Vacation

I received a letter from Sophie after Zeb had been missing a few days, and notified my Circle that their assistance was required. They came from Port Cos, and we cleaned out the area of thieves, save for the woman that Zeb must have been trying to get to that resulted in his being taken. He was bloodied and had beaten several times over, but we took him back to Stylus, and disposed of the rest in our ways.

His women had been divided by myself, so that each of them went to one of us-Abby to Ramza, Mira to Kade, and Portia to myself. It was safer to not have them all in one place, until we were sure Stylus wasn't being watched. Still, I kept up my usual duties at the school and the shop, so that my activities would not be questioned by those that might be curious. I did not know where Ramza and Abby had gone, but let Kade know when he and Mira could come to Stylus without trouble.

Gemma made an appearance, and was as brisk as usual. More like myself in that, than her mother, and I didn't know her father well enough to say if it was his way as well. Fate came downstairs for a short time, and tried to make friends, but the level of tension was high. She'd already been on edge due to a dream days before, so all the noise in the house probably didn't help. During all of this, I endeavored to explain to the slave once known as Mare, what had happened regarding Nash and then myself. I still don't know if what I said made much sense, that for once I actually had good intentions, but the ones from Earth say that their Hell has a road paved with those sorts of intentions. So maybe nothing I do is ever going to make a real difference.

When I needed quiet, and a few pink-lipped smiles, I got near tears and resistence. I don't know if it's because I let the issue of the Devil go as unimportant in the overall scheme of things, and she wished I had been jealous instead or if she was smarting because of comments-true comments-about how she becomes jealous, and wishes she could do everything. She states she is aware that I am a Master, and as such, allowed to have who and what I wanted regardless of her feelings. That doesn't mean she's accepted it, and her unwillingness to perform a simple dance is just more evidence of it. The other night she asked if there was anything she could do, and I stated she had done it. True, some of it, but this is not over.

I like my son because I don't have to babysit him, and still, he's almost the youngest person I know. I like killing people, because I can shut them up when the time comes. Nothing I seem to do ever make anyone else happy, and I am getting to the point where I don't care how any of them feel. I need a vacation.