Familiar

Chapter Nine

Good Intentions


Disclaimer: Don't own, don't make money, don't sue?

Each time I see a crowd of people
Just like a fool I stop and stare
It's really not the proper thing to do
But maybe you'll be there
I go out walking after midnight
Along the lonely thoroughfare
It's not the time or place
To look for you
But maybe you'll be there

~Diana Krall, Maybe You'll Be There


Ceri's baby girl came after eight hours in the delivery room. Trent's shirt was covered in sweat after the delivery and he constantly went to Riley to check up on her. Rachel pretended not to notice too much when she saw Trent's face light up when they placed the little girl in his arms, and named him the Godfather.

However, when they named Rachel as the godmother of Isabella Mariana Dulciate, Rachel was speechless. The little baby was wrinkled and cranky but seemed to find an uneasy sleep in Rachel's arms. She noticed the slight points on her ears and the bit of black fluff on her head. She was going to be a heart breaker. She wondered idly if she had a son, would they fall for this little creature? She shook the thought away and looked at Trent.

Riley was smiling and talking to Trent in a distant corner. Rachel frowned at Riley, she wanted to go over and strangle the woman, but knew it wouldn't be a nice thing to do at the hospital; help would come too soon. She wanted to walk over and tell Riley she knew exactly what was going on. If she did that Riley would just tell Trent to stay away from Rachel, and that would ruin the whole 'getting Trent to love her' thing.

Who would want to fall in love with Trent Kalamack anyway? He was selfish, egotistical, arrogant, and... had really pretty eyes. The jerk.

She rubbed her stomach, she was nine weeks along now. She was starting to grow fond of the tadpoles, and part of her wished Trent could be with her to experience all of it.

She looked up at Trent, "Can I talk with you privately?"

Trent looked questioningly at Riley, and she shook her head, "Anything you can say in front of Trent you can say in front of me."

Rachel clenched her teeth and smiled, "I was wondering if Trent would help me like he did with Ceri. I need to have a doctor, and these babies are going to need Trent's medical team to make sure they're safe." Lie, lie, liiiiieee... her stomach flipped at the idea of doctor tests and science being applied to her tadpoles. Ugh!

Trent looked thoughtfully for a moment, "You want me to make sure they don't come out as Demons?"

If he had kicked her in the stomach, she would have felt less pain, "I want to make sure they're healthy."

Trent paused at the thought and glanced to Riley, "It would be best to monitor them, check their levels to see if there's anything preventative we could do to stifle their demonic heritage." he frowned, "I want to know if you're having girls anyway."

Rachel felt her back turn to iron, and the thought of having this new Trent anywhere near her tadpoles made her sick. But she swallowed it, telling herself she could walk away from it at any time.

"You don't hurt my tadpoles." she said softly, but her tone carried a big stick.

Trent sighed, "Fine, I won't touch them."

"Thank you."

Trent glanced to Riley, "What do you think?"

Riley smiled benevolently at Rachel, "I think it would be a good idea. She does need the prenatal help. I don't think normal doctors are quite equipped to deal with Rachel's... problem."

My foot in your mouth would solve the problem just fine, "I'm glad we could reach an agreement."

Trent pulled out his phone and flipped through it's calendar, "Next week sound okay? How far along are you? And who diagnosed twins?"

Rachel gave a soft smile down at her belly, "Their dad did before he left. He said they were at six weeks about three weeks ago."

"Nine weeks..." Trent ran his fingers through his fine blond hair, "Eleven weeks to go before I can check for gender... at least another two..." he frowned and looked at Rachel, "Maybe five weeks, to be safe, before I can perform an amniocentesis... I'd have to run tests to be sure..."

Rachel blinked, "Amnio-what?"

"Amniocentesis. I can draw amniotic fluid from the amniotic sac and run some genetic testing. I doubt they'd carry Rosewood syndrome, but I can check that. I can also check it against Demon DNA and see if it shares any markers."

Rachel put her hands protectively over her middle, "You're going to poke me with a needle to see if I'm carrying demons or not?"

Trent frowned, "It would help to know if they're carrying any genetic diseases that I can fix before they come to term and it becomes that much more difficult for me to fix."

Rachel shrank back, "My tadpoles could be sick?"

"You're 'tadpoles' could host a numerous amount of genetic problems. You're the first person to give birth to a Demon in centuries." he said, his green eyes icy.

"I think it would be a wonderful idea." Riley added.

"See? Even Riley thinks it would be good." Trent added. "I can see you in a couple of weeks."

Rachel gave a dull nod, the blood drained from her face. Quen touched Rachel's shoulder, "Ceri wants to take pictures," he looked at Trent, "If you wouldn't mind, Sa'han?"

Trent gave a curt nod before turning back to Riley.

Quen ushered Rachel through the halls to where Ceri and Isabella were resting. He checked the corridor quickly, "I've heard what happened. They're Trent's?" his voice was gruff, but a hint of worry tinged it.

She gave a little nod before she could hold it back no longer, and hugged Quen, sobbing into his black sweater.

He held her, and stroked her hair, "Rachel, be strong. The power that Riley girl has over Trent is tremendous. I only stay quiet because Ceri informed me that the spell is powerful enough she can suggest to Trent to... hurt himself."

Rachel listened and her sobs started to quiet, "I'm sorry, I ruined your shirt."

"I can wash it." he put a hand on Rachel's shoulder, "I don't know much about the medical side of things... but I know that there's DNA in that amniotic fluid. If he can test it against his own DNA... you could prove he's their father."

"I don't even think I want him to be a father." Rachel said glumly, "He called my tadpoles—our tadpoles—Demons."

Quen sighed, "Isa is going to need a few treatments. She's the healthiest Elf born in almost a thousand years... but she's going to need help." Quen put his arm around her shoulders, "You're carrying half-Elves. They could have the same problems, they could have Rosewood, they could be fine. But he made a valid point. You need the amnio done, but it can give you more power than what Riley thinks."

"I wish I knew what she knows!" Rachel grumbled.

Quen nodded his head, "I'll see what I can do. I think she was told the babies are Pierce's and you're trying to get Trent to claim them for the money. It's something she would do, so she believes it. We need to keep her believing it."

"But whatever Trent knows, she'll know!"
Quen looked around the hallway quickly, "Not if he isn't around Riley. Jonathan and I have made... arrangements. They're temporary at best, Trent would be missed for longer than a couple weeks. We think it would be best to wait until the children are born, but you may want to do it sooner."

Rachel was surprised that Quen and Jon were going behind Trent's back to effectively kidnap him! What kind of bodyguards did he have?

"We're waiting on you Rachel."

"But I have to get him to love me!" Rachel said, baffled still.

"Then work quickly." he whispered. The door opened and Trent came out, frowning. Quen gave him a brief smile and showed the damn spot on his shirt, "Mood swing."

The pensive look faded from his face, "There are extra shirts in the hall if you wish to change before the pictures."

"Thank you, Sa'han." and gave a respectful nod of his head. He walked down the hallway in front of Rachel. Rachel looked behind her, her old ire heating up and she gave Trent a bunny-eared 'kiss-kiss'.

He glanced around carefully, then looked her straight in the eye and flipped her off.

She couldn't help her laughter at that, and wondered if the smile on Trent's face was a figment of her imagination.


She been pacing around for two weeks after that talk. Her ears, for two weeks, were filled with veiled threats from both Ivy and Jenks. She held her stomach and hoped she was doing what her tadpoles wanted. Because right now, running away from everything and raising the babies with Ivy and Jenks was looked better and better every day!

Trent poked his head out of his office. His sleeves were rolled up and his forearms were bare. She had a flash of them pinning her to his body in the tangle of sheets and it died away quickly. Trent looked bothered for only a moment before it passed.

She had almost forgotten! The bond was still there! She knew she could torment him until he was at the point of throwing her down and making her writhe with pleasure. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, licking her lips and trying to keep the smirk down.

Her stomach was just a bit more than a pooch. A discerning eye would be the only one to notice it was a pregnancy bump than a full meal. Trent handed her the dressing gown and turned his back to work on the ultra sound.

"So, Riley isn't here?"

"She's out shopping for clothes." he said simply.

"Surprised you can breath without her." Rachel muttered.

Trent turned around just as Rachel slipped on the gown's sleeves and covered herself, "Riley is my fiancée, what do you expect?"

Rachel refused to comment on that one and lay back on the table. Trent pulled back the hem of her shirt to expose her stomach and squirted the gel on it. "It's warm this time."

Trent raised an eyebrow, "You had an ultra sound before?"

Rachel searched his eyes for something, anything, and saw nothing. She sighed, "Long story."

He frowned, but continued. He moved the wand over her stomach. "It looks like you're in the second trimester Ms. Morgan, about week thirteen Id' say."

"I thought I was at eleven?"

"Eleven weeks after conception. Its what I usually go by." Trent said under his breath. He turned the monitor, "That would be one of the twins."

Rachel's eyes teared up at the profile of the baby! She could see the shape of it's head, it's little belly, and the suggestion of arms and legs. "Oh, my little tadpole..."

Trent's mouth flickered a smirk for a brief second, "Would you like to see the other?"

Rachel could only nod excitedly.

He moved the wand around until she heard Trent's soft laugh, "There's the other one."

"He's sucking his thumb!" she said, giggling with excitement at this sneak peek.

Trent smiled, "It's a good sign."

Rachel reached out and touched the monitor, "Our little tadpoles..."

"Speaking of which, where is Mr. Pierce?"

"I dunno."

Trent frowned and looked at Rachel, "He knows about them and isn't here with you?"

"It's complicated."

Trent shook his head, "How can any father not want to be a part of this?" He snorted, "It was all I could do to keep Quen away when Ceri was pregnant."

Rachel turned her head to Trent, "What would you be doing, if they were yours?"

Trent's ears turned red, "But they aren't mine."

"Pretend. What would you do if those little tadpoles were half elf and half witch?"

Trent ran his fingers through his hair, "They're getting the best medical treatment already..." he smirked, "I wouldn't be able to keep them off the ultrasound, I would just want to stare at them, constantly."

Rachel could swear she saw something in Trent's eyes, something that was almost there. "What names would you be thinking of?"

Trent looked taken aback, "You're asking me for names?"

"I'm asking for suggestions."

"Alvin, maybe? For a boy."

"Sounds like a chipmunk."

"Elric then, after my grandfather."

Rachel thought about it, "Ricky would be cute."

Trent frowned, "How about Daemon?"

She punched his arm.

"If it were my son, Eric, since he would be my heir."

"Eric..." Rachel played with the sound. "What would you think if I named it Montgomery, after my dad?"

Trent nodded, "He was a good man. I'm sure he'd be honored. What about a girl? Would you name it after your mother?"

Rachel frowned, "No, it would get confusing I think."

"Gwendolyn?"

"I know a Gwen."

"Aubrey?"

Rachel frowned, "Too old!"

"Olivia?"

"Olivia... Olive." She thought about it, "Yeah, I could go with Olive."

"Olivia." Trent corrected.

"Okay Trenton."

He smirked. "I'd like to have children someday..."

"Try having one in seven months!"

"Actually, twins are usually a few weeks premature. It would probably be closer to six more months."

Rachel paled, "No way..."

Trent put the wand up, "Okay, I have to draw some blood for the lab tests to make sure you're blood levels are good."

Rachel squirmed, "Do I have to?"

"It lets me know if your tadpoles are getting enough nutrients."

Rachel glared at Trent before she stuck out her arm. Trent tied off her arm and began to draw samples.

"Pierce isn't the father, is he?"

Rachel felt something cold drop down her back, "What makes you say that?"

"You're an honorable person, you'd choose no one less than someone who would be in the room with you—even if you had to drag them here."

Rachel smiled to herself; the father is here, so nyeh! "It's complicated."

Trent raised an eyebrow, "You don't want me to know who he is?"

"I wish I could tell you."

Trent snorted, "I think whatever witch it is, is just a coward."

Rachel frowned, "Hey now! Who said he was a witch anyway!" realizing what she said, she clamped her hand over her mouth.

Trent gave her a suspicious look, "Not a witch? A demon then?"

Rachel gagged, "No way!"

He gave her a puzzled look, "It couldn't be a Human... Were..." he raised an eye at her, "Vamp?"
Rachel stuck her tongue out, "Not telling!"

Trent gave her a little smirk, "I'll find out. But it would be best if you told me now, every species has their own genetic difficulties I could start keeping an eye out for." He untied her and sat back, "At least it's not Elven; there's so many genetic defects it's hard to find, everything gets red flagged until they're systematically removed and narrowed down."

"Elves are that bad?"

Trent nodded, "Mixing in human DNA helped some, it gave our species a few hundred years. Or it would have, if the Turn didn't happen. That hurt us almost as bad as what the Demons did." He rolled back his chair and got up, "So at least we can cross that one off the list?"

Rachel hesitated.

Trent looked up at the ceiling and swore, "By the Turn, an Elf? Ms. Morgan that's impossible!"

"We thought so too..." she said meekly.

He took out his blood drawing kit and glared at her, "Sit. I have more blood I need to draw then."

Rachel frowned, "It's not that bad!"

"It is that bad. The Elven genomes are almost butchered to an unrecognizable state! Thank God for Ceri, I have at least some idea of how it's supposed to look, but it's still a ways before I can get anything definite! I need at least three more vials." He ran his fingers through his hair, "How is that even possible?" he glanced at Rachel, "Who is the father? Jonathan?"

Rachel snatched her arm back, "That was no where near close to funny Kalamack."

He gave a stubborn sigh, "You aren't going to tell me, are you? Well with Ceri, can I know how old the Elf is, or did you find some two-thousand year old Elf familiar to sire your children?"

Rachel looked away, "No, he's part of your generation..."

Trent's lips went to a thin line, "How was it done?"

"Well, when a boy and a girl really like each other..."

"I'm serious!" Trent's ears were red and his knuckles were white.

Rachel sighed and put her arm back out, "We think a demon messed with it. I told them no spells on me, so I assume they were put on him."

Trent snorted, "An Elf that can breed with whatever race he wants? Demons were always fond of messing around with my kind."

"Yeah, well, it's kind of a love-hate relationship."

He snorted and drew the remaining blood in quiet. He untied her arm for a second time and asked her softly, "Do you love him?"

She glanced at him, "I'm trying to."

"Does he love you?"

"No, but he asked me to marry him. Something about it was his duty since he knocked me up."

"Marriage isn't just duty." Trent said, and at this Rachel's full attention was on him.

She glanced at him with more than interest, "What if it was you? Would you ask a woman who was carrying your kids to marry you, even if you didn't feel anything for her?"

Trent's brow furrowed, "No. There would be something else there for me to propose to her. Social climate has changed, it's acceptable now."

"What if you said you didn't love her, but said no pre-nup?"

Trent barked a laugh, "Then I would have been pretty close to being in love to be chancing everything on the fact she's a good person."

Trent, you're the father... Rachel bit her lip. She couldn't say it. "I need to go." she said instead.

Trent nodded, "I'll keep you informed on the test results."

She stood up, walking out the door and stopped, "I think you'd make a good dad."

His ears reddened and he gave a small, rare smile, "Thank you, Ms. Morgan."

Rachel walked up the stairs and into the church, popping heavily on the sofa. It wasn't much longer before Ivy swept in the room. "Well?"

"Tadpoles are fine, we were discussing names."

Ivy's face scrunched up, "You told him?"

"No, it was a kind of hypothetical thing. I like Olivia, I'd call her Olive."

"What if it's twin girls?"

Rachel made a face, "He likes Aubrey."

"Could be worse, could be *Amy."

Rachel rolled her eyes, "Like I'd ever name my kid Amy."

"What if it was twin boys?"

"Montgomery, after my dad. Maybe Eric. I'm not sure."

Ivy sighed, "What would be so bad about leaving Kalamack out of the picture?"

"He's their dad, Ivy."

Ivy frowned, and brushed a curl from Rachel's face, "We're a family. He can't be part of this."

Rachel was finding her friend's words cutting too close. She was so happy she had almost reached Trent, but now, she wondered if it was stupid. "Riley could order him to stay away from me and it would all be lost." she said softly.

"But nothing could keep us from you, Rachel."

She held Ivy's hand on her cheek, "I don't know what to do Ivy, I'm so lost, and it feels like all I'm doing is shouting at a brick wall." she let Ivy's pheromones calm and relax her. Everything just felt so hopeless...

Jenks buzzed in, "Ivy. Kitchen."

Ivy glared at the pixie, "Rachel isn't in a good place right now, I'm trying to make her feel better."

"Now. Ivy."

Ivy kissed Rachel's head and went into the kitchen with Jenks, her arms crossed.

"You're trying to take those kids away from their dad, Ivy." he said sourly. He was perched on the kitchen table and looking up at her.

"So were you! We can do this Jenks! We don't need Trent to come in and save the day!"

"Tink's titties Ivy! Would you take my kids from me if I packed up and moved in with Kalamack?"

Ivy was taken back, "No, of course not!"

"We have no right to take his kids away from him." Jenks said softly, "Madalena talked some sense into me the other night, and I feel lower than troll shit."

"We are her family and he's taking her away from us!" Ivy hissed. "And he doesn't even want her!"

"We don't know that Ivy, he's under a pretty powerful spell right now."

"If he loved her he would have broken it!" Ivy said in an anguished voice, "Love is no match for any magic and we all know that! If he loved her, it would only be Rachel falling in love with him and the spell would have been broken by now!"

Jenks fluttered impatiently, "So, if it was reversed and Kalamack put the spell on Rache to love him, you think her love for you would have broken it?"

"She loves me Jenks!"

"Like a sister!" Jenks shouted, "How thick are you Vamps? She. Doesn't. Swing. That. Way. You make her feel pleasure, and she loves you like a sister, is it any wonder her wires are crossed?"

"I can uncross them."

"But she wouldn't be her!" Jenks shouted, "She'd be your puppet! Someone would slip after Tink knows how long, and she'd be your shadow! You want her to be what Riley has Trent as; a slave who loves you and no other!"

Ivy's eyes became dark, "No! I would never want that! I want everything of who she is! I want her temper, her spark, her love! A shadow is nothing but a blood addict and it would kill Rachel!"

"Exactly."

Ivy stopped, digesting his words, "I want her happy, with me, Jenks."

"She is with you, and happy."

"That's not what I mean."

Jenks flew to eye level of Ivy, his wings blazing orange, "She likes men, don't turn her into you! She got knocked up by Kalamack, and wants the best for those kids. She's doing the right thing! If Rachel and Trent don't work out, who do you think she's going to run to? If you keep this up, she's not going to look back."

"She's too good for Trent." Ivy said icily.

"Of course she's too good for that scum-sucking Elf! But that's who she chose. That's the father of her kids."

"You think Rachel's doing the right thing?"

Jenks fluttered down, not nearly as anxious as he was earlier, "Yeah, I do."

"You're going to try and help her?"

Jenks' chest puffed out a bit, "I am."

Her eyes narrowed, "I can't believe--"

"I need your help Ivy!" he fluttered back to her, mellowing into a yellow, "I can't put her back together as well as you do. She needs your love to keep herself together during this, and I either get your help... or I don't."

Ivy hissed, "Help with the Elf?"

Jenks went orange as he stiffened, "Fine, if not for me, if not for her, then for those two kids in there who deserve to make the choice if they want to accept their father or not. If they don't, we all get to run off into the sunset."

"I don't know Jenks, I just... she's mine. Not his."

"Ivy, She is her own person."

Ivy glanced back to the living room, Rachel had fallen asleep. "She'll want pizza when she wakes up."

"Probably."

Ivy grabbed her purse, "I'll be back."

Jenks fluttered to the counter top in Ivy's wake. He looked at the closed door sadly, and then at the sleeping Rachel. He could smell the tears on the breeze after the door closed. Rachel had heard most of it, and cried herself to sleep. For a moment, he wished he was big again so he could hold her and tell her it would be okay.

Riley began to pace, "The kids are half Elf?"

"From what she's told me." he was pouring himself a finger of whiskey. He made a note to order more when he noticed he was running low.

"They aren't yours, are they?" She ran her hands through her hair, "They told me they weren't yours!"

Trent looked at her with a blank face, "You told me to forget the last four years, and I have."

Riley's eyes narrowed, "Well, remember!"

"I can't." he stated simply, "Only breaking the spell would cause me to remember."

She fumed, "Everything was going so well! I had the wedding planned for June, a beautiful summer wedding... and now this!"
"She should be giving birth by then, we'd know for sure, unless you'd planned on speeding things up?"

Riley looked horrified, "How can I speed things up? Do you have any idea how long it takes to get reservation for the Carew Tower for the number of people we're inviting? Not to mention the dress I'm getting designed by Veira! I've sent back six different changes since last month... the caterer's menu keeps changing because the food he wants to use is no longer in season because the fabric I want on the tables is out and won't be in stock for four more months! It's exhausting and you want me to hurry it up?"

"It was merely a suggestion."

Riley frowned, "I have seven months left, the wedding can't be any later than six more months if we're going to have a baby the classy way. I never thought this would take so long!"

"Hire a wedding planner?"

Riley snorted, "And let those hacks design the wedding of the century? No way, I want the credit. I want to be known as the next Jackie O."

Trent sipped on his whiskey, his expression being nothing less than bland.

Riley glared at him, "You're no help."

"I apologize."

She rolled her eyes and picked up her scrying mirror, "Leave."

Trent sat up gracefully and left the room without comment.

She saw Trent's face in the mirror, but it was twisted, it was him without his obedience and she felt unnerved.

"I hear everything is going swimmingly!" Al chirped.

Riley scowled, "You told me Witches can't have babies with Elves!"

"They can't, generally."

Riley frowned, "And I'm the exception, I know. But she's having a kid by Trent!"

Al smirked with Trent's lips, "Ah, but I didn't change you, love."

Riley paled, "Trent can have children with Witches?"

"Bingo, give the lady a prize!"

"But you said--"

Al's face glared down hard, "I told you you would be holding Trenton Aloysius Kalamack's child in nine months. I have not gone back on my promise. He can have children with you, that much is true."

Riley swallowed nervously, "But how can I have Trent if someone else is having his child?"

"He doesn't know it's his, does he?"

"No..."

"And I told you Rachel and Trent were barely friends. She probably doesn't want him near the child."

"But she asked him to be the doctor!"

Al rolled Trent's eyes, "You fail to see the necessity of it; Trenton Aloysius Kalamack has medical labs, and Rachel Marianna Morgan is giving birth to truly unique children. It is a matter of need and nothing more."

Riley looked taken back, "But if they love each other..."

"Maeve Belladonna Ripley, she arrested him at his wedding! Elves are afraid of demons and she nearly is one. How could anything else be a one-night stand?"

She frowned, "I don't want Rachel near him anymore."

Al sighed, "That is your choice, but should you put Rachel Mariana Morgan's children in jeopardy, she will not be happy. She may find Ellasbeth Roanne Withon to break this curse I've given you. She and Trent were about to be married; I'm sure there's still something of a spark there."

Maeve felt paralyzed, "But I'm so close!"

"You'll figure it out." Al said, and left the mirror.

Al used his handkerchief to dab the last remnants of a smile forming on his lips. He was back in form and felt everything was going as planned.

Minias was sitting opposite, having watched the conversation, "Why do we even need that Witch anymore? Rachel Marianna Morgan and Trenton Aloysius Kalamack would be wed and done by this time next year."

Al shook his finger at Minias, "You would think that. A headstrong girl like Rachel Marianna Morgan marries the Elf, they have their twins, the end. Hopefully they pop out more babies and we use marks to our advantage. Do you know nothing of the courting on the other side? This isn't like the glory days when a man and woman marry and have oodles of kids. No, there's divorce, 'baby-daddies', and," he shivered, "single mothers and small families. A marriage betwixt the two would hardly last long enough to produce two children, let alone the dozen I'm envisioning."

"Yes, they do seem to have rather opposing, yet compatible, personalities."

Al nodded, "You're catching on."

"So how is prolonging this making it easier in the long term?"

"Rachel Morgan has to fall in love with Trenton Aloysius Kalamack at his very worst, which is why I suggested Maeve Belladonna Ripley remove the last four years of his memory. If Rachel Mariana Morgan can fall head over heels with that, the rest of their life isn't a problem."

"And Trenton Aloysius Kalamack? He's a thrice-damned Elf. Half-Demon children wouldn't exactly inspire him to produce oodles of them." Minias said blandly.

Al smirked, "But now, if my itchy-witch can make him love her when he can't stand Demons, that would binding there."

"Again I ask; Even if they stay together for a millenia, how do we get them to produce more children?"

"Well, since Trenton Aloysius Kalamack is fertile with witches, we let the off-spring be cuddly and cute for a few years until he and the itchy-witch screw up and land themselves with more."

"How do we get the children then?"

"For one, they'll know demon magic and screw up on their own in time. I give it until puberty until one of the brats summon us. Then we wait for them to multiply and continue."

Minias smirked at Al, "It isn't this generation you want, but the following ones? How clever!"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I will have one of the first." he stroked his chin, "Perhaps a girl-child. Girls are always much easier—and more fun—to break. I have quite a few years of frustration to dole out on one of the Morgan line."

"You forget, one of those females is mine."

Al nodded, "More reason I need these two to be fruitful."

Minias paused, "What if the Elf knows? He's so dependent on his science, but what if he knows the magic of his fore-bearers?"

Al scoffed, "He's too involved in the human magic of science to understand Elven magic. He forgets the power Elves had and is too narrow minded to see past his race being fruitful again." Al snorted, "If he had known, the magic would have been removed from him by now and he'd be a much larger threat to us then we had ever been to his race."

"You're sure of this?"

Al rolled his eyes, "The thing cannot even manage a decent circle, his fore-bearers would be ashamed."


* I had to do a little self insertion ;)