Chapter 194
PART 27
In the following days, life returned to some semnce of normal.
The Forty-Four spent much of their time training, most of the rest with their parents in the Volunteers,
and less with Mark and Talia and Alilia. This had little to do with thetter’s new divinity and much to do
with the children’s need to make things up to their mortal parents, especially their co-fathers. Who they
were physically with at any given time made no difference to their activities anyway, since they spent
much of the time Linked with each other and with all of their parents. There love grew ever deeper and
more profound because of this. Their parents took over their training and conducted most of it by direct
psionic learning along with simultaneous physical drills.
The progress of the Forty-Four elerated even more than it had under the Governors’ tutge. It was
not fast enough for them to catch up with the development of the Governors, since those four were still
working hard and advancing quickly, but they were no longer falling behind.
The New Gods didn’t urinate or defecate, and they only slept if one or more of their children wanted to
sleep with them, but beyond that their behavior was not that much different.
Making love was just as enjoyable, and often far more so. This was also true of eating, ying, and all
the other pleasures of life.
Mark, Talia, and Alilia found that the sexual aspect of the curse were still with them, though they could
eliminate it if they wanted to. They realized that they didn’t want to.
Sometimes they just yed with their new powers. They found that if they wanted to, they could be
anything they wanted to be at the moment, whether it was dragons or gargoyles or any other life form.
Unlike when using Simcrums or even Shapeshifting, they could now find out what it was like to truly
be a member of any other race, to feel like them and think like them in their ownnguage, and they
tried many of them. Being Kag was especially entertaining due to their attitude that everything in life
was an act of artistry, including their many acts of violence and warfare.
On the third day after the great Ascension the call came for teams to register for the Tournament of
Governors at The Hall of The Just Alliance, and be vetted by the old gods who were the tournament’s
organizers. Mark and his family duly attended and registered as two teams; one under his leadership,
and one co-led by the Governors.
The Governors’mand team included everyone they were most used to working with on Hiliani. All
of the prominent citizens of Homestead, the elders and most talented youth of the Hiliani Sylvan, Ria,
and Quewanak were all listed on their team.
Over a hundred teams registered, and only a handful were judged by the gods to be unqualified to
participate. At the end of the day the list ofpetitors was released to the public.
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“Here’s a surprise.” Sixmented as they went over the list at supper that night. “Father, your team is
listed as you and ‘others’. Why are your team members not listed?”
“Not my doing.” Mark shrugged with a grin. “I told the organizers who was on my team, I didn’t ask
them to keep it secret, and they chose to list it that way.”
“Oh. So who’s on your team?”
“Oh, us of the Six, Alilia, you four, and others.”
“What others?” Fire pressed.
“I’d rather not say.” he told her with a smile and a wink.
“Oh I see!” sheughed as she reached over and gave him a p on his shoulder. “Well just go ahead
and be that way! We’ll still beat you anyway!”
“Probably.” he agreed, and she wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not.
The Governors assumed that when they were off doing their own preparations for the tournament,
Mark and his team also prepared. But the fact was that he spent no time or effort at all on preparing for
the tournament specifically. He judged that leading his nations andmanding them in battle-training
was preparation enough.
The four youths found that they no longer needed Quewanak’s assistance toplete the training they
wanted to do, so they attended to it themselves. They spent five long days investigating the military
capabilities of Keran and The Triax, including the specifics of every fighting unit and their equipment,
the records and abilities of thousands of key personnel, the state of readiness of every civilian
poption and their infrastructures, and all the sources of necessary supplies and their chains of
distribution.
On the sixth day they gathered supplies in their bedroom on Hilia, then spent twelve subjective weeks
there in Reverse-Stasis fields. They familiarized themselves with as much of the information at their
disposal as was practical. They gamed through hundreds of scenarios, and did their best to anticipate
everything that the demons might do, and to develop contingency ns for every possible eventuality.
They didn’t prepare for the tournament on the day before it was due to be held. They felt as prepared
as they could be, and they wanted to be mentally fresh and rested for the tournament.
They yed instead, and convinced the rest of their family to join them, which was as easy as asking.
It no longer seemed strange to spend a day traveling the world and enjoying meals and activities on a
Hilian schedule, regardless of what time of day or night it was wherever they happened to be at the
time.
In the morning they flew with the elves in the forests around Heartwood, then had lunch at Homestead
on Hiliani. In the afternoon they went swimming with the Selkies of Loch Crotia in Xervia, then went
flying again, this time with the dragons and Sylvan of Serminak through the volcanic mountains in the
south-east of that continent.
In the early evening they feasted and partied and fought in the challenge circles with the Sylvan of
Hiliani, on the beach at the first trainingmunity the Governors had built there.
They ended their night with dancing, snacks and drinks at Norka’s Pce of Refreshment in Latrel,
Sming, which was still Mark and Talia’s favorite public house. Like all of the more famous such
establishments, it was now open every hour of the day or night to amodate international travelers.
They were joined there by Nek and Reen and the other Smingans they knew from Hiliani.
In the early morning they had a leisurely breakfast as they all did a quick review. The Forty-Four and
The Volunteers wished their family’spetitors well before they left, then they were at The Hall of The
Just Alliance at the appointed time, which was before the sun rose in Hilia.
The only people present were the team leaders and their seniormanders, the organizers,
professional Revealers and news-mongers, and a few service personnel.
The teams were as varied as the poption of Keran, and every race was represented. A few teams
contained members of only one race, but most were mixed-race teams. As was expected, many teams
were led by rulers or other senior politicians, but others were led by groups of senior military
least one member from each of those professions.
There was only one team that had only one member, and that was Zarkog. He’d done himself up for
the asion, resuming the appearance he’d worn when he was Dragon-Lord of Serminak. Each of his
and his ws, eyes, eyebrow ridges, teeth, and the outlines of the bones in his wings were all gold. He
was huddled with Amirgath at the edge of the room, and everyone else was giving him a wide berth.
Yazadril approached with a wide grin on his face and a parchment copy of the team lists in his hand. “I
hold a record of some distinction, I think. While I haven’t chosen to lead or co-lead a team, I have been
invited to participate as a member of sixty-one different teams! No one else has been asked to be on
as many teams, or even half as many!”
“You’re actually on sixty-two teams then.” Mark told him with a smile. “Your name isn’t listed as such in
the program, but you’re on my team too.”
“Even better then!” Yazadril chuckled. “I don’t suppose you’ll be telling me who else is on your team?”
“You suppose correctly.” Mark responded with a smug little smirk.