The Residency, a message, hope…
Serept showed Carlos Bethal into the Overlord’s office without ceremony. He could see the man was excited and would not wait. Carlos asked him to fetch Megal to the meeting as well. Francos rose to greet his father-in-law.
“You have good news, I gather?”
“I do, but I want to wait until Megal is here.”
“I was in my office,” Megal said as he entered the room. “Father and Serept have set me up here close by, so I can learn. I had no idea running Refugio was so involved.”
“Can you believe it, Carlos? This is the first of my sons who enjoyed working with me. You have done me a great favor in the way you raised my son.” Francos looked proudly at his youngest son.
“Well, thank you,” Carlos stammered, “but I only gave him the same training I gave my own sons. Now, I have news. Whether it will be viewed as good, only Megal can tell us. Broker Stein contacted me this morning. He received a message from Tony Pesch containing a bonding offer with the name and gene patterns for a woman of Pesch. She is of the right age and a virgin, the daughter of Rita Pesch and Alam Nanna Pesch. Alam ordered her destroyed, but Rita refused and fled to the Utopians. She was raised among them, but Tony presents her as a possible wife.”
Megal was intrigued. “Let’s see this woman of Utopia, Abuelito.”
Francos loaded the data cube into the reader on his desk. It was a standard Refugio bonding file. Each marriage was arranged based on the genetic makeup of the couple. A pre-contract bonding file would contain the DNA history of the woman based on her ancestry, her genealogy, color images of her, and the breeding history of the women in her family. Sarita’s indicated she was of the family Pesch in her maternal line but also showed her paternal line to be out of the family Mythen. This was in keeping with what Francos knew about Alam. He was the son of a guard who was a member of a dependent family of Pesch. Uncle Carlos let out a gasp when he saw the color image of Sarita.
“I should have warned you,” Megal said as he laughed. “In Utopia, they follow the customs set out by Thomas More. The man wrote that a couple must meet and see each other nude before they were married. He said it was unjust for them to not examine the goods before they obtained them.”
“You have studied the Utopians?” Francos asked.
“Ser Roblies helped me learn the ancient language Latin, the language in which Thomas More wrote his original book. He had two copies, one a translation into old Spanish and one by a scholar in Utopia who translated it into Trade. Honestly, it is not a plan for a government, but it is an interesting philosophy.”
Tony and Rita had worried over the photos sent by Simon. The photos were of Sarita, fully nude, in four views of her body. Utopians had little privacy, so modesty was not common. Up until puberty, bathing and dressing were done in common rooms. After couples married, they again shared showers and dressing room with other couples. Only during adolescence and prior to bonding were they segregated. Megal studied the images.
“She has a presence about her, even exposed like that,” Francos said.
“She has the hips of Pesch woman and the build. They are known to be very fertile and have easy childbirths.” Megal said with an even tone.
“She is not a brood animal,” Carlos said. “You speak of her like you do of a grazer or a goat.”
Megal looked at his grandfather in puzzlement. “But I am not bonding with her to be a companion, Abuelo. Who would expect that? She is predicted to have extremely high power. But has puzzled the discerners, it says here. What does that mean Father?”
“Utopians believe women have psy power just like men and examine all the young to attempt to predict where their power will manifest. Some of the Keepers claim that ability. It has something to do with the way the brain develops. I believe they are saying they think she will have very strong power and it will manifest in many ways.”
“Which means she will be able to absorb and survive mounting,” Megal said softly. “What say you, Father? Do we offer for this woman of Pesch?” Megal sat and captured the image of Sarita’s face from the cube, then sent it to his own machine so he could print out a copy of it.
“Yes, she is healthy and of a good blood line. She will do very well.” Francos smiled at Carlos over his head and sent a gentle mental message of pleasure. Carlos smiled back and nodded.
“Broker Stein said Tony needs only our word, and he will bring this woman to Refugio. I will message him to proceed.”
“These are interesting requests in the dowry package, Father. They request a hacienda for the mother, free of entitlements, and a permanent post as trade representative in Utopia for Anthony. The rest are standard, spelling out who pays for the ceremonies, but the amount of the dowry is to go to the mother for her maintenance, rather than to the family for loss of a daughter. Does that mean Pesch does not acknowledge her?”
“I suspect they do not even know she exists,” Francos laughed. “Alam will protest, but I remember the mother. She looked very much like her father, a large woman and inclined to serving as a healer. Alam was bonded to her to drain off some of his power so he would stop embarrassing the family with his gambling debts. He won’t want her back and this will give the mother a means of support. I doubt the current head of the family wants her back, either.”
Francos grinned at his son. “Are you sure about this Megal? The women of this family sound like they might be hard to handle.”
Megal looked up from his contemplation of Sarita’s face. “I believe she will do well, Father. When do you think they will arrive here?”
Francos was surprised at his eagerness but pleased. That would mean a grandson all the sooner — a grandson that was essential to his survival as Overlord.
Should you want to read the whole story…
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