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“Fiera, that song you sang,” Kuen began as they stripped down and changed into their nightclothes. “You told High Admiral Seaton you wrote that while we were in the DC?”

Fiera’s hands dropped to her sides. “Yeah, I did. I wrote it so I could keep my mind intact. It was Flicks who suggested it.”

He walked over and put his hands on her shoulders. “Do I really mean so much to you, my phoenix?” he asked.

Fiera looked up at him. “Thea helped with some of it, but you’re the one who convinced me this battle-weary phoenix could fly again, Kuen.” Her voice was soft and as she gazed up at him Kuen saw it in her expression. All the fear, all the worry, but more he saw just how much she loved him.

Kuen leaned down and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. He knew they were both too tired to do much of anything, but he needed more. He tugged her nightshirt off. She looked at him. “I don’t expect anything tonight, my phoenix. But I need to feel you next to me without barriers. There have been far too many of those between us of late,” he said.

“Then take yours off too, vapor brain,” she said, tugging on his shirt. He did and the two curled against each other, skin to skin. The sweet and spicy scent of the shampoo tickled his nose. He pulled the blankets over them both. “I love you, Kuen.”

“I love you too, Fiera. My phoenix.” Sleep swallowed him before he got more than a few breaths, a deep sleep he hadn’t been able to achieve while locked up in the detention center.

Dawn brought with it a light jab in his ribs. “Come on,” she whispered. “Let’s see if we can beat Flicks and Gaspare into the shower.”

The two pulled their nightclothes back on, grabbed their clean clothes, and made their way to the bathroom. As they passed the other bedroom the sounds they heard from within made Fiera blush and Kuen grin. “I think we can safely say we’ll beat them to the bathroom,” he whispered.

They got into the bathroom and bathed quickly before heading downstairs to fix breakfast. It felt good to be home, Kuen thought, as he helped Fiera prepare the morning meal. “I didn’t think those two would be gettin’ up t’that so soon,” Fiera said.

“I think Flicks missed him,” Kuen said.

“Gaspare would’ve had t’start it,” Fiera said.

“Well, we were in the DC for a while. Not much to do in there except sleep and think,” Kuen said. “Starfire, you know that better than most, Fury.”

Fiera rolled her eyes. “I just slept. Thinkin’ took too much effort. Of course, I was usually healin’ up from fightin’ too so there’s that. You two got pretty roughed up though.”

“Ah, that. Just a couple of misunderstandings with the guards. Nothing major. No serious damage, and no one needed medical attention,” Kuen said dismissively.

“You two are the strangest pair ever. You get bloodied up fairly good and it’s nothin’ major?” Fiera asked.

“No broken bones on either side, no major trauma, not even a concussion. No one ended up with internal bleeding either. We considered it no better than a minor sparring match,” Kuen said.

“Vapor brains, the both of you,” Fiera muttered with a grin.

Phelix and Gaspare came down just as Kuen and Fiera set the food on the table. “Mornin’,” Phelix said. “You two have been busy.”

“You were pretty busy yerselves,” Fiera teased.

Gaspare turned bright red. Phelix snorted. “You listenin’ in on our private conversations?” he asked.

“You were loud enough I didn’t have t’listen in,” Fiera said. “We could hear you in the hall.”

“Don’t take her teasin’ as anythin’ but her just pokin’ fun,” Phelix said as Gaspare turned even brighter red. “It’s her way of showin’ her affection.”

“Sorry, Gaspare,” Fiera said quickly. “I’m used t’teasin’ Flicks. If it bothers you, I’ll quit.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Gaspare said after a few moments. “I’m just – it’s just something new for me so I’m trying to get used to it.”

Kuen put a hand on his shoulder. “It’ll take time to get used to both the relationship and the teasing, Gaspare. But Fiera’s right. If it gets to be too much, say something. You always told me to speak up when I needed something, so now I’m giving you the same advice.”

“Thanks Kuen,” Gaspare said, his color returning to normal.

The comm beeped. “Who is it so early? We’ve got work t’do,” Fiera said. She answered it. It was a young woman dressed in the uniform of the CAF.

Kuen frowned. She looked very familiar. He struggled to place her face. “I’m sorry to bother you, Ms. Rezouac,” the woman said. “I’m the one who drove you home last night.”

“Mouse,” Kuen said suddenly, joining Fiera. “Felicia Coltrin.”

The woman blinked. “You do remember me,” she blurted.

“It took me seeing you in good light, but yes, I do remember you. Hard to forget a woman who wanted to go into Admin,” Kuen said. “What is it?”

“Look, I’m going to be in trouble if they find out I called,” she said, glancing over her shoulder. “High Admiral Seaton’s on her way to your farm. I don’t know why. She’s not coming with much of an escort, just two of her aides, but she seemed to be disturbed this morning. She slammed her hand down on her desk, said, ‘Slag it, I’ll ask them myself. I’m going out to the smaller of the Rezouac farms.’ Then she left. I’d say it’s been about an hour so if my calculations are right, she’ll be there soon.”

“If she left town an hour ago? About fifteen, maybe twenty minutes,” Fiera said.

“Thank you, Lt. Coltrin,” Kuen said, noting the woman’s new rank.

The woman smiled. “You’re welcome. I like being an administrative aide in the CAF, but I wasn’t lying. I hate what we’re doing out here. Some of us from your old unit, we got pulled back in after going into the reserves and we’re still doing what we can to help the Colonies, Kuen. It isn’t much, but we’re still here and we’re recruiting others to our cause. The Colonies do have friends in the CAF. Now I’d better go before they realize I’ve taken this comm unit off the grid.” She ended the call.

Kuen sat down hard. His old unit, the survivors were still in and fighting for the Colonies? Gaspare came over. “You do have an effect on people, don’t you, Kuen?” he asked softly.

“It’s not my doing. They’re on their own, they know it’s their deaths if they’re caught, and if she’s right she has a wife and littles she knows she’ll be leaving behind if she’s found out,” Kuen said. “Yet she’s still willing to risk it.”

“Worry about that later,” Fiera said. “Fifteen minutes at the most and we’ll have that ketch Seaton on our doorstep.”

“Add more for breakfast then?” Phelix asked. “She won’t expect it, I bet.”

Kuen grinned. “No, she won’t. More coffee too. Seaton always drinks Colony grown coffee. She’s as picky as you are, Fury.”

“We just put this on t’warm and I can whip up a bit more t’add to it,” Fiera said. “Easy enough. Flicks, go watch the gate. We don’t need her breakin’ it t’get in.”

“You got it,” Phelix said. “Gaspare, want t’come help me escort her in?”

“Sure, unless Fury needs me?” Gaspare asked.

“Nah, go keep him out of trouble,” Fiera said. The two men headed out.

Kuen put an arm around Fiera’s shoulders. “Are you up to this, my phoenix?” he asked.

Fiera’s smile was cold. “The Blue Butterfly is hostin’ a High Admiral. I think I can manage.”

“I’m not sure I can, but I’ll have to do my best,” Kuen said.

“If you need to leave, take Flicks and head out t’the fields. I’ll have Gaspare help me manage her,” Fiera said. Kuen nodded and the two worked to add more food to the growing pile on the table.

Fifteen minutes later on the mark they heard High Admiral Seaton’s skimmer arrive. Kuen and Fiera stood in the door while Phelix undid the lock on the gate. “Do you always make the gate locks so complex?” High Admiral Seaton asked.

“This one’s simple compared to the one on the family farm,” Gaspare said. “That one took me weeks to figure out. If you look at the farm gates around here, you’ll see all of them have extremely complicated locks. It’s to deter thieves from coming in and stealing crops from the fields and food from the gardens.”

“How odd that they worry about thieves so much,” High Admiral Seaton said.

“When you’re starving you take food where you can get it, even if it means stealing from your neighbors,” Fiera called. “The famine you caused changed a lot of things for us.”

“You’re not in blue today,” High Admiral Seaton said as she walked up.

“These are my working clothes. I’ve got a garden to maintain, machines to tune, and fields to inspect,” Fiera said. “Farm work never stops. We were just about to sit down to breakfast. Care to join us?”

“Won’t that short you on your own rations?” High Admiral Seaton asked.

“Oh, we were expecting you. I made extra,” Fiera said, waving the woman in.

“How could you be expecting us? I gave no indication that I would be paying a call on you today,” High Admiral Seaton said.

“High Admiral Seaton, you obviously have questions. You would have left Sorus before the bombardment if you didn’t. It was only a matter of time before you came out to ask us those questions. I remembered you were not a patient woman, and I didn’t think you were going to wait long. I took a gamble and figured you’d be out here before we even had our breakfast,” Fiera said. Kuen thanked her silently for not implicating anyone in the CAF facility.

“It seems your gamble paid off. You even made enough for my aides,” High Admiral Seaton said.

“Of course I did. I feed everyone who comes to my house, except for one specific person. He gets shot on sight and dumped on your doorstep. No last meal for him as far as I’m concerned,” Fiera said, sitting down. “Grab a seat, fill your plate. We’ve also got fresh coffee if you’re interested.”

High Admiral Seaton waved her aides in, and they immediately fell to eating like they’d been starved. Then again, Kuen thought, they were featherweights on a high grav world. They probably needed the extra calories since they were too used to the lighter grav worlds. The High Admiral filled her own plate and cup. “You do have a knack for cooking,” the woman said with grudging respect after sampling the dishes.

“My ma taught me. She’s amazing when it comes to food,” Fiera said with a laugh. “She taught all her brood to cook, sew, whatever it takes to run a house because you never know when that knowledge will come in handy.”

High Admiral Seaton looked at Phelix. “You know how to cook too?”

“It’s hard to do one handed, but yes, I can do everything my twin can,” Phelix said, surprising Kuen by mimicking Fiera’s Core accent. “I can even learn how to speak like a Core Worlder just by listening and imitating my sister.”

“Is that a knack all Col – Colonists have?” High Admiral Seaton asked. Kuen noticed she stopped herself from using the more insulting term. The twins exchanged a look.

“Some can,” Fiera said. “We’re all a clever bunch out here. Everyone has their strengths. The Rezouac family has always been quicker than most to pick up learning things because it was that or be stuck on the family farm all our lives. You will notice, High Admiral, that a good portion of my siblings don’t work solely on the actual farm.”

“I had noticed that. You have two brothers who are medics – one works off world I believe – and the rest all seem to have some sort of specialty beyond farming,” High Admiral Seaton said.

“That was ma’s idea. She didn’t want us trapped on the farm, though I know da wanted us to all work there,” Fiera said. Kuen saw her share a look with Phelix, who gave her a slight nod. Fiera shrugged. “Keoni is great with mechanical things. Marc is the merchant in the family, always has been. The twin girls are the engineers. My sister who lost her husband when your lot bombed our medical center during the war is a soft hand with littles, so she works with the orphans in town. Herry’s still in school so he doesn’t have a specialty yet.” Fiera scowled. “Your damned ISRS hauled off my other sister who was just finishing up her secondary schooling, but she was already on her way to getting certs in marine biology and looking at taking an apprenticeship off world on one of the fishing planets.”

“Why would they take your sister? Did she go into debt to earn those certifications?” High Admiral Seaton asked.

“The whole planet is in debt right now,” Fiera said. “Sorus didn’t get word of the planetary tax being leveraged against all Colony worlds until after the deadline passed. Callie volunteered to go in place of Herry, my youngest brother, because she knew it’d half kill our mother to lose him. She already lost the youngest two during the famine.”

High Admiral Seaton put her cup down. Kuen saw the startled look on her face. “Fiera, could you repeat that please? The bit about the indenturement cull. Go into as much detail as you know.”

“I wasn’t downstairs, so I couldn’t tell you much. I was healing up from what the Nakano ketch did to me.” Fiera looked over at Kuen. “You were down there. You heard more than I did. You tell her.”

Kuen sipped his coffee. “According to the ISRS representative, a law was passed through the Assembly – a fact I was later able to verify – that a general planetary tax of three percent of the planet’s GPP was to be levied against each world in the Colonies on top of the other obligations the Colonies are required to pay. The directive did not reach Sorus, or I’d imagine the last few worlds out this way, until after the deadline passed.”

“So instead of offering an extension the ISRS came in and took a child from each family?” High Admiral Seaton asked.

“They took the youngest member of each family. High Admiral Seaton, do you know what that means?” Kuen asked, his anger barely in check. This part of the cull still infuriated him. The woman shook her head. “If you have a three day old infant, the ISRS will take them. If your youngest family member is one hundred and three, they take that person. It doesn’t matter how you beg, plead, and resist. Unless someone volunteers to take the place of the person being culled, they are taken off to a generally horrible fate.”

“They’re returned after the planetary tax is paid off though, yes?” High Admiral Seaton asked.

“No, High Admiral. The cost of being indentured is added to the individual account of the person. Then there’s their daily upkeep, which is also added to their personal debt. Any rule infractions are added to their debt. The cost of selling them to their prospective employers is added to that debt,” Kuen said. “If they are very lucky, they end up in a position like what Fiera did and can buy themselves free in a few years. Usually though? They are indentured until they die, never seeing home again.”

“Did you also know,” Phelix added. “That once you’re indentured, your family loses all contact with you? If you die while indentured, it could be months or years before anyone bothers notifying them that you’re dead.” Phelix paused. “If they bother telling them at all.”

“In my case,” Fiera said, picking up the thread of the conversation. “If I’d died as the Blue Butterfly no one would have told my family because I was listed as not having any. No one on Sorus, except maybe my vapor brained father, would have known. I know he wouldn’t have told my mother because she would’ve killed him then and there for sending me into the Core.”

“How would your father have known?” High Admiral Seaton asked. Then she shook her head. “His sister would have informed him.”

Fiera nodded. Kuen picked up the thread again. “If you are from the Colonies, you only have a few options for indenturement, High Admiral. If you are young and attractive in some way, you end up as a Pleasure Seeker. We think that’s what happened to Callie, though we’ve yet to get any confirmation. The youngest children will either end up as Pleasure Seekers or as slaves to the wealthy elite.”

Gaspare, who’d been quiet up until this point, picked up the thread. “If you’re still considered strong enough to work but not attractive enough to be a Pleasure Seeker, you’re either enslaved by the wealthy elite or sent to the mines. If you end up in the mines you don’t make it more than a year, two if you’re stubborn, before you’re dead.”

“The elderly are considered useless and are liquidated immediately,” Kuen said. “Unless they have an extremely specialized skill. Then they are utilized as teachers for a younger generation. But since the Core doesn’t find value in the skills of the Colonists it is highly unlikely you’ll see the elderly from the Colonies spared.”

“How long has this been going on?” High Admiral Seaton asked.

“Since you annexed us,” Phelix said. “It’s just gotten worse since the Accords were forced on the Colonies.”

“I truly do not understand this,” High Admiral Seaton said. “I know what you told me, but I was always taught the Colonies were the ones who started the hostilities that led to the annexation. You told me that it was the CWA who broke the peace.”

Kuen reckoned some numbers in his head and came to realize an important fact he’d ignored up until this point. High Admiral Seaton was the youngest member of the High Command. She was barely in her fifties and had probably either not been born or had only been a toddler at the time of the annexation. She wouldn’t know what life was like before the annexation any more than he had.

“We were living our lives, just doing our day-to-day things. We traded with the Core like we always had, and enjoyed our tech light lives,” Fiera said.

“Then one day the Core decided they wanted what we had, and trading wasn’t enough anymore,” Phelix said. “This was, what, fifty or sixty years ago now, Fury?”

“How old is my mother, High Admiral Seaton?” Kuen asked.

The woman was confused by the question. “I’m not sure,” she said.

One of her aides tapped something into his tablet. “The galactic records have Michi Nakano as having been born in the spring of AF 216,” he said.

“And it’s AF 303 now,” Kuen said. “So mother is eighty-seven.”

“That means da is the same age,” Phelix said.

“Okay,” Fiera said. “You’ll have to excuse us, High Admiral. The ages are actually very important to tell us how long ago this happened. Colony and Core don’t reckon time the same. I think it was something like fifty years ago that we were annexed, but I want to be sure.”

“I see,” High Admiral Seaton said.

“My mother was twenty-eight when Leonidas abandoned her and disappeared,” Kuen said.

“And ma always said da was out here for a few years before the Colonies got annexed,” Fiera said.

“You were right, Fury. It’s been fifty years since the Colonies were annexed,” Phelix said after he scrawled some numbers on the little notebook he always carried. “Our parents were married five years after our father arrived in the Colonies. But none of us were born until at least nineteen years after the annexation started, and that would be our oldest brother Keoni.”

“The other members of the High Command have to remember what it was like before,” High Admiral Seaton said. “They’re all at least the same age as Michi Nakano, if not older.”

“They do, but they have been fed the lies by Michi Nakano and her Assembly puppets to the point where they probably no longer know the truth,” Kuen said with some heat. “My mother used her vast wealth after the deaths of her parents to turn the Core against the Colonies in order to get back at the man who abandoned her and it has continued to be a feud between the two of them, just played on a grander scale.”

“Do you really think that this is what it is?” High Admiral Seaton asked.

“We know it is,” Fiera said. “My father’s hatred of Michi Nakano led to him trying to murder my husband. After what I experienced in her hands, it’s obvious that – for her, at least – this is all about making him pay.”

High Admiral Seaton sighed. “One of the reasons I was sent was to bring the two of you back, to answer for crimes against the CAF,” she said to Kuen. “I won’t be doing that since I understand now that High Admiral Mercado went against protocols and discharged the two of you completely. The other High Admirals are under the impression you two are still reservists and have broken all sorts of laws. It’s why General Athalos was going to deport you.”

“Ah, the standard CAF tactic of making someone disappear,” Kuen growled.

High Admiral Seaton nodded. “If these two got too pushy we were to eliminate them as well. What was not reckoned on were two factors – your popularity with the general population, and the fact that Fiera Rezouac was the Blue Butterfly.”

“I am quite willing to use what I learned during that time to blackmail every member of the High Command to keep all of you off of Sorus if I have to, High Admiral Seaton,” Fiera said. “I’d rather not do that though. That requires always being on watch for assassins.”

“We already have to do that because of my mother,” Kuen said. “I would rather not have to add CAF special forces to the list.”

“What assassins does your mother have at her command? We’d really like to know since she is so good at eliminating her enemies,” High Admiral Seaton said.

“A trade, High Admiral Seaton,” Gaspare said, joining the conversation again. “We’ll give you our information if you can assure us that the High Command will leave us in peace.”

“You personally? Or the people of Sorus. One I can promise. The other I cannot,” High Admiral Seaton said.

“Us personally,” Gaspare said. “The CAF is still a tool of the Assembly, no matter how much the High Command dislikes admitting it, so I know that is a pointless request.”

“Then yes, I can personally guarantee that with my vote the High Command will back off you four,” High Admiral Seaton said. “Tell me how your mother is able to do so much damage.”

“My mother’s aide Lakshmi was one of thirty-three genetically engineered women,” Kuen said. “They call themselves the Devas. Six are now dead, all at our hands during various points in our lives. The rest may or may not be assisting my mother.”

“Thirty-three genetically engineered assassins?” High Admiral Seaton asked, horrified.

“Lakshmi told me the man who created them was commissioned by my grandparents to make the perfect companion for my mother,” Kuen said. “She said Dr. Asura created the thirty-three girls and only Lakshmi was considered good enough to serve my mother. The rest of the Devas were educated and released into the world to find their own paths.”

High Admiral Seaton looked as if she’d been struck with a plasma bolt. “Dr. Rahmad Asura is one of the foremost experts in genetics in both sectors, Kuen. He is used by the members of the wealthy elite to ensure their children have the best possible combination of genetic traits. It comes perilously close to breaking the sanctions on genetic manipulation but skirts the edges of legality.”

“I know. My mother let it slip once that she had him work on my genetics too,” Kuen said. “That’s probably why I am the way I am.” He paused. “High Admiral Seaton, is there any way to find out who my father is? Not that it matters to me now, but I am curious what the other half of my genetic makeup is.”

“I can certainly have my people try, but if Michi Nakano didn’t leave a record of it there may be no way of tracking it unless he is listed in a planetary DNA database somewhere,” High Admiral Seaton said. “Would you like me to look?”

“As a personal favor, considering all the trouble you’ve caused me and my family,” Kuen said, gesturing to the other three at the table.

“I’ll see what I can do, Kuen,” High Admiral Seaton said. “Do you think, if given the means to repair what we’ve done, the Colonies can recover?”

“Yes,” came the unanimous reply.

“It might take a generation or two, but we’ll bounce back,” Kuen said. High Admiral Seaton raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I do consider myself to be Colony now, High Admiral. Until the day that woman passes away and I am forced to return to the Core to settle my inheritance. Even then, I will still be Colony.”

“I’ve noticed a sense of pride among the Colonists I never really paid attention to before,” High Admiral Seaton said. “As well as a sense of community that doesn’t seem to exist in the Core. It’s sad that we’ve lost that, if we ever even had it in the first place.”

The conversation turned to a discussion of the day’s work between the four farmers while the High Admiral remained silent, listening and not saying anything. She shook everyone’s hands when she left. “Do you think she’ll keep her word?” Gaspare asked.

“Seaton? I do. Gaspare, you do realize she’s barely in her fifties, right?” Kuen asked.

“What?” Gaspare looked at him. “I thought she was at least in her sixties, if not seventy.”

Kuen shook his head. “She’s not that much older than us. Her mentor on the High Command was taken out by an assassin and she was put in before she was really ready and has been fighting to maintain her position ever since. I think she needed the help in understanding where we were coming from.”

“Okay, who’s on crops and who’s on mech?” Fiera asked. “We’ve lost a lot of time and we need t’make up for it if we’re goin’ t’survive this harvest.” She’d lapsed back into her Colony accent now that the High Admiral was gone.

“You and Kuen take the fields,” Gaspare said. “Flicks and I will take mech this time.”

“No makin’ out until after the work’s done,” Fiera teased.

Gaspare smacked her on the ass. “Same goes for you, Fury,” he teased back. Everyone laughed and got to work.

Kuen was sore but happy when he returned to the house. A message was waiting for him on the comm. It was from High Admiral Seaton. “Your father was ridiculously easy for one of my admin lieutenants to find. She is a remarkable woman. File has been sent. Read at your leisure.”

“What do you want t’bet it was the one you called Mouse?” Fiera asked, having come up behind him when the message played.

“Oh, I would put quite a few credits on it being her,” Kuen said. “She was from an ascetic order and got dragged into the CAF unwillingly. I’m pleased she’s found a way to make it work for her.”

“Do you want to read it now? Or wait?” Fiera asked.

“I’m not sure,” Kuen said, his fingers dancing over the comm controls as he downloaded the file. “Does it make a difference?”

“How important is it t’you?” Fiera asked.

Kuen paused. “I’m not sure.”

Fiera settled her hands on his shoulders and began working the knots out of the muscles. “The knots tell me somethin’ else, Kuen. This isn’t all from workin’ today. You want t’know if you have someone other than that woman fer family, don’t you?”

Kuen winced as she found a particularly large knot. “I’ve got you, Gaspare, and Flicks. I’ve got your mother and the rest of your sibs as well.”

“We’re not blood kin t’you and you’ve seen what that means t’me,” Fiera said. “You want t’see who it might have been, see if maybe you can make a connection there.”

Kuen bowed his head and let her work her way up his neck. He would trust no one else like this, not even Gaspare. “You’re right.”

“Then take a look. See what it says. The worst it’ll say is yer father is dead and we’re no worse off than we were before,” Fiera said. “Leastwise we’ll know if we have t’worry about somethin’ like the Gaiteran throwback gene in our littles when we have them from yer side of the family.”

“True.” Kuen accessed the file and read what it said. To her credit, Fiera did not read over his shoulder. She went and made them both some tea. Phelix and Gaspare were still out in the shed, so they didn’t see as he skimmed through the information. “That cold-blooded ketch.”

“What is it?” Fiera asked.

“She found someone from a high grav world she felt was ‘genetically compatible,’ used him to get pregnant, and then wiped out him and his entire family so no one would ever know who my father was,” Kuen said.

“Does it say which world?” Fiera asked.

“Diopra, the same one Lt. Coltrin left her wife and littles on. No wonder she isn’t wearing the usual protective gear. Diopra has a similar gravity to Sorus, so if she’s been visiting a wife and children there, she’s able to handle here with no extra help needed,” Kuen said. “Well, at least I now know where my additional resilience comes in.”

“Now we know yer not a featherweight. Yer heavyworlder stock like I am,” Fiera said. “That means our children won’t potentially have severe birth defects that make it hard fer them to thrive on Sorus.”

Kuen paused. “I had a half-sister only three years old that was wiped out by my mother’s murderous rampage. Her name was Laoise.”

“We should name one of our daughters that, if we have any,” Fiera said.

“I want to name one Nafisa as well,” Kuen said, a lump forming in this throat.

“I think she’d be proud t’have a little named after her,” Fiera said. “Especially one born in the Colonies.” She frowned and rubbed her arm. A worried look crossed her face. “Kuen, I have t’go into town tomorrow. I’ll call Shelby and see if she can take me in. Otherwise it’s quite a hike.”

“Call Nev and have him pick you up,” Phelix said as he came in. “That’s too far t’walk, and Shell might not have her skimmer right now. Especially if da’s still on the loose.” He frowned. “You okay, Fury?”

“Yeah, I just want t’check somethin’,” Fiera said. “Girl medicine.” Phelix dismissed it but Kuen didn’t like the look on her face, or how she was rubbing her arm.

He helped her fix dinner, but she wouldn’t look at him and when they went to bed she still refused to talk to him. The next morning, she called her mother’s farm and caught Neven before he left. “Sure Fury. I can pick you up on my way in. You okay?” he asked.

“I’m not sure, Nev. But it’s girl’s medicine and I don’t know that I need you pokin’ around in there,” Fiera said.

“Ah. No, I’m yer brother. You definitely don’t want me messin’ with that. I’ll be there quick as I can, Fury,” Neven said. He ended the call.

Gaspare caught Phelix’s hand and all but dragged him from the house. “Fiera, talk to me,” Kuen said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Please.”

“I – I haven’t had a cycle in years. I was thinkin’ it’s ‘cause I got that damned implant forced on me,” Fiera said. “But Kuen, they cut me up somethin’ fierce when they had me. I think I remember them cuttin’ it out of me. I should’ve started havin’ cycles again if they did.”

“You’re worried about if you can even have children now,” Kuen said, suddenly understanding the cause of her concern. A cold knot formed in his stomach and his muscles tensed.

Fiera nodded. “We were talkin’ about namin’ our girls after Laoise and Nafisa. What if I can’t even have children? I have t’know.”

“That makes perfect sense,” Kuen said, kissing her. “If it turns out you can’t have children, we’ll figure something else out.”

“Yer so calm about this,” Fiera said.

“I’m not. I want to break something very badly right now. I might go out into the fields after you leave and smash rocks into pieces,” Kuen admitted. “Because I think that’s the only thing that’ll keep me from damaging something in the house.”

“Take the other two with you. I don’t want you off on yer own,” Fiera said.

“I will.” He kissed her again and they held each other until Neven arrived.

As soon as the skimmer was out of sight Kuen collared the other two. “I take it we’re goin’ t’break rocks?” Phelix asked. Kuen nodded, unable to speak past the lump in his throat. “You’ll need this.” He handed Kuen a sledgehammer. They went out to the rock pile and Kuen set to work.

Kuen wasn’t sure how long he’d been pounding stones to dust when Gaspare grabbed his arm. “She’s back,” he said.

Kuen wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked up. Neven was talking to her at the gate. She nodded and went into the house. “Let me talk to her first,” Kuen said.

“We’ll go check the waterin’ system,” Phelix said.

Kuen dropped the sledgehammer in the shed and sluiced himself off at the outdoor faucet, stripping off his sweat-soaked shirt before he walked in. Fiera wasn’t downstairs. He frowned.

He went up to their room. She was standing with her arms wrapped around her stomach. “Fury?” She didn’t answer him. “Fiera?”

She looked up at him, eyes wide with shock. “I think we’re goin’ t’have t’step up our weddin’ plans,” she said, and a huge smile split across her face. “Kuen, I’m pregnant.”

Kuen stared at her for a moment before catching her up in a tight hug. “What? How far along? When? What?” He knew he was babbling but after the stress of this morning’s conversation he didn’t think she minded.

She was crying. “Just over three months, so it happened right before you went into the DC,” Fiera said. “Kuen, it’s twin girls.”

Kuen stared at her. “Then we have our Laoise and our Nafisa.” Fiera nodded. He hugged her again. “I thought you were putting on weight. And here you were complaining you were too thin at the summer festival.”

“I’m still too thin, though I’m gettin’ better. I need t’eat more, and no heavy liftin’ of course.” This last was said with some exasperation. “Ma’s goin’ t’have kittens when she finds out. I made Nev promise not t’tell her. I’m invitin’ her t’dinner tomorrow night so we can tell her.”

“You know who would be perfect to make your dress, don’t you?” Kuen asked, grinning even more.

“Who?” Fiera asked.

“Xenon and Calixtra,” Kuen said.

“Oh, Kuen. Can we call them? Do you know how?” Fiera asked.

“Let’s tell our brothers first, and then we’ll call Xenon and Cali,” Kuen said. “Phelix went out to check the water system, so I expect they’ll be back any minute now.”

“They’ll be givin’ us space ‘cause they think it’s bad news. Hang on.” She ran downstairs and gave a shrill whistle. That brought Gaspare and Phelix back fast.

“What is it, Fury?” Phelix asked, worry written plain on his face.

“Kuen and I are gettin’ married faster than we thought,” Fiera said.

“You’re pregnant,” Gaspare said, grinning.

“I am. I’m upholdin’ the family tradition too,” Fiera said with a laugh.

Phelix groaned as he realized what she meant. “Twins? Really?”

“Girls, and we already know their names,” Kuen said.

“What are you going to call them?” Gaspare asked.

“Nafisa and Laoise,” Kuen said.

“Pretty names,” Phelix said. “We need t’get an addition built on the house fer the twins. Good thing we’ve still got some money left.”

“Now I have t’call ma. I’m invitin’ her t’dinner tomorrow night,” Fiera said. “I want to make it a special occasion, springin’ on her that she’s about t’be a grandma.”

“Then we’ll call Xenon and Cali so you can get your dress,” Kuen said with a laugh. “Yes.” Fiera giggled as she ran for the comm. Gaspare smiled and put an arm around Phelix’s waist. Phelix leaned against his shoulder and smiled at his sister.