The Kingdom of Eumelia’s Parliament was out of session for the season, and the kingdom was either at peace, or in the middle of a tense but stable armistice with the majority of its neighbors. Her husbands were currently doing a fairly good job of staying on top of things with the clan’s internal circumstances and their various businesses. Thus for once Alanna Dorothea, Countessa, Former-Colonel, and current Matriarch of the Dorothea Clan finally found herself with some downtime for once.

She’d spent the week with her husbands and her children, while giving as little time to catering to the non-essential needs of the branch members that made up the extended Dorothea clan, as possible. Refusing to let them pull her into the inter-household politics that the clan often muddled around with when the outside world wasn’t doing its level best to eat them alive.

This wasn’t an act of disregard, or at least it wasn't purely so. She just knew that her relatives didn’t actually “need” anything from her at the moment. She also knew that if she encouraged their attempts to play politics with her at the center it’d lead to intra-clan conflict. With the big issue being, that once they started, they often wouldn’t stop even when the outside world resumed its attempts to exploit or destroy the clan.

At the moment, Alanna was training with her daughter, Maria Fern Dorothea. Maria was aiming for entry into a certain elite college instead of simply continuing with the academy she was currently enrolled in. The college had ties to a very powerful guild and the results of her entry into the guild could mean big things for both the girl and the family.

Alanna was someone who’d been raised under the concept of using “heat” and pressure to turn coal into diamond. Miraculously she was one of the few who’d survived being consistently given that kind of treatment, actually becoming a “diamond”, albeit slightly cracked in some places. Even more miraculously, she’d retained enough of sanity, sense of self, and common sense to look back and realize what her own forebears, mentors, and guardians hadn’t. Children are fucking made out of coal.

As such, Alanna wouldn’t have pushed a training session as intense as the one they were having, if the girl’s heart wasn’t in it, but since Maria had made it very clear that this was something she wanted to do, and Alanna had time for once. Now Alanna was doing her best to show her daughter a few tips of the trade. Teaching the girl how to properly integrate her martial arts and power-usage, to make both more effective.

Afterward, Alanna took a shower to get rid of the sweat and changed into something casual but not too casual. Clothes appropriate for going out in public. A blouse, an unbuttoned but buttonable sweater, some comfortable slacks, and a pair of flats because she only did heels when she was working and wanted the extra inches so she wouldn’t be dwarfed by her peers and foes. Being somewhat petite by Eumelian standards, was a minor “flaw” that Alanna saw in herself. One that Alanna had taken steps to ensure wouldn’t be repeated in any of her children.

Just as Alanna had finished dressing her husband Conner came into the bedroom.

“Oh, so you’re ready for the Renner thing?” said Conner. The tall, coltish, fair-skinned man looked dapper as usual. He had a handsome and lean face with a well-shaped jaw, an angular nose, small round ears, rosy cheeks, and large lips. His mouth and jaw were framed by a well-trimmed mustache.

“Mhm? What Renner thing?” said Alanna. Turning around, brow furrowed because she was generally overbooked to the point that without the system, her husbands, and her secretaries, she would never know when she had an event coming up.

“Our dinner party with the Renner family?” said Conner.

“What dinner party with the Renner family? I told you I have...My meeting...Today,” said Alanna. Her brow unfurrowing for a moment, but then gathering again in a different sense as she realized that she hadn’t been the one to screw up the scheduling for once.

“Ah...Oh, that…” said Conner. Growing paler. Awkwardly stepping back and rubbing the back of his neck. Wearing a complicated expression on his face. The ends of his well-maintained mustache trembled slightly.

Alanna’s own expression became complicated as well. Whether it was for the sake of their eleven other children, or for the political ties between their respective families, or based on their own shared affection, Alanna had been able, or willing, to blow up at her husbands over their treatment of Ellis. Especially since, in the back of her mind, there was a sickening sense that she was responsible for their actions and attitude towards the boy, or at the very least she could have stopped it had she been willing to engage with the boy sooner instead of running away and leaving things unresolved.

It was also something of a relief, that once they realized that this was an issue they’d had the basic decency to at least pretend to look troubled and ashamed, regarding the matter. Though Alanna wasn’t entirely sure what their actual feelings were about the whole situation. She was pretty sure Gregory was at least mostly sincere, but Conner had always been the jealous sort, and she knew him well enough to know that he could be ruthless when he felt it was necessary.

Honestly, it was all just a mess. Alanna couldn’t really forgive them for what happened. Nor could she forgive herself, but life had to move on, because too much was riding on their household’s continued existence. The fates of three clans and all their other children lay in the balance. Thus in the end, “Ellis” became a sort of sore spot between the trio. He was a sore for the entire household really. Since children weren’t dumb especially when they were already teenagers or in their twenties, and all the Dorothea household youths could sense that “something” had gone awry from the way things usually went.

If there was any doubt left, though she didn’t hand out any punishments, or at least there’d been no overt punishments, Alanna had made it clear that there would be no repeat of this circumstance, either with Ellis, or with their other siblings and cousins. A thing that Alanna was both disheartened and relieved to find was probably a non-issue, because “Ellis” was somehow the only blindspot the children had in regards to acting decently to one another.

“I...And you’re sure you can't reschedule your...meeting?” said Conner.

Alanna gave him a hard look. He put his hands up and gulped audibly like he thought he was pointing a gun at him.

“Dumb question...Right, dumb question...Fair enough. I’ll tell the Renners that you couldn’t make it. It’s my fault really, I should’ve remembered,” said Conner. Looking a bit like an abashed youth, despite his actual age.

Alanna’s expressions softened as she sighed.

“Well...Normally, this is the one week in the month where I can reliably have my schedule open whether the Parliament is in session or not...So, yeah...Sorry, love,” said Alanna.

“No...It’s fine. It was just a little meet and greet anyway...Young Gregory and one of the Renner girls have taken a liking for each other, and things look like they might be getting serious, so I just thought we might get together with her parents and see how we get along, ” said Conner. Conner closed in and gave Alanna a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Oh, little Renner actually likes someone?... That’s a surprise, I was starting to think he’d be the sort that didn’t show interest in that sort of thing like my Uncle Lloyd,” said Alanna. Eyebrows raised in interest.

“No...He’s had his handful of crushes and dalliances already, the lad’s always just very secretive about it. Sometimes it almost makes me think he’s one of mine instead of Gregory’s,” said Conner.

Alanna chuckled.

“True enough…Though then again Greg does have his shy side on occasion. Anyway, I have to go. I’ll try to be available next time. Assuming things with Marshall and that Renner girl are actually a secret. Thanks for running interference for me like always,” said Alanna. Giving her husband a peck on the lips that would have turned into something deeper if she didn’t want to avoid having to reapply her lipstick.

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I ended up being a little earlier than usual. Maybe it was because Jo and Brandy were doing a thing. After an initial period of uncertainty regarding her own powers, Brandy had gone all in regards to training, both her physical training and the training of her abilities. Meanwhile, Jo and I did our best to be supportive. Especially Jo who loved the idea of getting a new sparring partner.

I waited at the cafe that was my and my mother’s usual meeting spot. She’d bought the place out like she often did for our meetings, and about two-thirds of the staff were actually her people in disguise. Running extra security, in case, the guards that were in plain sight failed to catch something. Mother came in shortly afterward.

“Hi, love. Glad to see you made it,” said Alanna.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, Mother,” I said. Smiling what was meant to be a confident and sardonic smile. A little annoyed to find that some part of me, the part of me that was still the young me, and still starved for any kind of parental affection, actually sincerely meant it. The rest of me was still not entirely sure of my motive for continuing these little meetings after nearly two years of meeting once every month.

“How’s the missus? Little Josephine?” said Alanna. Entering the cafe as I held the door open for her.

“Oh, Jo’s doing fine. Eyes bright and tail-a-wag. How’s life?” I said. My own question was more general, because while I still cared for my mother on some weird, basic, level, my feelings for the rest of the family were firmly in the realm of antipathy and absolute apathy.

“Ah, things are going pretty well for me, thanks. I was re-elected recently, and Parliament’s been out of session, so I’ve been taking things easy,” said Alanna.

We sat down at our usual table. We ordered coffee, red grass tea, and various treats. Then we spent the next few hours talking about nothing. We never really had anything too heavy, or too real to say to each other, because I suspect we both sensed that talking about serious things was probably looking for trouble. Like thinking too hard about a dream you were currently having. Lucid dreaming allows for self-awareness but too much thought can ruin the whole thing and drop you back into reality in an instant. That was the kind of feeling our meetings had.

Then somewhere near the end, my mother’s smile dimmed a little and she said,

“Do you think...Do you think there’s any chance of you ever returning to the family?”

I sighed.

“No. I don’t believe so. I’ve seen too much in my time on my own to believe that there’s no such thing as a true impossibility, but 'that' would probably be pretty damn close to it,” I said. Not enjoying the stricken, punched-in-the-gut, look she’d made as I gave my answer.

“I...I understand. But our little meetings…?” said Alanna.

“If it's alright with you. I’d like to continue those. I am both frustrated and surprised to say that I’ve actually been enjoying them,” I said.

She stopped looking quite as injured, which somehow made me feel bad like I was giving her false hope.

“I...I see. Then we shall continue,” said Alanna. Nodding.

“...Excellent. Much obliged,” I said. Speaking on behalf of the idiot younger-part of my heart, that still cared for his biological kin on some level.