Donovan Lau

[Donovan Lau]

:Edibles:

On a relatively cloudless day, the hot sun shone down upon the dark clothed man unloading his van along side an inn. There were no other houses, or buildings surrounding it, and no other vehicles besides his. This, of course was normal for the technology lacked Wandering Blooms Inn, where the van was the unusual piece there. However, Donovan was not going to walk all the way to the city and back carrying the many packages he had brought. Not when he already had to spend the day in market with the creepy doll child Mia who had already disappeared into the inn with her newly acquired goods. Besides, his patience for the day had already been severely tested, having to put up with Mia’s strange requests and stupid shopkeepers who did not understand the worth a good sword. It was odd though, because normally it wouldn’t make Donovan so testy. Perhaps, though, it was because he was trying to take part in the lives of people whom he had nothing to do with previously.

He grumbled a bit, planting his foot on the back of his minivan to close the trunk. Who cared if it had a footprint, considering what he normally used his van for, it was the least amount of damage it could get at the moment. His leather shoes tapped along the wooden floor as he entered the inn, making his way up the steps to the room that he had begun sharing with Kara since their return from the Four Lands. Donovan wondered idly if being an winged creature was the reason why Kara seemed to like high places, after all if no one else lived in the inn but one’s family why have the family floor on the top floor?

Grunting as he shouldered the door to open it, Donovan set his packages down, they were a mixture of things that Kara needed, that Kara wanted for the children and a few things he had to add in himself. The mertwins were now teenagers, almost adults in many cultures; it was time for them to earn real weapons as far as he was concern. The man put his hands on his hips, stretching backwards to work the kinks out of it. As he glanced around the room that had become both his and Kara’s, he noticed that something had changed. He wasn’t sure at first what it was, but the glint of the light bouncing of a metallic object caught is eye. Slowly, with great care he strides towards the bedside table; as he got closer the former assassin realized it was not a metallic object, it was several metallic objects. They were small hexagon shaped metal tin cans, of a dark chocolate colour. Four of them in fact, and the only way to tell them apart from each other were the different coloured labels, and the fact two of them oddly enough had paintbrushes attached to them.

“What are Trisha’s things doing in here,” he muttered catching the word paint upon one of the brush taped cans.

Maybe Kara did go head to the marketplace after all, and got them for Trisha was his first thought as he picked the paint can up to study it. Donovan snorted at the thought, these cans were too small for an artist like Trisha, she would use them up too quickly, he thought as he turned the can in his fingers. As the can rotated, the label came into his line of sight, allowing him to read the paint type.

“Edible Body Paint – Honey Flavoured”

He nearly dropped the can in shock, and while he didn’t drop it, he was now holding it like the thing was going to bite him. One would think this strange for a man who was considered by many to be a cold, manipulative b*****d. While he may have dealt with all sorts of unsavoury times, at least those things he could understand, but body paint? Edible nonetheless, which put that little so-called harmless can under the category of sex toy. One of Donovan’s eyes twitched as he scanned the remaining cans, only one other can was edible body paint of a different variety, the rest was body sugar. Not that body sugar was any improve seeing was it was something meant to coat the body and to lick-

He stopped his train of thought right there, nearly growling in irritation at himself for even thinking of the matter of such. The fact that he could slowly feel his normal self assured calmness melting away… irritated him even more. Kara couldn’t have brought these cans, she simply could not have thought of such a thing, not when they haven’t even talked about the possibly of something more in-

The once assassin also cut that train of thought off with a mental snarl, reminding himself of the Lau clan mantra, “You bed them, you wed them.” After all he was Lau for crying out loud, he would not, should not think of such things. It would not do her any justice if he entertained such thoughts, not that he hadn’t, though none if it involved edibles. She was just lovely especially at night with the moonlight shining down on her pale-

Violently he yanked the drawer open, shoved the cans into its depths before slamming it shut. He was stressed, that was it. Dealing with Mia, and stupid shopkeepers, and thinking about growing children were doing havoc on his mental processes. After all, he had shared a bed with her since they had begun to explore their relationship without a problem. They had both been content with just the feeling of a warm body next to them; this should not be a problem.

“Donovan.”

The man whirled around having been completely caught off guard in one of those rare moments to find the angel whom he had been thinking about. He peered down through his glasses at the young woman holding various coloured tins. A feeling of a pit in his stomach began to grow upon the site of those tins in her arms.

“Kara,” he replied back gathering up his thoughts, trying to weave a cold cloak of calmness around himself, “What are those?” he pointed to the tins in her arms pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Kara looked down at the collection of tins in her arms confused for a moment at what he was referring to. When she realized he was referring to the items she was holding she brightened up quite a bit, which caused Donovan to question her innocence.

“Oh! Someone left these on my worktable today,” she told him happily, “I don’t know who, maybe one of the children,” she replied a bit hopefully, “See? Incense sticks.”

She held a light green tall tin up at him as he raised a brow reading the label. They were indeed incense sticks; specifically they were mint incense sticks. If he recalled, Kara liked mint, said it was a relaxing smell. It was a quite well known fact, so it was possible one of the children did, perhaps one of her adult children, he reasoned with himself as he watched Kara set the tins down on the table. His heart though took a plunge when he saw not one, but two of the tin cans being the same dark chocolate and hexagon cans from before.

“This one though,” she said with a bit of a frown, “Is body paint,” she tilted her head curiously for a moment before looking up at Donovan, “But it’s strange, it says it’s edible.”

He nearly twitched again as he read the label on the can Kara was holding. Indeed it was edible, in fact the can she held was chocolate flavour, another indulgence of Kara’s though she preferred hers in small amounts.

“How is that strange? There are edible things all the time,” Donovan stated trying to ignore the fact it was a bit strange.
Kara gave him a look, “Donovan, its body paint, you can’t eat body paint if it’s on your body,” she told him opening the lid, the air filling with a coco scent. She dipped a finger in a tasted the tip of it, looking back at him, “And if you eat it, what’s the point of calling it body paint?” she paused, “It’s actually taste like chocolate.”

The only reason why Donovan was not literary or proverbially banging his head against a wall was by sheer will and the knowledge that Kara was in the same room with him. He looked down at her with narrowed eyes, trying to glare at the tin can like it was all its fault that he was feeling this way.

“Donovan?”

His eyes snapped to her face not realizing he had been zoning out at glaring, or having a gazed look at her. She was looking at him with an almost wide eyed look, kind of like a mouse only cuter in his opinion. Mice didn’t look that cute when they had the prey look going.

“Are you okay? You seem kind of upset,” she tiptoed towards him until she was only inches away from his person.
“I’m fine.”
She looked down for a moment, she hated when he shut down like this, Kara never knew what Donovan was thinking or feeling. The petite angel looked at the open can in her hand and held it up to Donovan, “Chocolate? You look like you could use some.”

His ancestors were testing him, he was sure of it at this point, why else was he put into the kind of situation he had arrogantly thought he could get out of? He looked at the chocolate flavoured body paint being held out before him, his gaze traveling to Kara’s other hand where the remnants of her taste testing was still on her finger. He looked back at her worried gaze made by wide green eyes.

Hell.

“Maybe later,” he replied with softness as he gave up bending down to take her free hand, licking the remains of the chocolate off of there, “On a later date.”

He was, after all a patience man, he would not do himself a disfavour and jump into things blind. He most certainly was not going to ignore her feelings; she deserved to have a good long talk about what she wanted. No… he was going to be patience, even if it killed him. Besides, he had all of the night hours to explain to her why any person in their insane mind would make edible body paint. He could wait.

Then later he would kill the person who sent the body paint.  

[Donovan Lau]

:Strawberries:

If she knew, he thought to himself as he watched her out of the corner of his eye, she just might kill him. The petite angelic being sitting across from him looked up from her papers, feeling the weight of eyes upon her. She tilted her head curiosity as if her green-blue eyes were asking if something was wrong. Donovan coughed and shook his head before going back to his clipboard.

He watched under hooded lids as she went back to her papers, one pale arm reaching out to pluck a strawberry from the white ceramic bowl beside her. The brightly ripen berries stood out on the desk full of papers, pens and whiteout. Bringing it to her mouth, the tip of the fruit rested upon her lips, lightly coloured red from the previous strawberries she had eaten. Kara frowned, as she wrote something down on the paper she was grading before putting the fruit in her mouth.

She didn’t chew her fruit; she squished them in her mouth letting the juices flow out. Her tongue always went over her teeth as she subconsciously wiped the red aftermath from them. The man sitting across from her went back to his clipboard, pretending he had not been watching her. He decided then that the young woman would not kill him; she would blush giving her cheeks the same colour as the strawberries, and whether or not she would kill him afterwards was left up to debate.

He looked up again in time to see her put a berry half in her mouth as she corrected a bit of grammar. She was using her tongue to keep it in her mouth before it finally met the same fate as its predecessors. It was a good thing, Donovan thought to himself that he had not given her the whole basket of strawberries, but opted to put some in a bowl for her. She liked strawberries as much as her eldest daughter, except that Cindy had the decency to cut up her strawberries and eat them like a civilized person. Not that Kara wasn’t civilized, but just like she wasn’t fully aware she was even eating the strawberries, much less how she ate them.

The clipboard forgotten, though still held up right to give the illusion he was indeed working Donovan nearly twitched as a berry stuck perilously half out of her mouth. She was too busy writing to actually eat it, but it didn’t stop the berry from wiggling, she was tasting it. It was a very distracting for him when she ate anything involving sweets he finally decided, though he had no one to blame but himself.

“Donovan?”

He blinked and looked at her; she was staring at him, probably noticing how he was not working.

“Are you okay?”
He cleared his throat, “Just letting my mind wander.”
She smiled with her rosy lips, “Even you get tired of work huh? Shall we take a break then?”

Her hand went to pick up the bowl of strawberries as she held them out to him.

“You brought them and I keep eating them on you,” she told him a bit apologetic, “It isn’t fair since you brought them.”
“It’s fine,” Donovan murmured going back to his clipboard once more, “I thought it would be good to get them before summer ended.”

Besides, he reasoned to himself, if she ever found out that he brought them so he could watch her eat them, she just might kill him. At least he was smart enough not to have brought the cherries instead.  

[Donovan Lau]

:Snow Ink:

A brush, dipped in ink as black as night trails across paper as white as snow leaving its heavy burden behind in one smooth stroke. Everything was done in long strokes, from the bedding, to the draping curtains that pooled along the floor like a river, to the robes which cling and curve off the body like water. The brush rarely breaks contact with the paper, except for the hair which curls softly around a cheek, but the hair too is different. It is brown, the only splash of colour against the simple swirls of lines next to the blue of the robes. The image is a simple one, of only ink and water, there is no shading only lines gracefully made as if one was writing a poem with characters. Out of the simplicity though is something more.

The bed doesn’t really exist, she does not own a canopy bed, but it gives him an excuse to draw curtains which hide her form. She’s actually wearing a dress, not robes, but it gives him an excuse to study her form further. He watches her breath, her chest rising and falling softly like snow. On a whim he surrounds the bed with trees that have no leaves, and gives the floor hills and bumps. Truth be told, he could see her in snow, in winter… there is irony he thought in her name, because she has the colours of spring in her hair and eyes, but looks best in winter colours.

This image, he will never show, because no one knows he has it. After all those fingers which hold the brush are rough and calloused from holding weapons not brushes. Those hands which were creating something beautiful, normally brutally destroy those around him. No one would know his hobby, it was an unusual hobby, but that was fine with him. He wants to put her name, but there is no real translation for her name….

Blossom that blooms only in winter.

It was sentimental, far too sentimental, no he would not tell anyone about it at all. The clink of a paint brush was the only sound made as Lau Donovan stretched his arms from where he sat at the writing desk Kara kept in her room. Beside him several steps away was the bed on which Kara slept. She had spent the day actually spending time with all of her children, and of course a normal person only had so much energy to spend even if they weren’t human. He wasn’t the type to run around with children, so of course he hadn’t been exhausted by the whole bit. Not that he minded it gave him a chance to observe things, like now.

He sighed as he waited for the ink to dry before rolling up the scroll, some would be surprised if they knew he liked to brush paint of all things. It was nice, useful and the only high class thing he did. There were a few of his works on display throughout the main house, but this one, he would keep to himself. Maybe put it up in his home on the clan property… in his study, no one was stupid enough to go there.

Yes, it was one thing he was keeping to himself.  

[Donovan Lau]

:Even Angels Have Dirty Thoughts:

It started out innocently enough for the blue eyed angel buried among the soft bedding and silky sheets. Kara Winters, the young headmistress of the magic class, mother, part time adventurer and overall trouble magnet woke from her slumber a bit disorientated. As she lifted her head from the pillow she had been snuggling to the point of smothering, she wondered exactly what was the time? She sat up, pushing back her dishevelled hair with her fingers. The young woman blinked feeling slightly off for some reason. Perhaps it was because all her feathers were ruffled, causing her wings to look like white fluff balls instead of the majestic bird’s wings they were suppose to be. Maybe it was because her normally manageable chin length brown hair was completely frazzled. Though most likely, it was because Kara could not seem to clear her head long enough to realize that today was a school day. If the sun shining brightly outside was any indication, if she did not move soon she would be at least an hour late.

That realization however never wandered into Kara’s mind, nor did the realization that the shower was in the bathing room was running. It was only when the water shut off, did she realize that water had been running only moments before.

“Odd…” she thought to herself, “Who’s in the shower?”

She crawled on hands and knees to the edge of the bed slowly as she waited for the person showering to come out. Who she expected to waltz out of that bathroom was unknown even to her. Had she been at all coherent in thought she would have realized it was probably Donovan the man she shared the bedroom and therefore the bathroom with. Unfortunately like the shower, this too did not come to her until the figure stepped out clan only a towel. Kara blinked, and blinked, and stared at the towel until her eyes trailed up the tanned figure to see her love’s face. He raised a single brow at her, his dark hair wet from the shower and his cool rimmed glasses gone.

Drip… Drip…. Drip…

Kara tilted her head ever so slightly as she watched the shining droplets fall from the tips of his hair and splashed upon his broad shoulders. She watched as those droplets scattered into tiny shimmering gems that travelled down his torso following the muscles’ path. One particularly large watery gem slid down past his navel leaving a glittering trail as it slipped under the towel that clung loosely to his form. There is a slight mental discomfort in knowing she wanted that towel removed, but not knowing why. She frowned to a near pout, because she could not see that shining gem trail anymore.

There was a growing tension in the pit of her stomach, as her eyes hovered over the censored area. She found it growingly difficult to tear her eyes away from the place, she found it alluring. Among the muddled thoughts scattered in her mind, she wondered what it would be like to nuzzle against that skin. He had always worn a shirt to bed with his boxers, though he did not seem that comfortable in them. Her eyes glazed over at the thought of him without his nightshirt on for once. It sounded, like a pleasant idea to her.

Jumbled up in her thoughts about water droplets, towels and the forbidding that she did not realize the torso that she had so intently studied was much closer. In fact, the muscle bound stomach was a mere inch away from her nose.

“Ack!” she cried out as she jerked back so quickly that she lost balance landing on her back.

Wide green eyes blinked as she turned her head to look up at the looming figure. Donovan’s frowning face stared back at her as he leaned forward. Tiny droplets fell from his wet locks and splashed across Kara’s cheek. It cooled quickly against her heated cheeks as she realized very uncomfortably that she didn’t mind him being like this. In fact, she sort of wanted him to be closer, preferably without the towel. This realization sent the blood rushing to her head, as if she wasn’t already dizzy enough from the sudden change in her position.

Donovan frowned even more, his calloused hand brushed against her forehead before cupping her cheek. Her breath hitched as she unknowingly (except in the back of her mind) nuzzled against his hand. It was warm, it was nice and why was she feeling so off kilter today?

“I knew it,” he muttered darkly, “You’re sick. I told you, you should delegate more of your work.”

Well, to be technical he told her she should get a nanny before student and children alike ran her into the ground. Either way, she was feverish and judging by her glazed eyes not completely aware. Kara breathed heavily, her mind not connecting with her feelings.

“Hmm…” she mumbled as slender fingers reached up towards his towel.
They missed, grabbing only air as Donovan backed away to get changed. He could not take care of her while in a state of near undress, “Stay here, I’ll be back in a moment.”

If he realized what she had nearly done, he didn’t comment on it and probably wrote it off as her being feverish. Kara laid there, blinking at the ceiling in a state of confusion. What had just happened right then? Why was she feeling this way? She was sure that it wasn’t a fever (though it was probably part of the problem). Her fingers twitched in the air trying to grab something that was not there. Her fevered brain slow to comprehend what happened or what she nearly had done.

It was perhaps a merciful thing that in her state Kara would remember little of what just happened that day. If she had remembered, she would have been properly embarrassed. After all, angels, especially ones like her were not suppose to have dirty thoughts.  

[Donovan Lau]

:Cabbages and… Pets?:

As he looked down at the two little children who were looking at Kara with wide eyes that he should have seen that coming. After all, if a stork could deliver Salty to the household, why not have children come out of cabbages? Still, when they had received the wrapped cabbages at the door there had been quite a debate among the children whether to put it under the tree or put it into the fridge. Fortunately the two didn’t become part of Christmas dinner, not only did the family not use cabbages for dinner, but everyone was use to having creatures come out of odd objects enough that everyone assumed it was a new pet. After all people who knew Kara she always got a new pet during the Christmas season. Well… they were half right to lack a better term.

On Christmas morning the next day the cabbages under the tree were gone, only to be replaced by two small children. Both darker skinned than him or Kara, the boy who was dressed up in some sort of soldier uniform had dusky skin, while the little girl wrapped up in a nice purple dress was even darker than the boy. He took it in stride though, they’ve had children appear in stranger places, granted he was sure this was the first time they ever had a fairy for a child.

“Names.”
“Hmm?” Donovan glanced at Kara who was holding the little boy close.
“They need names, before they get stuck with Nutcracker and Sugar Plum Fairy for names.”

He blinked at that, now that she mentioned it the boy did look like one of those toy soldiers dressed up like that. Perhaps they should fix those clothes, it seemed kind of awkward to have a child going around dressed like that, but he wouldn’t have thought of the girl as a sugar plum, but then again she was all purple from her dress to her insanely long hair.

“How about Jase for the boy? It’s short for Jason, but I think Jase would better suit,” he chuckled a bit, “Which leaves you to name the girl.”
“Ah….” Kara thought about it, “How about Violet?”
“After that girl in that play with her twin brother?”
“After the colour you nut.”

Kara giggled at Donovan as she scooted closer to pull the little girl into a hug, careful not to crush the fairy wings. Two more children though, for this Christmas season, Donovan was starting to lose count of how many children were in the family, and he was going to have to talk to Kara about moving to clan grounds at this rate. The inn was going to become too small for everyone.

“I think this is the first time anyone has given me children for Christmas,” Kara murmured thoughtfully, “Is that even an okay thing to do?”
“Well you look after them, you treat them like your children and it’s better than them coming out in the snow.”

Besides, Donovan was sure that the cabbages would have been damaged by the frostbite anyhow. Still, who did stuff like that anyhow?

“Well at least you didn’t get overrun by pets like you did last year,” Donovan finally replied.
“True… but I do have at least one pet!”

Kara eyed the behind the counter where a blue furry (snow like) creature was sitting. Donovan had thought it was another child, until he took a closer look, it was a Fein, those odd types of creatures that looked human enough. Minus the muzzle, the blue fur, tail (she had double tails) and ears.

“I was told she was a domestic type, she can talk a bit but otherwise…”

Donovan sighed; couldn’t they keep the pets a little less human? Well, he wondered if this one would make a good nanny at least. Unless Kara wanted to baby her too.

“Her name is Krystal.”

Another creature to love and care for in the family, that just about summed it  

[Kara Winters]

:Training:

What was he doing back home? Or rather, what was he doing back in the place where he was born? Donovan considered this as he watched the woman who stood at ease outside the head’s door. He had been called here by the clan head of his paternal family, which in itself was odd. It wasn’t that Donovan was not aware of the rules, it was very well aware of them the day he was old enough to be taught those rules. The clan head had no power over him, he could be offered jobs, but Donovan had the power to turn them down. Technically while he had loyalties here, his strongest would be to the clan he married.

It was kind of hard to wrap his mind around that at times, no wonder why women who normally went to their husband’s clan chose spouses carefully. The woman at the door eyed him, readjusting her weapons a bit. He wondered which part of the family she was from. Probably some cousin at least three times removed or something of that nature. Hell, he didn’t even know everyone in his family, beside it wasn’t his job to remember everyone that was Vincent’s job.

As if the thought summoned him, the door to the head’s office opened. The woman motioned for him to enter. There was an urge to glare at her, but he resisted. It was not her fault that he was dragged all the way back to the old family compound. The former assassin stepped into the windowless room lit up so brightly that no corner or crevice was shadowed. There, in the far back facing the door was Vincent busy at his desk.

“Glad you could make it Donovan,” the man finally looked up from his work, “I’d ask you to sit, but knowing you and everyone else in this family, you’ll probably want to stand.”

The voice was laced with sarcasm, but it was earned. They both knew the unspoken rules, in business matters like this no one wanted to sit unless it was unofficial. It did not help matters that Vincent as clan head had an inside view of how things worked. As a general rule, anyone who had an inside view of politics of any sort tended to become cynical. Donovan stopped at his tracks a good distance from Vincent’s desk and stood there with his hands behind his back.

“Don’t give me that tone, it’s your fault for accepting the position,” Donovan stated.

There was a bit of a chuckle, because Vincent knew that Donovan had been one of those people who purposely made himself an unappealing leader. He was blunter than most family members, spoke his mind, did not take idiocy well and overall made a terrible diplomat. Qualities that did not make a good leader, but qualities Vincent knew for a fact Donovan could suppress if he chose. At the time their grandmother needed to be replaced, Donovan chose not to exercise restraint on his ‘wonderful’ personality.

“Someone had to, besides there are perks to the job.”
Donovan raised a brow, “That’s only because you’re a sadist.”
“Yes well… this sadist wants to talk to you about your daughter.”
There was a pause from the other side of the desk, “Vincent… I have a lot of daughters.”
“How many daughters could you possibly have?”
“Ten.”
“And you two still want to spawn?”

Donovan glared at his cousin at that comment; it was well known that there were no biological children in the family. Even though there were at the moment more children than people would deem sane, yes he wanted to maybe have another child or two. He was not going to tell Vincent that though, the glare gave it away.

The man coughed and continued, “Lin, I believe you named her. Sweet name by the way, I didn’t think you had it in you.”
Donovan gave Vincent a look that asked him to get to the point.
“You do realize she was training on the trainees’ day off?”
“So? I use to do that, everyone in the family trains even when it is supposed to be a day off.”
“Not the trainees, you know how they feel about being in the training grounds on a day that is known to be… off.”
Donovan was not impressed at the implication, “You know that rumour about the clan heads plucking some poor unsuspecting trainee from empty training grounds complete bullshit. Clan heads chose people based on skill, temperament, potential and interest. The only reason why that rumour exists is because heads corner their chosen when they are alone.”
“You have to admit it creates a certain fear among the trainees.
“Only because head trainers are infamous for being the most sadistic trainers in the entire clan.”

In fact it was rumoured that most trainees never survived training from the clan heads because they effectively disappear after being chosen. Which they both knew wasn’t true, it was only because trainees were trained in the main house, and pretty much stayed there until it was over. Even if they were seen again sometimes they would disappear for weeks depending on what they were doing. It was not just about fighting; it was their way of creating someone both cultured and strong. Donovan should know, his grandmother was a sadist when it came to his education.

“What do you want Vincent.”
“I’m hurt Donovan, I actually wanted to make an offer to your family.”
“Since I’m here and not my wife, this goes under the category of, I don’t have a choice do I?”
“… No, I want Lin to be trained here. By me.”

There was a moment of silence between the men as one let the news sink into the other. Vincent could almost see the wheels in Donovan’s head turning. It was fascinating for him to see his cousin again, accepting the role as father. So a small part of Vincent could not help but wonder (gleefully) how his cousin was going to react.

“You’re shitting me.”
Vincent laughed at that, so like his cousin, “Do I look like I am? You know me better than that.”
“Then you know there is no way in hell I’m letting you train her right?” Donovan believed in many things like his family did, but he put his foot down at having Vincent take control of Lin’s training.
“As you said so yourself, you do not have a choice in the matter.”
“You’re a sadist, why in the hell would I let you train my daughter?”

Donovan had not moved from his first position, his hands were still firmly behind his back, and his voice level had not changed. Yet Vincent could see Donovan’s eyes glinting dangerously, and the increasing amount of swear words told him that his cousin was not happy with his development.

“Because you know her regiment is lax, she’s no where near the sort of training she should be at.”
“It is not for the lack of trying,” Donovan pointed out.
“Van, what in Gaia’s name have you been doing that she hasn’t even been doing the sort of warm up routine you did when she was your physical age? I hear she hasn’t even been doing real weapons work, and yet you allowed her to carry a real blade with her.”
“Normal education on top of four languages, magic, and training.”
“When does she sleep?”
“Rarely.”
“And you call me a sadist?”
“Unfortunately her education was left up to her, it takes very little to convince to try something once, if any convincing at all.”
“My kind of girl.”
“No.”

This was the problem with dealing with someone like Donovan, he wouldn’t just roll over and let things be. It didn’t help that they knew that Vincent could not order Donovan around anymore. There was a sense of pity among his advisors that they couldn’t just take over the Winters holdings, but that would have angered the Mizu clan. Spiritualists they maybe, but no one wanted to get into a fight with people who could attack from the safety of their compound. Not that Vincent was interested in gaining the holdings, melding in that family would have been too much trouble. Still, it brought him back to his first issue, getting Donovan to play nice.

“I promise not to work her to death.”
“No, just close to it.”
Vincent sighed and leaned forward on his desk, “Donovan, I am offering the chance to teach your daughter everything I know. A chance that is normally kept within the family, surely you want to give her all the chances open. Seeing as… she wishes to travel one day.”

He did not twitch, he did not move, but Vincent could tell that he did strike a sore spot. One day his little girl was going to go off to places without him, wouldn’t it be better to give her all those chances to defend herself?

“Besides,” Vincent added sitting back, “Who is going to teach her the sword? You?”
Silence, they knew Donovan didn’t know that weapon.
“Don’t insult me by having the Ito clan teach her cousin, you know I could.”

Vincent knew what was holding Donovan back, his own training and the fact that Donovan knew Vincent very well. Honesty though, it was not like he was going to try and kill her or anything of the sort. Donovan though did not want Lin to end up with more bruises than needed, even though they tended to be the best lesson out there.

“Fine,” the father finally conceded, “But, watch her limits. You can push, but don’t push her too much. She still has day visits that will take her away every once in a while, don’t put her on any assignments without me knowing. Lin has a two week trip coming up, she is going on that. I’ll leave her education up to you, but she still has languages.”
“Japanese and Chinese I assume,” Vincent began, “I can help her with them, the other two?”
“Ones you don’t speak, two forms of elvish.”
“Fair enough.”
“Vincent… I know how training works, injuries…”
“Will be taken care of by the doctors, we do have a few healers. It is not our tradition to use them often, but I’ll at least make it seem like she’s in one piece. I promise, no serious harm will come to her, she is my student now.”

Donovan studied Vincent for a moment as if to look for another motive. Chances were though, Vincent was just bored. It was why students of clan heads existed, desk jobs were annoying things to people like them. Sometimes it took a student to relieve that boredom.

“Then I shall return home to tell my wife.”
“Of course,” Vincent replied watching his cousin walk away, “One more thing Donovan.”
There was a pause in Donovan’s step, “Yes?”
“Tell Lady Winters she is invited for tea over at the main house. It is time I get to know this new clan head is it not?”
The man snorted, “Of course, I’ll tell her.”

Vincent let himself relax as he watched Donovan close the door behind him. Well that was one less issue out of the way he thought to himself.