in shocked. Two Latios and three Latias, all very sickly were sitting in the room. There were also a couple of elderly gogoat women who were clearly the caretakers of the incest stricken group.

"I'm sorry, but I can't stand the sight," Mao said leaving me in the room, "They were all made lame when they were committed here."

"Little sister!" said the Latios with one eye lower than the other. He stood up, limped over and gave me a hug. His head only was only as high as my neck making it a child-like awkward bosom hug. He was shorter than my dad, of which he had no close relation. He fell off and landed on the floor unable to get up.

"But you're a big sister. I they told me that my little sister was coming,"

"She was littler than you but she grew bigger," said one of the caretakers, "She now she is bigger, but she is always your little sister."

Not very many thing in life can leave a mostly grown Latias feel helpless, but discovering all of this froze me.

"My name is Sheiaral."

"Sheral," he said, "My name is Makel."

"That's not a name," I said, "Oh, Maaikeil. Never mind then."

He was still on the floor. I squatted down and picked him to my shoulder. It was odd but knowing he was family, I had to try to treat him like a brother despite him being a complete invalid.

"Why don't you introduce me to your friend?" I asked.

"That'sss Gary," he said pointing to a Latias. She looked normal.

"Gareiette is can't speak at all," said the caretaker, "She is closely related to you on your dad's side."

"and that Madel," he said pointing at a deformed Latias.

"My name is Meouraela," She said, "and I am quite able to do everything a Latias can do. I was assumed to be a retard because of my body. I can even make myself look not only normal, but absolutely beautiful."

"But you can't hold in your waste," the caretaker said, "which is something a Latias should be able to do."

"Could you show me," I asked.

She transformed into a normal looking version of herself. She looked exactly my age and she was just as attractive. She had posture and symmetry.

"That's perfect," I said.

"It's no big deal. You've master it years ago most likely. I'm two years older than you and I just learned it."

"You had no one to teach you," I said.

"And this is Mary," said Maaikeil, "she touches people where she's not supposed to"

"I gave her that name because her parents didn't bother naming her," The caretaker said, "You won't convince her that you're not Meouraela trying to be pretty."

"Mary, I'm Sheiaral."

"Go away. I don't wana play,"

"And this is Kay," he said pointing at the Latios

"Kyreialik," the caretaker said, "He can't speak. All five of these Latios have mental abilities. Both Kyreialik and Mary broadcasts rather unpleasant thoughts."

Maoirous came in, "I believe that's enough. That's a bit more information you need to be all caught up for tomorrow's briefing."

We left the room. With all I've learned, I know I wouldn't be able to sleep properly for a long time.

"So, we kept them alive because they might save our species with their loins?" I said, "Meouraela is really the most depressing out of all of them because she is so close to being like us. Had she been raised and educated properly, she would have been exactly like us in mind and ability."

"A while back ago, Your dad was ordered to try to impregnated Meouraela and Mary. He was completely unable to, although I'm not sure it even happened."

"No more details on that, please," I begged.

"And finally, I was told to give you some papers." Mao handed me a couple of military profiles. The first was mine.

Name: Sheiaral Fairwater Latias

Alias: None

Nationality: Draconia

Strategic Importance: Highest

Species: Latias (Flying, Psychic, Dragon)

Attributes: Age 27, Height 8' 4", able-bodied.

Ability Level: B

Tactical Abilities: Disguise, mind shielding, emotion reading, visual Illusion, kinetic illusion, time illusion, illusory plotting, barriers, minor elemental control, levitation, minor receptive telepathy, minor active telepathy, minor healing.

Notes: Royal education, never married, very social, never seen direct combat, special ops

I looked at the other one.

Name: Robearo the Defector

Alias: Robearo Sevenwoods Latios (former name)

Nationality: Alliance; Balthia

Strategic Importance: Highest

Species: Latias (Flying, Psychic, Dragon)

Attributes: Age 211, Height 9' 4", ablebodied.

Ability Level: A++

Tactical Abilities: Vision sharing, vision stealing, disguise, major mind shielding, thought reading, thought implantation, emotion reading, visual Illusion, major time illusion, major pain illusion, illusory plotting, major barriers, major elemental control, levitation, major object control, kinectic control receptive telepathy, Major active telepathy, minor healing.

Notes: Royal education, second marriage, non-social but well mannered, major combat veteran, special ops, traitor.

I am definitely not getting any sleep tonight

Notes: It's important to remember that before modern medicine, child mortality rates were high. This often meant the the newborn would have to survive a certain amount of time. I choose a month as the usual amount of time for most gijinkas to be named because of the Old Testament. There is a passage in the Old Testament were any child death before a month of age are considered more of a miscarriage than a human dying. I don't remember the passage though, but the writers of the Old Testament did live in a very different era with child mortality was high.

Dragon gijinkas are larger overall, and have better shape for child bearing. They also incubate quite a bit longer than nine months, and they do tend to have large children at birth. This makes childbirth just as difficult as with other species. However, a child does have much better chances after birth due to the longer incubation.

It is also important to note the that "mother's species" rule is not in affect.

In this story, the "egg groups" of cannon how is descriptive of who can mate with who. Many dragons can mate with another group, but size matters. A large male mating with a small female can be virtual death sentence, which has lead to many revenge killings and campaigns across history. It's far less common these days, and it is a crime in every nation, even against slaves.

However, dragon women are able to produce stronger offspring in some species, and many non-dragon kings were born form dragons.