Lantessama Run!

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Sean turned the pages of the newspaper she found at her door, absently wondering where it had come from. It wasn't from Gelgela, it was written in weyr-script so it had to have come either from Alskyr or the Nexus worlds. But it gave a clever update for those like herself who found themselves off standard worlds.

"What's that, momma?" Asked the yellow-headed six year old at her side.

"This, Saichu, is called a news paper. See how it has all these words?" She patiently showed the boy the columns and information.

"Where'd it come from?" Saichu asked.

"I'm not sure honey, I think a dragon might have brought it, and left before we saw them."

"Where'd Saijitsu come from?" He asked, innocently, of his three-year-old sister.

"Um." Sean blinked. "Ask your father."

"He told me to ask you."

Sean blinked again and she was certain that she heard Aja and Sundai laughing.

***

"Sweet," Sean said to her husband the king, "someone delivered this to me, did you see anyone come in?" She waved the newspaper at him, and he looked up from a pile of treaties and documents and grunted.

"Nope," he said, "sorry. Did Saichu ask about-"

"Yes, he did," Sean said with a giggle. "And he'll have to ask again soon."

Sapadt's eyebrow lifted, and even though he was buried elbow deep in paperwork his smile seemed to brighten the room. "You know what they say about bunnies."

"I have learned what 'they' say about Usagi," Sean said. "What is it they say about randy kings who come home after long journeys to distant lands?"

"I am not randy. If I were randy," he said, leaning over the stack of papers to kiss Sean's velvet nose, "there would be a trail of children from here to Devparil."

"Well thank goodness for that," Sean said, "because I don't think this planet could support that many necromancers."

She turned to leave him to his work, but then remembered what she'd come in for in the first place. "Oh - sorry to disturb you my king," she said, and though she grinned it was an honest apology as he did really have a lot to do, "but there was an announcement in this paper about a 'run' at Lantessama - they're going to have the bunnydragons back."

Sapadt tilted his head, and thought a moment, "they're going to allow those little zappers to breed?"

"At long last, apparently," Sean laughed. "Either that or the person who gave me this waited a while before informing me, give us a little private time."

"Time travel. Feh - you're good at it, I'm not so much." Sapadt admitted. "It bothers me going through the Nexus like that for an extended time."

"I know, my king. I know." Sean said. "But I'm going to bring Saichu, if you don't mind? Saijitsu should stay, she's a bit young."

"I won't mind taking care of her a while. Are you going now?"

"Yes, and I'll be back shortly, you know me." She grinned, bearing her broad white teeth.

"I do. Well, have fun and tell Sundai good luck from me."

I want to go, Sapadt heard from his own copper dragon Birth.

"Then go, everybody leaves me. Fine." He pretended to sulk. Sean wriggled her fingers through his untamed blond hair, and giggled on her way out.

***

Ajandeykth was just the right size for one small boy-bunny to ride. Saichu was able to cling on to her narrow neck and balance himself - proportionately he was about in the same position as Sean on her husband's copper dragon. The bunny dragon Sundai bolted up to Saichu's side, and clung on gently herself.

I like how we can ride together!

I think you should remember who does all the work! Aja complained gently. She didn't mind the child, but since she also had to play host to the other dragon? She got to complain. Birth kept his mouth shut, wisely. Sean would chastise her two girls by the time they got to Lantessama.

"I remember the way," Birth said, "It was where I hatched. We will be there in just a moment."

And it was, just a moment - for Sean and the dragons. For Saichu? It was different.

The young half-rabbit, or ningenUsagi as the Sisters called Sean's children, kept his eyes and mind open. Ever since he was able to walk, which was only about 18 months of age, he was also able to notice things around him that the adults didn't seem to see.

The dead spirits that his father commanded - well, not the spirits, the bodies were under the controld of Sapadt. The spirits themselves, were what Saichu could detect. There were ... untold millions of them here in the Nexus. Spirits of people, dragons, creatures, gods and demons... Many things. Floating around unattended.

They congregated around him, quickly. But they did not harrass the boy - he had his father's innate power to control and command the dead, and they respected that. They were silent around him in the Nexus, unlike the local castle ghosts which chattered on and on. He liked the silence of the Nexus - even with the staring, sightless eyes of the dead upon him.

When they emerged from the Nexus over Lantessama Saichu's eyes contracted to pinpoints of pupil on his sea-bluegreen iris. The place didn't have many dead - but it did have some odd spirits which immediately came up to greet the pair of dragons and their cargo.

They landed, and Sean greeted the inhabitants - they remembered her, how could they forget?

"I'm here with Sundai, for the Run!" She told them, "and I've brought my son, Saichu - he was born here, do you remember?"

Saichu grinned widely. His slightly flatter face would be quite handsome when he was an adult, but for now it bore the distinct large eyes of a child, and the floppy ears of his mother's kind. He looked around - and distant memories came back. He was still toddling when they left Lantessama, but he had taken his first steps here too.

"I remember," he said. "I haffa go bathroom," he added a moment later.

"Me too," Sean said, "oh -" she turned to one of the medics who had happened to be nearby when they landed, "I'm pregnant again, so I'll want to keep up a bit of a bed with you just in case?"

"You? Pregnant again?" He said, "what a surprise."

"There's another you didn't meet," she said with a faint smirk. "What a surprise."

She went off to sign up Sundai to the Run, while a pair of nannies escorted Saichu to their quarters and the restroom he so wanted to use.

The trio of dragons rested up on the roosts, Sundai gazing at the island off the coast where the Run would be held. This would truly be a good event. She deserved this. It would be a blast. Maybe they'd pick up another couple friends here while they waited...

Base from Miniature Reality