Chinook, Audience House Late September

    Niculai was angry, strike that he was livid, rip snorting mad and ready to kill. He knew it wasn't a good idea for him to be around others. Which was why he was still here at the Audience House long after he would normally of either gone home or out into the field to fight. Nope his foul mood was why he was pacing back and forth on one of the second story balconies not talking to any of his siblings in the Ashen War-Kin. If only because they didn't deserve it eat the result of his temper. He wasn't mad at them after all, no it was the Clan-Head of the Foress clan that he wanted to kill with his bare hands.

    Niculai's usually warm amber eyes flashed cold in the night like they were lit from within. His shoulder length dark mahogany hair was whipping in the late September wind like a flag. The anger that radiated off of him made the air seem more like the dead of winter, not the fall that it actually was. Pacing was definitely the better option, punching something would  only make his hand hurt and not relieve a bit of his anger. Niculai knew that he had to work off some of his anger before he could do anything else. Otherwise he was going to kill someone, that yeah probably deserved it, but it still wasn't the best course of action out there.

    Behind him in the sitting room that abutted the porch he was pacing on his twin sat with their best friend Rhuv. They were waiting for him to calm down and it was going to be a long wait. Unlike Niculai, Rhuv and Tomas were wearing their fighting clothes. Niculai really wanted to get out of the finery that he had to wear for these little get togethers. He really wanted out of the silk shirt and wool dress pants he was currently sporting. He really wanted to find a good fight to burn off his mood. But it was never a good idea to fight distracted and distracted was an understatement for where Niculai's head was tonight.

    Niculai wished that he'd gone out fighting with Tomas and Rhuv tonight instead of having the meeting he'd just gone through. That wasn't an option though, not after the letter he'd received the night before. Nope, he'd needed to meet with Troov Foress and Ehric, the Foress clan's Weaver, to find out what had been kept from him. The head of the clan that he's left Ingretta with when she was only hours old had sworn to look after the infant.

    To say the least the meeting had not gone well. On a good night Niculai had very little patience for the excessive formality of the aristocracy in general and the DeNeam, the highest level of the aristocracy, in particular. And thanks to tonight's meeting this was in no way a good night. So hearing all of the excuses the two of them made had not gone over well. Nic was just glad had Mikal call that fucker Troov yesterday and tell him to be here tonight an hour after sunset. Instead of calling him himself. Nic doubted that he would have been able to keep his temper even over the phone.

    Niculai needed to find out why he hadn't been told about Ingretta's disappearance when it had happened, almost twenty-five years ago. He had serious doubts that he would ever have been told and that was definitely unacceptable. Niculai was fairly certain that he'd been clear as to his wishes about the child. And to not have those wishes followed had wound him up like nothing else could.

     It had taken all of his self-control to not take out his forty and shoot the whiny S.O.B. in the head as soon as the fucker had arrived. At first Niculai had contemplated wearing his fighting leathers to the meeting. Just to show Troov just how pissed he was about his orders being ignored. But had decided not to since the impropriety would have stunned the guy stupid. Not to mention that the clans Weaver would of had heart failure when he saw the War-Prince in fighting clothes. Neither of those two would have handled seeing their War-Prince dripping in weapons at all well. The look on his face and the obvious anger he felt  was enough of a stunner for the duo as it was.

    Troov had thought that Niculai wanted to talk to them about the trainee the clan had dropped of earlier in the week. That one was being considered for membership in the Ashen, not that they knew about that. A clan was told if and when a new member was inducted. Something that was a feather in the cap for any clan even now. But nope Niculai had wanted to talk to them about something completely unrelated to the trainee. Tonight he wanted facts and details about Ingretta and nothing else.

     Although he planned to talk to them about that as well later. There was no reason that she hadn't been sent to them decades ago. Other than the fact that she hadn't been born to the Foress clan. God save him from the small minded Tolartha was a highly skilled fighter. A natural in fact and the loss of her defending the race was almost as criminal as the loss of Ingretta. That it had taken almost seventy years for them to send her for training unconscionable but wasn't the topic for tonight. No tonight he'd wanted to talk to them about Ingretta.

    At first Troov, the Foress Clan Head, and Ehric, the clan's Weaver had tried to lie and tell him that all was well with the girl. That she'd just been to busy to contact him. It was clear that they had originally thought it was a lack of communication that had prompted the meeting. Nope it had been the letter he had received from Ingretta that had done that. And boy did they squirm as soon as they learned that. There was a lot of hemming and hawing along with numerous excuses. But in the end Niculai had gotten the truth.

    The Foress clan  and it's leaders hadn't considered Ingretta to truly be one of the clan. So when her adoptive mother had died when she was about twelve, only a year or so after he'd last seen her. Her adoptive father had died years earlier. Ingretta had been passed around from family to family none of who considered he to a member of the new family much less the clan. An attitude that Nic wished he could change but so far had had no luck doing so. Damn those hidebound assholes and their beliefs about clan purity. When would they figure out that the old ways were killing the race and only by coming together and helping each other would the Anvidai survive.

    So by the time she'd gone through her Tempering and reached adulthood she was more then willing to wash her hands of all of them. Not that Niculai blamed her for that, and it explained why she hadn't contacted him in any other method. Ingretta had evidently never been told any of the other ways to contact him. Not because children were never told how to reach the Ashen or him. Which was true and  something that Niculai was going to make sure was changed. What would happen if Humans had found the child that had survived the attack that Anthony had told him about. That poor kid would have been lost in the Human world and there was no guarantee that they would even of known to look for him.

    Niculai's loafers struck hard on the floor of the porch he was pacing on. An audible exclamation point to the thoughts that were running around his brain. His breath streamed out into the cold air, briefly obscuring his face as he paced. The sky was clear tonight which only added to the cold. No clouds blocked the stars that shone like diamonds on black velvet. The moon was a sliver so the only light came from the city around him. Fall was well on its way here in the Pacific Northwest which meant clouds and rain were the norm. So tonight's clear skies were an unforeseen bennie that didn't happen often at this time of year.

     For his part Niculai neither noticed or cared about what the weather was doing. Usually being outside would ease his mood but not tonight. Tonight it was all he could do to keep from tracking down and slaughtering that small-minded, prejudiced, arsehat of a Clan Head and quite likely the majority of the clan as well. This kind of behavior was beyond needing to change and Nic just hoped that the younger generation was more accepting of that fact. Cause the older one was beyond hope as far as he was concerned.

    It hadn't been a lack of weapons that had save those males lives. Because Niculai was always armed no matter where he was. Nope, what had saved them was that Niculai had sworn an oath to protect all of the Anvidai, not just the ones that he liked. And boy wasn't that a bummer. Unfortunately failing to keep him appraised, especially since he'd asked to be, wasn't a capitol offense. That one bit into his soul too. The head of the Foress clan wasn't the only one that Niculai thought would look better with an extra hole in his head, built he was on top of the list right now. With the Foress Weaver a very close second. After all the attitude of the leaders often guided those of the followers.

    The guilt that Niculai felt over Ingretta and now her daughter only made his temper worse. After all if he hadn't placed her with the Foress clan in the first place. Or if he'd kept a better eye on her after the clan had moved to the States. Maybe, just maybe she might not have gone missing in the first place. It was hard to say though. So many had gone missing in the chaos that was Eastern Europe during World War Two. That was why Niculai  and the Ashen had gone to Romania in the first place. It was to rescue as many of their people as they could. As well as any other groups that wanted to go with them. Many of those that had traveled with them hadn't been Anvidai. They had been a hodge-podge of other races including Human.

    Even though Niculai had been War Prince for almost forty years at that point he hadn't felt easy or comfortable in the position that his father had filled so well. It hadn't been his first relocation of the Anvidai, after all Niculai had also done so during World War One too. This time however there had been no hiding in the mountains until the trouble passed like there once had been. This time the only thing that the Anvidai and their followers could do was flee to the new world and hope for succor. Thankfully the Anvidai had already been moving to the States for generations. In fact Niculai had already moved the seat of power to Washington state long ago. It had been his fathers wish and the twins had done as he had asked.

    Among the Anvidai the War Prince didn't lead from behind but from the front, at least they didn't anymore. Since the death of his grandfather the War-Prince had stopped being another way to say king and had gone back to being a war leader in truth. After all they were called War Princes not desk princes, at least to Nic's thinking. So when it had come time to remove his people from Eastern Europe completely he'd come himself not just sent the Ashen War-Kin to go and do it.Nic wasn't sure when or why the leadership of the Ashen War-Kin had become ceremonial but he was glad his father had started to change it back to the original way. A change that Niculai gratefully embraced.

    So it had been Tomas, Rhuv and himself that had gone out ahead of the main group warning people that they needed to either join up with his group or go deep into the mountains to hid from the Nazis. That was how the three of them had come across a fatally wounded woman trying to escape from a village that was under attack. Niculai had done the only thing that he could have and still looked himself in the mirror. He'd killed the soldier that was chasing her and rescued her and her newborn. Turned out that the woman was one of his people but that didn't matter he still would have saved the infant even if she hadn't been. Unfortunately the woman hadn't survived but the child had.

    So yeah, Niculai was almost as angry at himself as he was at the Foress leadership. Even though he'd had no choice but to leave the infant in the care of the Foress clan initially. He now wished that he'd taken the child back after they'd gotten to a safe place. But instead he'd decided to leave her with the woman who had been caring for her. He'd never made sure she was okay, that she was happy. He'd always planned on bringing her here but the rest of his life had gotten in the was. And she had seemed happy where she was. something that he now knew was a facade put on by her to stay out of trouble.

    That was why he was disgusted and angry with himself. That didn't however excuse the behavior of the Foress. A clan tended to act like their leaders did. They tended to reflect their mindsets and behaviors and if they didn't they were likely to find another clan to join if they could. But many clans treated people from other clans as second class citizens so it didn't happen as often as it probably should. Thankfully he and his father had ended many of the worst offensives. Now at least it was no longer the entire clan that did the damage. Now it usually an individual causing the pain. But the damage was worse if the ones causing it were the leaders. Such as in this case.

Chinook, Audience House, Late September

    Tomas and Rhuv watched Niculai pace. The were seated in the book lined library of the Audience House that Niculai used as an office when he was here. This wasn't the room that he had audiences in, especially not when meeting with the DeNeam. That room was a stuffy, formal affair and was only used because the Aristocrats and the especially the DeNeam expected and wanted the formality. In fact they felt slighted if they didn't get it, as if Niculai didn't respect their rank. Which, if truth was to be told, he didn't. If they had really known Niculai that would have felt insulted that he saw them there instead of the library where he met with his Siblings in the Ashen War-Kin as well as any commoners that he saw. The place where the real work was done.

    The two were seated on black couches that look like they belonged in a college frat house, not a well appointed formal library. The ugly, beat-up couches were comfortable though and sturdy enough to take the Siblings weight. So of the Ashen War-Kin Siblings wanted them changed for something that would fit with the room but probably co;apse under them. In fact they were the same type of sturdy but not fancy furniture as they had in the Mansions library that Niculai used for his office at the manor. The only difference was that the set at the manor was deep brown, not black. But at least no one was worried that they'd break if you sat in them. Not something that could be said of the majority of the furniture in either the Audience House or the Mansion where they lived. Muscular bodies were not light weight after all.

    The two were waiting for Niculai to calm down, at least a little. Unlike Niculai, Rhuv and Tomas were dressed in the leathers that all three preferred. Instead of being dressed like the aristocrats that they all were, by both birth and profession. After all by law all members of the Ashen War-Kin were aristocrats. More than one noble family had been created by having a previously lower class fighter become a Sibling. Much to the disgust of the DeNeam. Those assholes thought that only their class should be allowed to have any power in their society. Never mind anyone else or how skilled they were at defending the race.

    Tomas and Rhuv had been there for that oh so wonderful meeting with Troov Foress and the Ehric the clans Weaver that had Niculai wearing a grove into the porches floor with all his pacing. They completely understood why Niculai was so pissed, they would have enjoyed cracking the heads of the clan leadership as well. They had been acting as guards for Niculai, one of the traditional jobs for the Ashen War-Kin. Not because Niculai needed it but because the aristocratic arsehat would have been insulted if there had been no guard. And because none of them trusted the majority of the DeNeam. Not after the successful assassination of Niculai and Tomas' parents. Not that they were really trusted before that to be honest.

    "Hey T? How does Nic manage to get his loafers to boom like that," Rhuv asked, his voice pitched so that only Tomas heard him.

    Tomas shook his head. "No clue, good trick though," Tomas' voice pitched the same.

    Of the twins, Rhuv knew that Niculai was the calm one, well usually he was. Tomas was the typical wild child and usually only listened to either Niculai or himself. Whereas normally calm and collected Nic's temper was vicious when roused and tonight it was in down right volcanic. It rarely happened that Tomas was the calm one, the voice of reason. But tonight was one of those nights. So here they sat, silent, edgy. Waiting for the other shoe to drop, praying that it didn't and on them. They both knew without a shadow of doubt that if it did drop then blood would flow. Because nothing and no one was safe when Nic got like this. Rhuv was worried about Niculai, not because he was in danger or anything but because if he didn't calm down he might do something that he would never do if he was calm.

   Rhuv watched Niculai pace trying to gauge if his anger had cooled any. Boy he hoped that Nic walked the worst of his temper off before sunrise. While it was true that the Anvidai could tolerate some early morning or late evening sun, it wasn't going to be pleasant or comfortable to do so. They really needed to get Niculai back to the Manor before dawn. No other place was as safe or well guarded as the Seat of the Ashen War-Kin. Trying to get Niculai back in or to the Manor before he went up in flames was going to piss Nic off even more. And that was definitely gonna hurt. Something that Rhuv would prefer to avoid if possible. Still getting punched was better than failing in his duty to his War- Prince and letting Niculai get hurt even if it was self-induced.

   Beside him Tomas cleared his throat something that paused Niculai's pacing for a moment. "Niculai?" Tomas started carefully, his voice a calm neutral. "We understand why you're so angry." Tomas gestured to both himself and Rhuv while continuing. "Hell, my brother. We feel the same."

    When Niculai didn't respond or start pacing again Rhuv decided to risk a comment. "It wasn't right how they treated her. How long they waited to tell us. None of it, none of it was right."

    Rhuv stopped talking when Niculai started to growl. A growl that Rhuv was fairly certain that Nic didn't even know he was making. Rhuv flinched inwardly but not visibly when Niculai spun on his heel towards them glaring. He was glad it was just a glare and not an attack. Rhuv knew that he wasn't a pussy but he had zero interest in trading punches with Niculai. The guy was straight up dangerous when he was calm, when he was this mad? Well he might just torch a village to kill a fly. He'd feel terrible afterwards sure but that would be little consolation to anything in his path. Few things were as dangerous as Niculai in his current mood and those bastards were called tornadoes.

    They both feel silent, holding their hands up in a classic warding off gesture. All if you don't want us to talk, we'll stay quiet.  They knew better then to continue. They had no desire to be the target of all that anger. Eyes flashing, Niculai spun back towards the porch railing. His fist punched out, striking the top of the railing a tremendous blow. There was a loud crack sound and as the railing couldn't flinch it did the only thing it could do. It broke, almost powdered in fact. A split in the wood radiating out from the new dent that was the point of contact. This time both Rhuv and Tomas winced visibly.

   "Hey," Rhuv said again pitching his voice so that only Tomas could hear him. "At least now Mikal will have something to do. He enjoys doing repairs after all."

    Rhuv pictured the majordomo of the manor. The male loved taking care of "his" people. A list that covered everyone that worked, lived or studied at either the manor that the Ashen called home or the training center and medical clinic beneath it. But since the Ashen and the trainees were a fairly self-sufficient lot, he never had as much to do as he would like. Mikal not only enjoyed taking care of them he felt it was his duty. while he could and would fight if he had to Mikal was a peaceful guy ad truly loved taking care of others.

    "So true," Tomas replied, equally quiet.

    "Man," Rhuv continued. His quiet voice was now slightly concerned. "I really hope that Nic didn't break any fingers with that punch. Talk about adding insult to injury. Or would it be injury to insult in this case."

    Tomas mostly controlled the chuckle for the unexpected joke. Ending up making a barely audible noise and a snort. "Yeah that wouldn't be good right now. We don't need any kind of injury keeping Nic out of the field right now. Not when he's in this kind of mood."

    It was hard not to brace for a blow when Niculai unexpectedly stalked towards them. The first thought that ran threw Rhuv's mind was that they hadn't been as quiet as they hoped and that Nic had heard them. Nic just stopped in front of them. Spearing first Rhuv and then Tomas with a piercing glare.

    "Spread the word to all of the Siblings." Niculai's voice was forceful. Making Rhuv almost winch at the volume.

    Rhuv felt a chill go down his back. This is the War Prince indeed he thought as Nic pointed a finger at him like a gun.

    "Not just here in Washington, but everywhere any of our siblings are. All of them are to look for Ingretta and her daughter. She's probably here in Chinook since this is where the post mark came from. But I still want the word to go out to all of the Siblings everywhere. Only the defense of our people matters more then finding any and all traces of her. Nothing else." Niculai's voice was more growl then speech when he'd finished speaking. The sound rolling out to both of the men in front of him like a jet engine winding up for take-off.

    Rhuv nodded his head and gave a little bow as he answered his prince. "As you wish My Lord."

     While formality was unusual between the three of them unless there was company. Nonetheless some situations required a more formal response and a direct order from your leader was definitely one of them. The messages would be sent as soon as he was released. And Rhuv would make sure that all of the Siblings knew they why of the orders as well as the orders themselves. After all The majority of the Ashen War-Kin might have been raised in the aristocracy they were to a man forward thinkers. They had to be in order to stay ahead of their enemies in the Undying Society.

    Niculai suddenly sat down on one of the couches across from the one that Rhuv and Tomas shared. The anger seemed to drain from him. His shoulders slumped and his face was drawn with lines of regret. He seemed calm now but Rhuv knew that appearances could be deceiving. Nic wasn't going to be calm for quite awhile. Probably not until the missing were either found or known to be dead. and if they were dead then Rhuv was fairly certain that heads would roll and not only in a metaphorical sense. For Troov and Ehric's sake, Rhuv really hoped that the missing were found alive, if not well. Cause if they weren't.... Rhuv didn't bother to finish the thought. He refocused on Niculai as his Sibling continued.

    "What was I thinking." Niculai's voice was quiet now No longer the booming assault that it had been just moments before. "I knew how most of the clans thought about people from other clans."

    It was obvious that the deep breath that followed was Niculai attempting to calm himself. God knew that they were all tired of dealing with the prejudices that were so rampant in many of the clans. Especially among the aristocratic DeNeam members. They all knew that if the clan had accepted her like Niculai had asked they wouldn't have had to go looking for her. Instead they had treated her like a second class citizen as soon as her adopted parents had both died. Troov Foress hadn't said so but careful questioning had reveled the truth. No wonder she'd run,off anyone would of.

    Tomas' reply was a quiet as Nic's had been. "What else could you do at the time."

    Rhuv watched Tomas catch and hold Niculai's eyes. Wishing that there was anything that they could do to comfort their friend and brother. But all they had was the truth and that was rarely a comfort. Nic dropped his gaze. The shame he felt was blatant on his face and how he carried himself.

    "Nic," Rhuv said calmly picking up the task of calming Niculai. A task he was better suited to anyhow. "Nic." He said again, waiting for Niculai to meet his gaze. "You were fight for the very survival of our people. Not to mention all the others who joined our flight from Europe." Rhuv paused to let his words sink in before continuing. "We were at war Nic. War. There was no way to keep an infant with us. Not an have her live. We had to leave her and the Foress clan was the first one we came across.There was nothing else that you could do, not and keep the babe alive." Rhuv had said all of this before, many times since the letter had arrived yesterday and he could only hope that this time the info would help. Because clearly it hadn't any of the other times he'd said it.