Arguing the Basics Read online

“Yup, but once in a lifetime was enough. The first time, I lost my family, my world and my home. I was sure that I was doing the right thing, but what was right for me might not have had immediate returns for someone twenty years my senior.”

  Koara shifted the cheerful Agren and looked down at him. “I have to learn to explain all possible outcomes for a decision, not just the ones I want.”

  Rion rumbled. “It sounds like you are growing into your particular style of seer talent.”

  “I really hope so. I want to use it to make sure that folks benefit, not struggle. Everyone deserves the basics of life at their government’s expense. Without those basics, there is no tax base and everything gets patchy from there. Once you take care of the poorest citizen, everything else rises. That is worth fighting for.”

  Iara smirked. “And your bias to the poor comes from living that way. It is understandable.”

  “No, and now that I know I do have a bias, it will be easier to temper my own opinions and see the truth of the effects. It makes things easier when you know what you are colouring the universe with.”

  “Compassion is a good thing to spread around.” Rion smiled.

  Koara stroked Agren’s cheek. “As long as it is tempered with an eye toward reality and sensibility, I agree. Anyway, the report is over, and now, I await my next assignment. I am really hoping that I botched it badly enough for me simply to consult. I found the undercover work a little difficult.”

  Ioko arrived as she finished speaking. “Do not worry about it. If they send you out again, you will not go alone. I am officially your new partner by every government involved.”

  She winked. “Great. You can move the couch three feet closer tonight.”

  He grinned and took his nephew but let the baby keep his grip on her hair. It was a devious binding method.

  One look to Sookar told her that he wasn’t going to pitch in. She was on her own when it came to the baby. He refused to get close enough to be grabbed.

  She looked around at what was rapidly becoming her family and saw no help at all. She sighed and remained pinned by her own hair. It was truly a family meeting. You would get all the support you needed, but you only got help if you were in danger.

  Koara sat there and mentally went through all the colours she could use to stop Agren from fixating on her hair. It was extreme, but so was shaving and that was also on the list that her mind came up with.

  She looked into Agren’s future and saw a strong man with a good sense of humour and a wife with hot-pink hair and vivid green eyes.

  He let her hair go, and he looked into her eyes. She saw what he saw, and his infant self was attracted to the closest colour of his mate.

  This was going to be a weird conversation, but at least she knew part of Agren’s talent. He saw the future, even if it was his own and that was going to take some practice to deal with.

  It was a good thing Koara was there to help him get through the weird moments before he wrote a report and redesigned a society. One of those in a family was enough.

  Author’s Note

  Summer has hit in full steam, and there are a thousand things that I want to do and only two of them are writing.

  The next book is all about Illuma. Meet her, meet her family, and hopefully, she will locate a partner who can make her genuinely laugh at random.

  Thanks for reading,

  Viola Grace

  About the Author

  Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.

  An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.