Sorooth paused.“Does that happen a lot?”
“Sure.Uradda has been trying to create useful actives by matching their most powerful together under controlled conditions.When the actives left, they were unassessed and uncategorized, and a lot of them were missing their parents.The parents were destroyed when the children did not add up to the guessed potential.That was the case with Hemma and Ekbert.They were raised in the creche.”
Sorooth said, “What does Ekbert want to study at the academy?”
“Botany and arborist interests with a minor in ocean studies.”
“He’s a water breather?”
“He has gills, but they aren’t opened as far as I know.”
“Is she a water breather?”
“Not that she has told me.”
Sorooth paused.“Are all the Uraddans in this situation?”
“The ones who were able to find jobs in Aksalla.Others had to move to the capitol, a few went to the Sethir but not many.The stories of their torturing Uraddan actives echoed in the cells.Your people didn’t know the difference between a weapon and a hostage and that they could be both at once.”
Kessie frowned.“What?”
“It’s politics, punkin.Uradda, the country I was from, decided that they wanted to use actives to take minerals and land from the countries around them.The people in charge were not nice people.A lot of people were hurt, and a lot died.That made the governments mad, and they expressed their anger on any Uraddan actives they could find.”
Sorooth said, “Are you sure this is a topic for discussion?”
Kessie frowned.“Grandma Nelith said she wasn’t welcome in Sethir.Is that why?”
Keska pointed to a quiet street as they passed the academy.“Turn here.The international school is at the end of this lane.”She looked at Kessie.“Yes, she was a weapon, bound with a controller following her and setting her off.The controller isn’t alive anymore, but since the weapon was, they punished the weapon.”
Kessie frowned.“That isn’t right.”
“That is politics.It makes people think they are doing something for the masses, but it doesn’t really do anything to help.”
She looked.“The drive on the left.”
He turned and drove past the high wall and through the open gates.
Kessie looked at the house and whispered, “Wow.It’s almost as big as the house where Nigel lives.”
Keska smiled.“The house in Daycross is about the same size.”
Kessie got excited, and Sorooth chuckled at her chatter.He pulled up in front of the main entrance, Keska reached for the handle, and he cleared his throat.She snorted and waited.
Kessie chuckled.“Daddy says you have to wait until he opens the door so he can make sure that things are safe around him.”
She smiled.“Really?I always thought he liked watching my legs as I slid out of the seat.”
“Maybe it’s both.”Kessie got out of the car and stood next to her dad as he opened the door for Keska.
She put her hand in his and swung her legs out of the vehicle, sliding out and down so their bodies were touching.“Your mother would have a heart attack.”
Kessie grinned.“Grandma Lia said that you and Daddy make good kids, and she needs to talk to you to ask for more.”
“Wow.I wonder if there is an order form I need to write up.”
Sorooth smiled.“I will forward it to her with all speed.”
“Yeah, I am not actually going to write up a form.She has expressed her opinion of me, and I can take the rejection.I am good.”She smiled brightly.
