It took a month before life settled into its new rhythms. The Elder Defenders had been prepared to train their charges, but discovered shortly that they needed no help whatsoever. As had been seen before, and expected, theirs was one of those generations that hit the ground running and had it together out the gate. Rather than be disappointed, the Elder Defenders were more than happy to hand over protecting duties of Reagan and LeAnn to their own Defenders and have one less thing to worry about.
The announcements had to be made, of course, about the finding of the Resurrection Era Defenders as well as the finding and adoption of the Era's Rulers. The latter would not be so surprising, considering Racine had kicked that off, but Shanae and Sayena ran into the issue of LeAnn and Reagan putting their feet down and wanting to be known as Defenders as well, because Tasia had told them they could fight if needed. The queens finally threw their hands in the air and decided the secret had been one for long enough. If anything, potential risk to the High Queens and Princesses as a whole might go down at knowing all had Masks. Still, since it was Tasia's fault, they made her write the proclamation.
Storm, who had been in public university, was moved instead to the smaller private university on Delphinium that was where LeAnn also took her advanced classes. The private university was specifically for people of upper classes, including many from beyond Blossom Field, so it had a smaller population overall plus more protections. Emily also enrolled, and so did Ryan, and both savored the freedom to learn all they had wanted to learn.
It also took barely a month before it became very obvious that, as thought, the Resurrection Cultivators truly were—in all ways but blood—the children of the Rebirth Cultivators. Love did not have to grow between parent and child, or child and parent. It already existed. Emily and Ryan alike did not wholly know how to handle the sudden having of parents, but it took only a short time before Ryan had become secure enough in his relationship with Delilah and Ulyen that he asked to have a suite in their wing of the castle because he wanted to be with his parents more.
Emily proved to be so very much like Arista that she did not bother with formality. She simply marched into her parents' wing and yelled at her mother for not just having Emily moved into the same area. Arista nearly yelled back before realizing she had in fact been called 'Mother' and then could only sit down hard on a chair and try not to cry. Diego solved the problem by dragging Emily over to Arista and then sitting down and cuddling them both. The next day? Emily's suite got moved, and more than one person smiled at hearing the elder Hyacinth Cultivator going head-to-head with her equally stubborn daughter. Turnabout was fair play!
Interestingly, Tasia herself was left a bit unbalanced as well. She honestly did not know how to handle Dane. Yvette had been easy to love, and she actually bore enough resemblance to Olivia in personality and manner that Tasia shortly forgot she had ever had only one mother. She called them both 'Mom' within days, and bemused many people because they always knew which she referenced even without context.
Dane, however, knocked her off balance because it had been over twenty years since she had had her birth father in her life, and it felt like finding him again—except better. Tosh was also her father, no mistake, and she loved him with a fierce and powerful emotion, but they did not share a great deal of personality; Storm was actually a lot like him, more than even Raine. In Dane, Tasia could literally see the parts of herself she could not see inside Olivia or Yvette, and her eternal memory quite frankly told her she saw more of herself in Dane than her mothers or Arthur Martine. Realizing she was likely a daddy's girl had been a little bit of a mind trip, and considering how much she had already adjusted and adapted to, it bugged her to not be comfortable.
Dane proved patient. He stepped back and let her work through finding her way to her comfort zone without influencing her. She knew, though, that for all his patience, he was deeply and powerfully hurt because he sensed something wrong in his child that he could not fix, and she spied him more than once fighting an urge to hug or hold her absently in passing, the way most fathers did. Even Diego randomly cuddled Emily, and considering that hugging Emily could be not unlike trying to hug a cactus, it annoyed Tasia she could not just accept Dane the way she wanted and frankly needed.
Rather than let it go—because that was not her style—she decided to take matters into her own hands one of the times she visited Delphinium to see Reagan. After giving a brief tutoring lesson in advanced Vericin, she went looking for her father. She found him in the music room at a piano and scowling a pile of sheet music. He would play a chord, mutter, make notes, and then play it again. She wandered over and then hopped up onto the top of the piano. The motion made him glance up in surprise, and he immediately smiled. "Well, hello! What brings you by?"
"I just wanted to talk to you." She swung a foot lightly, entirely unconcerned to be sitting in a castle in faded denims and sneakers. All of the Lower Princesses and Princes, as the Resurrection Cultivators now got called, were allowed to be as casual as they liked as long as they did not actively act for their kingdom or attend a function. They could continue to live their normal lives as they liked, for it would still be many years until their kingdoms restored. Less than originally suspected, though, for having two Dual Cultivators for each world had suddenly seemed to restore more life. Atmospheric exposure had jumped from a max of ten hours to a max of sixteen almost overnight.
When they did wear their Ruler outfits or don polite manners as required, they did not even try to temper their real personalities. All had found themselves receiving suitor lists, of course, as required of being princesses and princes, though Raine's had been made and immediately closed because of already being engaged. The first brave suitor who had dared approach Princess Emily had found himself being told, in no uncertain terms, to 'screw off'. He had run away, actually, with a good deal of haste.
Perhaps funnier lay in no one having the nerve to approach Iris' future queen at all. There had been interest, to be sure, and more than one person had eyed Tasia wistfully, but the fact that she was a Dual Cultivator—the Lead no less—the High Priestess of Protea, and a sorceress had made any potential suitors lose nerve before ever getting close. After all, they needed to ask permission of the Ruler before approaching their parents to be placed on their list of suitors, so Tasia's list remained empty. That for obvious reasons made her life easier—she had yet to tell anyone she was already married—and it honestly did not bother anyone else. As Veronica herself put it, if a suitor could not have the courage to meet a Lead Defender halfway then they did not deserve her!
Thinking about it made Dane smile. "What did you want to talk about?" He rested his arms on the top of the piano and looked up at Tasia curiously. It still struck him over and over again, the punch of love he had for this woman. He had not fallen over time. It had just happened the moment he met her. When he had expressed his confusion to Evan, his best friend had just smiled and said 'that happens to almost every parent when they see their child for the first time.' If Dane held any regret, it was that he had not been there from her childhood as he should have been. That he had not heard her first word and that he had not seen her first steps. At least Olivia had happily shared the stories with him: the first word had been 'majik' and she had skipped crawling to go right into walking at three months. Which really had been no surprise to learn, given that Yvette had skipped the crawling stage in both of her lives as well. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"Nope. Just bear with me as I try to get around to something that might take me a while." She smiled. "Did you hear Racine's news?"
He grinned. "I was the one who caught Allister before he passed out. Twins. Unbelievable."
"Here I had thought I would be the one with the symbolic rebooting of the lineages since I'll never have a daughter, and Racine and Allister end up with twins. Though, I guess, since Racine and Claret both descend from a set of twins, I guess it might be full circle. Also, we never count Statice, right?"
"Not usually." He ran his fingers lightly over the keys and then played a soft chord. "I know you're uncomfortable with me." He looked up at her again. "Tell me how to make this better, Anastasia."
She blew out a hard breath. "I'm not sure you can, you know? It's inside me. You know, right, that my birth father walked out when I was kid. Meeting you knocked me over. It wasn't like meeting him again. It felt better. I have things in common from my father, things I hate knowing I got from him, but . . . I see more of me in you than I do in anyone else who can claim to be my parent either via blood or power. It unbalanced me to realize I might be a daddy's girl, and more than I ever imagined."
His heart ached. He got to his feet and moved to stand beside her. "Tasia, I know I can't help you muddle through that, but I can tell you that I saw it too. When I saw you the first time, and I heard you sassing Shanae and Sayena, I wanted to laugh. It did not take long for me to see inside you this . . . fascinating and terrifying blend of Yvette and me alongside what you gained from your lineage. My creativity, her intelligence. Her cool head, my willingness to charge in. A frightening blend of our dedication to protecting the ones we love." He smiled. "Her lack of style, and my inability to care what other people think. And, perhaps most terrifying, my ability to plan. I won't lie. I sort of feel as if I can be blamed for your Pattern Mastery."
She found herself smiling. "We're blaming Uncle Navidan for Storm's dose of it."
He hesitated and then caught her ponytail lightly to tug on it affectionately. "No child born of blood to me and Yvette could be more perfect. I don't know what else to tell you. I just know that when I met you, and you smiled at me, I was helplessly in love."
On a long breath, she felt the unbalance fade. "I think that's what I needed to hear. I have a tendency to retreat when I feel awkward or unsure, so . . ." She trailed off at his wry smile. "Oops. You, too?"
"And your mother."
"Mothers," she corrected. "Damn, I was doomed for that one. And being a smartass. I come by that honestly. I'd feel sorry for my team if they didn't need someone to sass them and make them behave themselves. So . . . can I call you 'Dad'? Or if you're being annoying, the more formal 'Father'?"
Tears burned his eyes. "I would be honored." He hesitated as she hopped down off the piano and then went with his instincts and hugged her tightly the way he had wanted to do from the moment he had seen her. "My baby," he said roughly.
She put her head on his shoulder. "I'm not a baby at creeping on twenty-six."
"You could be twenty-six hundred, and you'd be my baby." He let out a breath. His daughter. His and Yvette's. It had taken a while, but he finally had found her. Yvette would cry, and he would probably tear up as well.
"It's not a moment to cry over," she scolded as she leaned back. His brows went up and she grinned. "By the way, Racine and Allister are not the only telepaths. I try not to peek, but all bets are off if I need to know something to help the people I love."
"Okay, you are definitely a daddy's girl."
"I don't think I mind that so much anymore. Wanna show me what you were muttering at?"
And just like that, they were comfortable together. He consigned it to Destiny and let it lie. "Lyrics, which I'm horrible at. I agreed to do a score for a stage theatrical, and the words are not coming to me." He sat down on the piano bench again. "Want to give it a go? I wouldn't mind seeing what sort of collaboration we could make."
"That might be fun. I love theatricals. Theo made me act in some with him while we were at university. Then again, I come by that honestly from several angles I guess. If I leave with some sheet music today, I can have some starter lyrics by the next get together."
Every Saturday evening, without fail, all ten royal families got together to stay up late, watch film theatricals, eat things they shouldn't, and simply have a fun normal time. Shanae had implemented it as part of what she called Operation: Normalcy and they all wholeheartedly concurred. Having her be her true self had made everyone happy, though they all agreed she and Tasia were far too much alike for anyone's health.
"That works for me." He made a show of going through his papers, but he was watching her out the corner of his eye. "I have to admit that I feel a bit awed to be in your presence. I never imagined I would get to meet a Mystic."
"You had to guess it might happen. Jean and Byron were Virtuosos."
"True." His eyes softened. "But I wouldn't mind taking some of the credit myself. Music has always been a big part of my life as a Shaman." Softer, he added, "In the Royal Era, I was actually very close with Liena. She would sing when I played the piano, and she always . . . just felt like a part of my family. She would joke she ought to adopt me and be done with it, though she was barely old enough to be my mother. It feels full circle to be here with you."
"In more ways than you know," she murmured. Something eternally sad filled her eyes as if from a wound that had not healed. "Many mistakes were made back then that only recently have seen promise of being mended."
Her father studied her intently. Every last member of the older generation had noticed that the new Lead Defender suffered the familiar signs of someone torn against her will from a soul mate. LeAnn was fine and whole, and Tasia and Logan had been inseparable for a few days after reuniting, so only one other thing could be wrong. "Tasia."
She shook her head. "I'm sorry I did not say anything sooner, but it . . . it hurts. I think everyone knows already, but I met my lover soul mate on Aria. He could not come with me when I left, but he is trying. He's looking for a way." She managed to smile. "When he finally makes it here, then we will finally be able to make that alliance formal after . . . how many millennia of trying?"
There had been no keeping it a secret that they had been on Aria, not when Tasia's Defender Mark had the small black poppy on it—a feat that had impressed most everyone. No one had realized more than one world could claim the same Cultivator. Yvette had checked Iris personally and also confirmed the suspicion that the Core might well become as Gray as its newest Dual Cultivator. It seemed a prelude to something more, but not even Claret or Racine knew what yet.
"Well, if you feel a need to put that Mystic skill to the test to help him get here, let me know if I can help. I think I'm a strong enough Shaman to support a Mystic."
She smiled. "Of course you are. You're my father."
"Does that mean I and Yvette can give your soul mate an acid test before you accept him as a suitor?"
She snorted softly. "Trust me, that won't be needed."
* * * * *
Beth was getting ready to go out for the day. She put on her favorite dress, the earrings Racine had given her, and took the effort to do slightly fancier makeup than usual. It was time to wage a war of love. She was going to stop being too proud as well. She would find the man that was probably her soul mate and lay it on the line.
She opened the front door of her apartment and stopped short in surprise as she discovered Terry standing on the porch with a hand lifted to knock. His red hair was rumpled from the wind, and the jewel tone of his shirt emphasized his striking beauty. The familiar curl of desire took her breath. He was definitely her soul mate. "Er, hi."
"We need to talk. Are you home alone?"
"I am! Stormy came over for a while earlier to hang out, but he left an hour ago." She found a smile though she still could not read his emotions despite her increased gifts. Strangely enough, he had always been the one person she could never read clearly. She could not blame it on his lineage's majik; she sure read Theo just fine. "Convenient! I was actually going to find you to talk to you as well." She stepped back to let him in and shut the door behind him. On a surge of bravery, she flipped the lock. She turned around as casually as possible and started, "Terry, I—"
The words halted as his hands framed her face and he dragged her off her toes to kiss her with a force and fury that spoke of emotions suppressed for far too long. Her hands fell limply back to her sides as she happily drowned in the greedy hunger consuming her heart and soul and body.
He slowly released her and searched her eyes with an intense blue gaze. "Bethany," he said huskily, "I should've said this years ago but was too scared. I love you. I don't know that I deserve a Dual Cultivator, but I want to be your Caretaker. I . . ." He stopped when she pressed trembling fingers to his lips.
"I've loved you for years," she told him thickly. "I realized while I was gone that you are the other half of my soul, and that I can't keep pretending otherwise. I was coming to find you today to tell you." She framed his beloved face in her hands and smiled. The Mallory brothers looked a fair bit alike, but this one was the only one she had ever wanted. Perhaps the reason she saw Theo as being her brother had as much to do with Terry as their being on the same Cultivator team. "I love you. Now give me a good reason why I shouldn't kick your ass for hiding your emotions from me all these years."
His hands slid down to her hips and then around her waist to draw her closer. She felt as perfect as he had known she would. "Perchance because you hid yours as well? That's what happens when empaths love, Bethany. The more powerfully we feel, the deeper we hide it for fear of pain." He pressed his forehead to hers. "If we drop those shields and share our hearts, it might be rather dangerous. What will happen if years of suppressed love and desire come out, I wonder?"
Her grin came slow and wicked and full of promise. "Something that makes me really glad I live alone. But you do realize I'm now a Dual Cultivator, right, and what that entails as far as laws mean, yes?"
"Can I still take my time deciding how to ask you to marry me? We can be betrothed until I find the perfect rings for our thumbs and then we'll be engaged. We have quite a few years until you're going to take the throne anyway."
She thought about that. "Alright. Deal." She rose up on her toes to kiss him lightly, and she stopped hiding the force of her emotions. The powerful flare of answering love in his eyes shook her, and then her knees almost buckled as the searing wave of his emotions swept over her in turn. She was drowning, but it was the most wonderful feeling she had ever experienced. He dragged her closer and the kiss deepened sharply. Without releasing her, he lifted her and carried her down the hall. His duty as her Caretaker was to keep her happy. He was more than willing to comply. At least he had the advantage of knowing what she wanted, and the luck to want the same thing.
* * * * *
The nice thing about Protea was that the seasons were so mild that people could go ice skating in the summer and sunbathe in the winter. Theo enjoyed the latter more than the former, though he had to slather on sunscreen to keep from getting a sunburn as red as his hair. He was more than willing to take that risk; he had always been drawn to the heat. At least he now knew why.
He had been soaking up the sun for an hour on the back deck of his house before he realized he wanted lemonade. He rolled up to his feet and tugged his sunglasses off. Lemonade and maybe cake. His brother had gone to see Beth, and Theo felt a bit like celebrating. A smidge lonely, perhaps, but celebratory.
"Hey, on shore!" a female voice called.
He turned in surprise and looked at the river rolling past his house. He could see the dock perfectly from his perch on the second-floor deck, and he noticed immediately that a woman had just tied off a small boat. He recognized her, actually. She was new to the city, and he had seen her around town a few times. She was ridiculously beautiful with coal colored skin, honey brown hair, and dark blue eyes. A little taller than Theo, with a gently curved figure and mild muscle tone. He mentally sighed wistfully. Each time he saw her, his pulse merrily entered a rapid nine-note beat. "Ahoy on dock," he called down to her. "You lost?"
"Actually, I need directions. I'm looking for a handsome man." She smiled up at him with her hands tucked in her denims pockets.
Damn it, she wasn't single. That was not fair of Destiny if she was his soul mate. He hated the idea of hexing a perfectly nice boy. He would do it, sure, but he wouldn't like it. "Hmm. That covers a lot of ground in my circle. What's his name?"
"I don't know yet. What's yours?" She grinned when he laughed at her. She had seen him relaxing from her boat, and the temptation to finally speak to him had finally gotten the best of her. She had been watching him from afar for two weeks, and her need to be closer to him had only grown stronger. There was just something about him that tugged at her heart and soul. And body. He seemed to be fire incarnate inside her blood, and she had a feeling she could far too easily love him. "I'm sorry if that was too blatant."
"Don't be. I found it flattering." He smiled. "Come join me for lemonade."
* * * * *
Time continued to go past. Several months, in fact. In May of Resurrection Year 27, Racine gave birth to fraternal twins. The first to be born proved to be the sister, and she came into life with the familiar, full, Flower Mark of Statice on her tiny chest. Her brother who was born only a few minutes later had the familiar empty outline of a Deactivated Cultivator of Statice. They had a lighter bronze tone than their mother's skin, their father's green eyes, and their mother's mink brown hair. Claret and Sabin got to share the distinction of being the first Cultivator-Caretaker pair in Blossom to ever meet their grandchildren, and all agreed no one deserved it more.
Just a month later, Tasia found herself lying awake one night only to be hit by the feeling of something being off. She had been in residence at the Delphinium Kingdom, and she hastily threw on the first clothes she found before transporting herself directly to the Protea Castle. She ran through the sleeping structure until she reached the wing where the Daffodil Royal Family had their rooms. She did not bother to knock; she walked right in. "Aunt Kacey?"
Kacey looked at her from where she had been sitting in a chair, and she winced. "I don't know what's going on. I've been in labor most of today, very subtly, but there's something . . . off right now. I guess I'm not surprised you noticed. Oh!" She winced again. "Okay, that hurt."
"Where's Uncle Talon?" Tasia moved to her side and spread a hand across her large belly.
"He went to get me some tea." Her entire body relaxed as wonderful majik brought relief. "You . . . fixed something. Whatever was wrong. What was it?"
"Hard to say, but your son likes my majik." She smiled. "Well, no surprise, really. Alright. Let's get you to the hospital. Or do you want home birth? Raine, and I, and Sayena should be able to handle everything."
"Hospital. I am not ashamed to say I prefer the comfort of medical science as much as magic or majik." She smiled as Talon burst in the door. "It's fine. Go wake our daughter and then call Sayena. Tasia can escort me to the hospital."
Talon frowned. "Can't I escort you and she go get our eldest?"
"You don't have majik."
"Okay, fair enough." He dashed out the door.
Solemnly, Kacey told Tasia, "I am praying that we get another like Raine, who is more me than Talon. We won't know what to do with one more like Talon than me!"
"Baby proof everything and pray, mostly."
Sayena and Raine rousted rather quickly under the circumstances, and the doctor took over as primary care for Kacey while Raine and Tasia acted as her nurses and assistants. It was still closer to mid-morning before the baby was finally born, and by then both kingdoms had been alerted as to the happenings. Robert kept Talon company in the hall so he didn't have a nervous meltdown, and Evan and Shanae remained at the castles to hold down things.
Devin Daffodil came into the world kicking, screaming, and extremely unhappy about the entire situation, but as soon as Tasia took him to get him cleaned up, he ceased crying instantly and instead stared at her with rapt attention. He remained contentedly quiet even after being given to Kacey. If anything, he liked that more and snuggled against his mother's heart.
"Interesting how strongly he responds to you, Tasi," Sayena murmured as she tended to Kacey. "Considering."
Devin had never been expected to be an Activated Ruler Cultivator because of Raine being one. They had expected him to be Deactivated, though. Unexpectedly, curiously, he was not that either. The newborn prince did not have a Seed at all—but he did still possess an incredible amount of easily sensed power of some sort. Not even Tasia could quite put her finger on what he had. "He has something special in his destiny, though," she said as she watched. "And he's the first real evidence of the danger of the lineages. Even with Uncle Talon being intergalactic, Devin does not have a Seed at all." She smiled. "He did get to break the tradition of coloring though, since he got Uncle Talon's cornflower hair." He otherwise had Kacey's copper eyes, and a lighter version of her brown skin.
Raine tickled Devin's cheek and then smiled at Kacey. "I like this whole new life of mine. I got myself two more parents and another brother all at the same time."
Kacey smiled as well. "I think we're all enjoying it more than ever before, too."
©Stacy J. Garrett. Do not reprint or redistribute without permission.
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