I was a father?

In the scheme of things, when you were weighing issues that might affect Gods and planets, finding out you were a parent trumped any other concerns. The rest of the System notifications I received were insignificant. That System notice, for me, was as if I stood in the path of a Tsunami and hoped to hold back the floodwaters by force of will. It changed the bedrock, the trajectory for a life of loneliness and solitude I thought inevitable after my gelding.

I had always wanted to be a father. My own had inspired me tremendously. He had proven his intelligence and love of family with his manipulation of Thom so that most attempts to destroy our will had left me often in despair but whole. When we had been collared, he had demonstrated what sacrifice and devotion meant. And I had loved him fiercely because of his sacrifice.

My gelding by Queen Mab's hand had destroyed something in me that he had protected, that spark of creation and longing within me that hoped to give life, to guide that life, and to watch with pride as he or she began walking their own path of independence. To be like my father.

I had never dreamed that leading yesterday's ritual would have such a profound impact on me, personally. Fairy had not only expanded and breathed life into the Sithern, it had restored my fertility. Healing, that had required a confluence of Sithern, Fairy, and System to create a nexus of change.

Queen Mab had been exacting in her attempts to geld me. She had been able to weave her magic within the iron metal she used to castrate me. She had forced the metal that could poison Sidhe with a simple touch to bend to her will, to work as the lightning rod to her fury.

It was this addition of magic to iron that had taken my ability to give life by donating energy instead of sperm. It was why I felt King Teigh's idea to visit this planet, to test the healing abilities of Swami would come to nothing. She hadn't stopped at removing my sexual organs in her insane effort to deny me the chance to reproduce.

It wasn't just a few bits of flesh that Queen Mab had stripped from me. She had cursed me, her magics burning and destroying any capacity for me to engender new life. I had been so concerned about Saanvi, that I had failed to notice that Fairy had healed me.

Not only my ability to donate energy, but my castration had been reversed, my manhood restored, and if I hadn't been so focused on other things, I would have remembered that during the long night that had just passed, there were moments of sexual freedom and intimacy that I had never experienced.

That may have been the cruelest attack of all. Mab had ruined me not long after I became an adult. I was still a virgin, just finding my legs, learning my place in the world, and who I was when I'd been captured. I'd had no time for passions first kiss, no time to discover the joys and intimacy that two people could find with each other.

Last night, I had been able to participate in the sexual abandon that the modified ritual had demanded and engendered, because I had been made whole. And this gift from Fairy was worth so much more than I would ever admit to anyone but Teigh and my father.

Something I would never admit to anyone, including Teigh and my father, was that I hid in a bathing chamber to disrobe and expect myself. Nor would I admit to the tears that coursed down my face as I touched myself again, for the first time in so long. The orgasm was intense, verging on painful, the kind of experience where your eye spasms and your toes curl, and all the more amazing because I had believed that I would never experience the primal satisfaction that sexual release allowed.

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I had just enough time to bathe and redress before my M-AI began vibrating against my wrist again. There were times I felt the magical artificial intelligence that allowed the device to function bordered on demonic. It always seemed to know when you least wanted to be bothered and chose that moment to harass you.

I could have ignored the person so intent on trying to contact me. I would have if whoever it was hadn't had the protocols and passwords necessary to bypass the 'not available' setting I had toggled on the device. I had given those passwords to only a select few, my parents, King Teigh, and my siblings. I was not pleased to answer the call to find Huig, Lord Clive's aide-de-camp coalescing into holographic illusion.

Huig was a remarkably organized and loyal aide. That he was able to overcome the natural proclivity of his people made his skills only more remarkable. He was Sylph. A species of Sidhe that often ignored the realities of the world around them. Sylphs were creatures of the air, they were dreamers, dancers, and artists.

Their nature allowed them to excel and embrace the ethereal. A Sylph more often served as inspiration and muse then bureaucrat or staff, but Huig had been able to channel that nature, to leash his instincts until he was a bastion of support that Lord Clive depended on, knowing that he could trust in Huig's abilities and loyalty.

"His Majesty has informed Lord Clive that he will be using the Sithern gate system to visit Derva. He will be arriving for the mid-meal and plans on holding a working lunch. His Majesty has left instructions for you to attend," Huig informed me, his displeasure at the invitation evident.

"Lord Clive hopes that you have an answer and explanation for why the Sithern has chosen you as bond-mate by then."

He disconnected the call without allowing me to accept or refuse the invitation. That was one of the reasons he was so effective in his job. He simply refused to accept no for an answer when implementing Lord Clive's objectives.

I had thought to contact my father, to share my good news, but Huig had reminded me that I was now a child of House Teigh, and I owed my filial duty to the House first. It would be bad form to share my joy with him before first informing my House.

There was no reason for me to return to the temporary embassy, my possessions would be packed and moved by staff. King Teigh would never leave the Sithern, it would be bad politics for him to make himself known on Derva. Not without first engaging in months of meetings to arrange his visit.

I had already showered, but I would have to rely on glamour and illusion for clothing until mine had been moved. Lord Clive's decree that we keep our belongings stored in spatial devices made sense, but I had left my device in the embassy bank during the ritual. I was required to perform my duties naked, not even jewelry had been allowed.

I would need to wear House colors for this meeting. A visiting monarch lunching with an Ambassador was a State occasion, no matter how King Teigh or Lord Clive might have preferred something more relaxed. My new status did require some changes to the outfit I would be expected to wear.

Heir to House Teigh. Plenipotentiary on Derva. Sithern Host.

Each title required some small changes to fit and color, as well as a change that reflected my new status as a father.

I would have to put off the immediacy of childcare, I needed to find someone knowledgeable enough about Kelpie society to serve as a teacher for Saanvi, as well as a Brownie willing to take Manju under their wing. Until I could recruit Kelpie interested in relocating, individual help would have to do. I would discuss the need with King Teigh, confident that he would help me to resolve the problem if he hadn't already.

I wasn't sure what Lord Clive had shared, or when he'd spoken to the king, but even if he hadn't mentioned the issue of Changeling, King Teigh's spy-master was second to none, I was sure His Majesty had been apprised of those events.

He had certainly received some of the same System messages that I had. Those dealing with Host, Heir, Sithern, and Fairy expansion. This meeting was a formality. A necessary one, and probably the main reason Huig had been so abrupt and angry with me. Lord Clive was about to lose his position as ambassador for Talahm.

As Plenipotentiary, the position of ambassador was mine to fill.

I wouldn't be surprised if the goal of the lunch meeting wasn't to initiate solutions that he and his people had already created to staff and the political ramifications of the changes that the Sithern, Fairy, and I would present.