Shadowsblade a Whateley Tale: Written by Shadowsblade
Created for war and forged in pain, dealing with demons within and
without.

In this one Another time...to come.

~o~O~o~

~o~O~o~

~o~O~o~

Another time

As the iris of the door hissed open, Kevin gripped his holo-computer a little tighter in his hand as he noticed that his boss was already waiting in the small meeting room and seemed to have been there for quite sometime by all the clutter already on the meeting table. Then add to this near embarrassment on his part, that Mr. Mifune the VP from the Japan office was sitting next to him and both were going over a holo plan of the new product to be sold on his next business venture for the company off world.

Kevin sighed inwardly, he always gave this job the best effort he could offer it? But his boss always seemed to be one step in front of him and commonly did small acts just like this weekly! It was Kevin's family that took much of his time away from work and not being able to show up early...thirty minutes or more early like his boss here and as it was Kevin was still over ten early for this very meeting! But his best efforts in this case being even this early, would be shown no appreciation by the persons above him.

"Sorry I am late again?" Kevin said sliding into the first available chair across from both men and unfolding his holo-computer out to it's full display size. The only reason Kevin even carried the heavy computer, (one pound) was that both men being much older than him had refused to go full brain or body implant and be able to see his work via the newest tech.

Both men did not even take the time to notice Kevin coming into the room until he spoke up and the older one of the two leaned back in this chair to cross his arms in anger. Where as the other, his boss only stared at him in disgust as he waved away the holo display glowing off the table top.

A scowl covered his boss's face as he watched the younger man quickly take his seat, "I hope you had time to finish up the proposal last night?" he growled to the younger man.

"Yes sir...Mr. Blackthorne. I was able to finish the whole presentation on time and transmitted a copy over to legal for them to check, then add they just beeped me it was fine...sir?" Kevin tried to smile back to the stern man while thinking that his boss had all the time in the world to work long hours like this with all his kids well past being at home and having kids of their own to deal with.

"Good, but lets have Toshirô go over the customs and rituals that the royals have up there one more time. We don't need you angering the wrong person today and have this company barred from off world sales...now do we?" he warned the younger man as Blackthorne spoke and straightened up his impeccable suit, then made sure his double tie was hanging straight.

"Yes sir!" Kevin nearly barked thinking that the whole company was hanging from it's very finger tips on this one deal for new off world sales. Especially in the 24th century, where trying to sell only on the home world was a way for a very fast growing company to die!

Toshirô stood up and while he did. He took off his coat in classic Japanese style to show that work had begun and that the customs of full business attire where left behind. He strode over to the end of the room and waved a hand over the holo display in the floor at the head of the table.

As he cleared his throat, Kevin turned off his implant and tapped his comp back to life for any notes he might make. He thought of the implants he was given taking this job, they had become standard for modern business and beyond. All of the newest brain implants like his showed their information right into the users brain and seemed to be part of your normal vision during the day and sometimes nights!

When the older man began rolling up his sleeves, Kevin noticed for the first time that Toshirô had glowing body tattoos and most of them being artistic in nature with the exception of those few near his wrists that showed a keyboard like layout for work.

As the older man moved the holo display around to show the layout of the city, Kevin thought about how old Toshirô must be to still use data-tats for office work? Was he over eighty or ninety and even being that old, Toshirô was still middle aged for someone living in the sixth upper level of the Los Angeles mega city complex.

Kevin drifted off in thought of the seventh level above him that he was to visit today, that is where the truly rich and powerful lived and worked. He was just below them on level six where you could live to an easy one hundred and fifty! But them...being well over three hundred and still called a teen was the normal these days!

To those who lived among the vast levels below, as you went farther down into the mega city's more older levels. Your life expectantly dropped to terms only seen back in the 22nd century of ninety for most at the best and for a few citizens over one hundred years old at the lowest most harshest level of one. Then steadily rose up once you climbed from one level to the next until you reached the top most...'seventh heaven' most citizens called it.

Almost all of that extra lifetime came from improved genetics, but some of it did indeed come by way of environment and if you could pull yourself up a level? You did live longer because of the better conditions and care the city had to offer for you.

"Well Kevin, this trip is important to all of us here at the firm and we need this sale to go off without a hitch or..." Toshirô warned his underling as he pulled up a map showing the building Kevin was destined to be at by five PM exactly or all of this meeting was off...the persons that ran the place always wanted you on time...or no deals where made!

"But remember this most of all, the Sidhe are not unlike my nations people. They demand respect at all times, you must show it to all and at the least nod down or give a slight bow to those in charge...remember their whole society is based on a monarchy and like most royalty based cultures. They have rituals you must obey and show reverence to at all times my boy!" Toshirô said while waving up a display of the different ways a Sidhe royal could be dressed these days.

The holo now showed after the older man's hand waved, examples of the latest courtly fashions and the markings that all had in common no matter the era. The easiest to notice was swords and the scabbards the blades were sheathed in. Even the upper most members of Sidhe society always had a blade at hand or had at least one guard very near them carrying an extra blade for fighting use by their charge...yes even royals fought their own fights!

"Next thing boy, remember that more guards one has...the higher up the food chain they are!" Toshirô warned and Kevin nodded back, "Yes sir..."

"Now here is a list of common, to very uncommon titles you might hear while up there and all of them are shown in the many languages they use. Sidhe common language being the most used, all the way down to a few almost never used. If you hear or see these..." the man emphasized while he stopped the glowing display on the rarest most ones, "watch yourself Kevin when hearing these...the Sidhe you are talking to at the time is a very important person! The more titles they have, the higher they are within the Sidhe royalty!" the older Japanese man said, as he rolled through the vast list and knew the younger man had that very same list literally inside his head and with audio examples of each one of the thousands shown in rolling holo words Toshirô was waving through.

"Yes sir, but is there anything else not in the regular notes?" Kevin had to ask.

"Yes...there is one. If you see a guards hand or that of a Sidhe move to touch a blade they almost always wear...you might be very close to making a mistake and becoming very dead."

Kevin gulped at that comment, he never thought that the blades the Sidhe always carried being used in that manner! He had concluded that they where just ceremonial in nature? "Mr. Mifune, they would not?"

"They would boy and I have seen it happen once in my short lifespan when they visited my father's company in Japan. One of our armed guards pulled a gun out of his holster as he came off duty to lock it up and was seen as a threat to the Queen visiting us at the time. She was in the hallway walking past as he did that last act, a Sidhe escort cut off his arm before anyone could even react and he bled to death." Mifune said thinking to that sad day and he lowered his head in shame for the act...the act of the human guard for not knowing the customs of guests in the building!

"Sorry..." Kevin added seeing the mans sadness over the subject.

"No need to apologize to me, but I will add one thing not in the notes..." he started.

"Sir?!" Kevin eagerly asked.

"A Sidhe NOT wearing a blade is the most dangerous of them all, especially one that does not have or sees no need for personal guards. So if they are in the room with you alone, they see you as a trusted person or they feel you are no genuine threat...or in their mind a easy kill? But they are always polite and expect the truth at all times...BOY!"

"I understand sir" Kevin added as he mentally went over the list of titles again.

~o~O~o~

4:55 PM Mega-city Los Angeles
7th level or heaven to some

Kevin stepped off the vator tube that had carried him up the nearly five thousand feet from his level of the city up to this one and quickly glanced around the building for the guard station/greeting center of the vast public area. He spotted it only a few yards off from the vator's doors and quickly strode over to it. His new shoes clicked against the very real marble of the floor and then went back to silence as his feet hit the carpet that he surly knew was real cotton!

He knew all of the furnishing in this building was all real, naturally grown and hand made. Because the Sidhe had only the best! Besides their desire to show off...they needed natural furnishings because of their allergic reaction to artificial, man made objects to their skin and he knew that some Sidhe did indeed go barefoot through their daily life via the cultural briefing Mifune gave him a few hours ago.

"I am here for a meeting with a gatekeeper at five?" he told the elf female who was dressed in the finest silk he had ever seen and she was sitting at the center of a large round desk that looked very much like the carved out center of a HUGE tree dozens of feet across. She blinked at him to show that she had indeed noticed him and handed her his paper pass for the event. Yep...real paper! The Elves insisted on all data being on paper at times like this, they did not trust human tech at all and you can't BeSpell a computer he was told!

She lifted his pass off the table and seem to be genuinely kind of revolted by doing so. But she still smiled during the act and checked its authenticity with a wave of her hand that left a sparkle of magic in its wake.

"Well this seems in order...sir?" she smiled back and waved to a armed elf covered in leather armor standing near the desk. That one guard was one among a dozen standing at their posts within the huge lobby.

"Thank you" he said back, taking the pass from her hand and noting the male elf making his way over from the obvious Sidhe 'only' side of the greeting area and over to the common or 'human' side of the room.

"Come with me sir" the male elf breathed with not even a hint of emotion on his words and that is when Kevin noticed that the elf's armor had the royal crest on the left breast. That small ornate golden sigil reminded Kevin that this huge building was not only the Sidhe-human business center of the west coast and most of American continent. But also their embassy to us humans for this whole side of the world.

The stand off attitude of both elves Kevin knew was caused by the whole race not fully trusting humans for the most part and that mistrust was well earned he had read in more than a few history text books durning his school days. First was the ancient misdeed done during the 'Sundering' that almost shattered the world and time itself. Then add the short civil war that happened nearly two hundred years ago...to most Sidhe...that was last week in their eyes!

That civil war was started by a past, long dead president to or was the United States? Kevin thought to himself and that man wanted control of the elves, plus their vast magical powers! But the nation quickly lost that short fight, you can't stop elves armed with magic, not ones that can appear anywhere they want to...not with human technology anyway!

The escort waved Kevin forward as he lead the way. As they walked along the long beautify wood covered hallways, the elf stayed completely silent. Kevin noted the large statues that lined the hallways and the even larger ones positioned at every hallway junction, he was once told in old stories his mom, that they could come to life and fight for the Sidhe, that was only one example of magic that he personally knew of?

The guard finally stopped at a large set of doors guarded by six more armored elves on each side and plus the two that opened the large doors at their approach. That hit Kevin as strange, none of them said a word to each other? But still knew what was needed or coming!

Just behind the doors was a marble room with at least a dozen sigil lined circles covering the floor and each one was glowing from the deeply etched metal symbols of magic.

"May I ask what this is for, I thought I was seeing a GateKeeper in a office right here?" he had to ask now and more than a little terrified by this place.

"Sir... our GateKeepers do not wait for audiences with humans here at the embassy, as they are far too important for that. So you are going to meet with the GateKeeper in the main city...our capitol." the elf said flatly to the human standing next to him.

"The capitol? But no human or should I say humans rarely go there!" Kevin nearly squeaked back to his escort.

"Well that is where you are going, or there will be no meeting today...or ever human?" he told Kevin rather coldly.

"Okay? I'll go, I am sure this is an honor for me to go there?" Kevin questioned the guard.

"It is, please follow me?" he asked and walked over to the center most circle, then pointed down at the smooth floor just inside the center most circle and the ONLY one of the dozens here with what seemed to be the most sigils, then lined with inset gems on top of that, "Stand at the center please sir."

"Okay" Kevin said as he went about doing exactly as told, "What now?" he asked from within the golden ring on the floor.

"Don't move and please don't open your bag during transit...it would be seen badly by us and please make yourself ready to greet the Obok Jabbress Ilharess who called you to see her!" the escort smiled as the glow of the sigils grew brighter till they were blinding Kevin.

"WHO!" Kevin shouted in surprise thinking about the titles that he was to be vary of and this person or man or lady had THREE of them! He had instantly forgot that the escort had said 'lady' in describing the person from his sudden fright!

Kevin only had enough time to hear his shout and blink once towards the escort before the magic glow within the circle overpowered his eyesight, then his senses all scrambled.

The Elf escort chuckled as the human that he lead here vanished and then shook his head in thought. "Hope this meeting goes well for you human...the Jabbress does not like humans that much."

The glow dimmed as Kevin's sight came back to him and his balance was totally shot as his returning vision now showed a whole new room was all around him. He wavered for a second as a female elf took hold of his shoulder to steady him. She only mumbled one word as his senses came back..."Weaklien," (weakling)

Kevin had to be guided by the female elf over to a short wooden bench on the room's edge, she took that time while he was still gathering his sense to wave over another girl who brought several cool glasses of water for him to drink that seemed to help.

"Thanks that water helped me a lot and what was that...if I can ask?" Kevin asked just after slowly taking one more long drink then placing the glass back on the tray the new girl held and she quickly walked away with her task now done.

"If you are asking about our water? It is from the healing springs near the royal court. And if you are asking about what the room did? That was a magic based teleport from Los Angeles to our Sidhe capitol Alqualondë, then add to that...this is the Sovereignty's Ministry of extra courtly affairs, or our outside business park to some and where any dealings with the human world are done...sir?" she smiled to the man who was just now standing up.

"So I drank magic healing water and this is the Elvin capitol?" he almost squeaked again.

"No...never Elvin...always Sidhe. You will go much farther in dealing with the crown using the right term for my or our race," she nearly hissed back at him, but kept her composure.

"Yes...very sorry ma'am I just forgot in all the excitement is all. Please forgive my mistake?" Kevin asked and quickly scanned the room to see where he was.

This new room was much larger that the one he just left by about five times, then add there seemed to be magical gates actually built into the walls of this very room and as Kevin stood dumbfounded at never seeing a gate actually work. A Sidhe walked right up to a large silver circle on one of the walls, one that had gold sigils all over it's surface, then a large gem at each of the four points of the compass glowed as he walked towards it and a shimmering wall of water opened over the normal stone wall. Then the elf strode right in...and was gone. The gems slowly lost their inner glow and the simmering water ceased in a swirl of light.

Kevin quickly counted the gates and found that this room had twenty four of them! It was amazing for a city to even have one connected to the vast mostly unknown to humans network of them, let alone over twenty.

"Nice place!" he finally uttered out to her, hoping that she was ready to take him off to the next part of today's meeting.

"It is a nice place and I have called it home since birth, but for now please follow me over to the security desk where we will check you in, then have an escort assigned for you and this meeting." she said and pointed towards the rooms only door. That is when Kevin noted the young girl's flowing dress and it's silken sleeves.

Walking through the large ornate gold double doors, Kevin became aware of that the guards to this room were dressed in full metal armor and one of the door's set of four guards kept an eye on him...the guards eyes never left the new human.

Once past the huge gold doors of the teleport room, Kevin found it was connected to one large and very long wood panel lined hallway that had various stone statues lining its path that finished up its path at a large desk that held ten elves very busy with their individual tasks. The desk itself was very much like the one in LA, but this one was done in a fully finished and polished wood, where as the one back in LA was still covered for the most part in tree bark. This was the first time that Kevin even noticed that these elves did indeed use computers built right into this desk's smooth top.

The escort asked for his meeting letter and Kevin handed it over from inside his jacket, she quickly handed it to the girl on the other side of the desk. This new Elvin girl gave him the once-over, then checked his pass against a paper log on her desktop...paper being used once again stuck Kevin as unusual, but when dealing with the Sidhe or Fae races unusual was the norm from a human's point of view!

The greeting desk attendant gave him a cute but very curt smile before she spoke, "You are expected and the Obok Jabbress Ilharess of human affairs and I will call an escort from here on for you..." then she turned back to the first girl escort he had after his teleport, "Mylaerla I have it from here and thanks!"

"I will be going now, have a good day Kevin..." Mylaerla smiled over to Kevin.

"Nice name, it sings and is you to a 'T' Mylaerla. Thank you for your time." he nodded back and she just grinned back to him and gave a short giggle, then she leaned over the smooth wood top of the desk and whispered back down to the to the desk girl as "Amin rath sina er, ten' y' Edan ro naa cute! Quel re Talanashta!" Kevin over heard it all, after both giggled a little to one another. Mylaerla smiled to him once more and left going towards her place in the teleport chamber.

"What did Mylaerla say just now and what made her laugh so cutely?" Kevin eagerly asked the Elven girl behind the reception desk.

Since Sidhe rarely lie or exaggerate, Talanashta told him flatly and started to laugh, "She said... I would bed this one, for a human he is cute! Good day...and Talanashta is my name. Plus she is right...you are cute!"

Kevin went instantly red from embarrassment and tugged at his collar, "AHhhh I like her too?" is all he could utter out.

"I'll tell her and maybe she will give you a call after her work day is over?" then Talanashta grinned evilly at him, "Or maybe I will!"

"Ahhh...ahhh Talanashta I would like that very much?" he stuttered out.

"Well I will copy your number down and think about it, then give Mylaerla a copy too! Maybe you can date us both?" Talanashta said and her evil grin grew as she spoke!

Kevin thought about what he had once read about the Sidhe, the whole race thought that having sex with humans was fun and a way to relax without messy long term connections being made. That memory made him a more than little nervous and eager too!

"I can think of a few spots to take both of you...or one?" he corrected himself.

"So can I!" she added back.

Kevin's wait was short for his new escort and very unexpected. The escort that finally showed up was made up of eight male Sidhe, being lead by a ninth who was female and dressed in very ornate leather armor, that had a beautiful sword scabbard hanging from her belt. Then add the strange part...her whole head and face was covered by a scary ornate mask.

"I was tasked to escort you to a meeting with the Jabbress of inter human affairs, please follow me and stay close, do not wander or stop..." the mysterious elfin girl instructed and warned Kevin, who nodded back in agreement.

The leader quickly turned to walk away and Kevin had to nearly run to keep up with her longer strides, the rest of the eight man group took up three to each of his sides and two trailing to his rear. He was totally surrounded and the thoughts to even wander off or stop ended there, no matter how interesting the sights might be?

She lead the whole party down the large hallway leading from the greeting centers desk, then towards a staircase so amazing it took Kevin's breath away. The staircase was an immense tree that had spiraling branches that made up the steps to go up, each one several yards across to the handrail growing out of the very stone wall made out of vines that were as firm in his hands as cut stone.

It seemed to him, that each of the stairs treads was a solid slab of ornate gold and each one must have been very thick because they did not flex under his feet or sound like thin metal to his shoes stomping upward on each one?

As the party climbed up into the building via the tree of stairs, the walls changed from the marble like stone of the lower level to a more natural seeming stone that one might find along a river bank...totally smooth with only a ripple now and then to break the glass like surface.

Once up few more floors and finally at the top. The stairs ended at a hallway lined with stained glass much like a church would have and instead of the normal religious depictions? This glass showed what might be Sidhe history lessons...that is what Kevin concluded by the scenes of royal court life in and around the Sidhe capitol he was now visiting.

It took only a few dozen yards of walking for Kevin to notice that this was no hallway, but a very large bridge to another building! One bridge that surly kept visiting humans off the streets of the capitol and business dealing with them hidden from the day to day sight of the Fae citizens.

The next building they came to from the bridge was a tall spiraling one, that had no center and one could look over the ornate stone railing all the way down ten floors that Kevin took time to count. As the party came close enough to the rail for him to see all the way down to the building lobby full of Elves going about their separate business.

A few spirals up the building's ramped halls, the leader stopped at a large dark wood office door that had a person's name carved into it in Elvin and one other language that Kevin had no idea was.

She pushed open the double doors for him and leaned in to check if anyone was there... to find that there was no one currently in the very large office, "This is the office for your meeting, it seems the Jabbress is still out at her last meeting...I have to apologize for her delay, but please enter and make yourself comfortable for now."

"Thanks...but who am I meeting with again?" Kevin had to ask very sure that he was never even given a name?

"She will introduce herself...that is her way and her mannerisms." is all the leader explained as she closed the doors to the room and left Kevin very much alone.

"Humm?" Kevin thought, "She left me alone with this person...I wonder why and will they come back to stand by as guards when this lady comes in for our meeting?"

Kevin did know a few Sidhe common mannerisms and one of them was a guest taking keen interest in one's office decorations. Those decorations showed to others what had happened along the owners long life and what they felt was important to them. The closer an object was to the desk or desk's vision line...the more important it personally was to the owner.

As he studied the room, Kevin noted that this room was made or decorated for the use of two, because the room had two equal size ornate desks with a center conversation area of chairs and two sofas and chairs surrounding a large conversation table.

The one item that instantly grabbed Kevin's attention was beautiful twin swords housed within a glass case just under the room's only window. Only one window for a room this large was strange, but the window was fifteen feet of finely made stained glass showing a darkly dressed female with long white hair pulling a sword to defend her queen sitting next to her in royal court.

The swords housed within the glass case were unsheathed and resting just below a small set of sliver metal crowns, that Kevin was sure was Mithril or some other magical metal the Sidhe were very good at crafting. Laying on both sides of the crowns, were ornate sets of pointed ear covers made for Elvin females or in some occasions males wore them too.

Across the long bottom of the case, was row after row of small awards and military style ribbons to wear on uniforms. The last row of them seemed to be made up exclusively of human given awards from several nations.

Kevin drifted all around the office as he waited, he might be impatient at times like this. But discovering more about his meeting contact was at hand and her life was very long and very interesting to him to say the least!

Several minutes of time passed and Kevin found he was at the bookcase nearest the fine wood desk that appeared to be from England and very ancient. The shelf he was studying held three pictures, the largest one was in a silver frame and showed all humans dressed in desert camo while in a middle eastern nation at the turn of the 20th century he was sure. The other two showed dark skinned Sidhe amongst a group of men with the distinct look of special forces and the last was the same two Sidhe, now a little older appearing with a huge company of men posing in a makeshift fort of some sort.

As Kevin studied the pictures closer to find out whom he was meeting with today, that is when a small hidden door flew open to the room and a very dark skinned elf entered the room in a flurry "Very Sorry Mr. Varney. I was kept over my scheduled time by the last emissary for Japan, because the ambassador wanted a better deal for transporting his nations products off world. But please be seated or study my belongings farther...while I finish up this stack of paperwork." she said quickly taking a seat behind one of the huge desks.

That is when Kevin smiled back and realized this was a Drow...a very rare sight even with the upswing of Sidhe population over the last two hundred years. "I am fine ma'am..."He said not knowing this lady's name just yet, "I am very interested in these photos right here...I was told by my great grand-father, that one of my ancestors fought in the first desert wars of the 20th century and is this you in photo?" he asked pointing at the first one.

The hidden door swung open once again, but this time a twin to the Drow already in the room strode quickly pushing a cart with a tray on top holding a full tea service for what seemed to be at least four? "That is both of us and that middle picture is indeed your ancestor on the groups far right side...the one wearing the Florida Marlins baseball cap." as she said while busy setting the tray down, then she smiled brightly to him while showing those very same very pointy teeth that Drow were known for.

"How...how can you be sure this was or is him?" he stuttered out very surprised at the Drow's statement.

With both ladies being Drow, Kevin inwardly knew why he was left alone with them! Drow have always been know as the Sidhe's best fighters and Kevin was an untrained human, that meant 'easy prey' like Toshirô had said in the meet this morning!

The one twin sitting at the desk answered as she closed the file in front of her, "He gave us both that copy. Beside we both made a promise to watch over his descendants, his kin over the years and this is your chance...we only help one person per generation with what is now five hundred and sixty two direct descendants of his out and about now and over a thousand related humans above that number."

"Yes, with each passing decade the number grows and we have to choose somehow don't we sister?" the one said pouring out cups of tea at the conversation table in the center of the room surrounded by chairs and two sofas.

"So this is him," Kevin pointed at the person the Drow had just indicated, "I sadly don't even know his name?" Kevin admitted to his growing shame.

"Hummmm..." the one twin still at her desk growled and almost hissed out from her disappointment.

"Well that is to be expected with most humans in general not caring much beyond those they personally know? But his name was William Varney...just like your last name or Bill to his close friends. and in that photo he was a Corpsman for the US marines."

"A what?" Kevin asked showing his ignorance on military history as he took a seat on one of the sofas near the new one of the twins that had showed up.

"A corpsman...that is a medic that the navy assigns to the marines under it's command. Then he became a nurse after that, then finally a full doctor with a specialty in mutants and of course Sidhe because of us two!" the one pouring tea giggled out obviously remembering something personal.

"Nice... I did not know all of that family history?" he admitted leaning over to the twin now offering him a cup of golden tea, then she took one over to her sister's desk and set it down as that one was finishing up her stacks of paperwork.

"Can I ask your names, we have not been introduced yet?" he asked of both.

"Ohh sorry we were just so preoccupied with the last meeting and then seeing you...because we tend to stay way from the Varney family unless there is a great need not too?"

"But I am Rohanna Leigh." said the one at the desk still working, only glancing up to say her introduction and right back down to her work.

And I am Rehanna...the younger one by a few months?" she laughed out, as she found the strange look now covering Kevin's face too funny to keep the laugh in check.

"Younger by months, for twins?" he had to ask now fully puzzled by the two and the statement.

Rohanna sitting at the desk closed the last file in the stack, then slid it into a holder and twisted the cap back on her fountain pen, "Yes a few months, but that is a long story for another time. For now let's talk about your company's need of gate time for fulfilling trade contracts off world and with the worlds that come under our Sidhe or other Fae protections...shall we?"

"Yes we would like to offer our companies products to those off world...because we have outgrown the earth's need for them and then add we think that those people might need them?" he hoped that his words of explanation sounded good to the twins.

"That might work out, as your conglomerate offers many products and service to even list...from clothes to trash reclaimers to food and a few home style goods too? But your biggest hurdle will be the large issue with your payment. Because most off world people don't use cash...they trade or use something like gold that might or might not have any value here on earth?" Rohanna said slowly strolling over to the table and taking time out to sip at her tea from time to time.

"I am sure that we can work that out on a case by case basis?" he assured the twins.

"I am sure you can or will, but one thing you will not do is start manufacturing on any world that we of the Sidhe royals connect you with. We will not allow humans to spoil them or make near worker slaves of the population." Rehanna warned Kevin and she saw the twin sister nod along with the terms.

"Humm no off world manufacturing limits us greatly, but I am sure we can accommodate that?" he offered back.

"Not 'can'...it's you will!" Rehanna warned again with a sound of finality in her voice, this was not an issue to be dealt away it sounded to Kevin at this time and would not change he was very sure of.

"Okay we can do that, but I will need a list of the terms to be met with before we can agree on our part?" Kevin said but inwardly knew that any terms the Sidhe had, needed to met or the company would die financially within a decade or less.

Rehanna glanced at the door and nearly instantly that girl who lead his escort party in opened the door and strode in carrying a file, that she dropped on the table then opened to Kevin.

"Thank you Eilat, but please loose the head cover...we have a guest today that is nearly family in a way." Rohanna insisted to the girl.

"Yes elder matron," she said pulling off the mask from her face and head. Her long white hair fell to her shoulders and beyond, to the small of her back nearly to her knees. Kevin noted her face right then, this girl was a Drow too and looked like a family relation to the two twins as well.

"Good girl Eilat, now be off on your tasks. We will be meeting for the next few hours or so?" Rehanna told the younger Drow.

"Yes elder matron," she said with a slight bow and quickly let the room.

After Eilat was gone and the doors closed behind her. Rohanna sighed out, "Ahhh youth, I was like that once always having to show I was the warrior all the time. But she will grow past that time, just like her sisters did."

"Is she... Eilat related to you?" Kevin had to pry.

"Yes, granddaughter of our first born daughters and quite the firecracker too! She is vying for a spot on the Queens personal guard and knows that being related to us brings a hurdle to that effort." Rehanna grinned with pride.

"How so?" he asked and then placed his empty cup back on the table, that Rehanna quickly took to refilling with that heavenly tasting golden tea.

"We are both named...The protector of the Queens honor and her throne. And with that we serve the current elected Queen or the first one as needed and have trained most of the military guard of the royal capitol." Rehanna stated.

When he heard that, Kevin made a connection to the white medallion hanging on the wall under glass. He had just passed it by as nothing and now it stuck him as what it really was! "So that panel of plaster that bears the seal of the president of the past United States, you're the Drows that pulled that down from the White house oval office?" he stated the one fact he did know about Sidhe history.

Rehanna giggled back instantly, "That it is and we are them. Plus we cut out the seal on the carpet and used it as a bath mat for a decade, but now it hangs back in our home. Cleaned up a bit...."

"So you killed the president too?" he had to ask.

"No, we did not!" Rehanna hissed.

"That fact has become very confused over the last dozen passing decades, we did not hurt him. He was long gone by the time we took over the house and the senate, plus congress did a one day impeachment of him and hung him on the capitol steps. That man over stepped his bounds in trying to make an army of human mutant kind, as well as us Sidhe...that was his mistake thinking we Fae would yield to a 'draft' from a human run government." Rohanna added to the retort.

"Sorry, I had just forgotten the details." Kevin admitted to both.

"Humans doomed to repeat past mistakes via short memories." Rehanna hissed nearly silently.

Kevin sipped at his fresh tea and had to ask about it, "What brand is this tea, I love it!"

"It's a blend from our grove and the water is from the healing springs there too. That is why you love it, this tea is healing you from the inside out and reinvigorating you." Rehanna told him.

"If you want some to take home with you? We can do that and have some of the water put in a silver jar for you to retain its magic a little longer?" Rohanna offered with a smile.

"That would be great and this tea heals you?"

"Yes, if you drank it daily and had cancer or some other disease? You would find a few months later, you would not have that disease anymore or very likely never again." Rehanna boasted for Sidhe form of using magic for healing.

"Humm interesting, but can you please tell me more about Bill...my ancestor?" he begged.

"Bill was a great friend, he and his wife Jineen were always there for us during and after our change to what you see here today." Rohanna started to explain.

"You were not born Drow?" he asked.

"Mutated via magic is the closest explanation and that was from a normal human." Rehanna said next.

"But none the less, he was there for us and we now watch over his heirs from time to time like we said." Rohanna smiled.

"And you might not know this small fact...your first name was most likely handed down from Bill's first born boy and he was named after one of my husbands...the first true Drow one." Rehanna added in.

"My grandmother said something about that, but never said the whole history behind that name. But you have more than one husband...both of you?" he asked when both nodded in turn.

"Yes, a few have been human during our early lives and then we have a few Sidhe or Drow because if you live as long as we do...seeing the same person all that time gets very boring!" Rohanna laughed back to Kevin and Rehanna giggled a bit at the thoughts running through her head at the moment.

Kevin smiled back, then picked up the files that were left for him and started to really read over the long lists of terms on the potential contracts, then found one that he would like to see changed a little for his company's sake, "This one term that the Sidhe royals get a two percent of all my company's sales as a 'royalty'...might be too much? I would easily agree to a better one percent."

"Well Kevin with the percentage plan, your company gets unlimited gate use. Or we Sidhe can take a lower percentage and you pay per gate use? One way or the other, we will collect something for the Sidhe communities time for providing you with gate access." Rehanna informed.

"I see now. Can we sub-rent to other companies under that full percentage plan?" he had to ask seeing that even gaining access might be like old De Beers giving one jeweler a 'Sight Holder' to sell their diamonds a hundred years back! No matter what, you gained the product or service at cost and made money off others who did not have that very same access...Kevin knew that off world gate access was severely limited to say the least!

"The fee would double, but you could sell off excess gate time from your allotment?"

From there on the three spent several hours going over each detail of the contract and negotiating on some. But most of the terms were set in stone by the Sidhe royals. They ran one of the few off world gate accesses that was not government run and knew it!

With all the details now set and the paperwork started to grant his company gate access. Kevin stood up to shake both twins hands, "This deal has been great and I loved the history you told me about my own family too!"

Rehanna stood up to grasp his hand and added to her small list of demands, "What you should do from here, is give all of your current family a shot at entering your company on this new ground floor before it takes off. Doing that for us twins will pass even more favors onto our family in repayment for what Bill did for us over the years long past."

"I can do that for you both." Kevin nodded to the twins and shook Rohanna's hand as she guided him back to her office door.

"And give some thanks at your ancestors gave in Arlington...Washington D.C." Rohanna added next and handed him a card with the plot number and how to find it. Kevin nodded back to them both, "I will this weekend with my family...and thanks."

"We will see you again, when you pass through here once and awhile during your business trips off world. Because some of the gates are only accessed right here in the capital city and Eilat will give you some of our tea to take home, plus a silver lined water container." she added and opened the door for him.

Just outside of the door the nine elves were already waiting for him to come out of the office, Eilat took a wooden box from one of her men and handed the large package to Kevin, "This is your tea set and herbs to make several blends. That water container will work it's magic only on fresh rain water that has not touched the ground or human made objects. Just leave it out during a good storm and it should refill nicely, then the container will infuse the water with magic for your brews and contact us via 'E' for more herbs sir..." ('E' is current slang for e-mail or e-video)

"Thanks, this was an unexpected...a gift?" he said while examining the finely made box closer.

"My Matron asked me to grant you this set and we should go now." Eilat barely grinned and started walking the group back towards the teleport room.

Back in the huge office, Rehanna cleaned up the tea service while Rohanna made some final notes on the contract that they had agreed to for the Sidhe royals, "He was nice, far better than the one we bailed out thirty years ago from his gambling debts." she said closing the files and dropping the stack into a small box.

"He was and he will go far...I saw some of Bill in him and Kevin the first son the couple had." Rehanna commented as she placed the tea service back on its cart.

"Yes, but this time I felt no magic on this one from Jineen's linage or anything Fae what so ever? I found that a little strange, most of the Varney family so far has some hint of that Fae family lineage form Jineen, but this one human was a full null." Rohanna said while pondering her past 'feelings' while Kevin was still in the room with them.

"Well the first Kevin did go far and became a good ambassador over time. Maybe this one will do as good off world with other Fae races?" Rehanna hoped out loud.

~o~O~o~

~o~O~o~

Remember readers!

Feed the writer kudos and comments or the Drow does not live? Just like one of those neopets?

Shadowsblade here.

This is my newest story in a joint venture with a group of fan fic authors, so far this group is made up of Nuuan, then Branek and finally myself. We all got together and after a jumpy start decided to make a group of stories that all take place within the Whateley fanfic universe. This one here is my second one and hopefully its a good one.

But remember all. I am not leaving Shadowsblade behind! I will start writing her soon!

To have an idea about the main protagonist this story's will develop
around here is a short introduction.

Angels Peril a Whateley Tale: Written by Branek
Tormented by the past, Angel is struggling between light and dark.

Melvin a Whateley Tale: Written by Branek
They say old soldiers never die, Melvin is about to learn that the hard
way.

The Way of the Dragon a Whateley Tale: Written by Branek
Born for eternity but vulnerable like a child, dragons shouldn't leave
their nest.

Every Rose has it Thorns a Whateley Tale: Written by Nuaan
Watch what you say around rose, could give you more trouble than you ever
asked for.

Kelly a Whateley Tale: Written by Nuaan
Struggling with fate, Kelly has to deal with love and loss.

Shadowsblade a Whateley Tale: Written by Shadowsblade
Created for war and forged in pain, dealing with deamons within and the
out.

Vantier a Whateley Tale :Written by Shadowsblade
Ancient and Powerful Vantier awakens in a foreign world, struggling to
find her place in it.

You might ask yourself what is the Whateley Universe? To make it short,
here is a abstract straight out off the wiki.

Whateley is a Prep School for different teens. VERY different ones. Where else could a kid go to a school that has a resident demon living in the furnace? Or meet magic users, mutants of every imaginable kind, get trained in how to handle some rather odd abilities, and worry about
flunking Freshman English? Come visit Whateley Academy, nestled in the
lovely hills of New Hampshire. Just down the road from a town named
Dunwich... (Mythos jokes purely intentional).
This is the Whateley Academy Universe, a shared universe with over a dozen authors and more than a hundred stories (and counting). The stories range in size from vignettes to novels. It's a Mutant High scenario with both a strong transgender theme and a slightly watered down Cthulhu Mythos theme.

It's also very much a work in progress.'
If you want further information you will find them on.

http://crystalhall.wikia.com/wiki/Whateley_Academy_Wiki

or

http://whateleyacademy.net/

But I have to thank, Both Branek and Nuuan for their vast input and the ability they both have to 'bounce' off ideas and improve them!

To all my readers who have e-mailed me and given support--THANKS!

Please feel free, to add a review to this story and others. As those kind words are 'cookies' that keeps that muse well fed on the 'sometimes' long breaks between stories!

this warning is for our story stealers off site, not the BC family of readers we all know and love!

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.