I woke up, after far too little sleep, to Kallie crying in my arms. Of course, that meant that Kassie was up as well, but Risha already had her in hand. The twins seemed to have a similar schedule, at least for sleep and feedings, which would probably be both a good and bad thing. It would mean that we wouldn’t be disturbed quite as much at night while trying to sleep, but that two of us were going to have to do the feedings since bottle feeding both at the same time was awkward as hell for one person.

After emerging sleepily from my cot, I placed the detritus from last night’s feeding in the matter reservoir of the food dispenser, ordered a bottle of baby formula, and then settled in to feed the hungry infant. I was damn tired, and it probably wasn’t the best time for me to be making life-altering decisions, but it was the decision that I had already made in my heart last night. I was going to keep the babies.

I cooed softly at Kallie as I fed her and tried to think of what would be needed to properly care for her and her sister from now on. Food and general care were just the beginning, there was so much to consider. I would need to have a crib built for them at home, someone would have to care for them while my team was away on missions, they would need clothes, and we needed something to either file down their claws or cover them too. I didn’t want them to accidentally scratch themselves, someone else, or each other until they could be taught otherwise.

There were probably a million other things that I wasn’t thinking of, but Marti had offered to help with things like that. From what Risha told me after Marti and Sira had left last night, the Marti system had entire subroutines devoted to baby health and pediatric care, so I was sure that any of them would be a good resource. I would need to talk to my grandmother as well. She hadn’t taken care of me as a baby, but she had raised me. She had also raised my mother from birth, so she did have experience with babies.

It was a lot to think about as I attempted to eat my breakfast while feeding Kallie hers. The others had gotten out of bed as Risha and I were giving the twins a post-breakfast diaper change. Once they had finished their morning meals, we waited for Marti to show up and let the others all hold the babies for a bit. Not only were my arms getting tired, but also I wanted the twins to get used to their scents so they would be comfortable with them.

The Marti who showed up to examine the twins was the same perky pigtailed one who had seen them yesterday, but she didn’t arrive until almost noon. She spent some time looking over both twins and taking blood for scans and once finished, she grinned at me. “You can stop being such a gloomy Gus now, Snow. Your babies are both A-OK; there is no sign of any parasites in their bloodwork. Quarantine is over, so now you can let everyone know that you’re a proud mommy.”

I groaned slightly, not so much from what she had said, but how other people might react to the situation. Heather had other concerns though as she asked, “How are my mother and sister doing?”

It was strange seeing the bubbly Marti turn serious. “The princess is fine; she was a little shaken up from what happened during the Seed-storm, but she seems a lot better today. Archangel Abbadine has been watching over her while the Queen recovers.”

“Recovers? I thought that you were just going to do some scans?” Heather asked in a worried tone. Her face had gone a shade paler and she had started fidgeting nervously.

“Heather, we had to perform surgery on your mother not long after Sira and I left here last night. Our scans revealed a brain tumor, probably a result of the constant use of the device in her crown, but the surgery to remove it went fine and with the localized bio-repair nanites we have used, she should make a full recovery. She woke up two hours and eight minutes ago. There is something else that I should probably tell you though,” Marti said with a sympathetic expression and tone.

“What is it? Is she going to be okay?” Heather was looking panicked and I was wondering if I should hand Kassie off to someone else for a moment to comfort her.

Autumn seemed to have the same thought and quickly wrapped Heather up in a hug as she suggested, “Stay calm and let Marti finish, Heather. Freaking out isn’t going to do anyone any good.”

Marti reached out to take Heather’s hand, telling her gently, “When the Queen woke up she didn’t recognize the princess, nor does she seem to remember the past eight years. From her point of view, her mother just died and her youngest child is an infant. Learning what her husband did, how he used her, and that eight years have passed has been difficult for her. She’s been asking for you, Heather.”

“I… can’t,” Heather replied hesitantly after a heavy silence. “She wouldn’t recognize me. I guess my hair and eye color are still the same, but I’m not human anymore. I’m Fay now, and I don’t know how she’ll react to that.”

“Sira has told her that you took the Angel elixir, and prepared her for the fact it changed you. You should do it, Heather. If I had a mother, I would want to make sure that she’s okay after something like this,” the medical AI countered.

“I do want to… I just…”

I cut off the faltering former princess. “Heather, go see your mother. The rest of us will wait right outside if you want us to, but this is something that you need to do.”

We decided to go to the Academy’s dining hall to get a bite to eat, and to give Heather some much-needed time to mentally prepare herself for seeing her mother. When Heather left for Eden base, they hadn’t parted on the best of terms. With recent events, she wasn’t sure exactly what version of her mother she might see when she arrived. She hoped that it was the loving mother who always had time to tell her stories about Angels, but she couldn’t seem to shake the fear that she might end up seeing the woman who had cast her out, or worse, someone who hated non-humans as much as her father did.

Before we left the MIST, Risha used the food dispenser to make a rough shoulder bag. It wouldn’t be as good as something made by the boutique booth, but it would serve my purposes. She also made a spare bottle of formula for each of the twins and some other baby care supplies from the old world that she and Marti thought we would need. There was a package of something called wet-wipes, a half dozen disposable diapers, and baby powder.

I tore one of the blankets on my cot in half and used it to swaddle the infants to keep them warm. The shoulder bag with the baby supplies was slung over my shoulder, and then I took Kassie in my arms. The twins were currently sleeping, so I had Heather take Kallie instead of Risha. She needed something to occupy her mind and keep her thoughts from spiraling, and focusing on a baby would help with that.

I should have known better than to come to the dining hall at lunchtime, the place was packed with students and they all seemed to be looking right at us. Since our hands were full, Heather and I went to find a spot to sit down while the others went to get their meals. We found a spot beside Phantom Wing, and I swallowed the lump in my throat as Heather and I sat on opposite sides of the table.

“So, how was your first big mission?” I asked as casually as I could as I sat beside Maryn.

“Exhausting,” she replied with a sigh. “We ended up helping the Veetols with transporting teams, but we fought our share of Demons out there too. I’m guessing that it wasn’t near as interesting as what you were doing though.” She looked at the baby in my arms and grinned.

“Cute babies,” Fawn said with an equally teasing grin. “Aww, they look just like you, Snow. Where did you find the time?”

My face was probably bright red as I protested, “They’re not mine… I mean, I guess they are now, but I didn’t…”

“No teasing my Snowy,” Autumn said as she placed a tray of food and a mug of juice in front of me.

“Our Snowy,” Risha corrected as she set a similar meal in front of Heather. “We are going to be a mate-group, remember. Heather and I have just as much claim as you, Autumn.”

This only made my face burn even brighter, and Heather’s was bright red now too as she looked down at the baby she was rocking in her arms. “I… umm…”

“Yes you’re right, Risha. You and Heather are mine too,” the fiery-haired Fay teased before leaning down to kiss my cheek. “Snowy was my first though.”

This caused a resounding “Ooooohhh!” from the members of Phantom Wing.

Poor Lisbet nearly choked on a spoonful of vegetable stew. “F-first, you don’t mean that you… that’s against Academy rules.”

Karina rolled her eyes and tried to stifle a laugh. She didn’t succeed. “Geeze, Lisbet, what is it with you always jumping straight to thoughts of sex? I’m pretty sure that if they had done something like that we would have overheard. It’s not like there’s been a lot of private time lately.”

“Yes, Lisbet, shame on you. Snowy and I would never do anything like that until we graduate and can officially become mates. She’s my first love and my first kiss, but that’s all, for now,” Autumn insisted, though her tone was teasing. “Eat up, Snowy and Heather, Risha and I will be right back.”

Thankfully, Heather and I were able to eat in peace since the female members of Phantom Wing were more than eager to take the babies off our hands for a little while and dote over them while they slept and we ate. It lasted long enough for me to eat, but not much longer before the twins woke and began to fuss from being held by someone who didn’t smell right. I had taken Kassie back in my arms and had just finished feeding her, was burping her, and Risha was doing the same with Kallie when Maryn inquired, “So, are you going to keep them, Snow?”

“I… yeah,” I admitted after getting a belch from Kassie and taking a moment to wipe her face and start rocking her in my arms. “Their real mom is dead, and it kind of feels like they’re my responsibility now. It’s going to take a while before they get comfortable with anyone but me or Risha holding them too.” They were okay with Marti whenever she wasn’t taking blood from them, but with her new and improved Avatar, she could change her scent just like Risha.

“What are you going to do when you’re on missions though?” Kyle asked.

“Most Angels who raise their kids within the Corps just get another Angel to watch over them if they have to go on a mission, that’s what Mom and Dad did with me and Fawn,” Kyra contributed. The Sheepkin paused before adding uncertainly, “I’m not sure it that’ll work well for teams like ours though, since we could be gone for weeks or even months at a time.”

“One of the buildings in Woodbury was a daycare,” Risha pointed out in a hushed tone that wouldn’t carry to other tables. “I am going to suggest that we find some people who are good with kids to staff the place for Angels out on missions or doing training. I doubt that we will be doing any real long-term missions until our training is complete, so the twins will have time to get used to other people.”

I nodded thoughtfully before adding just as quietly, “We can get a full eight hours of team training exercises in the span of two hours in the simulators every day. All of our other lessons are mostly individual stuff that we’ll be learning from our Wingleader and Kelsie. Not all of us need the same lessons though so most of those will be a few of us at a time. Heather and Lisbet will be spending in the Alchemist and Tinker labs to learn to use their gifts better too, which should break things up a bit more…”

“So we could probably get away with having the twins in someone else’s care for only a few hours a day unless we get a mission. Otherwise, we can switch off with whichever one of us isn’t having lessons at the moment so the four of us can bond properly with them,” Autumn finished with a look toward me, Heather and Risha.

“Hey, don’t forget Auntie Karina,” our Devilkin said with a crooked grin. “I’m not gonna join your mate-group or anything, but you are my best friends so I don’t mind helping out when I can.”

“I guess helping out once in a while would be good practice for if I ever have kids,” Lisbet said with a longing glance toward Peter, Phantom Wing’s resident Harekin. “Maybe I can build a nice baby carriage for them.”

Heather had been quiet for most of the conversation, so I figured that she was brooding about visiting her mother again. Since everyone seemed to be finished eating, including the babies, I decided that there was no time like the present for her to get it done with so she could stop fretting. “Okay, so it’s good that we have a sort of plan in place, but I think we should head to the infirmary now.”

Heather had been a bundle of nerves when she walked into the infirmary to visit her mother and sister. Sure, Sira and several of Marti were going to be there in case anything happened, but it hurt seeing her going in there so uptight and not being able to be there or do much of anything for her. I was pretty sure that all of our teammates felt the same too, so we were all a little anxious as we waited for Heather to emerge from the infirmary.

We did take the time to talk to my Grandmother, who had come to wait outside as well. I told her that I planned to keep the twins, our rough plans for caring for them, and even about Risha’s idea about finding people to staff the daycare center for Angels who have kids. As I thought, she had been giving me space so that I could make my own decision on the matter, but she seemed pleased with the decision that I made, especially once she got her first look at the twins. It was strange seeing my usually stoic grandmother going gaga over them, but at least it looked like we would have not have to look far for a willing babysitter if the daycare idea didn’t pan out.

When she emerged from the infirmary, Heather had tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong, Heather? What did…”

I placed my free hand on Autumn’s shoulder, squeezing it to calm her down when she immediately tensed up. “Please, calm down, Autumn. Let’s not go into a Fay fury until she can collect herself and talk to us,” I told her, earning a nod and a faint smile from my grandmother.

Heather looked toward us with glistening eyes and tried to speak several times before she could get the words out. “I… it was her, th… the Mom I remember from before she became Queen. She was confused and upset by everything she’s missed, but it was her.”

The whole team gathered her up in a group hug, Risha and I doing our best with the babies in our arms, and then she was able to tell us what had happened. Her mother didn’t recognize her face, but she did know her eldest daughter’s unique hair and eye color when she saw them, even if those eyes did bear slit pupils now. Heather’s sister Lisa was there too and the three of them talked for a while as Queen Sabine tried to catch up with what was going on in both her daughters’ lives.

She was proud that Heather had become an Angel and seemed to be doing well for herself, and slightly jealous too it seemed, especially when she heard that Heather’s trainer was their mutual childhood idol. She was also glad that Heather had a team that treated her so well and whom she got along well with. Heather hesitated as she got to the end of the story though, and we all could see that something had her upset or, at the very least, nervous.

“What is it, Heather? You know that you can tell us anything,” Risha asked, pulling the pink-haired Fay in close with her free arm and giving her a serious look.

The former princess took a deep breath, steeling herself before speaking. “M-mom said that I would always be her daughter, no matter what and… I don’t have to give up the Wilson name unless I want to. I… I told her that I’m Heather Blossom now, that I’m trying to embrace being Fay, and… I told her about… my future mate-group.”

Autumn squealed in glee, but I think that both Risha and I were stunned. Heather actually admitted to wanting to be a part of our mate-group? Not only that, but she had told her mother. “I knew that you had a thing for us too! By the Spirits! You told her that?! What did she say?!” Autumn babbled excitedly as she wrapped both Risha and Heather in her arms. A smile touched my lips as I joined in as well, careful not to jostle Kassie too much.

“I said that I would like to meet these mates,” a voice said from just inside the infirmary, “and that I should probably learn more about the Fay, and their ways, now that I know we have Fay blood. In fact, I should probably learn more about all of the various peoples of Misota. I expect that the four of you and your other teammates can educate Lisa and me when we can arrange a time for you to join us at the palace for dinner.”

It was the Queen. She looked pale, but that was to be expected. Even with those medical nanites Marti had told us about healing the surgery site, she should probably be on bedrest for a while, but she was up, dressed, and looking at our group intently. Sira, Marti, and the princess followed her out of the room, each with a concerned look on their faces.

“Your Majesty, we told you that you should be resting,” the Marti with her hair in a bun said sternly.

“I think that I’ve been absent long enough,” Queen Sabine retorted in a steely tone. “There are matters that need to be attended to; I will rest at home once they are done. Sira, please have your Angels surround the palace, and ensure that nobody leaves without my personal approval. Once they are in place, ring the safety bells. Nine times, if you please. We will be going to the palace to join them.”

We had to read about the safety bells as part of the Academy rules. They were designed to be heard all over the city, even in the Seed-storm shelters, but they weren’t just used for Seed-storms. Three rings warned of an approaching Seed-storm or Demon attack. Six meant that it was safe for people to leave their shelters. Nine times was for when the Queen wished to address the public at the square outside the palace gates.

“Of course, Your Majesty, will there be anything else?” Sira asked.

“Once the palace is surrounded, I would like you to send a team inside to take my former consort into custody and interrogate him. I want him and the names of his collaborators. Perhaps Archangel Abbadine and her trainees would be a good team for that,” Queen Sabine replied.

One thing that struck me was that she wasn’t giving orders, at least not where it concerned Angels. She was asking Sira, or making suggestions. Still, Sira didn’t hesitate to answer as if they had been orders. “It will be done, Your Majesty. Archangel Abbadine and Wing Commander Snow, prepare to infiltrate the palace while I mobilize the Angels and students.”

They had barely been with me a day, but I keenly felt the absence of the twins as my team waited outside the palace gates for the command to be given. They were in the care of several Marti Avatars at the moment though, so they would be safe and well cared for while we did our duty. My grandmother stood resolutely behind us, waiting patiently since we had already gone over the plan.

The rest of my team waited for the command to go in their own ways. Lisbet nervously re-checked her weapons, while Heather looked just as nervous, though she did have good cause for that. Autumn and Risha were both calm and collected, though Autumn had that look in her eyes like she was looking forward to getting some good old Fay vengeance for Heather. Karina was uncharacteristically quiet though, as she quietly stared at the steel shutters that currently barred the front doors of the palace.

I didn’t blame her since this plan hinged on both of her Seed-borne gifts and she hated using Temptress. Still, she had suggested it, and once she had told us what the ability actually did, Autumn found the idea delightfully ironic. Karina was brooding though, which wasn’t at all like the usually chipper Devilkin girl.

“You know that he deserves it, right? And you’ll only have to use it long enough to get some names from him,” I said as I gently placed a hand on my best friend’s shoulder.

“Yeah, it’s just… using that ability makes me feel dirty,” she admitted. “I haven’t used it often, and those times were mostly by accident, or to train so I couldn’t use it accidentally. This is important though.”

It was a few moments later that Sira’s voice came over the comms system. -= All Angels are in place, Storm Wing. We will be sounding the bells in five minutes. You are free to enter the palace and capture your target. =-

I turned to Karina and nodded as I gave the order, “Do it.” Her only reply was to disappear in a puff of brimstone. A moment later, the shutters barring the entrance opened as Karina let us inside and we all followed Heather. She knew the palace best and she could think of several places where her father might have been while waiting for the bells to sound the all-clear.

It didn’t take long to find him; he was alone in the throne room and making himself comfortable on the Queen’s throne. He practically jumped out of it though, as we threw the doors open and he got a good look at seven armed and very pissed-off Angels. “Wh-what are you doing here? You should be outside fighting Demons!”

“Don’t worry about that, daddy-dearest,” Heather spat sarcastically, “we’re about to take care of the worst evil Misota has ever seen, right now.”

His eyes went wide in realization as he gaped at the pink-haired Fay. “Heather?”

“That’s right,” she replied with barely contained fury. “By the way, I just had a nice long talk with Mom, and she’d like a word with you.”

“No… she can’t be…. She ran out into the storm with Lisa… they should be Demons by now… or…” He trailed off, his face white with fear as the bells sounded, not stopping until nine repetitions.

I was nudged forward by my grandmother, so I figured that it was time for me to say my part. “Aron Clarkson, in the name of Queen Sabine Wilson, you are under arrest for crimes against the Crown.”

He bolted for one of the side exits, calling for the guards as he did so, but he wasn’t going to escape Karina. She vanished from sight once again and appeared right in his path to tackle him to the ground. Then she began using her other gift.

The Temptress ability elevated Karina’s natural pheromones and combined with her body language, tone of voice, and very powerful empathic influence to wrap any man she chose to use it on around her little finger, so long as they were attracted to women. It wasn’t like the crown, just making a person pliable and open to suggestions, it made the target want to do anything that she asked of them. It would take a few minutes to start to work, but then he would happily answer any questions that we had and follow wherever she led him.

Heather’s father was struggling against Karina, but he was no match in strength for an Angel, and her gift was starting to wear him down. I could hear and smell people approaching, drawn out from whatever they had been doing to wait out the storm by the bells, so I turned to the others. “Autumn, Lisbet, Risha, I need you three to make sure nobody comes in here, show your Angel badges and start ushering people to the foyer. Keep them there until we can be sure there aren’t any collaborators among them.”

Autumn and Risha didn’t look happy about it, but both understood the need. They did both stop to direct a baleful glare in the direction of Heather’s father before leaving though, and I could have sworn that Risha’s eyes had taken on a crimson glow as she said, “I’ll be back,” in a thick and unfamiliar accent.

With that taken care of, and it appearing that Karina was getting Heather’s father under her control, I took Heather by the hand and said, “Let’s go see what that asshole has to say.”

We slowly approached and Karina’s scent nearly overwhelmed me. The combination of my powerful sense of smell, and just how strong a scent she was giving off for her skill to take effect on her captive, made me glad that it would be my grandmother asking the questions. I wasn’t sure that I would be able to focus very well so close to her until she stopped using the ability.

I could see why Karina hated using that ability, but the crown had been damaged when Queen Sabine had lost it, so this was our only guaranteed way of getting answers. She looked like she wanted to throw up as she nuzzled against her captive, ran a finger teasingly down his cheek, and asked in a sultry tone, “Aron, honey, my friends here have some questions for you, could you please answer them honestly? For me?” She pursed her lips and batted her eyelashes as she said the last part, and her finger teased his chest.

Temptress was a frightening and disturbing ability, but it got us answers. Heather’s father happily spilled his entire plot when asked. He had planned to eventually take over as King of Misota, and banish the Angels and Seed-borne to take their land for his fellow conspirators. His conspirators had even been growing a small army in case they needed to take the Seed-borne lands by force, and they wanted the Angel Corps’ technology to help.

He admitted to using the crown to control Queen Sabine and revealed the names of his collaborators as well. Most of those were other Lords, but there were some Human merchants and commoners as well who stood to benefit by currying his favor. In the end, he answered every question asked and then giddily allowed Karina to place him in shackles and lead him down to the palace dungeons.

Palace Square was filled with people of all Races, gathering after the sounding of the bells, as Queen Sabine Wilson made her announcement. Even without her crown, she was recognizable to everyone present, and she held herself with an undeniable presence as she stood atop the palace parapet overlooking the square. “Heh, she looks like her mother up there. Now, that is a proper Queen,” my grandmother said with a smile.

“Yes, I can see some of Haley’s fire in her,” Sira agreed. “She will need proper rest when this is over though; Marti says she needs a couple of days of bedrest to fully recover, even with the nanites helping the healing along.”

I was only half listening to them since my attention was already divided between feeding Kallie, watching as Autumn was doing the same for Kassie for the first time, and listening to the Queen’s speech. Autumn was practically glowing as she fed the baby. Kassie didn’t seem too sure about her scent at first, but I guess food was food for a hungry baby so she was allowing it, and I hoped that letting the others feed them occasionally over the next few days would help the twins to get used to their respective scents.

The Queen was brutally honest about the plot against her, and how she had been manipulated by the technology her husband had stolen. She also revealed the information that we had gotten from her former consort regarding his collaborators. She named names and vowed to be a better queen for all of her people.

Teams of Angels were already enroute to close to a dozen estates far from the capital to arrest their Lords, and close to twice as many other collaborators were pointed out in the crowd as they tried to flee. Those people, including one Lord Samson Nelson, were quickly apprehended by the city guards. I was glad to see him hauled off since I had no love for the man who had tried to shoot Autumn and me in the back.

Queen Sabine admitted that there were a lot of details to work out over the coming days. Many of the new laws and regulations enacted over the past eight years would have to be rescinded to restore the equality that Misota had enjoyed for much of its history. New Lords would also have to be appointed to replace the conspirators, and I couldn’t help but smile when she said that many of those would be Seed-borne to create a balance among them. There were going to be some changes with the Corps too, and negotiations with Ashburn, but those were going to be dealt with by Sira and the Archangels, and something to worry about another day.