Chapter Twenty-seven

 

It took them three months to wrangle the deal needed to guarantee the railroad could be built through Califia territory. Doc’s purchase of a few islands in the bay of the capital was what finally pushed things forward— he let the remaining tribes, the ones who were slowly being pushed out of their ancestral grounds, have the islands for themselves. They were what Doc had known as Angel Island, Alcatraz, Treasure Island, and Yerba Island.

 

While he was in Golden Bay, he also removed the curse from the two Digger brothers who called that place home, and healed another Hutmacher— Sigmund’s cousin— and his children who all had mercury in their blood. The families he helped praised him, promising to send the word out to those whom Doc would likely be seeing in the future.

 

Fiala had her dryad, Petal, reach out to Rosa: an inquisitor had come to Furden shortly after Doc’s group left Kitson City. He’d stayed for a month, removing the preachers in the city and investigating Onyx. Before he took any steps against her, he left on a train to Salton. The new preacher who’d come to Furden was highly devout, preaching every week about how seeing a false healer would damn the soul. Those who’d already seen Onyx kept coming back to her, knowing that she could heal them, which blunted the lies the preacher was spreading.

 

Yucca informed Rosa that the dwarves had started building the railroad south out of Elka where the preacher and sheriff harassed them. The sheer number of dwarves stopped them from trying anything overt, meaning Doc’s plans were already in motion.

 

Ambrose, Posy’s Dryad, made sure that Doc knew his ward was safe and healing those who came to her. The railroad there was almost ready, stretching from Furden to Deep Gulch; the addition of rail to his mine would start after that. Ivan had taken over for Rangvald at his original mine, as Rangvald had gone to be the foreman in Vedana. The last piece of news was that Doc’s four children he’d left in Deep Gulch were healthy. None of them resembled him, having strongly favored their mothers, instead.

 

David had Rema, his dryad, tell them that he was working hard on locking up the existing telegraph system. The phones had started to take off in Botolph and Yorky, and both production and demand were increasing rapidly.

 

He heard from Zu and Svetlana that the word of Luck was spreading far and fast, and both expressed invitations from their country’s leaders for him to visit. Doc politely declined, as he was busy with his plans for western Emerita. He had a massive amount of faith and spent it slowly, always balancing defense with increasing Luck’s chances to keep going if he died. That left a single one of his skill trees nearly completely empty— offense just wasn’t what Doc wanted— while his defense and utility trees were lit up brightly.

 

With Califia signed on with the railroad expansion, Doc and his family changed plans, heading south into Airzon instead of going north. The Airzon territory was glad to have money to expand the government, and Doc was just glad that the mines he knew of in the area hadn’t been tapped yet. With the mining claims and railroad agreements signed off in less than a month, they were quick to hit Meheco.

 

They got the agreements signed with the governor just as quickly as they had in Airzon. More than that, the tribes in both territories had heard of Vedana’s tribes’ fortune, so they were eager to get their own new shamans blessed by Doc.

 

Summer was starting up by the time they left Meheco. The Ironbeard clan had their surge of children— there’d been zero deaths during the childbirth, thanks to Onyx. Doc knew he had maybe another month before Fiala gave birth, too, but he didn’t head for Furden. Instead, his group went to Hoda.

 

The two weeks in Hoda didn’t cause them any trouble, but rumors of a church inquisitor tracking a demon worshiper were rampant. Doc chuckled because the inquisitor had come through the territory before them. Not finding them, the man went south to Airzon after hearing rumors about Doc’s group there. That allowed Doc and his wives to get their agreements from the newly-formed government of the territory and leave before the Inquisitor returned.

 

That put them a week past Remembrance Day, and closing in on Fiala’s delivery day. Unable to resist, Doc had them return to Furden. He wanted to be there for his daughter’s birth. While he knew it would hurt when he had to leave again, he wanted to be there to welcome his first legitimate child into the world.

 

~*~*~

 

Doc was still worried about what might happen with them coming home, but the urge to be there for Fiala was too strong. Rosa told him how Fiala had wept happy tears when she was given the news, as did Ginger.

 

“It’ll be okay,” Lia said, softly touching his clenched hand.

 

“We’ll do what we have to,” Ayla said firmly.

 

“They can’t come for us legally,” Sophia added. “If they try to get to us in any other way, I will abide by what Lia says is needed.”

 

“You’ve done a lot, Doc,” Sonya joined in, touching his thigh. “This is good for all of us.”

 

“I’m just worried…” Doc whispered. He looked at Rosa, who was kneeling with her back to his legs. “I couldn’t resist coming home for this. If the inquisitor finds out about her pregnancy, he’ll be coming here.”

 

“We’ll handle it if he does,” Lia said again. “With all the gifts you’ve chosen, you’ll not fall easily.”

 

Doc rubbed at his face. The amount of faith that he’d accumulated over the last few months had been staggering. Half of Russia and China— Tsarrus and Qin— had taken to worshiping Luck, and those numbers were still going up. The first million had surprised him, but after that, it just became sillier and sillier.

 

“Yeah… It won’t be chance or a single blow that kills me. I’m so glad I chose the other options for clerics. It took me weeks to understand there was nothing stopping us from using the system in place to help safeguard all of you, too.”

 

“We’d have taken the simple cleric’s option when we realized it could grant all of us some of your gifts without a downside,” Ayla said.

 

“But then, Doc had to spend all that faith and found a perfect gift for all of us,” Sophia beamed. “I have to wonder why the past Voices didn’t have these gifts.”

 

“David said that his gift trees were different,” Rosa murmured. “I’ve seen what Rema has seen; he doesn’t get the same options. It’s Luck who has given our husband these chances. They are tailor-made just for him. Mother is very happy, too. Her light grows and her children are beginning to flourish again.”

 

“All because our husband chose to come here,” Lia said. “I’m glad the tribes have been amenable to your requests. It’ll prolong the notice that might move the country against us. I doubt the church has guessed at even half of what you’ve done.”

 

“That’s better for us,” Doc said. “When we leave again…” The word trailed off, and he had to take a deep breath. “When we leave again, it’s for Pale River. When we finish there, we’ll probably need to visit Pacifica and Ouaricon to solidify our railroads.”

 

“Best to see the Pale River tribe before the winter,” Lia agreed.

 

A knock came on the door before Harrid opened it. “Doc, can we talk for a few minutes?” His face was grim.

 

“Ladies, I’ll be back. Rosa, stay here, please.”

 

“Yes, Voice,” Rosa said, scooting over to sit in front of Lia.

 

Doc stepped into the other private room with Harrid, closing the door behind him. “You’ve decided?”

 

“If you approve, Shaman…” Harrid said softly, his head bowed.

 

“Harrid, don’t bow your head to me,” Doc told him kindly. When Harrid looked up, Doc saw the pain and uncertainty in his eyes. “I told you months back that it was okay. My thoughts on it haven’t changed. I’ve seen you over the last week. Your need to come back was as high as mine. Ginger won’t have your child for another month or two, and I’ll likely still be in Pale River at that time.”

 

Harrid closed his eyes and slumped back into the seat. “I’m a failure…”

 

Doc slapped Harrid’s knee hard, then had to shake out his hand, as it stung him more than the dwarf. “Knock that shit off.”

 

Harrid jerked— Doc had never hit him before.

 

“You are my friend. I won’t let you do that to yourself. You have a family, a child coming, and there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be…” He choked up for a moment. Clearing his throat, he went on, “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be there for them. You’ll still honor your clan by keeping Fiala and my daughter safe for me. The inquisitor will be back, eventually. We both know it. If Fiala or my daughter…” He stopped, unable to go on.

 

“Then a good man would go to war,” Harrid whispered. “I know.”

 

“My gifts allow me to stay safe far longer than you could,” Doc said tightly. “I’m not releasing you from your duty to the clan or me, I’m just re-tasking you. That doesn’t make you a failure. It makes you vital. You’re vital to me as a friend, and then as the shaman.”

 

Harrid wiped at his eyes. “Yes, sir.”

 

Doc opened up his gift tab and spent even more faith. “I name you Grand Master Templar Harrid Lopert. You are now the head of my protection order.”

 

Harrid was about to speak, but his eyes rolled up and he collapsed sideways onto the bench. Doc was leaning over to touch him a second later. Exhaling in relief, he sat back. He wasn’t positive about what Harrid would be able to do with the title and the gifts that would become open to him, but he knew Harrid would do what was best.

 

“Does it make me a hypocrite to make a military religious arm for Luck…?” Doc murmured as he looked out the window.

 

A knock on the door came before Sonya opened it. “Doc… what happened?” she asked, coming in and shutting the door.

 

“He’s having a religious experience.” Doc snorted at his bad joke.

 

Sonya took the seat beside Doc. “I was coming to explain to him that it was okay.”

 

“He’s accepted it. Well, I’m not sure if he’ll be fully okay with what I just did, but he accepted staying.”

 

“What did you do?”

 

“Named him the head of my templars.”

 

Sonya blinked, then giggled, hugging Doc. “You gave him more power than any clan head will ever have.”

 

“I know he’ll do the best he can with it. It’ll also give him something that he can work on while he’s there for Ginger.”

 

Sonya licked her lips. “Doc… I…” She hesitated. Over the last few months, she’d helped Doc with the dwarves they’d met, but he hadn’t needed much. The clans had sent word off to all the clans they could— every clan knew about Doc, knew what he was doing for those who backed him, and all of them had jumped to sign on with him. The fact that he gave each clan their own shaman had just thrust him into a space of reverence she’d never seen. It was almost as if he was Luck embodied to them.

 

“It’s okay. After Fiala has her child. I want the days before to be all about her. After our daughter is born, yes, Sonya, you can stay with our wife and raise your own child with her.”

 

Sonya hiccupped as she grabbed him, pulling him down to kiss him. She’d been so worried, and she knew there hadn’t been a reason to be, but her heart had been a knot. His words soothed that knot, and her joy had surged up. She’d wanted him to say those words since the day they’d married… well, if she was being honest with herself, even before that.

 

When the kiss finally ended, Doc was holding her on his lap. He stared into her brown eyes with love. He knew that it was what all of his wives longed for. Ayla, Lia, and Sophia were all waiting patiently for him to finish his current push. He knew that and felt a little bad, as it might be a couple of years, at the very least, before he could grant them the same thing. The fact that they’d all accepted Sonya staying with Fiala warmed his heart, though, as it proved how much they all loved each other.

 

“Thank you, husband,” Sonya whispered. “I want to have you fill me right here and now, but…” She trailed off and looked over her shoulder at Harrid, then chuckled. “That wouldn’t be right.” Looking back at Doc, her smile was bright. “I can wait long enough for our wife to have our daughter, but before he wakes…” She giggled and then kissed him, wiggling on his lap. “You might need to go see our wives for a bit.”

 

Doc groaned into her kiss. He would take her up on that suggestion, but not before he kissed her a little longer, first.