Image by Diego Villacob from Pixabay

It was almost time for the summer festival. It had been two months since the twins were kidnapped and there was no word from anyone as to what had happened to them. Kuen knew that the ship would still be in darkspace though, and that worried him. It wasn’t good to keep children in darkspace for so long, but he wasn’t sure the Devas were aware of that. Or if they even cared. He didn’t know if they’d stop somewhere to give the girls a chance to stretch their legs.

He glanced over at Fiera, where she was working in the fields near him. She’d grown thinner from worry and her face was more careworn than it had been before. There was definite white in that red hair of hers now and he knew it wasn’t from the sun. He knew he’d lost weight too because, like Fiera, he often found it hard to eat when the special seats for his daughters were sitting there so glaringly empty.

“Fury, what are we going to do for the summer festival?” Kuen asked as she moved up parallel to him.

“Starfire, I forgot that was coming up,” Fiera said.

“It’s in three days,” Kuen said. “I don’t feel like entertaining again this year. Do you?”

“No. Let’s volunteer for labor. They almost always still need volunteers,” Fiera said.

“And if they don’t?” Kuen asked. “We don’t have a lot we can take for food.”

“I can bake cookies and a few pies. It won’t be a lot, but it’ll be something,” Fiera said.

“Okay,” Kuen said. They got back to work.

The summer festival was on everyone’s minds because Phelix came up to them a little later and asked the same question Kuen had. Fiera told him their plans and he looked relieved. “I didn’t think you’d be up to performing this year again, Fury,” he said. “I wanted to be sure you had a plan in place.”

Gaspare rang the lunch bell, and the trio went back to the house. As they ate Gaspare asked about it too. Fiera laughed. “We were talking about it out in the fields, Gaspare. We’re not performing this year. We’re either going to be labor or I’ll knock up some sweet treats to take.”

“Okay. I just wanted to be sure we had a plan,” Gaspare said, nodding.

After lunch Fiera and the other two headed back out to the fields. Kuen watched as Fiera put in more work than she had to. He understood why. She was trying to wear herself out. Neither of them was sleeping well these days and it was at the point they had to work themselves to exhaustion so they could doze off at a reasonable hour. Kuen was still tired from not getting to sleep until nearly two that morning. Between that and then putting a full day in out in the fields, he felt he should be able to fall asleep normally that night.

After dinner Fiera called the organizers of the summer festival. “Nieve, my family and I’d like to be put on the list of volunteers,” Fiera said. Kuen stood nearby and listened.

“Sorry Fury, but I’ve got all the volunteers I can handle right now. We also have more food than we know what t’do with. Only thing left you can do is perform,” Nieve said with insincere sympathy.

“Nieve, my girls were kidnapped two months ago and taken off world. We don’t know where they are or what’s happening to them. We’re not really up to performing this year,” Fiera said.

“I’m sorry, Fury,” Nieve said. “Truly I am. But everyone’s dealin’ with personal tragedies right now. I can’t let yers be more important than someone else’s. You’ve got to perform or don’t come t’the festival. You know the CAF is goin’ t’be right twitchy if you don’t show up.”

“Yeah, I know,” Fiera said. “Fine. We’ll figure something out.”

“Thanks Fury,” Nieve said brightly. She ended the call.

Fiera buried her face in her hands and burst into tears. Kuen came over and knelt beside her. He wrapped his arms around her. “It’s all right, Fury. You don’t have to sing. Gaspare and I can perform without you being involved.”

“That’s not how it works, Kuen. The whole house has to be part of the performance, or we each have to do something,” Phelix said. “The only ones who are exempt are the littles.”

“So what do we do?” Gaspare asked.

Fiera looked up, her face full of pain. “If Nieve wants us to sing, I’ll make her regret it. I’ve got a song I wrote for the twins. It’s an emotional gut punch and it shows what we’re going through. You three up to learning a new one with me? I’ve never tried singing it but if Nieve wants us to perform, she’s getting what she asked for.”

“Teach us the song, Fury,” Kuen said, feeling rage warring with amusement. “We’ll sing it with you.”

“I’m in,” Gaspare said.

“So am I,” Phelix said.

For the next few days, the evenings were spent learning the new song while Pascal and Gael slept. It was a simple enough song to learn and yet Kuen struggled to get through it without breaking down every time. Finally, the night of the festival came. They all dressed in their finery and when Neven showed up with the skimmer, they got in quietly.

“You look angry, Fury,” Neven said.

“Nieve is making us perform even though we’re struggling with losing the twins,” Fiera said. “So we’re going to make her sorry she asked us to.”

“What are you doin’?” Neven asked.

“Singing the song I wrote after the twins were taken,” Fiera said. “It’s not a happy song.”

“Oh yeah, that’ll make Nieve angry,” Neven said. “But she deserves it if she’s forcin’ you to perform.”

The family settled in with the rest of the Rezouacs and waited. When someone called Fiera’s name she got up with her household. They left Pascal and Gael with Alena. “Some of you know the pain of losing a child,” Fiera said. “My girls were taken by someone in the Core to make my family suffer. I wrote this song for them.” She struck the opening chords and poured all her energy into singing. Beside her, Kuen, Gaspare, and Phelix joined in. The crowd was silent as the raw emotion flowed from the four of them.

Kuen could see people’s expressions better than the others from the vantage of his greater height. He saw the shock on some faces, the pain on others. There was anger on some though he hoped it wasn’t directed at Fiera for choosing this song. When they finished singing Fiera kept her boys up there. Phelix looked over at his siblings. “Roughlings, get up here. We’re singing ma’s song,” he said.

The rest of the Rezouac family rose and joined them up there. Kuen and Gaspare had learned this song as well. They couldn’t make the range of sounds that the Rezouac siblings could, but they could sing along with the boys. Fiera belted out the song and then turned the spotlight over to someone else.

“I think you made quite a stir, Fury,” Alena said.

“That was the point, Ma,” Fiera said. “I told Nieve I didn’t want to sing. She said she had enough volunteers and food, so I had to perform.”

“What? She was callin’ me this mornin’ beggin’ me t’get my Roughlings t’help out at the festival,” Alena said.

“So she lied to force me to sing,” Fiera said.

“Here she comes,” Kuen said, seeing Nieve over the rest of the crowd.

“Fury, what in the name of all the stars are you playin’ at?” Nieve snapped as soon as she caught up with them. “That song was not fit t’be sung at the festival and you know it.”

“You lied to me, Nieve. You still needed volunteers and you told me you had enough,” Fiera said. “You forced me into singing even though I told you I didn’t want to.”

“Who told you I lied?” Nieve demanded.

“I did,” Alena said. “You called me this mornin’ beggin’ me t’send my Roughlings t’volunteer ‘cause you needed more bodies. You forget Nieve that, married or not, Fury’s one of my Roughlings too.”

Nieve glared at them all and then stormed away. Someone touched Fiera’s shoulder. It was one of the many neighbors of the Rezouac family. “Nieve’s a right vapor brain for makin’ you sing, Fury. That song was beautiful though. You sure it was someone from the Core?” he asked.

“As sure as I’m sitting here. We know who did it, but we can’t do anything about it because that stupid law keeps us trapped here,” Fiera said.

Someone nudged Kuen. “You holdin’ up okay?” one of the other neighbors asked him.

“Not really. But we’re surviving,” Kuen said. “We know they’re still in darkspace so there’s no chance we’ll hear word of them yet. But we still hope to learn something when they reach the Core.”

“Who do you think grabbed them?” the woman asked.

“My mother,” Kuen said. “She always threatened to punish me for marrying a Colony girl. She left a message telling us that she was the one who took them.”

“That’s awful,” the woman said.

By the end of the night, it had spread through the entire community how Nieve lied to Fiera to get her to sing, and that Kuen’s mother had kidnapped the twins to punish him for marrying a Colony girl. Everyone was sympathetic and a few people offered to come help on the farm to give Kuen and Fiera a break if they needed it.

“Work is what’s keeping us sane,” Fiera said to the ones who’d offered. “But we can still use the help. We can’t offer much in trade right now except a couple hot meals.”

“We’ll take that, if we can get a promise of trade from your garden and greenhouse,” one of the men said.

Kuen grinned, though it was dark enough he knew the man probably wouldn’t be able to see it. “We can definitely offer that.”

“Fair deal then,” the man said. “We’ll be out there first thing in the mornin’, Fury.”

“See you then.” Fiera slipped her arm through Kuen’s. “This has been a better evening than I thought it would be.”

Lt. Coltrin approached them. “If you’d like, I can take you home,” she said. “We’ve been given permission to take some of the civilians home in our skimmers since it’s so late.”

“Thank you,” Kuen said.

They piled into the military skimmer and Lt. Coltrin took them back out to their farm. “I haven’t heard much from Darkling,” she said. “He’s definitely looking into it though. He’s on a special assignment so he isn’t easy to get a hold of right now. There are a few others in Intel that are helping him though and as soon as we hear anything I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks, Lt. Coltrin,” Kuen said. “You have no idea how much this means to us.”

“You can’t do it yourselves. You need someone who cares to do it for you. We do care, Kuen. Well, some of us do at least. We’re trying our best to help where we can,” Lt. Coltrin said. “Did you know High Admiral Seaton knows about the kidnapping? I don’t know who told her – I certainly didn’t – but she’s looking into it on her own end to see if she can cite Michi Nakano with something so she can get the girls back to you. The High Command is not happy with her. She’s insisting that kidnapping Colony residents is a breach of some kind of law and she’s not going to tolerate it.”

“I didn’t think Seaton would care enough to do anything,” Fiera said.

“Neither did I, to be perfectly honest,” Lt. Coltrin said. “She’s surprising us all.”

“I’m glad she’s doing something useful with her time,” Gaspare said.

“She’s been the main driving force behind pushing the CAF to fight back against the Assembly,” Lt. Coltrin said. “She’s been looking into some interesting things, and she found out the annexation was illegal to begin with. The charter that governs the CWA forbids annexation of worlds who declare independence due to some clause in it. I overheard her yelling at High Admirals Aceves and Mercado about it over the comm one day the last time she was here.”

“The annexation was illegal to begin with?” Fiera asked.

“That’s what she said. I’ve been trying to read through the charter in my free time, but it’s written in a very archaic legal language that makes it hard for me to understand. I’m getting my wife to read it through though. This is more her style of thing anyway. She’s legal aid on Diopra. She says she’s finding all sorts of interesting things the Assembly’s done lately that’s illegal based on the charter,” Lt. Coltrin said.

“How interesting,” Kuen said. “Can anyone access the charter, Lt. Coltrin?”

“It’s a public document,” Lt. Coltrin said. “You could download it if you wanted to.”

“I think I will. It’ll give me something to work on in the evenings,” Kuen said. “Any distraction right now is helpful.”

“I hope you’ll be able to understand it better than I did,” Lt. Coltrin said. “I don’t have any legal background so that’s probably why it doesn’t make sense to me.”

“I don’t have much of a legal background, but I spent a few years reading the political documents presented to the Assembly by my mother. I might not be able to understand it all, but I hope to get at least a basic knowledge of what those who founded the Central Worlds Alliance meant for it to be when they settled there,” Kuen said.

They reached the farm and Kuen gave Lt. Coltrin a small basket of vegetables for her trouble. She thanked him and left. Kuen went to the comm and checked the available public documents. He found the charter was available for download. He set it to process and followed Fiera up to bed.

He held her close as she cried herself to sleep. Staring into the darkness didn’t help him drift off but neither did his usual methods of calming his mind. He simply could not settle. Once he was sure she was asleep he went downstairs to check the download. It was only a quarter of the way done. He walked the house, checking doors, windows, and appliances. He stepped outside and checked the perimeter fence and the gate.

He went back inside to find Gaspare waiting for him. “I heard you moving around,” he said quietly. “Flicks is out cold.”

“So is Fury,” Kuen said. “At least, I hope she is.”

“Want to talk?” Gaspare asked.

Kuen gestured to the couch and the two men sat down. “I hate feeling helpless,” he said.

“I know you do. That has always been one of the few things you despised,” Gaspare said. “I saw it when we rescued Fiera and I’ve been watching it tear you apart now with your girls.”

“Gaspare, I can’t save my girls from my mother,” Kuen said. “I can’t go after them myself because of that law she rammed through the Assembly. I’m having to rely on the CAF, an entity I have no faith in, to find and rescue my daughters for me.”

“It’s more than that, isn’t it?” Gaspare asked.

Kuen was silent for a few seconds. “I failed them, Gaspare. I failed my wife. I failed my daughters. I didn’t protect them from her,” Kuen said, letting out the emotions he’d been holding in for so long. “I should have found other ways of keeping the Devas out. I could have warned Flicks not to turn off the grid at any time. I knew they were master infiltrators. I needed to do more, and I didn’t.”

“What could we have done without risking getting put in the DC, Kuen?” Gaspare asked. “We had the best security system we’re allowed on this planet. We took what precautions we could. Yes, Flicks could have left the grid on but please remember we found one of the panels disabled. It wouldn’t have mattered. They’d have gotten in anyway.”

“I know there was more we could have done,” Kuen said, slamming his fist into the couch.

“You think I’m not thinking these same things, Kuen?” Fiera asked from the bottom of the stairs. “I woke up and you weren’t there. I figured you’d be down here.” Her voice cracked. “I’ve been kicking myself, asking what if we’d never started taking the littles to play outside. Or what if we’d put the security grid into the playpen fence too. Or what if we’d done…I don’t know what else. It’s driving me insane, Kuen.”

Kuen stood up and walked over to his wife. He held her close. She wrapped her arms around him and held him in that bone cracking grip. He let her hold him as tight as she needed to. Gaspare nodded and left them alone. “I miss them so much,” Kuen whispered, letting her see his tears.

“I want them back so bad it hurts,” Fiera said, her tears dampening his nightshirt.

The two stood there for several minutes, just holding each other and crying. Kuen finally led her over to the couch where the two of them sat down. Then Kuen began talking to her. He told her of his insecurities over not protecting her and the twins. She listened and then told him of her similar feelings. The two talked for several hours before finally passing out from sheer exhaustion on the couch.

Phelix woke them the next morning when he started cooking. “Which one of you wants to be on child duty today?” he asked. “We’ve got farm hands coming to help us so even if the other is too tired to do much except play in the dirt, we’ll get some work done. Make sure whichever gets child duty naps with Pascal and Gael though.”

“You’d think he needed to parent us as much as he does his own littles,” Kuen said with a yawn.

“I swear I do some days,” Phelix said with a half-smile. “You two are as bad as the littles for not doing what I expect you to.”

Fiera rubbed her eyes and glared at her brother. “We were up late talking.”

“Something you two should have been doing from the start. You’re worse than me and Gaspare for keeping things to yourselves and not sharing with your partner,” Phelix said.

“He has a point,” Kuen said.

“I know he does,” grumbled Fiera. “I just don’t like admitting that without coffee.”

Phelix brought her a cup as Kuen stifled a chuckle. He got up and stretched, feeling his spine and shoulders pop. “I’m going to see if Gaspare’s in the shower,” he said.

“He shouldn’t be. Last I saw he was getting the littles dressed,” Phelix said.

“Which do you want, Fury?” Kuen asked. “Littles or farm work?”

“I’ll work the fields. You mind the littles,” Fiera said, yawning. She sipped her coffee. “Go get your shower.”

Kuen went upstairs and was met with the worst smell coming from Gael’s room. He poked his nose in and saw a very familiar looking mess. He grinned and knew Gaspare would be in bathing Gael. He stripped the bed of its soiled sheets and blankets. He grabbed the cleaning supplies they kept in a locked closet upstairs and cleaned the crib and wall.

Gaspare came out with a disgusted look on his face and a clean, giggling daughter. He saw Kuen putting away the cleaning supplies. “Did you just clean up that disaster she left me?” Gaspare asked.

“I did. Laundry’s been bundled into the basket so all you have to do is take it down and toss it in the machine. I’m letting the cleaning solution dry thoroughly before I remake her bed,” Kuen said. “Did you leave me and Fury any hot water?”

“I think so. I just whacked the button twice and scrubbed her fast,” Gaspare said. “She didn’t enjoy it, but I wasn’t setting her in the bathtub covered in that muck.”

“I don’t blame you,” Kuen said. “Put her sleepsuit on backwards so she can’t get her hands on the fasteners. That’s how we did it with the twins.”

“I don’t remember Pascal doing this,” Gaspare grumbled as he walked downstairs.

Kuen walked into the bathroom and cleaned the remnants of Gael’s shower out before taking his. Fiera wandered in a few minutes later. “I caught a whiff of cleaning chemicals in the hall,” she said as he dried off.

“Gael discovered the joys of finger painting,” Kuen said.

Fiera made a face. “Did you give Gaspare the trick to preventing it from happening a second time?”

“I did. There should be enough hot water for your shower,” Kuen said.

“Flicks is almost done with breakfast, so I’ll be quick,” Fiera said.

Kuen dressed while Fiera showered. He went and got her clothes for her while she dried off. She smiled appreciatively when he brought them in and dressed before the two walked downstairs together. Breakfast was oatmeal with berries, bacon, toast, fruit, and honey butter. They ate with a will. Fiera kissed Kuen before joining the other two men as they went out to help with the fieldwork.

Kuen looked at Pascal. “What do you want to do this morning?”

Pascal looked at him, his young face very serious. “Want to play wrestle with you.”

Kuen knew why Pascal looked so sad. He hadn’t been able to do that since the girls were taken. Kuen swallowed hard. “We’ll go outside and try it, Pascal. I may not be able to do it for long, but I will wrestle with you for a while.”

“Okay,” Pascal said, his smile bursting forth like the sun from behind a cloud.

Kuen picked Gael up, wiped her face off, and carried her outside. Pascal kept close to his uncle. They reached the children’s play area and Kuen took them both inside. He secured the gate and then placed Gael in her special swing. He got down on his hands and knees and for an hour he was able to wrestle with Pascal. He even got some fighting training in, something that seemed more important now than before. “Okay Pascal, I think I’m done,” Kuen said, sitting back on his heels.

Pascal climbed up on his thighs and wrapped his arms around Kuen’s neck. “Okay. Can I play in the sand box?”

“Of course. I think Gael would like the sand box too, if we can keep her from eating the sand,” Kuen said, grinning.

“No eat. Play,” Gael said, holding out her arms.

Kuen caught Pascal off guard and slung him over his shoulder. The boy squealed in delight as Kuen unfastened Gael with his free hand and scooped her up. They walked over to the next area to play.

The sandbox was a huge container of super fine sand that was easily manipulated into shapes when a trickle of water was added. It took far less hydration than most sand did to create the same shapes and had been one of the few investments they’d put in after Pascal was born to give the children something tactile to play with. It was especially fun for them after a good, soaking rain because the sand was incredibly pliable and could be molded into many shapes.

A little water was poured into a patch of sand. Gael and Pascal happily made shapes, dug holes, and Pascal even helped his sister make a mound with a face. After the sand started drying out again Kuen took them inside, got them cleaned up, and set them down in front of one of the educational holos they often used to keep the children distracted while the adults worked.

Kuen cleaned up from breakfast before running upstairs to fix Gael’s bed. He came back down and switched the bedding to the drying unit. He looked over their food stores and decided on chops, potatoes, and salad for lunch.

He whipped up a marinade for the chops and set them to rest while he chopped the vegetables and sliced the potatoes. “Unca Kuen,” Pascal called.

“Yes Pascal?”

“Does my da love my daddy?” Pascal asked.

Kuen turned to look at his nephew. “Of course he does. Why do you ask?”

“I heard someone say at the festival that ‘cause daddy is crippled my da only likes him ‘cause he’s Aunt Fury’s brother,” Pascal said.

“Pascal, that is the meanest thing someone can say about Flicks and Gaspare. Your da loves your daddy very much,” Kuen said. He left lunch preparation behind and went to sit next to his nephew. Pascal crawled into Kuen’s lap.

“They also said da really wanted Aunt Fury so that’s why he got her to be the one to give up her eggs to make me and Gael,” Pascal said. “Aren’t we da and daddy’s littles?”

Kuen winced. Pascal was a bit young to be getting this talk, and it would be better coming from one of his fathers, but it seemed it would have to be dealt with now. “Pascal, it takes both a male and a female to produce littles. So yes, your Aunt Fury did help by providing genetic material – same as your da did – for you. And your Aunt Minnie carried you so you could be born. But don’t let them confuse you. Your da and your daddy are your parents. No one else.”

“Does da love Aunt Fury?” Pascal asked.

“Do you love Gael?” Kuen asked.

“Yes,” Pascal said.

“Your da loves Aunt Fury like you love Gael. She is his sister. That’s all they will ever be to each other,” Kuen said.

“So da won’t leave daddy and marry Aunt Fury when you get tired of her?” Pascal asked.

Kuen ground his teeth together. What were these idiots spewing in the hearing range of the littles? “Pascal, I will never get tired of being married to your aunt. I love her and while some people do get tired of those they’re married to, I won’t. Fury and I made that promise to each other when we got married. Just like your da and daddy promised to stay together until they died. And we don’t break our promises.”

“Will Nafi and Lao ever come home, Unca Kuen?” Pascal asked, looking up to the shelf where Laoise’s doll sat.

“Yes, Pascal. Some friends have promised to help us bring them home. The bad lady who looks like a doll made it so your Aunt Fury and I can’t go after them without being blown up. So they’re doing what we can’t,” Kuen said.

“I want Nafi and Lao home now, Unca Kuen. I miss them,” Pascal said, tears slipping down his cheeks.

“Your Aunt Fury and I miss them too, Pascal,” Kuen said, hugging the boy. “Being patient is very hard sometimes, even for grownups. Right now we have to be even more patient than we’ve ever been.”

Kuen rocked Pascal until his crying fit ended. He settled back down to watch the holo and Kuen made a mental note to warn Gaspare and Phelix what some in town were saying about the two of them. He got up and went back to fixing lunch. Once everything was ready, he put the children in their chairs and rang the klaxon.