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"He"s an irritating, loud-mouthed, disrespectful little tailor, is what," Hal answered, and Jules smiled before he could even think about it.

"Oh, G.o.d, Jules looks just like Jasmine when he smiles," Charles whispered. He took two steps toward Jules, and something inside of Jules just broke.

Jules snapped a fan up as a warning, stunning his father with the sudden noise and unfurling of canvas. The other fan, closed, jabbed the air beside his throat. Charles staggered backward, eyes wide.

"I don"t think Jules wants you to get too close," Hal said dryly.

"Yes..." Charles swallowed hard, and backed away. "I kinda got that when he showed me he could have driven the pointy end of his fan into my throat."

Jules gave his father a warning stare before hooking his fans to his obi. He felt ??????, somehow. Stronger.

"I never thought about those things as weapons," Charles said, sitting back down. "Just the sound of one of them opening is like a whip crack."

"There is an entire language in using them, and I had to become proficient in it quickly, as I made a serious error with Jules early into our relationship. I was punished, but I don"t think I can ever forgive myself." Hal caught Jules"s eye, then, and sent him another silent apology.

Jules tapped his neck and bowed to Hal. He was fine. No, better than fine. Facing Charles with some of his buried anger, had felt amazing.

"He"s so graceful," Charles said quietly. "That struck me pretty quick. But, why is Jules barefoot?"

"Shoes were too expensive at the omega school, and Jules has become accustomed to not wearing them. He ???? have shoes. He doesn"t like them at all." Halian leaned on the wall, and crossed his arms.

Jules smirked at him.

"I could tell," Halian said. "You curled your lip at my boots. The shoes my mother made you have come perilously close to a few "accidents"."

Jules blushed, and bowed his head. He didn"t think Hal would notice how close he was putting those shoes to the fireplace.

Hal chuckled. "Maybe you"d like a pair of moccasins better?"

Jules waved an opened fan back and forth to show indecision. Then, he shut it and bowed again.

"A "maybe" is better than nothing," Hal commented. "As I"ve said, though, you don"t have to do anything you don"t want to do. Ever."

Jules came over to him and looked into his eyes. Not breaking contact, he lowered himself to his knees. He heard his father give a choked noise, and didn"t care one d.a.m.ned bit.

"Remington," Hal said, still giving Jules his full eye contact. "You need to get used to this. This is Jules. Your son. Your omega son with whom you should be pleased." He put his hand on Jules"s head, and stroked his hair softly.

Jules let his eyes shut, then, basking in having support and approval when his emotions kept looping wildly in every direction.

"It just looks terrible," Charles said. "A man on his knees before another man..."

Jules smiled, and sneaked a peek at Hal, whose lips twitched.

"Perhaps you should never dine with us," Hal murmured. "I feed him by hand, as we both enjoy it immensely."

Jules heard his father make an angry sound. He didn"t speak, though. Jules tuned his father out, and concentrated on Halian"s fingers.
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"Jules, would you like to get a pair of my terrible boots, and go outside awhile?" Halian asked. "We could show your father all that you"ll be in charge of in a few weeks. Well, some of it, anyway."

Jules nodded, and got up. He bowed again, and left the room.

At the upstairs landing, Felix ambushed Jules. "When did he get here?" He asked. "Are you all right?"

"Last... night," Jules forced out. "Yes. I"m just..."

"You"re not talking." Felix"s eyes narrowed. "You do that when you get overwhelmed. Well, your father"s not dying, but I could ??? that for you."

"No." Jules shook his head.

"As you say." Felix patted his shoulder. "I could turn him into a toad...?"

Jules smiled. "No."

"All right." Felix rolled his eyes. "You"re not any fun at all." He stalked toward his room, then.

Jules got the extra boots, and his heavy cloak. When he came downstairs, Hal and Charles were standing by the front door. Jules thought Charles already looked a little healthier, and he wondered why. Jules had to balance against Hal to put on the last boot, because the first one made him feel too removed from the floor. Hal fixed the cloak shut for him.

On Hal"s arm, Jules walked out into the brilliant day. It was snowing heavily, and probably two feet deep on the ground. His father might have perished from cold if he"d tried to leave last night.

"How large is the estate?" Charles asked as they came closer to the stables.

"Tales-Vier is a hundred and twenty acres of pastureland, seven hundred acres of woodland, enclosed by four hundred miles square of wild land," Hal reported. "The exception being the town, which was built and given to the elders by my great, great, great grandfather, Corrien Novar. The elders conveniently don"t think about that anymore. Not to any great degree."

Jules committed these facts into his head while looking at Halcyna"s ring. It didn"t sparkle any brighter than all this snow.

"You must employ a lot of people," Charles said, sounding awed.

"A hundred and fifty around the manor, a hundred at the barns and on the range, and nearly a hundred specialty workers. We make wine, keep bees, raise cattle, chickens, goats and sheep. Some of my more industrious people keep pheasants and quail." Halian opened the stable doors. "I thought you might like to check on your horse. That is why we came here first."

Charles came in and looked at the horses in silence as Halian conversed quietly with Sam. Jules went to Brave"s stall, and looked the enormous animal in the eyes, wondering if he"d ever have the nerve to ride without Hal.