“Wing!”
He stabbed it again and again in a frenzy. “This is old magic. My planet’s magic. My ancestors are greater than his ancestors. They will rip him apart. You will see.”
I slapped my hand over my face.
He picked up the scarred statue and smashed it against the table. He jumped on it, bounced up and down, and clawed it with his foot.
“Is it working?” he asked. “Is he dead?”
“I didn’t hear a scream,” Orro said.
Wing’s eyes shone with determination. He reached for his tunic.
“If you’re going to urinate on it, go outside!” I pointed to the door. “Outside!”
Wing took his statue and went out to the back.
A chime echoed through the inn, the alarm I had set to let me know when Lord Soren was about to drop in from orbit.
“Lord Soren is inbound,” I announced.
“Then I shall change.” Her Grace rose and floated off. “One must observe the proprieties.”
On the screen my sister and Arland were still pummeling each other.
“Everybody is so concerned with proprieties, they might just spar themselves to death,” I muttered.
Sean glanced at me. “Would you like me to slip into something more comfortable?”
I pointed my broom at him. “Don’t push me, Sean Evans.”
He laughed.
I stepped into the backyard and dropped the void field. Around me the Texas evening was burning down, the sky a deep purple, the trees dark. A figure appeared in the branches of the trees just past the inn’s grounds, as if by magic. Most likely Kiran Mrak just took off his camouflage cloak. He was letting me see him. How nice. A little reminder for me that he was always there and always watching.
A red star appeared in the sky, streaked down, flared, and released a knight of the Holy Anocracy. I raised the void field.
Vampires tended to become wider with age. Not fatter but bulkier, more muscled, more grizzled. Lord Soren was a fine example of a middle-aged vampire. Hulking, with a mane of brown hair liberally shot through with gray and a short beard, he looked as big as a tank in his armor. I had a feeling that if he planted himself and a semi rammed him at full speed, the truck would just crumple around him. Considering his serious expression, he was in no mood for nonsense.
“Lord Soren,” I said, turning my back to the woods. “I wish we were meeting under different circumstances. Please come inside.”
He stomped into my kitchen and I shut the door behind us.
“I apologize for the intrusion, but I have come for my nephew.”
Lord Soren had two sound settings: roar and thunder. He was trying to be polite and so he confined himself to a moderate roar.
“These little vacations and excursions when he disappears without warning are becoming legendary. People are whispering. The Marshal of House Krahr is gone again. Where is he?”
I opened my mouth to tell him.
“It’s time to grow up. It’s time to join the House when matters of importance and state are to be discussed, in which his opinion as Marshal is required. Is there not enough at home to occupy his mind?”
I started walking toward the ballroom. Lord Soren followed me.
“He took his destroyer to Karhari for no reason. He was attacked.”
“He won,” I said.
“Of course he won!” Lord Soren’s eyes bulged. “He is my nephew! He took them on seven at once, and he tore through them like they were children. His recording has been shared across the Anocracy.”
Oh no. Arland had gone viral.
“We’ve received four – four! – offers of a potential match in the last two days.”
I couldn’t tell if he was proud or upset or both.
“The boy has potential. He has talent. But does he apply himself? No. It is time to take a wife. It’s time to produce children. He isn’t going to live forever and he is far too young to retire. He can’t just take off whenever he wants like some sort of cosmic vagabond without a family or duty. There are certain responsibilities. If he didn’t want these responsibilities, he should’ve thought about it before he fought the other eligibles for the post of the Marshal. Do you know what he told his aide?”
Lord Soren stared at me for a second.
“I-”
“He said to tell me that taking this holiday would make him happy. I don’t want him to be happy.” Lord Soren pounded his gauntleted fist into his other palm. “I want him to be an adult! I want him to deal with his duties. I want him to get a wife and make children so our House doesn’t wither. He was doing so well until he visited Earth. Really, this fascination with Earth women has to end.”
The ballroom door opened in front of us and I led him into the cavernous room.