Louise Ch. 12

"I heard from the genealogist." Patrick replied.

"And?" Nathan asked eagerly

"I was waiting for you so that I could call him back." Patrick replied.

A few minutes later, they had the genealogist on speakerphone.

"Jackson, its Patrick Sinclaire. I have my nephew Nathan with me."

"Hello!" Jackson said enthusiastically. "I have the most exciting news for you! It's simply amazing!"

Patrick and Nathan looked at each other and waited. Patrick knew the genealogist well, and according to him, everything was amazing and exciting. Finally, Jackson finished gushing and got down to business.

"The information that you provided was more than enough to get me started but knowing specific names were what really helped. I'll start with the maternal side of each family since ladies come first. The grandmothers of your mates are half Cherokee, and their great grandmothers were full blood Cherokee as were their mothers and grandmothers. I don't know how much you know about the Cherokee Indians so bear with me as I give you a crash course.

They are considered one of the five great tribes. Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family. They originated in the Great lakes area and then migrated south to the Carolinas, Georgia and Eastern Tennessee. Your mates' Black relatives came from Eastern Tennessee which is where they met their Indian mates."

Nathan and Patrick were fascinated.

"Anyway, the Cherokee culture is a matrilineal society meaning that the women controlled the property, and the children are born into the mother's clan where they gain hereditary status. Any advancement in the tribe was subject to the approval of the female elders. I'm sure that you're wondering what this has to do with your mate's family." Jackson said.

Nathan was leaning forward in his seat fighting not to tell the genealogist to get on with it.

"Your mates and their family were high up on the tier. Their grand mothers several generations back were both female elders of the tribe at different times of course. One's name was Ahyoka, which means bringer of happiness, and the other one on the paternal side ironically had the same name. From what I could find out about them, they were both strong empaths as well as warriors as the females of the tribe often were. That would explain the gift of empathy that the ones named Louise, Leon and Celeste seem to have.

On the father's side of the family, the origins seemed to have started in South Africa with the Zulu tribe. They had healers, which were called Sangomas who had a variety of duties, which included healing, and tending to social disharmonies. They also were proficient in divination, counteracting witches and directing rituals. Their belief was that the ancestors from the spirit world gave guidance and advice on how to protect and heal the living. There is very intensive training for this that involves learning humility and going through a purification ritual. Again, we see the gift of empathy. The name of the female relative who was one of the healers was named Khanyisile, which means Bright Light. Any questions so far?"

"No keep going." Patrick replied.

"So we now know where the gifts of empathy and their strength come from. Now, one of your mates is able to read the thoughts of vampires and communicate with them am I correct?" Jackson asked.

"That would be my mate Kevyn." Patrick replied.

"A very rare and powerful gift and one that I would take care to keep secret." Jackson replied. "Her gift seems to come from the paternal side of the family. The great grandfather, Cleveland Yancy was an entertainer of sorts; he could read people's thoughts."

"A telepath." Patrick murmured.

"And a powerful one at that. It was a gift that saved his life and the lives of his family several times. The maternal great grandfather was ungifted as far as I can tell and I'm not sure of where your mates' mother Wanda Yancy got her gift unless she was naturally intuitive and she was mildly clairvoyant. Why she wasn't gifted with empathy, I don't know. I can research more if you like. From what I can tell, the father was only slightly gifted as evidenced by what we already knew. I would also venture to say that Nathan's mate is also clairvoyant to some degree, and it has the potential to grow as strong as her other gifts. As with Patrick's mate, it is a gift that I would keep secret. Would you like me to continue my research?"

Nathan looked at Patrick and shrugged, "up to you."

"Sure, and while you're at it, can you make up one of those family tree charts and add us to it. I know that you have one for us so add the Yancy family to that one. I would also like to keep you on retainer."

"As you wish." Jackson said and hung up and then called back.

"I forgot to mention something else that may be of interest to you. I took the liberty of looking back into your family history and found that this isn't the first time that the Yancy line has intersected with the Sinclaire line."

What do you mean?" Nathan asked.

"Every few centuries it seems that someone from the Yancy line interacts with someone from your line whether it is marriage or otherwise..."

"But we've always been vampire..." Patrick said and then stopped. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that your family and the family of your mates have always been connected in some way. You and your mates aren't closely related if that's your concern. The matings that have occurred are centuries apart with the last one occurring long before you, Patrick came into being. If my calculations are correct, it will be centuries after this current generation before it happens again. It appears that the Yancy line was created specifically for the Sinclaire line. I repeat that it does not mean that there will always be matings. Those seem to be far and few in between. If you like, I can write up the Sinclaire/Yancy timeline so you can see exactly where these meetings have taken place."

"Please." Patrick replied.

"Consider it done although it will take a while."

"No hurry, you've given us much more than we asked for. Thank you." Patrick replied.

After they hung up for the second time, Patrick and Nathan looked at each other and grinned.

"I'll be damned." Patrick muttered.