Chapter 18:
The insistent knocking irritated Reinaldo Viaquez. He'd been just about to tuck into breakfast. Who the fuck would be knocking at this hour?! His wife glared at the butler, who now turned away from what he'd been doing and stepped off, bound for the front door. The knocking was rising to a crescendo as he approached, adding urgency to his steps. The butler reached out and took hold of the doorknob to open it, only to draw back his now-seared hand as he yelped in pain. Moments later, the heavy oak door burst into flame as a singular figure literally walked through it. "Reinaldo Viaquez," she demanded? "K-kitchen," gasped the butler, as he clutched his barbecued hand.
The sinister figure went sauntering down the hall, her feet singing the hardwood floor with every step she took. Screams greeted the arrival of the burning woman as she strode into the investment banker's kitchen. "Reinaldo Viaquez," the woman demanded? Her voice sounded like boulders grinding their way down a hill. The man of the house shot to his feet, his eyes searching for a weapon–really anything–he could use to stop the stranger. The elemental jabbed a slim hand at him, sending a tongue of flame shooting into his body.
The lady of the house tried to shield her daughters' eyes as their daddy was burned to a crisp right there in their dining room. Reinaldo Junior and his brother, Jaime, rushed forward, hurling the contents of their cereal bowls, but the elemental cruelly cut them down, blasting Junior to smoking gobbets of meat and slicing Jaime in half with a blazing sword of fire. Chuckling in sinister tones at her handiwork, the elemental walked straight through the table, setting it aflame and adding to the carnage and chaos as she headed out the other side of the house.
Far to the north in the former Duchy of Nuts, Jake Junior woke from an ugly dream where her daughter was auctioned off to a pack of sick fucks who wanted to get their cruel jollies from her. She sat there at the edge of the bunk staring into the darkness as a stream of icy fear went down her back. Like all of Jake and Lady's pups, she had a touch of foresight. It was nothing like Charlie. It was just good enough to let her teleport relatively safely. Times like this, it had her in stone cold fear though, as her overwrought mind went over the question again and again. Was that just a dream? Or...? Sitting on the bunk wasn't going to help her find out.
Finn was already up when the shapechanger stepped out of her little room at the front of the private rail car. This was the first time in her life that she'd stayed on a private car. The best she'd ever managed before was a temporary upgrade to a sleeper long ago. It was a far cry from the world she'd grown up in where her parents were broke, and she'd basically raised herself because her folks were a pair of airheads. Strolling down the car in shorts and an old tee, the shapechanger glanced around her. They were stopped on a siding in a spot that looked like it was the middle of nowhere.
"Morning," Finn greeted her. He was already washed and dressed, looking like sex in the morning. It was kind of funny looking at the man she'd called uncle as a man for a change instead of her father's dufus kid brother. The big man nodded at the sideboard where breakfast was laid out. Strolling over, Junior helped herself. Coming back to the table, the skinny girl tucked into breakfast while Finn continued to work on the long, complicated document he'd been grinding away at when she went to be last night.
"How come you don't sleep," she asked? "I do sleep, Jake," Finn replied, "just not as much as I used to." As she listened in fascination, he explained the nanobots and how they 'fixed him up' when he was resting. It made him sound almost godlike. He was quite the man, and she could see how all those princesses were still chasing him. Nodding at the window, Junior asked, "where are we?" The big man replied, "on a siding near the entrance to the Grey Forest. Nodding at the window behind her, he said, "if you look carefully, you can see the gates over yonder." Emeraude. They were likely here to see the Huntress Wizard.
After finishing up breakfast, Jake Junior got up, took a shower, and got dressed. She emerged looking natty in heels, a short miniskirt in white, and a blue top that hugged close to her body. Gathering on a light jacket, she joined Finn outside where his guards and driver had already wrestled the limo off the railcar that had brought it here. The King's bodyguard immediately drew the door open, and Finn climbed inside and sat himself with Jake Junior joining him a moment later. As soon as the bodyguard and food-taster had climbed aboard, the car set out.
"So, Finn," asked Junior, "what're we doing in this place?" She'd been to the Grey Forest what seemed like a lifetime ago. There had always been shady doings here or over in Oceanside. There were always gang-bangers ready to pay you to whack somebody or steal something. She was a little embarrassed to admit that she'd taken to that life like a duck to water. She'd justified it. Her dad had fractured laws when he was a youth. Trouble was, Jake hadn't done anything like the awful that his daughter had done.
"You're listening and watching," Finn replied. Junior stared at him with a frown. Those blue, blue eyes of his seemed to be at once serene and distant and watching everything around him, including her. Finn had changed drastically from the man she remembered, though even back then he was a little different than the run of people she dealt with. A voice inside her suggested that Finn had been growing older and wiser, while she had changed not at all in the intervening years. A darker voice suggested that there had indeed been changes for her, but none of them were good.
Nodding at the country around them, the King of Ooo said, "these lands used to be part of the Duchy of Nuts. The Duke is deceased. He died on the Island of the Fluffy People fighting the Lich." The big man left out the part where the Duke had been fucking up and managed to botch the defense and let the Lich out of his prison. He didn't want to disparage Gert's son, even if the Duke was a shitbag. "I ceded the land to the nymphs," the King declared. "Maudie inherited it from her late hubby, and since she turned traitor, I gave it to the Matriarch." That was news.
"She's your wife," Jake Junior burbled. She hardly saw a reason to come up here if this land was in the hands of Finn's wife. Except the obvious. With a sigh, Finn told her, "the peeps of the Duchy are restless, and the nymphs aren't doing a a good job handling things." Some of that was his wife's failings. Emeraude was failing to come up with a plan to get the lands producing again. She was failing to integrate her new citizens. She was failing to figure out how to administer what she had. She was failing in half a hundred little ways. In many ways, Emeraude wasn't cut out to be a ruler. She did ok with their family, but the problems of running a government eluded her.
Now Jake Junior found herself looking out at the country around them with new eyes. These peeps had seen their lawful leader replaced by somebody who was a foreigner. That foreigner wasn't doing a very good job at making them welcome. This place was a powder-keg. Every face they passed on that road could be an angry rebel with a hidden weapon near to hand. She really thought he might have been better off picking somebody else to lead these folk, but she kept her mouth shut on those sentiments.
The car rolled into a sprawling new town, just outside the limits of the forest. Even at this hour, there were people wandering the streets, drinking and having a good time. Scantily clad nymphs in ramshackle hostels on either side of the road served up the local flavor to an eclectic population of visitors. Fruit people from the southeast jostled peanut-people. Burly soldiers out of Warrior Kingdom rubbed elbows with Purple-Folk, and Junior even spotted a couple of dudes from as far off as Engagement Ring Kingdom and Laurel Kingdom. This was all new. None of this had been here the last time Junior had come to this place.
More was coming. As they rolled through the end of the pleasure-district, Junior got her first view of The Wall. The shapechanger goggled at the sight of it. "Is that," she burbled? "It goes all the way around the forest," Finn rumbled. "I made sure of that." His doing. It was clearly his doing. A stone gate-house blocked the entry, and guards stood watch above them as the car rolled through the entry. It wasn't as bad as she'd thought it would be. The last time she'd been here, it had been a wide-open area with not even a prayer of defending the place. There was a reason all the nymphs had decamped to the Candy Kingdom after all.
The car rolled on through the forest and up to the central district that acted as the nymphs' unofficial capitol. There Junior caught sight of the beautiful mansion that the Matriarch now called home. As the car pulled up, the guards got out and drew the door. Junior jumped out and stood straightening her skirt as Finn joined her. With his secretary at his side and his bodyguards at his back, the big man went straight up into the mansion. Marianne was there waiting on them, just as expected, and she fell in at his side, announcing, "I have cleared the Matriarch's schedule, Your Majesty. She's waiting for you in her office."
The principals were there when Finn walked into the space. Auda, Appolline, Elisa, and Gemma were all gathered on either side of his wife, with Voletta standing off to one side. His bodyguards took up positions on either side of the door, and Finn strode forward and occupied the chair that sat at the focus of the circle, announcing, "greetings." "Your Majesty," Appolline replied. A glance at his wife showed that she was well, though perhaps not sleeping. Again. Still. With a curt nod, the King rumbled, "please begin."
Taking the floor, Voletta announced, "raiders have attacked several caravans bringing produce to the forest. The attacks have all taken place deep inside the former Duchy of Nuts." Finn frowned at the implications of that. Continuing on, Voletta added, "up to the present, I've been husbanding our strength to protect the entries to the forest, but I have been working on freeing up troops to patrol the roads and hiring mercenaries to support them." "How long," Finn asked? "I have hired most of the mercenaries needed," Voletta responded. Taking out his phone, the King said, "let me make some calls..."
Far to the south, Fionna strolled up to the first of the marked locations in the forest in company with the Grid-Face Person 'handler' she'd been assigned. The jungle around her was lush and echoed with the sounds of life, but they'd cut a swath through it for the Tesla Barrier to run. Fionna could see for well over a mile before the path began to curve, following the course her stepmom had outlined. Behind her, the cyborg was doing that thing they all seemed to do. It would have been nothing she hadn't seen before–some dude checking out her ass or her knobs–if she didn't know he was using his science-gadgets. That made it... different. Honestly, it made her feel less like a sex-object and more like a monster.
Dropping to one knee, the Bad Bunny reached out with her senses. The stone wasn't far here. That was good. She thought she could get this one done pretty quickly. The faster she was able to do this, the sooner she got out of here. With hundreds of thousands of people to save in the west, she didn't want to fool around. "How tall does the barrier need to be," she asked? "At least as tall as the surrounding trees," the cyborg answered. "That will keep animals from jumping over. Fionna glanced up. She had plenty of stone to work with. Piece of cake.
"Stand back," she said, as she lay herself down on the warm earth. The cyborg stepped aside, moving back from the area the pylon was meant to occupy. Finding the calm center inside herself, the curvy blonde reached out into the soil, going down, down, down, a hundred feet and more to the heavy stone underneath her. The cyborg found himself whistling as his instruments jumped off the scale. Exotic particles and zero-point energy flooded the space around his charge. Then, just as he'd been told to expect it, a massive column of glittering stone began to claw its way up out of the ground. The business went on for more than twenty minutes, with that glittering spire climbing and climbing and climbing. Finally it topped out above the level of the trees.
The cyborg rushed forward and immediately began examining the thing. It wasn't quite like the machines they'd intended to build. At the same time, it was actually better. His sensors showed that it descended down into the bedrock, where it was anchored into the stone in a fashion that would have required explosives to remove it. Nodding, he said, "one done." They had a number to go. Climbing to her feet, Fionna asked, "do you by chance have a map...?" The cyborg replied, "the route of the barrier's clearly marked out. We leveled the ground to make way already." "No," said Fionna. "I want to see where the stone is. I need to know how deep it is." It took a moment. "I imagine it would go quicker if we went to the places where the stone is closer to the surface," he murmured in his roughly accented Common. Fi nodded. Just so. "Bide a moment," the cyborg replied, as he logged into the server at the base camp. They'd created a topo-map for the same reasons she was asking. They'd needed to know how far they were going to dig.
As the clock in the entry of the Matriarch's palace chimed for one o'clock, Finn walked out of his meeting with the wood-nymphs with Jake Junior at his side. The business had gone more or less the way he'd expected with his wife's cabinet bickering and expecting him to work miracles to get their shit straightened out. The bright spot was that Voletta had been doing good work fortifying the forest. She had the eastern entrance well under control, with their visitors restricted to brief shopping trips in the little townlet at the eastern portal. The north entrance was shuttered, leaving only the south and west entries open for the usual business. More on point, Voletta had hired some competent mercenaries to manage their new holdings, so business had been proceeding there.
Trouble was, Emeraude had yet to meet with her new subjects. The nymphs had simply issued a series of edicts, placing demands on the harvest in the former Duchy. Their demands had gone over about as well as Finn had expected. Now he had to get that square so he didn't end up with yet another rebellion on his hands. The King said nothing as his bodyguards bundled him into his car once more. Minutes later, the limo was rolling back through the forest, bound for the train station outside.
As the Matriarch's palace receded in the rear view mirror, Finn turned to his companion and said, "tell me everything you saw." Jake Junior blinked in startlement. Then, just as she'd been commanded, she began to talk. A lot of what she told him was the flavor of the gathering. Just as he'd hoped, she zeroed in on the fact that the women in that room all represented different factions in the forest's government. Still, that wasn't quite the meat of his concern.
"Emeraude... I don't think she's entirely in control of those guys," murmured the shapechanger. Finn nodded. Just so. He'd clearly already recognized that. "The tall, skinny gal," Jake murmured. "She's... There's something off about her." "Gemma," Finn replied. "Her name is Gemma." Nodding, Jake Junior remarked, "she's playin' her own game... It's... I don't think it's a game that's connected to anybody else's..." The big man nodded again.
Slyly, she gave him a sideways look. "You... I'm not really here as a secretary, am I," she murmured? "Even the King's secretary is an agent Jake," Finn retorted. The shapechanger cocked her head to one side and stared at him as if she hadn't even considered that. Nodding at her notepad, the big man said, "take a letter, Jake. I have something to say that the peanuts need to hear." The shapechanger fumbled out a pen and grabbed for the notepad that sat on one of the seats.
Miles to the south, Bonnie Mertens knocked carefully on the door of the tiny closet in the castle's basement. From the far side, a pretty voice announced, "come." Taking a breath, the young woman opened the door and stepped in. Shutting the door behind her, she stood there a moment staring back at the creature behind the heavy, oaken desk. Offering the crime lord a slight bow, the young woman said, "I've... come to beg your help." Cherry inclined her head fractionally and stared back, her expression inscrutable.
Taking the dragon by the tail, Bonnie stepped up to the desk and offered, "my mother's an idiot. I guess... I guess she thought daddy could just walk away, somehow. I... I don't know what she was thinking." "You see differently," Cherry murmured. Nodding, Bonnie said, "I saw it when that first pack of idiots charged into my mother's room. Daddy always said that where money's involved, the evil comes out of people. There's... there's all the money in the world involved here. People stand to get hurt, and that's the last thing I want on my conscience. My mother's... Momma's made a mess of things, and now I'm in the hot-seat until daddy gets back. I want nobody dying because momma doesn't like how things are. Teach me how to do the right things. I need your help."
Frowning, Cherry retorted, "why not go to Simone? She'd..." "Momma slapped her in the face," Bonnie retorted. "She was kind to us when she didn't have to be, and momma spit in her face. So, you see... I can't. I couldn't go to that woman and ask her to help the people who spat on her kindness." Cherry chuckled, "you don't understand Simone, but ok, kid. I can help you. Have a seat."
In the west, the High Lady of the Confederation sat down before breakfast, her mind replaying the events of the previous night. She'd spent hours in bed tossing and turning, worrying at the risks. Standing near the door, Dulcine's placid face accused her without her lips once moving. This was dangerous. She was risking thousands of lives on dangerous liaisons with terrible allies. Always before when she was contemplating a great leap of faith, the High-Lady had pondered a single question. What would her mother do? Trouble was, Consuela was long dead and couldn't answer her, and Margarida was left grasping at straws. She had no idea what her mother would have done with this situation.
This wasn't a slave revolt. It wasn't the predations of the Pirate Princess. It wasn't a storm from the eastern ocean. It wasn't a quake. All of those things and more had High Lady Margarida handled over the course of her long life. She was facing something far more esoteric and yet far more existential. The world was changing. It was changing faster than she could follow. Enemies and allies were swirling through her world faster than she could register them.
A man on the far side of the world had declared himself the avowed enemy of the very thing that was the Confederation's foundation. That would have been a nothing, except that the world had very much shrank these last few years, with machines capable of easily spanning the distance in the course of weeks if not days. That man–the man who'd all but declared himself her enemy–was quickly gaining allies on her side of the ocean. She feared that, even did he not move against her directly, the Confederation would find itself hemmed in on all sides with no pathways for trade or expansion left open to them. That would be the end of her people's prosperity.
And there seemed nothing she could do about it.
As those thoughts chased each other around in her skull, a commotion announced the arrival of her subordinates. Jakinda came in, announcing in her melodious voice, "Margarid... look who's just dropped out of the sky..." Cenobia and Catalina came in after, dressed far in excess of what a nymph typically wore. But it was much colder over there. "I'd wondered where you were," the matriarch mumbled. "What's going on?" The last she'd heard, they were collaborating with nobles there to remove the problem of Finn the Human.
"We got confirmation that Gumbald's coming," Cenobia replied. "He's to be here in just a couple of days." Margarida frowned. They may have thought that was good news. She wasn't so sure. "Prince William's here," she announced. Cenobia gave her a frown as she took the seat to Margarida's left. "When," asked Catalina? "Don't know," the matriarch responded. "Ran into him last night at Tequila Princess's home. Says he's here to cut some deals in his father's name." "Damn," muttered Catalina. That was bad news.
Cenobia was quick to move ahead. The greedy bitch wanted to know just what it was that the boy-prince was doing. "He's got to move a hundred-thousand humans," Margarida replied. "Apparently they can't care for them all in this place they've been given." "A hundred-thousand people," Jakinda hissed with glee! It was clear from her expression what she saw as the main chance. A lot of their trade involved hooking people foolish enough to fall afoul of the Confederation's laws. Fines could rack and stack so fast that you'd never be able to pay them all, and a lot of foreigners got dragged to the slave markets and sold to pay their debts.
Rolling her eyes, Margarida muttered, "his father couldn't be bothered to marry into a family with connections to slavery, Jakinda. Do you seriously think he's going to hand over tens of thousands of his own kind to us?" No, she had far more serious concerns here. William was a dangerous opponent. Suddenly meeting Gumbald here seemed like a mistake. She didn't control the situation. Tequila Princess controlled this city. Now that Prince William knew she was here, that put them at risk of him finding out about Gumbald's presence.
"We've got to come out of this with a profit somehow," Cenobia muttered. "We struck out in the east. The failure to kill Finn robbed us out of our opportunity." Margarida nodded. She wasn't so sure about the scheme they'd outlined. It was better than the nothing that Tallulah had gained them, but she still saw the whole thing as a failure without an heir of their own to contest the throne. What is that little idiot doing, she thought? Her child was a failure. She'd indulged the younger woman, paid her upkeep, and ignored her fooling around. That was par for the course. Trouble was, Tallulah was failing to grow out of her youthful habits, showing her to be a terrible heir. She needed an heir like Finn's heir–someone who could go out and get shit done. Unfortunately, if she got pregnant tomorrow, it wouldn't solve the crisis looming over her head today. She had no answers, and it felt like she was already out of time.
As the High Lady of the Confederation pondered her narrowed choices, Ragnhild the Froyo Princess sat down before Nieve's evil, wretch of a grandmother in the Princess's Garden. She'd expected Odessa to very quickly get the message about just why she was here, and she'd expected there to be an unpleasant confrontation. This woman was very used to getting her way, after all. Smoothing her skirts as she sat down, the Froyo Princess looked her host up and down and, in ironic tones, asked, "which one did you bump into?"
Odessa flushed. There could have been only one explanation for her sudden return to youth and beauty. She'd encountered one of the three people Maja had dusted with magic spores and gotten returned back sixty odd years to her late teens. "To what do I owe the pleasure," responded the evil grammy, as she signaled the servers to come over? Ragnhild smiled, as she looked around her, taking in the sights of what was, nominally, Nieve's garden. Wasn't it supposed to be men who did such things? Usurping their younger relatives' property and prerogatives? Well, that's the story, anyway, thought Ragnhild. She knew that women were no better about such things than a man was. If anything, they were worse. Rare was the man who screwed his own children. They were his legacy.
Ragnhild's food-taster swooped down and took a sip of the punch she was offered, sifting it with her fine senses before pronouncing that it was safe to drink. It was a rather blunt slap to the face to her host. "Can't be too careful," Ragnhild announced in airy tones. "Ruling family and all that." Odessa's face froze. "While the King isn't quite sure he wants to follow that whole first male heir thing, a lot of people are coming into this with... expectations." "Such as," Odessa responded? With a shrug, Ragnhild said, "well... People think they can channel things in ways they want. Heavy rests the head that wears a crown, Your Highness. You know this to be true."
Crossing her legs, Ragnhild said, "I manage William's household as Simone manages the King's." "For now," Odessa retorted. "You have power for now, Ragnhild. Be careful how you use it." "Why, I'm not using anything, dear lady," the Froyo Princess responded. "I'm looking after William's affairs–and his family–while he's away. While I can't exactly protect everyone myself, well, let's just say I make sure that everyone is protected and cared for. His wives and their babies."
The slim princess drank deep of the punch. "Hits the spot," she declared. "Haven't tasted liquor in ages. Children getting born and all that. Nieve's finding out what that's like. We imagine she'll bring us two more." Odessa glared at her. Smiling, the Froyo Princess suggested, "you should be proud. She's coming along nicely. Noemi's been helping her look into your kingdom's books. I'm sure there'll be lots of interesting things there." "People who stick their noses where they don't belong sometimes find they get snipped off," Odessa grated. "Of course," said Ragnhild, "but Muscle Kingdom is a province of the Kingdom of Ooo... I'm sure the King would appreciate having one of his senior councilors help one of his most junior get her shit together."
"Do you wish to be at war, Your Highness," Odessa rumbled? "You stepped down, Odessa," Ragnhild retorted. "Nieve is princess of this kingdom. Stand aside. Your day is done." "My day is done when I say it's done," Odessa growled. "The power of this family flows from me. Without my let, there is no Princess Nieve." "You won't be allowed to harm her, Odessa," Ragnhild responded. "I will not let you. She is my sister-wife, and she will be safe in my lands." Setting the glass down, Ragnhild rose, offering, "good day, Odessa. I'll be speaking to the King about this 'outlaw' business." "I have power too, Ragnhild," the older woman replied. "You may find you don't have as much authority as you think you do." "We'll see," the Froyo Princess responded, as she turned to go. "We'll very much see."
In the south, Fionna sat munching on a meat-sammich, while she sketched out the rooms she wanted to set up for her kids in their new home. Star and Thor had built themselves a place on the far side of King's Island, near the garrison base. The idea was to be close to the action but not inside the castle itself. They were grownups now, and having your own space had become a thing for Finn's kids. Fionna had been sketching out the space she wanted to build for her family, with a wizarding room for Patrick, and a space for her welding and tinkering. She was looking at trying some things with the crystals, and she had been pondering a space for that too. Of course the ceaseless pounding across the way was distracting.
The forge hammers had been going when she arrived. She had to pass the foundries and smithies on her way to the jungles each morning, and she passed them on her way to lunch in the evenings. It was the kind of racket that kept you from sleeping at night, and she couldn't, for the life of her, understand how the Jungle Peeps managed to live with the noise! "I've been wondering that myself devushka," rumbled Misha. The cyborg dude chuckled at her expression. "We keep such things in their own place," he said. "And we shut things down during sleepy-time."
Fionna had kind of wondered if 'borg dudes slept. She vaguely remembered a couple of moments where she'd thought Lina might be sleeping. "We sleep, devushka," the cyborg chuckled, "just not as much as you. Maybe two or three hours each night, though sometimes we go longer if there's need." Sleepy-time was a very big deal for the Grid Face People. It was considered very bad form to be making a racket during the traditional sleep period.
"Wonder what they're making," Fionna asked? "You might ask them," Misha retorted. "It's on our way." They were due back at the construction area. She was supposed to get three nodes done today. So far, she'd done only one. "Slave-driver," growled the Bad Bunny, but there was no heat in it. She wanted this done as much as he did. Then they could both get out of here. She thought they could make quick work of a good thirty of the nodes. All were located in relatively shallow soil. Things would get more difficult from there. There were a dozen deep nodes, and those would be an all-day job by themselves. The sooner she got done with the easy ones, the sooner she got to–and through–the hard part.
Finishing off her sandwich, the young woman rose, dusted off her skort, and got ready to go. Rising, Misha dusted himself clean of dirt and fell in behind her. His mind was on the job ahead, and he was running simulations on the performance of the barrier. He'd expected a substantial decrease in performance over their manufactured equipment, but he'd been pleasantly surprised to find that the losses were minimal. Intent as he was on the job ahead, he was only vaguely aware of the young woman stopping. Indeed, he almost walked right by. Movement out of the corner of his eye announced that Fionna had done just as he'd suggested. She'd actually walked onto the grounds of one of the smaller foundries.
"Hi," announced the Bad Bunny. "Just curious... Uh... whatcha' makin'?" "Assegai," replied the bored guard. "Asse-whats...," Fionna burbled. Reaching into his shack, the guard pulled out the spear-gun he was issued for duty here. "Oh, kule," howled the Bad Bunny, as she snatched the thing right out of his hands! She'd seen the spear-guns during the closing stages of the war with the Berry-peeps and Muscle-dudes, and she'd been fascinated.
As she examined the thing–and the guard warily reminded her to be careful of where she was aiming it–a stray thought intruded. Nobody was supposed to be building guns right now. Her father had written a decree banning further manufacturing for the next couple years. He and Bonnie had wanted things to cool off and take time to figure out what was ok and what wasn't. So why were these guys making guns? As a puzzled Misha watched, the Bad Bunny handed the guard back his weapon and scooted out of there like her skort was on fire. Something was wrong. He'd just have to ask her later, though.
Back in the former Duchy of Nuts, Jake Junior stood on the platform at the end of Finn's private car, exchanging texts with some old business associates from Chocago. After a brief trip out to some of the local farms in the morning to see the evidence of the mysterious raiders robbing food caravans, Finn had brought them back here, where he'd spent some time on the phone with the various princesses and members of his government. Seeing that she wasn't really needed, Junior had stepped out here on Finn's porch, using the time to try her hand at hunting up her missing daughter. So far the news was patchy at best. She wanted to believe that was a positive–that no news was indeed good news. She was having trouble convincing herself, though.
"Any word," Finn asked? He was standing behind her, and he rested his hands on either shoulder. Jake Junior shivered. She hadn't realized that he'd been watching so closely, but now she thought she ought to have. And then, what was the point in lying? He was the King, and this mattered to him too. "No," she murmured. "None of my contacts know where Liz is." Giving her shoulders a squeeze, Finn said, "I'm sure she'll be ok. Her mom was pretty resourceful." Jake snorted, "her mom was an idiot who nearly got killed half a hundred times." Turning to face him, she said, "I'd... I see why you tried to keep Bill and Fi and Star out of the life, Finn. This... sucks." Gathering her into his arms, the big man said, "faith carries us through when everything seems dark." Sniffing back tears, Jake Junior nodded. "I can have Cherry...," he started to say. "No," Jake Junior interrupted in a tone like rocks grinding against each other. Calmer, she said, "that part of my life is done." Finn nodded. "We're headed to the former Duke's house," Finn announced. "Get your stuff."
An hour later, the Royal Limo turned up a dirt driveway and onto a beautiful country estate surrounded by lush walnut trees. The trip had been pretty quiet, and Jake Junior found herself fearing that she'd damaged things by showing anger when all Finn had been trying to do was help her. Finn had been head-down with his phone and his computer toy, saying little to nothing at all, leaving her to fidget. As the car rolled up the drive, the shapechanger found herself growing increasingly anxious, wondering what the deal was here. This place didn't feel right to her.
On his side, Finn had promised himself never to come back here. The last he'd been here, he'd found the Duke and Duchess of Nuts murdered in their home by his dad's goons. It had been a painful experience, and it was a painful memory still. The sight of horses turned loose in the field and a couple of carriages sitting in front of the stables told Finn that his guess was correct. Clovis was here. The King found himself unsure just what he was going to do about this. Technically, this house was his. He'd signed the writ to confiscate everything Maudie owned, and the house was in that list. At the same time, he wasn't sure he could sanction Gert's brother, much as he hated the man.
His bodyguards drew the door as soon as the car was stopped, and Finn stepped out. Before him stood the mansion's south wall, with its dark, charcoal-grey stone and leering gargoyles. They'd seemed ominous the night he and Jake came here hunting the Duke. In the light of day, they seemed worn and tatty. With Jake Junior at his side, the big man went up into the entry where the King came face to face with the maid he'd seen in the Suncoast. Greeting her with a smile, the King announced, "hello, Feena. Please go and tell Duke Clovis that the King has come calling." "I-I'm Faea, sir," the pale peanut-woman burbled. "Oh," Finn babbled. "You..." "Feena's my twin sister," the girl explained. "I-I'll go and let the Duke know you're here."
In only a few minutes, the King of Ooo strolled into the dining room where he'd once eaten with Gert and Wally, finding Clovis seated there at the table with a half dozen guards gathered around him. His mind went back to finding Gert dead in the room beyond, and he wanted to leave this place and never return. Truth? He would have given it to Clovis, if he could avoid returning here ever again. A frown set on his face, the King of Ooo calmly drew the chair at the opposite side of the table and sat himself.
"Duke Clovis," the big man announced, "you're somewhat trespassing on Matriarch Emeraude's land. I've come to find out why." He was going right at Gert's brother, but he wasn't really in a mood to be nice or polite right now. This place creeped him out. Clovis growled, "this land is mine! It belonged to my sister!" Coolly, Finn responded, "your sister passed away and left it to her son. At his passing, your nephew left it to his wife, who turned traitor. Princess Maude's lands and property were forfeit. Thus, this land is the Crown's to dispense as the Crown decides, Duke Clovis." The fat man shot to his feet, his face turning purple. Junior tensed, her mind immediately focusing on all the ways she could carve this asshat up. "I could kill you seven times before your guards could blink their eyes," Finn rumbled. "Sit down."
Slowly, with exaggerated care, the fat man sat himself, though Junior never quite relaxed. They were in the home of an enemy after all. Steepling his hands before him on the table, the King of Ooo declared, "in a gesture of conciliation, I offer this estate and this house to you, Duke Clovis. In remembrance of your sister." Jake shivered. New Finn. She'd seen that face, and it gave her the willies. To hear those big words come from this man was creepy to the point of being terrifying. Finn didn't talk like that. Not her Finn–the man she'd grown up with.
"You dare offer me what I already own," the Duke growled? He didn't get it, and Jake felt the tension ratcheting up. This guy thought he had power that he didn't have. Even at her best, Jake wouldn't have fucked with Finn. Calmly, Finn responded, "in a gesture of forbearance, I will pardon any man who turns aside from rebellion..." It was almost like the Duke hadn't even opened his mouth. That was how a king spoke, though. That was how a man spoke when he held the cards, and you didn't have even a measly Jack. "Know that I will find the author of the raids," the King announced. "Those responsible will be put to death for disturbing the peace and acting in rebellion." "You wouldn't dare," the Duke growled. With a shrug, Finn chuckled, "the army's already posting the notices all over this land... along with a direct line to the Guard... to report certain... acts."
He was smiling. You might have thought he'd gone back to being what he was for a moment, but those blue eyes were hard, and Jake didn't think the smile was real at all. He'd basically just told this guy that he knew who was in control of the raiders, and he'd dared him to keep on keepin' on. There was a noose waiting for this dude, and if he kept fucking around, he was going to find out. Rising, the King said, "the estate is yours, Clovis. For Gert's sake, take it and be at peace." Without a further word, he started walking, with Jake Junior falling in at his back.
When he'd gone, the Duke's sister and wife came storming into the room, and both were pissed. "Will you do nothing," Dagmar howled?! "Will you let that bastard give our sister's property away to those fucking whores?" "What would you have me do, Dagmar," Clovis shouted?! "He has the might to smash our castle!" "A knife," growled his wife. "He's already announced that he's meeting with the burghers in the town. A poisoned knife, and even he isn't quick enough to evade it." Clovis glared at her too. He wanted to punch her, though he well knew it wouldn't help. And then, Hedda had a point. They'd all been terrified of challenging Finn the Human in hand-to-hand combat. With the Quicksilver Curse laying heavy upon him, it seemed futile. They'd gone at him a number of ways already to try to kill him without getting their own hands involved. Those efforts had failed, but now he was all but delivering himself.
Emeraude was waiting on them when the limo rolled up at the train station once more. The King stepped out of the car and immediately moved to embrace her. Taking the opportunity, Jake Junior dipped out, slipping around the pair and going up into the King's private car. Minutes later, the King and his Queen came into the car, and Finn strode straight up to the couch where a double-seated strollers stood. Dropping to his knees, the big man snatched little Madolen and Hope out of the stroller and hugged them. It reminded Emeraude of the moment when Star had been born. He'd been so happy.
As Finn showered love and affection on the two baby girls, the Matriarch slipped out onto the platform for the encounter she'd been partially dreading. She'd talked about this with Simone. They'd gone around and around the matter for a fair bit, with Emeraude coming down squarely in the 'wish she was still dead' camp. Now, watching from the doorway as the shapechanger sent yet another barrage of texts looking for her daughter, the former Huntress Wizard found her heart softening. Her mind went back to the moment where she'd become aware that Star was playing around with the gangs. She'd been angry, and she'd blamed Junior the minute they'd found out the shapechanger was involved. Now she was full circle, thinking of all the small ways she'd failed.
"Hey," Emeraude greeted the younger woman. "Hi," Junior replied, as she slipped her phone back in her pocket. Coming up alongside her, the wizard stood there a long few moments measuring her words. "I was a bad influence," Jake announced. Nothing more than that. "I was too," Emeraude replied. "It's hard for me to say I'm sorry," JJ muttered. "I'm..." "Crazy," the wizard chuckled. "I know. Do you understand what it means to be a wizard?" The shapechanger's face whipped around. "All of us," the Huntress rumbled. "Every damned last one of us. Crazy. One way or another. We can't help it. It's... like the humanoid form isn't built for this..."
Turning to her former in-law, the wizard said, "I hear you got a pardon..." "Same as you," Junior muttered. "I did one right thing in my life, and I lucked out. I did the one right thing that was grand enough to get me out of hock with the world." With a sigh, Emeraude, the once-and-former Huntress Wizard, took the hand of her husband's niece. "I don't have a hell to put you in, Jake Junior," she sighed. "I... spent a lot of my youth fucking up too. I can't put you in hell for the same things I was doing."
Taking a breath, she announced, "I... have some contacts... People I still trust. I'm going to look for Liz." Jake Junior's breath caught in her throat. "She's family," Emeraude murmured. "She's my granddaughter. I'm going to find her–keep her safe." The younger woman choked back tears. She wasn't good with apologies or even positive emotions. Nodding at the room where Finn was diapering little Madolen, she promised, "I'm'a... I'm'a look after him." She didn't trust his bodyguards. One of them was a fucking banana, after all. Those guys were the worst, and, though Fionna had supposedly given Bonnie's candy-peeps something to fix them up, her mind still conjured incompetence. "On that we agree," Emeraude chuckled.
Finn was done with the cleanup when the pair returned to the car's salon. He was seated in the big, comfy chair snuggling with his little girls, the picture of what a good dad was supposed to be. Jake Junior found herself sniffing back tears as she thought of Billy being just like that. He'd never gotten the chance with their daughters, and a part of her feared that the lack of love from her father had put Liz on the road she was walking now. What if having Billy around might have changed Liz's stars? The shapechanger found herself wanting to go hide in her room and cry.
"Ok, donk," Emeraude announced, "time for these two to be home in bed." With a sigh, Finn gave up his little honeys, handing them off to his wife. Rising, the big man walked her to the door and stood there on the platform with her for a long while, holding her and promising they would be together again soon. It was a lie. Listening from the shadows, Jake Junior knew it was a lie. His life would never be the same again. The peaceful life he'd been living had been forever changed. She'd helped to cause that change. No going back, she thought. She'd protect him as best she could.
Masia commits murder! Definitely the evil sister! Ragnhild goes hard at Odessa, telling her just how things are going to go. Young Bonnie steps up, and poppa Finn puts the would-be Duke of Nuts on notice.