Kith and Kin 4

[rix_scaedu]

This is in response to aldersprig's extra prompt for signal boosting and follows on from Kith and Kin 3.

“I’d suggest,” said Andrew smiling slowly as he looked around the room at the assembled family members, “that the people responsible for the Wolf Pack program are now very interested in our girl. It was suggested to me the other day that if she apologised and worked hard, then we might be able to get Tobia a position within the Agency. I don’t imagine that will be necessary.”

“Andrew!” That was his wife and Antonia looked just as indignant.

“Greta, darling,” he sighed and then went steely. “Wolf Pack always gets placed on graduation. Always. At the moment I imagine they’re debating which of the more active field streams she’ll be going into. Especially since she’s demonstrated that under the right circumstances she will kill her own parents to preserve operational security.” He paused for effect and then added, “You didn’t imagine that you’d send her off to a boarding school that trains up espionage agents and she’d remain exactly the same person or that your influence over her would remain the same person, did you?”

“She should still be guided by us!” Greta was just as steely back.

“And because she loves you and cares what you think, what you’re doing now is breaking her. You need to stop. She can either learn and apply the lessons you sent her to the school to be taught or she can be the ‘good’ girl you’re telling her you want,” he answered gently. “The ground rules you’ve set mean that she can’t be both.”

“I didn’t have any such problems and neither did any of our children!” Something hurtful hovered on her tongue but Greta didn’t let it out.

“Because I kept Justin out of Wolf Pack,” was her husband’s mild rejoinder. “None of you were being taught not to trust your authority figures, a lesson Charles and Antonia inadvertently reinforced.”

Charles swore.

This is now followed by Kith and Kin 5.