Gratuitous Epilogue

12 - November

November 20

Kiddie-palooza

Siame and Rye’s birthday this month. Siame went home to Tare briefly for hers (proving a point, I think, though Kaoren didn’t try and stop her).

Rye’s twelfth birthday was a few days ago (in Earth-time it will be a little later each year, which is very confusing to me), and we had our first party on Arcadia since everything got really snowy. Arcadia’s been nicely de-snowed and everything’s all over with flowers or buds on trees and it’s very nice in the middle of the day, though still nippy at night. Rye wanted a swimming party, much like his first one, except with all his new friends involved, and I’d decided to make it a relatively large party. Lots of kids, First, Second and Fourth – and Third and Twelfth who have finally been rostered here (some of them have moved their families here, but unlike the senior squads they can’t choose a permanent Muina assignment just yet).

It was a big guest list, and I’d decided to do a hangi and was rather anxious about how it would turn out. Uncle Steve (Aunt Bet’s husband) had introduced hangis to our family and it had become a holiday tradition, but I’d never actually done any of the technical stuff myself. I’d visualised myself a manual (I very tediously have to ask permission to do the smallest thing now), and Kaoren helped me experiment with finding the right sort of rocks, and we’d prepared a small pit a week beforehand for a mini test run, and that had worked out quite nicely (Siame stopped looking at me as if I was insane after we’d sampled the small amount of food I’d cooked, anyway, and Zan and Kiste who were my guards for the day were very complimentary about the flavour). Kaoren – pretty much everybody – was fascinated by the idea of burying your food to cook it, though most everyone’s initial reaction was total incredulity, which was very funny. After hearing about it, an awful lot of our guests wanted to come over early to see us assemble the larger pit, and so Rye ended up having something of a party for breakfast as well as for lunch. Thankfully it all worked very well, with that real fall apart texture for the food, and a delicious smoky touch. Of course it made the news, though not immediately, which suggests that none of the people who attended is a direct news source. I got quite a few fascinated queries via KOTIS from cooks wanting to know how to do this, so I’ve given them a translation of the manual.

I had an interesting time sourcing food close to what I’ve known used in hangis in the past. KOTIS makes sure that vat-grown food production keeps ahead of immigration, but the population has been increasing far faster than farm output can currently manage – and sparking lots of debate about opening up the platforms to use them for freight and casual day-tripping rather than making people wait for air-ship transport. I managed to get a pile of patta (yam-things that taste a lot like sweet potato but are more purply in colour) and this weird fruit the greysuits had recommended for cultivation which looks a bit like a zucchini the size of a coconut, and is rock-solid inside, but really delicious like a mix between mashed potato and bread when it’s baked. And also purple carrots, and some varieties of onion, and also pretty much a whole lamb, and two pigsies (the pint-sized striped brown pigs which are so common everywhere – another of the animals where the name I call them has become common usage) and some spicy sausages. And I had quite a few volunteers to make side-dishes and desserts among those dropping by at breakfast.

We’d done most of the preparation beforehand – scooped out the pit and assembled the firewood and soaked the closest approximation I could find to Hessian sacks and had the food all ready to go (raiding Rye’s herb terrarium) – and Kaoren had gone down just before dawn with Par and Glade and set the fire so that by the time we were done with breakfast it was about time to bury everything. Maze and Alay were early arrivals, and were enjoying themselves making a fuss of Rye, when Zee, Ketz, Mara and Jeh arrived all in a group, carrying various food offerings. Sen, busy trying to peek under the cover of the dish Maze and Alay had brought, froze at the sight of them and then it was like she lifted herself up on strings – coming totally alive and bouncing on the seat of the chair she’d been kneeling on and inhaling in this incredibly excited way as if working up to an explosion of joy. And then she caught herself, and stood there looking like she’d been found with her hand in the cookie jar, all frozen and guilty and yet still bubbling with excitement. She very abruptly hopped off her chair and dashed to where I was stacking the dishwasher from breakfast, pulled me down and whispered: "Is it a secret?" urgently into my ear.

I managed to resist saying: "Not any more" – all the senior Setari know by now how Sen had announced Alay’s pregnancy. I also knew that Ketzaren had been talking about trying for a baby and I wished I could find a way to get Sen to think before she acts when she’s excited. She at least had tried, though, so I patted her head and said: "I don’t know. Maybe you should go somewhere private and ask?"

Sen immediately dashed around to where everyone was putting their dishes down and to my complete surprise grabbed Zee’s hand, but Sen wasn’t finished and hauled Zee across and told her "Zee talk Cassandra now," and then gleefully insisted that Jeh, Ketz and Mara come look at the canopy we’d put up over her bed. Ketzaren told me later that she’d then hauled each of them separately into her bathroom and demanded: "Is baby a secret?" All three of them were looking pretty stunned when they came back, but so happy – Mara disappeared off to find Lohn, and Jeh and Ketz came to laugh about it with me and Zee. I was a bit surprised about Jeh, since I gather she’s 100% only into girls, but I guess maybe Grif found a turkey baster for her or something – I’ve never enquired too deeply into the exact complexities of their relationship. They were apparently all only a few days along and didn’t know they’d conceived. Zee’s reaction had been the best – for a moment there Sen really had her wondering if her contraception had failed. Sen spent the rest of the day pouncing on Alay, Jeh, Ketz and Mara at random intervals, hugging them and going "Happy baby!" Except with Mara she kept going "Happy baby baby baby!" so I eventually asked Kaoren if Mara was having triplets and he nodded. Mara figured this out and asked Kaoren as well and he told her it’s two boys and a girl and after that she and Lohn went pretty quiet. Even happier, though, I think.

Sen is a tremendously transparent Macchiavelli. But she’s going to be scary once she has some vague ability to be subtle.

Baby excitements distracted everyone thoroughly while Kaoren and I were assembling the hangi, but that was a good thing in my eyes anyway, and soon we had a faintly-steaming piece of ground and everyone went away to calm down. Kaoren and I had another little talk with Sen, but not a very stern one since she did try not to give away anyone’s secrets. I did get a chance to talk to Mara just before they were heading back and gave her a hug and told her that she always does things so thoroughly. She tweaked my nose.

Later that day when all the kids came across for the party, Shar seemed pleased for them both, but Fein fairly subdued and both Enna and Deal showed signs of being upset and trying to hide it. Deal reverted to clinging to Zar. I’m glad I’ll have had my four a good long time before any question of being pregnant myself comes up.

Rye’s birthday was also our cautious introduction to two new Setari adoptees. Maze and Alay, now that they’ve moved into their house, had decided to adopt a boy and a girl, but only after having a few discussions with me, and me having a very careful discussion with Ys and Rye. The problem was mainly Lianzrenar, who is one of the few other survivors from House Renar – the only one at the talent school.

The important part was how Ys and Rye felt about Lianz. Maze and Alay like him, and wanted to take care of him, but there were other kids they liked and Ys and Rye are far too important to them for them to adopt someone who had been directly or indirectly involved in traumatising my kids. I think if they’d asked a year ago, back around when the talent school was first established, having anything to do with Lianz on a social basis would have been too distressing for Ys and Rye. But I’m very pleased with how they reacted – a bit of startled discomfort, but then one or two positive comments about Lianz generally. The removal of the scars on their backs made a huge difference to Ys and Rye’s attitude toward Nurans. They don’t automatically like or trust anyone from Nuri, but they no longer have the weight of a shameful secret to hide. And so the possibility that Lianz might know is no longer is a bogeyman to them. From what I saw of him during the party, he’s a shy sort of kid, super-obedient and inclined to blush and be anxious and avoid the spotlight. I’m willing to bet that he didn’t have too great a time in House Renar either – no-one in a household run by a sadist would be likely to.

Their other choice, Karasayen, was a challenging prospect for a slightly different reason. She was a first child of a powerful house, one which has numerous survivors, and though she’s by no means a nasty kid, she is one very much used to being deferred to, to having her opinion taken into account, and to assuming command. I remember very well meeting her that first day of talent school, and really wishing she wasn’t commenting graciously on my kindness in taking on Sen’s servants. A real A-type personality, she was also one of the main opponents of interface installation within the school, at least until Rye’s attitude changed her mind, and then she strongly influenced people in the opposite direction. She’s smart, and strong, and rather fixated on the idea of being a Setari.

And she also hasn’t been adopted. Alay told me that at the end of the school day when all the adopted children are collected or head off home Kara very clearly demonstrates how little not being collected bothers her. Indifference underlined and oh, so painful. The fewer unadopted kids remain, the more the fact begins to sting, and there are very few unadopted kids at the talent school now – mainly older ones who are nearly adults. Karasayen and Lianzrenar are both thirteen, and I suspect Maze and Alay will be good for them in a lot of ways.

I am always very careful to keep an eye on any Nurans who come to Arcadia, to make sure that Ys and Rye don’t feel that their territory is being invaded, and to ensure that no-one even momentarily considers looking down on them. I’m not very fierce about many things, but no matter what cultural expectations anyone might have, or how traumatised they’ve been, I won’t tolerate people treating my kids as some kind of underclass.

No dramas, though. Rye (who is just the sweetest kid) decided to take Lianz under his wing, and Lianz revealed an interest in Rye’s gardens (possibly why Maze was so taken with him). They weren’t exactly comfortable with each other, but by the end of the party Lianz didn’t seem quite so stressed. Kara was a bit like Shar had been – and spent a fair amount of time talking to him – staying in visiting dignitary mode except when startled. She does seem to be quite close to Alay, though, and went rather pink during a private conversation, and looked at least briefly happy. Sen didn’t act overly concerned by her – no hugs, but no flinching – so I decided to relax.

Sen’s nightmares have cooled down a bit, and her main preoccupation at the moment is being a witch. I’ve subtitled a few Miyasakis for the kids, and Ys repeatedly watches Spirited Away, while Sen is devoted to Kiki’s Delivery Service, has decided she’s a witch, insists on being called Kiki, and keeps trying to ride about on a broom she had Ys make for her. With requisite cat stuffed in a basket and tied on the end. Tick-tock and Mip won’t go near her any more, and she likes nothing more than getting anyone with Levitation or Telekinesis to fly her about on her broom delivering things from one end of the house to the other. It’s hugely funny, and makes me miss Ghost rather. Ghost probably would have ridden about on the broom.

Twelfth and Third have only been here a few days, and I asked Maze directly to assign Zan plenty of bodyguard duty so I could see more of her. It’s also a good idea because it cuts down the way KOTIS Command likes to overwork strong Telekinesis talents. I had a heap of fun showing her around the island when she and Kiste arrived for their first turn preventing me from Doing Evil.

I’ve spent a solid chunk of time carefully watching Zan for any hint of how she was feeling, but as usual Zan was not giving any of her inner life away. Kiste was cheerful, and the rest of Twelfth seem to be in a good place. I really like how they’ve changed toward Zan, how the squad atmosphere is positive and comfortable. And Sen showed no inclination to bring Zan cushions, which was good to see.

I almost sound disappointed that she’s not miserable. Must stop myself from fumbling attempts to set her up with someone.

I’ve seen less of Third in the short time they’ve been here, but I think they’re okay. There’s a streak of sadness, and of course without Eeli the dynamic of the squad has changed significantly. I think both squads enjoyed Rye’s party a lot.