Disclaimer: Usually I write out a very specific disclaimer explaining exactly what it is I don't own but I find myself not really interested in doing so this time as it is very tedious. Suffice it to say I own nothing that was created by anyone else and I am not making any money off of this story or any of the other stories I have written.
AN: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.
Chapter 58: The Eye of the Storm
Taliesin stretched languidly before snuggling closer to the warm body beside him. He finally felt as if his soul had been firmly tucked back where it belonged; the previous day having been spent feeling only half aware of everything thanks to the stuff that Obduro had given him to drink. He made a mental note to ask the old centaur what exactly it was he'd been given before he put the matter out of his mind as he focused on more important things; like worshiping the lovely body of his gorgeous fiancée (something he'd not had much time to do over the past few months). Dorothy's warm and welcome response encouraged Taliesin and they spent the next hour making love.
If they could have gotten away with it, they probably would have spent the entire day together in bed but James made his displeasure known like clockwork at exactly six fifteen like he did every morning. Taliesin pouted slightly but didn't really mind the interruption as he'd missed spending time with his son since he'd seen even less of the babe than he had of Dorothy during the weeks leading up to his coronation. At just over four months old, James was far more alert and aware of his surroundings than when he'd first been born and as such he interacted with those who held him or with any object that was put within his grasp rather then simply reacting to them as he had before.
Every smile, every happy gurgle, and every silly laugh his son loosed filled Taliesin with warmth and wonder. It didn't matter to him that his son would have been considered unnatural by the wizarding society of old due to the fact that the child had been cloned from Taliesin's D.N.A. alone; to him all that mattered was that the child was a living, breathing being and that it had been a part of himself that brought him into existence. To him, the birth of his first son was no less of a miracle than the child growing inside of Dorothy's womb.
Leaning down, Taliesin gave his son an Eskimo kiss and smiled when James stopped his fussing and let out a soft giggle as he promptly tried to latch onto his hair. Taliesin then deftly changed James's diaper, switched him into fresh clothes, and bundled him up in a thick blanket before he picked up the bottle that Winky had delivered the moment she'd heard James start crying. After offering James the bottle, Taliesin wandered back over to the bed where Dorothy was huddled beneath the covers against the cold morning air.
"Remind me again why we live in a drafty old castle when there are both magical and non-magical means of generating heat," Dorothy grumbled when a small draft of frigid air brushed against her warm skin as Taliesin slipped beneath the covers and settled back against the headboard.
"Because technology and magic can't fix everything and I'm still working out a means of circulating the hot air through the castle without resorting to placing fireplaces inside of every room when there aren't really enough people to monitor the fires. It doesn't help that the on-going construction on the classrooms on the second and third floor leave sections of the castle open to the inclement weather; though I've placed spells to keep the worst of it out. The problem is that Hogwarts is huge and full of minor gaps and windows and the magical enchantments that protected it from the worst of the weather failed long before I attended the school over four hundred years ago and none of the portraits know why."
"What about sealing off the sections that are not in use?"
"Easier said than done because those sections are so scattered and each one connects two or more other sections that are in use and the shortcuts that could be used to bypass those sections haven't been reactivated yet. I hired a contractor to look for a non-magical solution but it will take time for him to assay the entire castle and come up with a couple of possible solutions. In the mean time, I asked Abdul to have a crew start installing fireplaces inside the bedrooms of all the occupied rooms so that people can at least sleep comfortably. Takoda is also purchasing large shipments of firewood since we can't really take all that much from the Forbidden Forest without jeopardizing the magical creature populations."
"Why did you wait so long to install the fireplaces?"
"I had a hundred and one other things clamoring for my attention, dear," Taliesin dryly reminded her as he deftly burped James before giving the babe his bottle back. "Besides, I thought you preferred it when I kept you warm?"
"I do… but you are an early riser and inevitably always leave me before sunrise and leave me to face the frozen air alone," Dorothy complained teasingly as she snuggled closer to Taliesin and therefore closer to the steady warmth his unrestrained wings constantly gave off.
"How terrible of me, shall I start waking you up each morning before I leave?"
"Don't you dare! It may be cold when I get up but only mad men and you get up when the world is still frozen. It is so unfair that you're a walking hot water bottle."
Taliesin laughed softly at the familiar appellation; one he usually heard from Seth and the other snakes. It was actually a side effect of his wings that he greatly appreciated as unlike the previous winter, the cold this year did not affect him any where near as badly as it once had. After healing the majority of the damage done by the frostbite thanks to a fluke created by his forced transformation into a wolf during the summer the extreme sensitivity to cold that had plagued him since he'd damaged his arm had vanished. The removal of that weakness had meant that the heat his wings generated was finally circulating through his body properly instead of being inhibited by the damaged nerves.
There was also the fact that wolves had a natural body temperature that ran roughly three point six degrees higher than that of a human and after regaining human form, Taliesin's temperature maintained an average of around ninety-nine point five degrees (which fell roughly at the midpoint between the average human body temperature and that of a wolf). It was a great benefit during the winter months but more of a curse in hotter climates or during the summer months. That was the way of any magical gift though; balance must be maintained after all.
"I should get going," Taliesin murmured as he rocked James back to sleep now that the boy had eaten his fill. "I have a few things that need to be taken care of today that can't be put off."
"Will you be working all day, or are you going to take it easy now that that your coronation is over?"
"All day, unfortunately; there are a number of things that I have been neglecting over the past week or two that I can't keep putting off. I probably won't see you again until supper time but I can promise you that you and James will have me all evening. Though, that is providing Princess Relena doesn't steal you away to go over our wedding plans yet again since there is less than a month left until our nuptials."
"I'll be having lunch with the girls to pick out flowers and we have an appointment with the seamstress to try on our dresses and we still need to hire more people to serve during the reception."
"Ask Abdul for the names of the men and women that we hired to provide the service for last night's meal. I was impressed how well that group of men and women handled being in the presence of so many important people and still maintained their professionalism. I'm half tempted to hire the entire group on a permanent basis as I have no doubt that we'll be hosting future balls, galas, and business meetings that will require a more hands on approach than I usually use during those types of events. I know Wufei helped screening the hired help in order to make certain we didn't have any trouble makes sneaking in; though a second screening wouldn't hurt seeing as how that wretched woman slipped through the cracks."
"What exactly happened?"
"She tried to pluck my deepest and darkest secrets out of my mind with her telepathic abilities," Taliesin growled; the mere thought of someone violating his mind irritating him. "All because she wanted to be the one to write the first big scandal about the newly crowned king. The fact that she was a reporter didn't help. She's one of the things I need to deal with this morning as I plan to Obliviate her and make arrangements to prevent her from ever stepping foot inside New Avalon again."
"Are you going to interrogate her before you erase her memory?"
"No. Heero and Wufei were going to take care of that last night because she never should have made it passed the background checks which means that someone somewhere messed up and they wanted to know if we have a spy in our employ or if she used her ability to wrangle an invitation. They also needed to make certain she didn't make contact with someone on the outside so as to prevent any information she might have picked up from the other guests from being used against them as it will reflect badly upon me."
"Ah, the joys and pains of political maneuvering," Dorothy sighed as she sat up and gathered the now sleeping James from Taliesin.
"Madness is as madness does and nothing is madder than walking into the nightmare that is politics but it's a little late for me to back out now."
Dorothy laughed softly as she leaned over to kiss him as he slipped out from beneath the covers once more. Taliesin drank in the scent of chocolate and peppermint that still clung to Dorothy before he reluctantly headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower. When he walked back into his room to get dressed ten minutes later, he found Dorothy had fallen asleep curled around James and he paused a moment just to drink in the tender scene before he headed to the wardrobe that held his new 'kingly' attire. He grimaced at the expensive looking clothes that a number of people insisted he would need to wear once he'd been crowned before he dutifully pulled on an expensive pair of black slacks, a white undershirt lined with his hidden knife pockets, a white silk shirt, a red tie, and a black jacket that was militaristic in style.
He then buckled Gryffindor's sword around his waist, tucked his throwing knives and cards into their pockets, tucked his wand into the hidden sheath on his right arm (the wizard still wearing the single glove out of habit), and picked up the simple coronet that he'd had made for normal every day wear (the idea of wearing a huge fancy crown with an excessive amount of jewels unappealing; though his coronation crown had been rather flashy out of necessity). Cast from gold, the base of the crown was a two inch circlet that flared outwards slightly at the top with a single gradual peak at the front that was topped with a pair of wings that sloped down along the edges of the peak. Centered inside of the peak was a diamond star made up of seven high-quality diamonds that was modeled after Wolfstar's magical amplifier.
He settled the crown on his head and checked his reflection to make certain it was sitting properly, before he grabbed his godfather's graphorn robes (the protection they offered far outweighing their rather plain and un-kingly appearance) and headed out of his room. He wasn't surprised to find Jack and Eric (the two newly knighted pilots his bodyguards for the day – something he'd gotten used to over the past two months, ever since he'd stepped in front of the bullet that had been meant for Dorothy) lounging on the couch waiting for him alongside Duo. Winky appeared at the same time and handed him a small basket that contained his breakfast (a scone, fresh fruit, and an egg sandwich with ham and cheese).
"Good mornin', your majesty," Duo chirruped out with playful irreverence as he jumped to his feet and gave Taliesin an exaggerated bow.
"Good morning, Duke Slytherin; it pleases us to see you in fine form this morning after last night's revelry," Taliesin replied solemnly in what he termed 'king-speak' (something he'd been grilled in endlessly by his advisors so that using the royal 'we' would come more naturally for him) as he suppressed his amusement over the pouting grimace Duo put on the moment Taliesin referred to him by his new title. Duo was further put out when Taliesin turned to his two friends and squad members and greeted them far less formally, "Morning, Jack, Eric; have the two of you already eaten breakfast?"
"Yep; sure did. We expected you up an hour earlier and Winky was kind enough to bring us coffee and breakfast while we waited for you," Jack replied with a laugh.
"I still can't believe ya threw us ta da wolves like that yesterday," Duo complained as he grabbed his braid and gave it a tug. "Was right mean of ya not ta give us any warning'."
"You know what they say, Duo; misery loves company and if I have to suffer through lessons on proper decorum and politics, then I might as well make certain that I've got plenty of company for those lessons."
"Evil… that's what it was."
"No, evil would be enforcing a dress code that would require you to cut your hair," Taliesin shot back without missing a beat. "A nice military cut that is just a hair or two away from shaved bald."
"Why must ya always threaten my hair?"
"Because I know how much it annoys you."
"Figures…"
"Just putting what you taught me into practice, your grace," Taliesin quipped with a smirk as he headed for the door leading to his office while the other three trailed along behind him. The moment they stepped into the office, Taliesin's entire demeanor changed as he slipped on his graphorn robes and left his playfulness in his private apartments as he asked, "Do you have a copy of the interrogation or will I need to hunt down Heero or Wufei to get that information?"
"I have it," Duo replied as he too grew serious and passed Taliesin the folder he'd been holding as Jack and Eric slipped out the door to stand guard just outside the door in order to screen potential visitors.
The young king accepted the folder and sat down at his desk even as he opened the file and began skimming through the elegant if sterile script produced by the automated quills that Harry had stocked the interrogation room with alongside the bottles of Veritaserum, vials of sleeping potion, boxes of bezoars, rolls of parchment, and packs of heavy bond paper (thinner paper too easily torn by the quill nibs). Anyone could activate the quills as all you had to do was set the nib to the parchment and let go; the magic that made them work already imbued into the device as was the ink. Anyone could administer the truth serum as well though Taliesin had insisted that someone with medical training assist in any interrogation in case the person being questioned had an allergic reaction to the powerful potion.
Taliesin scowled when he realized that there was far more information, most of it highly sensitive in nature, than he expected as the woman had danced with a number of other important individuals before she managed to worm her way into his arms. It was the information that the woman was connected to the White Fang that incised the wizard though; he didn't have any fond memories of the time he'd spent as a prisoner of the terrorist faction. All thoughts of simply wiping the woman's memories and sending her on her way vanished immediately upon that revelation; they couldn't afford to let her go.
"We'll need to get a hold of General Po, if Heero or Wufei hasn't already, and find out how she wants to handle this as technically, all terrorist activities fall under the jurisdiction of the U.P.F.," Taliesin stated after he finished flipping through the rest of the file. "We can trust Sally to spin this potential time bomb the right way so that it won't reflect negatively on the E.S.S.C., the U.P.F., or New Avalon since we caught her before she passed on any of the information she gathered while in Hogwarts. Sally also won't have a problem with me wiping the woman's memory the moment the U.P.F. is finished with her since I know the E.S.S.C. won't authorize the death penalty despite how dangerous it would be to keep the woman around with what she knows."
"That's pretty much what we decided needed ta be done last night while ya were out sleep walkin' with Dorothy last night," Duo offered with a shrug as he sat down on the edge of Taliesin's desk. "Wufei already sent an urgent message ta Sally about us takin' da woman inta custody. Sally will be here by lunch ta personally go over da transcripts and in da mean time da woman was given a sleepin' potion ta keep her outta trouble and assigned a pair of guards. Trowa is monitoring her ta make sure she won't get sick from da potion."
"And that's why I gave the lot of you titles and power within New Avalon. I couldn't have gotten this far without the five of you… no… without all of you helping me every step of the way. My kingdom, and doesn't that just sound strange on the tongue, would grind to a halt if not for everything you guys have done for me and are still doing for me."
"Someone has to keep our little brother in line," Trowa interjected as he stepped into the office partway through Taliesin's declaration. "Especially considering that you're an even bigger trouble magnet now than you were two years ago."
"I'm still older than you and it's still not my fault."
"And still shorter too," Heero added as he walked into the room behind Trowa. "And not even you can deny that trouble dogs your heels far more faithfully than Wolfstar does."
"Says the pot calling the kettle black," Taliesin fired back with a trace of annoyance over the reminder that he was still rather on the short side though he was at least an inch taller than Duo and not that much shorter than Heero even if Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei were all still several inches taller than him. "I'd planned to deal with that reporter first thing this morning but since you already have; what else needs my attention before I bury myself beneath paperwork until Sally arrives?"
"Wufei asked me to let you know that the immigration committee has asked how soon the first group of screened immigrants can be granted their entrance visas and the hiring committee has a group of fifteen individuals that you will need to interview," Trowa informed him as he set a stack of files on the desk. "Dr. Watanabe would like permission to create a D.N.A. database containing samples from every resident of New Avalon. He's hoping to find a way to screen the growing population for undiscovered Newtypes in the hopes of pinpointing the 'magical' gene or maybe finding a living descendant of a magical other than Taliesin and the children."
"The first group of immigrants can be brought in as soon as we have proper accommodations prepared for them; Cathy should know what we have available in New Hogsmeade and here in the castle. Priority should, of course, be given to those bringing in new businesses or much needed skills since their presence will be integral to our future. I don't know when I'm going to find the time to do the interviews but I'll figure something out before lunch. As for Dr. Watanabe's latest project; I don't know. As high profile subjects of New Avalon, what do the five of you think about allowing him to collect samples from the entire populace?"
"As an individual I dislike the idea because that information could be devastating in the wrong hands; especially because it would require handing over blood samples that could end up in the wrong hands," Heero replied pensively as he gave the matter consideration. "On the other hand, locating potential carriers of the magical gene would help in your efforts to increase the magical population without relying solely upon the cloning program or encouraging the young magicals to have children the moment they are capable. The E.S.S.C. has made mention of implementing something they are calling the Family Restoration Act which would see a global database created for the purpose of reuniting family members that were separated during the wars or finding the next of kin for the newly orphaned children."
"I can't let any magical blood leave the country," Taliesin quietly stated. "If the wrong person gets hold of my blood or the blood of one of the children it could create all kinds of problems; especially if someone out there starts cloning magical soldiers. The D.N.A. sequencing is not as big of a deal; so long as the magical gene, if ever isolated, can be masked but our blood is too dangerous in the wrong hands. Just look at the mess White Fang unleashed when they got hold of my blood."
"So we push for them to have the U.P.F. run the program so that no one country has control of it and since they'd have to have medical personnel help collect the blood samples in order to enter the information into the database; it would be easy to make certain the blood doesn't leave trusted hands," Trowa pointed out. "Since New Avalon is such a small country we could have all of the residents come up to the castle to provide the samples in order to keep them all in one location where the samples will be easier to protect, and if necessary, destroy once they have been thoroughly tested."
"Don't forget we've gotta number of da refugees from da Sanc Kingdom still livin' here since da radiation still hasn't dissipated ta safer levels in order ta allow them ta start rebuildin' yet," Duo added. "We'll need ta consider how we will handle their continued presence here."
"I will make time to speak to Princess Relena about the matter after my wedding since I know that she's been busy helping Dorothy plan everything and I don't want to add to her stress needlessly," Taliesin stated as he made a note on his To Do List. "We can deal with the matter of Dr. Watanabe's project after the wedding as well. I will speak to him about it when I meet with him for my weekly visit to the clinic to check on the progress of the latest group of elves and the other creatures and beings currently in gestation. Was that everything?"
"There is just one last thing… when are you planning to finish researching Riddle's horcruxes?" Heero asked rather bluntly. "There are still a few memories that were not viewed and we haven't even started digging through the journals Dumbledore left along with the memories. It's been months since we first started researching the matter and we never did discuss your assumption over your status as a horcrux or any of the other information we learned from those memories."
"Not until after the New Year when things are not quite so hectic and I can give the matter my complete attention. We've all been far too busy and I've not had time to run any tests on the one confirmed horcrux we have on hand."
"So long as you are not just putting it off to avoid the matter entirely," Trowa pointedly drawled as he gave Taliesin a knowing look.
"I was avoiding the matter for the first week or so after I managed to reverse my forced adaptation but after that I haven't had much time to think of anything outside of our petition to the E.S.S.C., my coronation, the wedding, creating and implementing an entire government, excavating magical ruins, running the reserve, and keeping up with the magical repairs to the castle so the non-magical repairs can take place."
"It's a shame that magic won't let ya be two places at once," Duo remarked with a laugh and a shake of his head.
"Actually, it can; I just don't have a time turner on hand that I can use," Taliesin reminded the long haired teen. "Or have you forgotten my time traveling adventures from my third year? I don't know how safe those things are to use anyway and you can cause all sorts of problems if you or someone you know catches your future self someplace he shouldn't be at a time when you're already somewhere else."
"I'd actually forgotten about that; them soul suckin' dementoid things were a bit disturbin' and distractin'; ya know?"
"I would have called them demonic," Heero deadpanned as he glanced over a Duo. "You're certain there aren't any more of them monstrosities walking among the living, right?"
"According to the twin's portrait; Azkaban and the dementors were all destroyed in one fell swoop alongside Voldemort, Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and a good portion of their supporters when the non-magicals blew up the former prison. Am I certain that they were completely wiped out? No; because I don't know if there were other magical prisons aside from Azkaban that used dementors as prison guards and I don't know how long a dementor could survive locked up in an empty prison with no emotions or souls to feed upon. That's just one of the many reasons why I insist upon personally leading any expedition to excavate or explore any magical ruins."
"Not very reassuring but forewarned is forearmed," Trowa stoically muttered with a slight frown. "I'll let Quatre and Wufei know to make time to be here after the first of the year so we can wrap up the Riddle Mess. Was there anything else you needed from me in the mean time?"
"I don't think so but if something comes up I can always hunt you down."
"Then I shall see you at lunch, your majesty," Trowa intoned with a straight face; though you could hear the laughter in his voice and see it dancing in his eyes.
"We shall look forward to your presence, your grace," Taliesin replied back in kind which drew snickers from Duo when Trowa made a slight face over being addressed so formally.
"It's not as much fun teasing you about your status when you can throw ours back at us," Trowa groused after a moment as he shook his head and grinned at the wizard. "Makes me wonder if that wasn't the real reason why you brought us into the nobility."
"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies."
"I've said it before and I'll say it again; he's a cheeky little brat," Duo laughed as he hopped off the desk and headed for the door behind a laughing Trowa.
Taliesin raised his wand and hit the long haired teen with a subtle hex as he slipped out the door. Two minutes later, an anguished cry echoed down the hall outside of the office as Duo caught a glimpse of his reflection in a passing window and found his hair had been died bright orange, cut to the shoulder, and tied up in pig tails. The young king then smirked to himself as he reached for the stack of paperwork waiting for his attention.
"You cursed his hair again, didn't you?" Heero asked as he glanced from the smug wizard to the door and back again.
"I might have cut and died his hair with a new spell I learned from the Marauder's Grimoire but you didn't hear that from me."
"You enjoy hexing him, don't you?"
"Almost as much as he enjoys baiting me," Taliesin admitted with a laugh as he finally dug into his breakfast. "So, did you stick around to help me or just make a few teasing remarks of your own? Or was there something else you needed from me?"
"I'd like to say that I stuck around to tease you a bit but unfortunately I'm here to discuss your royal guard or the lack thereof. I know you've let your squad guard you for the last little while but two men aren't adequate protection and while I know that you can protect yourself from most anything but yourself, that doesn't change the fact that you need a proper protection detail due to your new status. We've already recruited a number of soldiers from amongst the refugees and the Freedom Fighters; most of them signing up right around the time you kicked Khushrenada out. Shelby Kratz has the experience to make an excellent captain and that would free up your squad to continue with their previous duties."
"As Duke of Gryffindor, you do realize that you are my Chief of Defense and the general of any army I raise, right?"
"I thought our titles were just for show," Heero uncomfortably replied in a low voice.
"No. The titles I awarded each of you aren't just for show; you should know me better than that by now. I put a lot of thought into the titles and duties each title would carry."
"Oh."
"And now there is no reason why you can't court Relena," Taliesin slyly added with a small smirk as Heero snapped his head back up to pin the wizard with his blue eyes. "Just saying… I mean you are part of the nobility now."
"Duo was wrong, you're not a cheeky brat; you're a sneaky little brat," Heero groused as he pursed his lips.
"Just making certain my family is taken care of," Taliesin replied unrepentantly as he leaned back in his chair. "As for creating a royal guard; you are free to do what you feel is necessary. The only stipulations I'm going to give you are that you not order them to follow me into my private quarters, that you make certain they know not to interfere with any spell casting I perform – regardless of the circumstances, and that their survival skills are up to par if you plan to have them accompany me on my forays into the forest or on expeditions to the sites of various magical ruins. Their duties will also need to include watching over Dorothy and all of the magical children; not just my children. Make certain you don't leave my knights out of the rotation, as well."
"So, if I hire five hundred guards and assign a squad of twenty guards to watch over you, you'll not give them the slip?"
"Twenty is far too many for me to keep track of when I am moving about in the castle; I'd prefer no more than two but won't fight you if you wish to assign as many as five. Same goes for when I'm traveling through the forest where a larger force will only hinder my movements."
"Fair enough; but I will double or triple the number of guards when you leave the castle grounds and you will take no less than one hundred guards with you when you leave the country for diplomatic functions."
"I'll take no more than twenty with me when I am surveying or excavating magical ruins as I will have to keep track of the scientists I take with me to the larger sites and don't need the extra stress of watching over another fifty plus warm bodies that could potentially dig up trouble. I will make exceptions when I inevitably lead expeditions into potentially hostile nations or territories."
"I can accept that."
"Good. Anything else?"
"No, I'll leave you to your paperwork while I hunt down Shelby so that we can start organizing the guards."
"When the two of you finish drafting the oath that you intend to have them take, let me know and I'll create the formal contract for them to sign."
Heero nodded before he left; leaving Taliesin alone in his office. Sighing, the nineteen year old monarch opened his desk to pull out a quill and ink pot before he turned his attention to the pile of documents waiting for his attention. He then spent the next hour approving or rejecting the various requests that had been submitted, writing out responses to the various correspondences that had been sitting on his desk, and taking notes so that he could keep track of everything. At the end of that hour, he picked up the stack of job applicants and began scheduling interviews via e-mail and satellite feed; occasionally conducting the actual interview if the applicant was available at the time of contact.
Dobby turned up just before noon to bring him his lunch and a grumpy Seth (who was feeling neglected). Taliesin tuned out the lecture slash rant that Seth gave him while he ate the meal Dobby had provided and ran his finger down Seth's long back. Eventually, the snake fell silent and slipped beneath Taliesin's shirt where he draped himself across the base of Taliesin's wings inside of the wing pocket where it was warm. He'd just finished the last bite of his food when his office was invaded by all five of his brothers plus Zechs, Sally, and Shelby. Knowing his short break was over, Taliesin called Dobby to collect his dirty dishes and cleaned his hands and face with a quick spell.
"Tell me, your majesty, do you intentionally go around digging up trouble or is that just one of your many uncontrollable Talents? Would it be possible for you to attend an event and not create headaches for the rest of the world?" Sally dryly demanded after she'd bowed respectfully to Taliesin.
"According to my ancestors; there is a high probability that I am what is known as a Chaotic Mage and as such my entire existence is designed to create disorder, sew dissension, and bring about peace through an endless avalanche of change, General Po," Taliesin answered with a humorless grin. "My brothers, one the other hand, insist that I am merely a powerful trouble magnet whose ability to draw trouble increases exponentially with age. Have you had a chance to read through the transcript?"
"Yes, I spent the last hour going over the entire interrogation with Wufei and Trowa."
"How do you intend to deal with the woman? She may not have uncovered any of my secrets but it concerns me greatly that she knows the location of New Avalon due to her connection to White Fang; an organization that will undoubtedly be holding a personal grudge against me because I decimated their forces and took down their vaunted leader this past summer. I'm not naïve enough to think they no longer pose a threat to me just because they were broken and their numbers scattered across land and space."
"I do not know; with the amount of intelligence that she was able to collect during the course of the ball last evening, imprisoning her will only make the remnants of the White Fang sit up and take notice. Those individuals and nations whose secrets she stole are some of the largest supporters of the E.S.S.C. and an attack against them would cripple the Coalition. The problem is that the charter we signed forbids us from imposing the death penalty without the unanimous agreement of the entire Coalition. There are a good number of nations that are staunchly against executions regardless of the nature of the crime involved which means that it would be near impossible to gain the approval needed."
"I suspected as much," Taliesin replied with a slight frown. "I don't have a prison to house her but I can create a holding cell to keep her in until her fate has been determined. I will not touch her memory until that time so as to not interfere with the investigation but the moment she is set to be moved into a more permanent residence or it looks like they will let her go free; I will alter her memory of last night along with any other sensitive information she collected. No matter what her fate; I will strip her of her Talent so that she will never again be able to use it in such a way. I can not allow any Newtype to abuse their gifts because it will create discord when it comes time for me to reveal New Avalon's true heritage."
"You can do that?" Quatre asked in shock.
Taliesin bowed his head as he stated, "I can."
"What's da catch?" Duo asked with a frown as he tugged on one of his orange pigtails; the self styled shinigami easily reading Taliesin's discomfort.
"It is barbaric; far worse than the bindings that Dumbledore placed upon my core. The ritual literally rips a wizard's core from their soul; leaving them incapable of producing let alone using magic and unable to feel the magic around them. It could be compared with losing a limb or having your eyes or tongue removed; only far worse because there is nothing you can do to compensate for the loss. It can be considered a fate worse than death for any wizard or squib. It is not something I would normally consider ever doing but I am bound by my oaths to protect New Avalon and that requires me to neutralize any and all threats; permanently."
"When will you perform the ritual?" Wufei inquired softly while the others were digesting Taliesin's explanation.
"This weekend; it will take me three days to prepare and it will take me a full two days to carry out."
"How and when did you learn about this ritual and who taught you how to perform it?" Heero practically demanded.
"The ritual was a gift from the goddess Ceridwen after she weighed my soul yesterday. Well, I say ritual but it is actually more of an ability that she gifted to me and me alone as it can not be passed down to my children and it can not be taught to another. Though, I suppose Lady Ceridwen could gift it to another if she found another wizard that was worthy."
"A gift such as that can't come without a price," Trowa bluntly stated as he scowled at Taliesin.
"Actually, it's more that a gift like that comes with a specific group of rules that must be followed. First; I can not, under any circumstances, remove the core of an innocent. Second; I can not, for any reason, allow a person who is knowingly and willfully abusing their magic to retain their core. Third; I can not use the gift for personal gain. Fourth; I can not use the gift in anger. Fifth; I can not use the gift to get revenge upon another. Sixth; I can not use the gift as a threat to knowingly manipulate another into doing something against their will. And seventh; I must find a worthy vessel for the newly sundered core within one year of removing the core from its original soul."
"What do you mean by worthy vessel?" Zechs asked in confusion.
"I am bound to preserve magic and therefore I can not destroy a magical core after it has been removed from the soul. I am required to find a new soul in which to place the magical core. The only requirements are that the new vessel is an innocent between the ages of two and five because they need to be old enough to cope with the shock of having their soul manipulated and young enough that their soul is still malleable enough to allow their new core to settle into place and grow."
"How are you going to convince any child's parent to allow you to implant a core in their young child?" Sally asked with some concern. "Will the process cause any pain?"
"No, there is no pain in either the removal or the implantation for the one undergoing the process. As for where I will find vessels; I can ask Obduro and Ragnok if they will allow me to gift magical cores to their young children once they reach the appropriate age in order to grant other races the ability to breathe magic into the world (something that Lady Ceridwen already said she would allow) or I will seek out orphans of the appropriate age and make them wards of the crown. That will provide the children homes and allow me to share the goddess's gift of magic with a wider range of individuals instead of relying upon science to provide the entire population; which is why I was ultimately given the gift in the first place."
"How do you know there is no pain involved?" Quatre wondered and Taliesin knew the empath had picked up on his brief flash of uneasiness he'd felt when mentioning the lack of pain.
"And while you said there was no pain involved for the one who was having their core removed or the one receiving a new core, you didn't say anything about what removing another's core or gifting a core to another will cost you," Heero pointed out on the heels of Quatre's question before Taliesin could answer the blonde.
"Lady Ceridwen removed my core to test my resolve before she returned it to me after I passed her test," Taliesin quietly admitted as he shuddered over the memory of being unable to feel any magic at all during those twenty long, terrible minutes that the goddess had tested him. "As for what it costs me to use my gift; my soul will bear the pain of removing another's core to remind me not to abuse the gift I have been given and each core I successfully implant into a new soul will take a fraction of my magic to enlarge and sustain the core until it has settled into place and can start producing its own magic."
"Will the pain be debilitating?" Wufei demanded with a scowl and Taliesin almost smiled at the rant he just knew the Asian teen was preparing in his mind over the injustice of such a requirement.
"Only if I abuse the gift or break the rules; otherwise the pain will be tolerable if unpleasant. And no, sharing my magic with the newly implanted core to grant the recipient a fully functioning magical core (instead of just a single Talent) will not drain me to exhaustion unless I do several transplants in a short period of time."
"And sacrifices must be made for even though magic defies all logic, it must always follow the rules," Heero groused as he recalled what Taliesin had once told him in regards to the blood wards he'd designed to protect the mobile suits.
"And one must be willin' ta risk everything ta achieve something," Duo added with a small huff as he reached for his missing braid before growling over the braid's absence and tugging on one of his ponytails.
"Balance must be maintained," Taliesin intoned authoritatively as he sat up straighter and wrapped his magic around him and used what his brothers were starting to call his 'kingly voice'. "And justice must be served swiftly once the truth has been discerned but never in haste on the wings of hate."
"What can we do to help you prepare for this weekend?" Quatre asked several minutes later once everyone had had a chance to collect themselves.
"I'll need the lake dock roped off once more, as it was yesterday morning for my purification ritual and I'll need a small wooden stretcher about the size and shape of a camp bed made entirely out of cedar and without a single nail," Taliesin promptly replied as he drummed the fingers of his left hand on his desktop. "I'll also need for the woman to be fitted with a black cotton gown; it will need to be close fitting but shapeless and non-constricting, have a deep hood, and both the bottom hem and sleeves must be sewn shut. I have three questions that I will need to ask her before we start on either of those things though as I have to be certain that she is guilty of abusing her Gift and that she is incapable of being reformed."
Four hours later, Taliesin was seated across from the woman that had attempted to steal his secrets from his mind and he took a moment to study her while he waited for Trowa to finish giving her a cursory medical exam. Her shoulder length brown hair hung limply now that it was no longer coiled in a bun at the back of her neck. Her faded brown eyes were dazed and dilated (an after affect of the sleeping potion she'd been given earlier) and her skin free from the make-up she'd worn the evening before.
Her thin form was currently hidden in a simple cotton shirt and a pair of cotton pants instead of the skin tight and highly revealing black sequined dress she'd worn the night before. She was pretty but it was a forgettable pretty; the kind that fades the moment you saw the calculating shrewdness in her eyes that belied the smile she wore. She also had a foul mouth as she demonstrated the moment she set her eyes on the young king; though her curses were no where near as creative as Taliesin's could be.
"Be silent," Taliesin ordered in a commanding voice laced thickly with his magic after the first minute of listening to her verbal abuse and the woman's eyes widened as she sucked in a sharp breath and snapped her mouth shut with an audible snap. "Cordelia Ann Shafter, I have three questions to ask you and you will answer them promptly and truthfully."
The command in Taliesin's voice was unmistakable and the magic behind the command latched onto the tiny thread of magic that lived inside of Miss Shafter in order to compel her to obey. Taliesin sealed off his emotions at that point least he allow his feelings of disquiet, doubt, and disgust over what he was doing to affect his judgment; he may not like or enjoy manipulating the woman's magic into turning against her but it was necessary in order to get the answers he needed to determine if she truly was abusing her telepathic abilities. If she should turn out to be innocent, then he would make restitution as required.
"First question; are you aware of the full extent of your abilities as a telepathic Newtype?"
"Yes."
"Second question; have you willingly and purposefully used your telepathic abilities to enter the minds of other people with the sole intent of stealing their secrets so that you can use those secrets to gain an advantage?"
"Yes."
"Final question; if you are released from custody, will you continue to abuse your telepathic abilities to steal secrets from the people you come into contact with even if you are ordered to cease using your abilities in such a way?"
"Yes."
Sitting back as the magic tying him to the woman slipped free and returned to his core, Taliesin waited for the woman to look up and meet his emotionless gaze before he intoned, "Cordelia Ann Shafter; you have been judged guilty of abusing the gift that Mother Earth bestowed upon you at birth without remorse. In light of your transgressions against Magic and all that She stands for, I, King Taliesin Bard the First and her Ladyship's sworn Mage of Chaos, do hereby sentence your soul to banishment from the wizarding nation of New Avalon. In three days time, you will be stripped of your Talent and cast out from Magic's sacred realm to walk forever more in the cold and silent shadows of the void. So I have spoken and so shall it be."
Taliesin rose to his feet at that point and swept from the room without looking back at the scornful woman fighting back her fear and confusion over his declaration. The troubled young monarch felt Jack and Eric fall into step beside him the moment he exited the room and he just barely stopped himself from disappearing into the nearest shadow. Needing a moment to collect himself and center his emotions, Taliesin headed for the main entrance and made his way out onto the rocky promontory that overlooked the Black Lake. His two bodyguards (and close friends) allowed him his space as they slowed their pace and stopped a good ten yards away from the edge of the cliff (where they were close enough to help him in case of trouble but not close enough to intrude upon him).
Half an hour later, Taliesin sighed and turned his back on the sinking sun as he headed back towards the castle. He quietly thanked both of his fellow pilots for giving him a moment alone as they once again fell into step beside him. The three of them then headed inside where it was warmer. They met Dorothy, Hilde, and Patricia just inside of the entrance hall and all six of them entered the Great Hall together for the evening meal. Taliesin was pleased to find that there were no unfamiliar faces present in the Hall that night and he allowed himself to relax marginally as he seated Dorothy up at the head table while his four knights joined their peers amidst the scattered tables.
As their meal was magically served, courtesy of the two elves assigned to the kitchen, Taliesin couldn't help but feel as if he was trapped in the charged stillness that pervaded the eye of a terrible storm and that any minute now he'd be drawn into the madness once more as the storm waged war upon the world.
AN: ~ Rant removed 12/18/13 ~
Next chapter is late but up. ~ Jenn