Carl sat next to Ty, both men clacking away on separate keyboards, "You weren't expecting to see me here, were you."

"No, I wasn't," Ty sighed, "and it's still not easy calling you by your name, but Mother has insisted I follow the instruction every time you're absent. Why must I call you by your given name and not by what I want to?"

"At the moment ..." Carl sighed, "... it's for both your mother's and your protection. No one on the outside knows I have a family here. No one knows what happened or the protection I've had to barter for to keep both of you safe."

"Has it been that difficult being away from us?" Ty asked his hands stilling over the keys as he looked sideways at his father.

"You have no idea," Carl said, sighing as he frowned and pointed at the screen, "what is that?"

Ty looked at the indicated area, "That is the signal we have been looking for. Now, to piggyback it and ..." he grinned, "We have the messages ... what do you want to add, subtract or change?"

"That's my boy," Carl smiled, "I'll find the exact location while you change those messages ... Cherry did leave some idea of what she wanted to be conveyed..." he pulled a piece of paper from his coat pocket, "here ... just make sure it sounds like whoever is sending the messages."

Ty took the paper, looking at the words written, "I can do that," he smiled, "Hmmm... I think I can have a little fun with this."

"Not too much fun," Carl said, glancing at his son, "remember, we have lives that need saving, and if Neve suspects anything, the people in that town will pay."

"Understood," Ty said, nodding, "shall we get to work?"

"Let's," Carl said, bumping his shoulder against his sons, "I'm glad I got to work with you."

"Same," Ty grinned, "I think Mom will be happy we got to see each other."

"Yeah," Carl sighed, "I hope I get to see her as well; I've missed spending time with my family."

"You'll get the chance," Ty said absently, "I have a good feeling about this operation."

"You do?" Carl asked, glancing at his son, "Good to know. Can we get busy now?"

"Get busy?" Ty smirked, "I've already been busy ... slow poke."

"Oh, that's how it's going to be," Carl grinned, "we'll see about that."

The two silently worked side by side, fingers flying over the keyboard, oblivious to the rest of those working in the operations room.

"What do you need?" a tall, athletic brunette asked, stopping at a workstation manned by a woman who looked identical except for the blonde hair.

"Look who arrived with the outside brethren," she pointed to the corner, "Ty covered well enough, but they have been chatting while working."

The brunette looked across at the two men working furiously next to each other; she swallowed the sudden emotion, "Has he asked for me?"

"Not yet," the blonde said, "but they are working on finding Neve's location in the village, and since your head up the security for the cabin and the village, it's not going to be long before he asks to speak to someone regarding that."

"Thank you, Jatziri", the brunette whispered, "I'll see if they need anything."

"Dealla, he is hoping but not expecting," Jatziri whispered, "be wise in your interaction."

Nodding, Dealla moved toward the men working in competition with each other; she knew the signs of old; it had been many months since she had seen her husband; her steps slowed while drinking in the sight of him; Carl hesitated as she got closer inhaling deeply and smiling without turning around.

"I was hoping you would be appearing soon," he said softly, glancing over his shoulder and smiling, "we will need your help."

"You can thank Jatziri for calling me," Della said, "her foresight may save us time. It is good to see you are with us again. Now," she moved a chair in between the two, "let's get our people safe while keeping that town in one piece …" she squeezed both their shoulders where her hands rested, "what do we have so far?"

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Cherry waited as her mother paced in front of her; it seemed she struggled with what to tell her and how to tell her.

"Mom, this is clearly hard for you to say," Cherry said, looking at her twin, who shrugged, "Sherry knows, can't she tell me?"

"No, I cannot," Sherry said, sighing, "it would make it easier, but as the guardian of knowledge, I have not been permitted to share anything I found while in the sanctuary."

Nodding, Cherry watched the silent interaction between her sister and mother, "Okay, let me see if I have all the pieces of information, and then you add anything I'm missing," her mother glanced at her and sighed before nodding, "Right…. let's see … obviously, this has something to do with Neve not being of Tenderhook bloodline," Cherry said, "… she was adopted. I understand that could be an issue, but what could be so hard as to tell me who her parents were?" Cherry stood, hands on her hips, a slight frown between her eyes, "What has this to do with the brethren and our family?" She paused as realisation hit her, "were her parents part of the brethren?"

Rilea nodded and sank into the chair, "From two factions forbidden to mate," she whispered, "it sounds so strange and old-fashioned to say something like that now, but there is a reason why these laws are in place."

"Each faction has something specific in their bloodline that makes them good at what they do," Cherry said, "but mixing them with another bloodline may make the person …" she grimaced; when no one said anything, she threw out a word, "… volatile?"

"Perhaps," Rilea sighed, "her parents left the brethren taking refuge in the town below our cabin," rubbing her hands over her face, she sighed, "... to this day, we don't know what really happened, but we found their bodies in the field in front of the cabin a week later ... murdered, and Neve was gone."

"Let me guess, she popped up under the Tenderhook name," Cherry said, pacing away before turning and returning, "did no one try to retrieve her?"

"We couldn't," Rilea said, "not without breaking the trust of her parents …" Rilea closed her eyes tightly and swallowed hard, "her mother …" she sniffed, blinking back and gathering tears, "was very close to me …" she cleared her throat, "… Lorna was my cousin."

"Who was her father?" Cherry whispered.

Rilea closed her eyes and whispered, "Garan's second in command. Garan and I were not mated back then... I was a teenager, and my parents still ruled …."

"They abided by the old rule of factions mating within the faction you were born," Sherry said, "making what had happened …" Sherry shook her head, "an abomination."

"So to keep from being terminated, they chose their family and love over common sense and left the safety of the mountain," Cherry added, shaking her head, "knowing the Tenderhooks, they probably brought her up telling her that her parents abandoned her and how worthless she was so she would do anything to fit in," Cherry ground out, "they must have thought it was poetic justice to twist someone of Neve's parentage," she looked up at the ceiling, "... we can stop this."

"How?" Rilea asked, "She will not listen. I tried to talk to her when she came to the cabin years ago. She would not listen ... she ranted and raged against everything I said."

Cherry frowned, pacing back and forth until she suddenly stopped, "Sam."

"What?" Sherry asked, confusion rippling over her face, "what has Sam to do with it?"

"Carl and Ty are working on changing the messages to those outside," Cherry said, "which may change some of the assailant's minds if they know there isn't a payday. But Neve may have some diabolical people of her own … perhaps she thinks this is a way of getting payback for everything she thinks we did to her. If we can lure her to the cabin, I'm sure Sam can help her connect …" Cherry said, "It worked for me … perhaps, we can do the same for her."

"Hold on," Rilea said, stepping in front of Cherry, barring her exit from the room, "you want to get Neve to connect with the cabin?"

"Yes," Cherry said, "her parents died there," Cherry said, "... their blood is there … she needs those who come from two factions to help her see what she is ... and can be more than she is."

"And what is she?" Sherry asked.

"Lost," Cherry said, "and completely alone. Sam was … I was … so is Neve."

"Let me get this straight," Rilea said, "this woman has spent her life trying to be a Tenderhook, she has said and done things .... evil ... heinous things to the brethren and humans, but you want to save her?

"No, I want to give her a chance to see that she was never abandoned," Cherry said, "even though she has been alone … we have always known her location, who she is, and never disinherited her from what we are … her family. I want to give her a chance to save herself ... just a chance to change course ... if she will not ... then it's out of my hands, and Father will have to do it his way."

Cherry left the room, leaving Rilea and Sherry staring after her in astonishment.

"She did tell me we were taking a different path," Rilea whispered, "if she pulls this off …" shaking her head, Rilea sighed, "she would have accomplished something I never was able to ."

"What is that?" Sherry asked.

"Inclusion, understanding and mercy to every one of our brethren that the ancient laws called abominations," Rilea said, "we will be everywhere … I can only hope Cherry can bridge that gap."

"I know she can," Sherry said, smiling.

"How?" Rilea asked.

"She knows what they went through, how they feel and most importantly," Sherry said, linking her arm through her mothers as she walked them out of the room, "she lived that life and was able to return to her roots and rule."

"She is going to need every bit of that knowledge," Rilea said, "do you think she'll pull it off?"

"Absolutely," Sherry grinned, "she has you … me … Sam … Andriette and a few of our brethren who have lived out there prepared to follow her into the fire."

Rilea sighed, "She is not alone."

"Exactly," Sherry said, "now we have work to do while Cherry cleans up a mess of decades."