Competition: Heir to my Lineage

Finished
Heir to my Lineage

"A child is a truly wondrous gift, whether by blood or adoption." - Lucifer Romanov

"A child does not have to be of blood to be raised and loved by you nor to love you." - Lucifer Romanov

Objective: In the words of your character, tell a tale about if your character had a child or children, it can be one adopted child, a biological child or if multiple children then it can be a mix of adopted and biological. Do this by writing a short story explaining an event with your character that can be linked to the quote. Each submission needs to be at least 500 words or more.

Submission: Word document or the submission box are the only ways accepted for submissions to this competition.

Grading: The explanation of the quote will be judged based on its creativity, originality, and relevance to the quote. The story will be judged using the Voice Fiction Grading Rubric.

Competition Information
Parent Competition
The Thirteen Stories
Organized by
Lucifer Scorpio Romanov
Running time
2017-07-02 until 2017-08-18 (about 2 months)
Target Unit
Entire DJB
Competition Type
Fiction
Awards
Second Level Crescents and Clusters of Ice as per VOICE guidelines
Participants
8 subscribers, of which 4 have participated.
Results
Member
Master Bentre Stahoes
Textual submission

So much has happened over the last few years. I joined a group, a cult really, within a secret Order styling itself as a group of fraternity. It is laughable really, to fancy the Brotherhood as what they call it. There is little sense of fraternity between the Clans, but given the events of late that is a story unto itself.

Looking back, even before my days as a Sadowan, I really never fancied myself anything like a family man. There was always too much going on. Family brought with itself a sort of collateral I never felt I could afford. Yet, here I find myself now as both a husband and a father.

I act as both Patriarch of a family, and as a Proconsul over the Clan. There isn't a lot of time to spend with my wife, so I was glad to see she came to Sepros. She even brought Lyna'Vel with her. The Consul gave me a couple hours to spend with them both.

"Hey kiddo." A chuckle escaped my lips as I stretched out my hands toward my daughter. She began to babble as I rocked her in one arm, smiling before I turned my attention to Tasha'Vel. "So, how bad is it?"

"What are you talking about, Bentre?"

"Oh, come on. Do you really think we can keep her safe on Ryloth for so long? I find it hard to believe that you enjoy shuttling between Ryloth, Tarthos and Sepros this often. Maybe we should look at cutting ties for a while. We can burn the bridge before-"

"No." The word came out as a sharp rebuke. The Twi'leki Sadowan's stare was harder than permacrete. "Why would we abandon our home estate?"

"We need to protect our child. Which is more important, Tash?" I held up a hand to interrupt her before she could object. "Failing that we need a way to protect her." I motioned my head toward the child in my arms. Concern marred the normally picturesque visage of my Tasha'Vel as she mentally chewed over the idea.

"What would you propose we do?" The question was tentative, and I could hear the concern. "There is only so much we can do, sweetheart. Are you suggesting we leave her in the charge of someone in the Clan?"

"Well," my voice faltered as a smile cracked the illusion of calm I strove to maintain, "something sort of like that. I was perusing the notes of our beloved Mad Alchemist, and I believe I might have a solution." This statement earned me a glare of suspicion from the woman of my life. I didn't expect she would go for this, but it was worthwhile to consider. "He did a bit with the child of our Clan's own Teu."

"Oh?" I could see a bit of genuine curiosity now. Macron had trained with her in Echani, he and I had compared notes concerning Alchemy and of course he patched up my eye after my little encounter with that worm, Ventus. So needless to say, we both considered him a friend of the family. Hopefully I would be able to bank on that for what I wanted to propose.

"Well, he managed to, shall I say, add some years to the child's life." This statement prompted a bit of confusion. I was going to have to prod a little differently. "He found out how to bottle experience to be applied at a whim." Her expression returned to one of suspicion and annoyance now. I had to suppress a chuckle as I contemplated how to next rephrase it. "Hell with it, Tash. Macron accelerated the child's growth. Imagine, the ability to pass years of development to see the glory of our prodigy. With a more developed frame, we can teach her Martial Arts, Alchemic Arts, and we can assure she will be able to defend herself! It would be glorious as both a solution and oh-" I shuddered slightly as I let a few chuckles slip, "it would be such an experiment! Given her parentage, she could even be trained to be a great Sith one day! Don't you see what could be?"

I had never seen something quite like the expression upon my wife's face just then. It was like betrayal, then sorrow, each emotion flashing by before settling into something like contempt. "This is our Lyna'Vel, and you want to use her as a," her voice curdled, "test subject for your labs? How could you ask such a thing!?"

"I only want what is best for her." I spoke the words in near deadpan.Obviously, my wife did not see the wisdom in this path. "I only-" I started to repeat my statement, but she scooped Lyna'Vel from my arms before turning on one heel and storming down the hallway. I stood there for several moments before letting out a long sigh. It went as well as I could have expected. I might have to take things into my own hands to ensure her safety. It is a father's duty, after all to protect his offspring.

Placement
1st place
Member
Proconsul Diyrian "Diy" Grivna
File submission
Closing_Time.docx
Placement
2nd place
Member
Maximus Alvinius
Submission
Maximus Alvinius opted out of publishing his submission.
Placement
3rd place
Member
General Stres'tron'garmis
File submission
Babbeh_BABBEH.pdf
Placement
4th place