Page 23 of DaR (Darverius, House of DaR #1)
Chapter Twenty-Two
DAR
“ I should have spoken to the boys about how to approach you if I was not available. RaZ approached me about meeting you a few rotations ago. I thought at the time I had answered all his questions, but apparently my sons are curious.
SAGE , would you please serve dinner while Kira and I discuss my offspring?”
“ Yes , Master DaR . I will have it available shortly.”
I pull the chair out for Kira and then go to sit on the other side of her. I have put off telling her this story because I was unsure how she was going to react. This is just one more culture shock.
“ You really have twenty-two sons, DaR ? ”
“ Yes , and I am proud to be the father of all of them. In my wildest dreams, I never thought I would have such a strong legacy to leave behind when the Lord of Light takes me home.
There are quite a few worlds in the Alliance that have had a hard time conceiving young. Some of them have problems from infertility in the females, to disease in the males. Most of the younglings do not survive to maturity, due to disease and mixed genetics.
I could go on and on here, but I will not.
The long and short of it is, the councils from the whole cosmos converged.
For weeks they debated on what to do; what was it going to take to make sure that no species went extinct?
They came up with a temporary solution. Now , let me remind you, this was before I was conceived.
They decided the strongest male in each quadrant was to be put in a lottery—” Her eyes get big.
“ Let me back up … His sperm or seed, if you will, was put in the lottery.
When I was granted the House of DaR , one of the regulations I had to meet to become the Commander of the star fleet was that I had to participate in the lottery.
I had to donate my sperm, for at least the first ten rotations of my career.
It is a great honor to bear the child of a councilman or a commander of any race.
It was believed in the beginning that combining genetic codes would help strengthen the planets that were failing to conceive.
The boys are marked at birth and their mothers are protected by the house name. ”
“ How does this lottery work? Do the women know whose baby-making wigglers they’re gonna get?”
“ I am not going to acknowledge that phrasing … Any woman who wants to participate in the lottery buys a ticket. Once all tickets are sold, the winner’s names are drawn, and within several rotations, she is artificially inseminated.
They do not get to pick the father; a genetic specialist determines which traits will combine the best, and that is whose seed is planted in the womb. ”
“ So , you never even meet the mothers? What if they’re horrible to the child because they didn’t get the sperm donor they wanted? Do you even have contact with the boys after they’re born?”
“ The winners are scanned, and if there are any imminent risks or concerns, the ticket is voided, and the process starts all over. I have been lucky with the ones who have borne my sons; they have all been respectable females who have gained status with our child. I have never had a mother limit their son’s contact with me. ”
“ So , you know them all personally? Do you have any young ones?”
“ Yes , I know all of my sons and I have been a huge part of all their lives. My youngest one is older than you in your Earth years.”
“ Wow , I wasn’t expecting that. Are you closer to some than others?”
“ Absolutely . I raised XuL , RaZ , and SoL myself. Those three work well together and they are some of the best scouts, reconnaissance, and tech specialists in the entire cosmos.”
“ How’d you end up with them? I thought the boys stayed with their mothers.”
“ Things do not always work out the way they are supposed to. XuL’s mother was killed in a bombing raid that hit off target.
He was being fussy, and she left him with a wet nurse while she went to the market to get him something for his incoming canines.
I was notified within a few rotations of her death.
Her family wanted to keep XuL , but they saw him as an easy ticket to money.
I had been granted the title of Commander to the entire fleet and recently lost my father to the unknown.
But when I saw that wet nurse bouncing him on her hip, she had a look …
you know the look ... I knew he was not safe there, so I left immediately to retrieve him.
My father loved me unconditionally, and I felt like I owed XuL the same chances I had.
He was a good baby and an excellent son.
I never had a moment’s trouble out of him.
XuL has a way with animals, and flora just seems to lean toward him when he walks through it.
He is naturally quiet, but he is also the most strategic military planner in existence.
You think he is scary now, wait until he shaves his head !
RaZ’s mother could not control him. She was terrified of him and begged me to take him off her hands. The moment I picked him up in my arms, I adored him. He is the spitting image of my own father, with a few quirks that is. But that male can try my patience like no other.”
“ Why was she scared of her own son?”
“ RaZ is special and he must have a certain diet to survive. When you meet him, you will understand. I have heard women say he is so beautiful it is hard to look at him. He is the best pilot in the galaxy because he is fearless. Very few know this, but because of mine and his mother’s mixed genetics, he has a way of blending into the environment around him, especially in the shadows.
This makes him one hell of an assassin. He is the most deadly living thing on this or any other world.
He lives the closest to me, actually. His main dwelling is right over the wall in the dark forest. The Selin , a type of canine that thrives there, are his loyal companions.
Then we have SoL he actually found me. He was only six or seven rotations old when I started finding things missing around the house.
He had run away from his mother and her new mate.
I have asked him many times what made him leave, but to this day he has never said.
He is a true chameleon; no matter the object, he will blend right into it and you will never see him.
XuL is the one who finally caught him stealing food out of our replicator one night.
They have been inseparable ever since. I asked him how he found me.
He just shrugged and said, ‘ I asked a man to take me to my father, and he did.’
He had found his way to a trade center and showed one of the merchants his mark. The man brought him right to my front door, but SoL was terrified I would not want him, so he hid. I later found the merchant and paid him for bringing SoL to me.
All the man said when I confronted him was that the boy had been in bad shape. And he figured if the boy was trying to get to someone, then that person must care about him. I tried to contact the mother, but she never responded and never reported SoL missing. She could be dead for all we know.
SoL is a giant among men. He towers over my own height, especially with his horns.
But he has always been the peacemaker between XuL and RaZ , especially when they were little.
He lives on Falcor , the main warship in my command.
He always takes over for me when I am not available.
The man can manipulate any computer or interface out there, and he definitely has a heart large enough to go with that big body of his.
Just being around him is calming. He is the only one of my sons who inherited my Symbots and the Runes that adorn my body. ”
“ Do you still participate in the lottery?”
“ No … I had my fill of that. I did what was required of me and that was all. ”
“ How did you get the sperm to the women? Never mind, I don’t want to know. What happens to the money the women spend on the tickets?”
“ I really have no idea, but I’m sure the winner gets some of it to help with the child. To be honest, I never asked.”
“ You said this all was done before you were born, so were you conceived this way too? I’ve never heard you mention your mother.”
“ Yes , my father hired a surrogate mother to birth me.
He wanted a family and had never really connected with any of the females of his race.
Father was a renowned historian and teacher, but he did not have house status, so he could not participate in the lottery.
But that did not stop him from finding a way to have me.
There is no better environment that I could have grown up in.
He was the scholar, and I was the warrior, and even though we were so different, he was my world.
I never met my mother. She left the planet shortly after I was born and Dad never heard from her again.
“ I could have used his advice many times when I was trying to raise my own sons. I know not how he raised me on his own, but I was lucky enough to have Tordan , and he was a huge help when my sons were small. He is as much of a father to them as I am.”
“ Tordan is the man you’re always talking to in your head, right? ”
I laugh at that. “ He will think that is funny.
We both had a communication device installed in our ears when we were promoted.
It is the safest and quickest way for us to stay in contact.
And it was invaluable when three young boys were always trying to see what they could get by with.
Tordan is my right-hand man. I am who I am today only because of him and my father.
My father raised Tordan and I together when his mother … well, she took her own life. Tordan’s mother worked at the same library my father did and there were times she would get so caught up in her work, she completely forgot he was even there with her.
Occasionally , Father would have to stay late to finish up a scroll or a binding he was working on. So Tordan and I would spend time in the lobby, while we both waited for our parents.
Father did not know it at the time, but Tordan’s mother was stealing scrolls from the sacred vault. When she got caught, she tried to blow up the library.
Father and I had just stepped outside and I remember hearing a loud noise behind me. Then the ground under my feet rumbled from the explosion and I turned, screaming Tordan’s name. My father made me promise to stay outside and I watched in horror as he rushed back into the crumbling building.
He was not in there long, but it felt like hours to me at the time.
He had Tordan in his arms when he came out.
There was blood everywhere and Tordan was torn apart, so my father rushed him to the hospital immediately.
Unfortunately , they had to amputate his left arm.
It had been completely smashed by falling debris.
After Tordan healed, Father reconstructed his arm with the cybernetic one he has now.
He is the strongest person I know mentally and physically.
I am lucky to call him a friend and a brother. ”
“ Did your dad raise you guys here?”
“ No , we lived in the upper floating city of Solanar at the time.
Father had to be close to work. I bought this mountain when the boys were young.
I would have raised them here, but they were too curious about the dark forest. I raised them on the lower level of Darverius .
It was the safest place for them at the time.
XuL still lives in what he calls the family dwelling.
I hope the next time one of my sons just pops in, it will not scare you too badly now. I have learned through my life that knowledge is strength.”
“ Wow , at no point could I have ever dreamed up that story. DaR , that was very unselfish of you to take the boys and raise them yourself. Not many would have done that. Your dad would’ve been proud of the man you’ve grown into. What exactly happened to your dad?”
“ That is a story for another day. I can see the fatigue coming over you and I must leave before the rising of the sun.”
“ How long will you be gone? ”
“ I cannot give you specifics right now, but I will not stay a moment longer than I have to.”
I watch her fight her emotions, panic and fear flashing across her face. “ Please be safe, I … can’t lose you too.”
Before I can respond, she jumps up out of her chair and runs to her chamber. I start to go after her, but I have no words to reassure her. Because every mission I command is dangerous.