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this gift to you in thanks for saving Princess Odelia.
Please accept this honor for your selfless courage.
Holy Mothers! Heria s eyes went round in surprise, and she whispered,
They re beautiful!
She took the case and turned so her family could see. An engraved rifle and
matching pistols lay in the case, each in a compartment lined with velvet.
There was a moment of stunned silence, and then a roar of approval.
After several minutes. Eldest called for order, had Heria put up the gun case,
and commanded the family to dinner. Everyone sat, but, with the exception of
baby Kai and little Liam, ignored the food, gazing expectantly at Eldest and
Raven.
Eldest broached the subject as it became apparent that no one was going to eat
until the course of the future was plotted. I ve talked to my sisters. We re
going to accept the Queens offer. We haven t decided who will go.
This triggered cries of Take me. take me from all the youngest. The middle
sisters looked silently wistful, except for a sullen Corelle, who was still in
extreme disfavor and unlikely to go.
We haven t decided, Eldest repeated firmly. We expect our mothers any day.
I would feel better if they were here before I left with any of my sisters.
I m leery of leaving the farm shorthanded of adults.
Captain Tern nodded. I have business in Heron Landing. We re still trying to
find the Prophets. I m checking back with the Queens Justice to see if any
more information has surfaced on the thieves. Raven glanced meaningfully to
Jerin. I thought you would need a few days before sending your brother out to
be married.
With a sudden ring of silver on china, Doric dropped his fork on his plate.
Jerin won t be coming back, will he? Once he goes off to get married?
I ll be back, Jerin said with careful cheerfulness. It will be just like
our cousins. You ll see me from time to time.
I don t want Jerin to go away like Papa did! Bunny, the littlest of the
youngest sisters, suddenly wailed.
Papa died, honey. Jerin reached across the table to pat her. I m not going
to die. I m just going to live at someone else s house.
No! Bunny cried, ducked under the table, and scrambled up into his lap. I
don t want you to go!
It triggered a wave of crying little girls. Most of the youngest over five
years old managed to contain themselves. The three- and four-year-olds,
though, could not be consoled.
He hugged them, four and five to an armful, rocking them. Hush, hush, this is
a wonderful day for the
Whistlers. We shouldn t be crying. We should be happy and celebrating. The
words were like ash in his mouth, but to show his own pain would only make his
little sisters unhappier. I know let s forget about dinner and make ice cream
and cake.
Ice cream?
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Cake?
Maple ice cream and pound cake, Jerin said firmly. Come on, let s go into
the kitchen and start making them.
You ll have to excuse the family, Eldest murmured to Captain Tern as Jerin
herded the sniffling girls toward the kitchen. We lost our father early this
spring, and our mothers have been gone several weeks.
The little ones are fragile at the moment.
Captain Tern waved away the apology as unnecessary. They re just babies. They
seem to love their brother well.
Jerin has lots of patience with them, Eldest said.
Patience is invaluable in a husband, Captain Tern said. Children need a
nurturing hand to grow them into strong women. His wives will be lucky. Tell
me, how did your father die so young? Heart failure?
No, no, it was an accident. Eldest sighed. He slipped on icy steps and
fell. He struck his head&
Jerin was glad when the kitchen door swung closed, shutting off that quiet
conversation. Tonight would not be a good time for him to have those wounds
opened by the recounting of their father s prolonged death.
Captain Tern rode out after a breakfast of dinner leftovers, promising to
return at dusk. Jerin waited until his youngest sisters were deeply entrenched
in their morning chores before he started to pack; there was no need to give
them fresh reminders that he was leaving.
His wedding chest would go with him. He took everything out and repacked it
carefully for the trip, mindful it would be shifted and possibly dropped. He
used his wedding linens to pad the bone china tea set his mothers had bought
for him on his twelfth birthday. There would be no way to foretell the quality
and wealth of his future wives, his mothers had stated as he d unwrapped the
expensive gift, but his children should be raised with manners befitting the
blood of the Queens. At that time, his grandfather, Prince Alannon, and two of
his thieving spies of grandmothers were still alive, and they laughed until
tears came to their eyes.
He kept out three of the silver engraved spoons stolen from the Castle
Tastledae, and three of four tintypes he had of Prince Alannon. These he
divvied into his younger brothers wedding chests so they each would have
something from their royal grandfather. Another generation or two, and there
would be nothing to share out but memories.
He took only his best clothes, leaving behind his work clothes for Doric.
Lastly he packed the items about his room that he wanted to keep, leaving only
his quilt out, to be added on the day he left.
He sat staring at the now stark room. What was he forgetting?
His birth certificate!
The family records box sat in the corner of the parlor, firmly locked against
little fingers. The key was kept on the high trim piece of the window beside
it. Jerin no longer had to stretch to reach the key, which surprised him.
The first piece of paper was the death certificate for their father. Jerin set
it quickly aside. Under it was baby Kai s birth certificate, which Jerin
lingered over to erase the jolt of pain that the death certificate had put
through him.
Kai Whistler, male child born to Bliss Whistler and fathered by husband Tullen
Beadwater from Bowling
Green. Grandchild of Nida Whistler and husband Alannon (ancestry documented
but uncertified).
Great-grandchild of Kei Whistler & Order of the Sword crib captive named
Gerard, #458.
Great-great-grandchild of Allysen Whistler & Order of the Sword crib captive
Kyle, number unknown.
No other lineage known.
A family copy, it was stamped and sealed with reference numbers of where the
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original was stored. Also indicated was where the marriage records for their
mothers and grandmothers could be found.
Jerin leafed down through the birth certificates, layered youngest to oldest,
till he came to his own.
Jerin Whistler, male child born to Mother Elder Whistler and fathered by
husband Tullen Bead-water from Bowling Green. Grandchild of Tea Whistler and
husband Alannon (ancestry documented but uncertified). Great-grandchild of Jo
Whistler & Order of the Sword crib captive named Harrid, number unknown.
Great-great-grandchild of Mother Elder Whistler & Order of the Sword crib
captive, name and number unknown: tattoo initial of . No other lineage known.
T
If not for their father and grandfather, Jerin suddenly realized, he wouldn t
be blood related to Kai at all.
He thumbed through the others, noticing for the first time how odd his family
was once all the bloodlines were assembled. His ten grandmothers were divided
among five crib fathers, and no two shared the same birth mother. None of his
great-grandmothers represented by their surviving daughters even shared the
same crib fathers; they seemed to be nine strangers sharing a family name.
Lifting out the records of his mothers generation, he studied his
grandmothers papers underneath. They were dog-eared, much folded, and largely
incomplete. One even had an elaborate map inked on its back. The birth
certificates recorded birth mother and father, and most had a birth
grandmother named.
Often for grandfather, the records stated, Order of the Sword crib captive,
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