The Dead Dove Locker -- "I don't know what I expected."

[Mamorien]

The Greenfield Family.

A few reckonings lie ahead. The Greenfield siblings are about to discover their cousins are not so different from them.

And meanwhile, Keiko and Sota are headed for a long overdue confrontation about their past.

https://storiesonline.net/n/52852/the-gr...-family/23

Princess of the Void.

Quick announcement at the top: After Volume 5 completes, Princess of the Void will be taking a break of approximately a month before we return with Volume 6. The author note after the story has a bit more information.

---

Welcome to the world, Children of the Black Pike.

They lie together in the Princess’s recovery bed. The five of them. The House of the Black Pike. Grant, and Sykora, and Ziavra and Aurora and Kiar, all lying in their parent’s arms, sound asleep in their swaddling clothes. Red for the two sisters, saffron for their brother. That’s the tradition, apparently. The two of them have spent the past hour enthralled, staring rapt at their new children, speaking in hushed voices as they try to comprehend the new reality they share.

Grant knew a guy briefly in college whose family had a breeding golden retriever. He visited over the summer and remembers being struck by how small the little newborn puppies were. He’d seen bigger potatoes.

That’s how big Kiar is. He could fit in one hand, if Grant could ever be so cavalier with such a precious thing. If he wasn’t holding his son as close and tight as he dared.

Grant loved his father, but never liked him. He used to wonder, when he was young and they fought, why Richard Hyde even claimed him. Why this unprepared, uneducated, unkind man was so insistent on raising him, instead of simply refusing the weepy waitress who bore him, and letting him slip away to foster care.

He holds Kiar and for the first time he understands. He would tear the firmament out of the sky for this boy. He’d run through hellfire. He would change himself into whatever he had to be. That’s probably what Richard Hyde tried to do. Tried and failed.

The world goes blurry with tears; Grant blinks them away. He doesn’t want to miss a second of looking at this tiny miracle.

“I thought I would live a life without love. For so long, I thought it.” Sykora holds her daughters against her chest, where the sweat is finally drying. “Looking back, I see how stupid I was. I had love already, in excess. Hyax and Vora and Waian. I love them and they love me. But I didn’t understand it, didn’t know what to call it, didn’t understand how precious they were to me, or I to them.”

“I didn’t realize how much I loved my people either, until they were gone,” Grant says. “Every time. I'd wash my hands of them and then they'd die and I'd only see it then. I wondered sometimes if it was love or just some nostalgia I was calling love.”

“Our children will know.” Sykora’s eyes glisten. “Every second of every day they’ll know. We will leave no room for doubt. Every bit of love that was withheld from you and me, every day we spent alone. We’ll be repaid. They’re beautiful, dove.” She kisses the top of Ziavra’s wispy head. “So, so beautiful.”

“Beautiful,” Grant agrees. “But their tails look so funky right now.”

Sykora lets out a scandalized gasp on her babies’ behalf. “Grant Hyde. No they don’t. They’re perfect.”

“They are. And also funky.”

There are holes cut for the funky tails. They’ll wag constantly on their own for the first few cycles, the medtechs say, whenever their owners are awake, until the son and daughters of the Black Pike develop enough to control them.

“I’m not surprised they start bald,” Grant says. “I guess I ought’ve assumed. But they look like little rodents. Big ol’ ears.” He takes Kiar’s gently between thumb and forefinger. It’s so silky-soft.

“That’s your offspring you’re talking about,” Sykora says. “Insufferable.”

“They’ll forgive me.” He tucks Kiar into his blanket. “They really conked out.”

Sykora titters and cuddles her family closer. “Like they did the work.”

A soothing two-tone chime at the door. “Enter,” Sykora calls.

Waian is in first, her arm and eyes shining in the soft warm hues of their room. She gets a couple of steps through the sliding door and then halts beside the big stuffed throok by the entrance. Vora and Hyax nearly collide with her.

“Holy fucking shit,” she breathes.

Sykora holds a daughter up with an exhausted grin. “Here. Take her.”

The chief engineer sleepwalks to a seat next to the bed and mutely accepts the crimson bundle. Hyax stands next to her and stares into the sleeping face within. Grant has never seen this sullen, scarred woman look so tenderly at anything. “Who’s this one?”

“That would be Aurora,” Sykora says. “My spear fighter. You’ll be needing to train her, I think.”

Hyax chuckles. “This early?”

“You only say that because you didn’t feel her pummeling you these past few cycles.” Sykora beckons Vora as she dawdles by the door. “Would you like to hold one, Vora?”

“I… am content just to watch them, Majesty,” Vora says. Her fists flex. “I don’t know if I trust myself. Not on a lot of sleep right now.”

“Nonsense. I’m not either. Here’s Kiar.” Sykora parcels out another kid.

Vora hesitates and then takes him.

“Sire,” she says, carefully. “You can’t hear me, I know. But someday you’ll understand how many people would gladly lay down their lives for yours.” Her thumb rubs his tiny fist. “Don’t let it get to your head.”

“Holy fucking shit,” Waian whispers again, cradling Aurora, tears running down her face.

---

As mentioned in the top note, I will be taking a break of roughly a month after this volume is finished, which will be in a couple of chapters. The story will continue at a slower pace on Patreon while I build my backlog back up. There are a few reasons why this is necessary. Some of them are personal; my family is unfortunately going through a period of bereavement, and I am in the middle of some important legal negotiations about future formats of Princess of the Void including audio.

But also, and more excitingly, volume 6 is going to be a very pivotal point in the story, and will include a bunch of stuff in it that readers have waited a very, very long time to see. I need to take the time to get it right.

So I beg your pardon and patience while I cook. When we return, it will likely still be at the 2 per week cadence, to ensure I have time to work on additional projects without compromising the quality of the story.

https://www.scribblehub.com/read/1419041...r/2258821/
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/120617...cking-shit

While you wait, try WIFE AFTER DEATH if you dare.

During the season break, I invite you to check out a previous story I wrote on Royal Road, an eldritch horror romantic comedy called WIFE AFTER DEATH:

Wife After Death: An Eldritch Horror Romance

Hello, human. My name would set your tongue on fire and boil your brain, so you can just call me Irene. I'm here to help.
Heaven has been abandoned. The Kingdom has fallen into disrepair. Your prayers are going unanswered. I know it's a lot to take in.
My sisters and I are gonna fix it. Hey, someone has to. Otherwise, you're on your own. We know what it's like to be lonely. We are going to make sure humanity is never lonely again.

But we can't do it alone. That's what the Warlock is for. Caspar Cartwright is a hapless hedge mage I've saved from the scaffold and the noose. I've plucked him from his grave and sent him back with my power at his fingertips and a mission branded into his heart. Face the servants of the dead god, find the key, open the gate to the Kingdom.

And let me in.

"But was this really such a good idea?" Under the circumstances, it may not be the worst.