chapter 13
"Dee and Aurelius talk to us," Farzi was smiling, his nose rubbing mine. Had I ever known that lion snake shapeshifters had a few extra vertebrae? It makes them very limber. I was exhausted and now knew exactly how Lissa had ended up pregnant by her Falchani twins. My reptanoids, given back what was taken from them at an early age, had gotten a quick lesson in sex education from two very old vampires. Farzi and Nenzi appeared to be fast learners.
"You sleep now. We want to do this again soon," Nenzi said. "That amazing. We always wonder what fuss all about."
"Fuss?" I turned to Nenzi and gave him a kiss. "That wasn't fuss. That was fun. Amazing."
"Yes. Reah amazing. We do this again. Often."
"Did Kifirin say whether you might father children?" I asked, hugging Nenzi.
"He not say. We not ask. He just say we get back what we lost. And Aurelius say that this not hurt baby. We skeptical at first."
"He's safe, unless somebody means harm," I said.
"We not ever mean harm. We know what happened at awful place. We never do anything like that."
"Honey, I love you. And my Honey Snake, too. I know you wouldn't do that." I rubbed the back of his neck with my fingers. He seemed to like that. He leaned in to kiss me. "You sleep. Tired. Kevis say not to wear you out."
"He knew about this?" I lifted an eyebrow at Nenzi, who smiled.
"He did. He examine us afterward," Farzi turned me to him. His brown eyes held a bit of laughter. "We not know what to think when this happen," he placed my hand on a newly formed erection.
"Honey, you may have to take care of that yourself," I yawned, covering it up as well as I could.
"He say that, too," Farzi grinned. "He say that what showers for."
"Honey Snake, you're going to make me laugh," I said, settling on his shoulder to sleep.
* * *
"Just relax. Let the water support you," Kevis said later. We were having a session in the pool.
"I don't think I can relax when you're asking me personal questions," I said.
"Sure you can. My hands are beneath you. Do you think I'd let you sink?" he asked.
"Hmmph." I glared up at him, his face was over mine and he seemed grimly determined about something. I guess it was a good thing that we'd gotten a swimsuit that would cover Garwin Wyatt when we'd been out shopping for baby things.
"Reah, close your eyes. I wish you'd learn to trust me."
I crossed my arms over my chest, almost turning over in the water.
"Now, what did I say? Wasn't it relax?"
"That's just a word."
"And it means something. Relax. Just let yourself go limp. Nothing will happen when you do. I'll hold you up."
I tried. Really. It wasn't going to be easy. "Now," Kevis said when I'd gotten halfway there, "why are you so angry with Tory for not marrying you?" I almost turned over in the water again. "Reah, you're not trying. Meet me halfway, here."
"All right," I stared up at the clouds floating overhead, instead of at Kevis' face. I still wanted to cross my arms over my chest. "He never made any promises to me. Like he did Darletta. The marriage vows are standard across the Reth Alliance. Both parties promise to love, honor and support one another. Tory never said that to me. He did say it to someone he barely knew. How was that supposed to make me feel? He'd made me pregnant—twice—by that time, and there I was, carrying his twins, and he walks away because Wylend lied. Well, lied is the wrong word. Withheld part of the truth, I guess. And he didn't even come to me to ask me about it. He just got all pissy and went off to make promises to Darletta, because she was pretty and crooked her finger at him. I figure that's what I can expect from him always, if we stayed together. He'd get angry over something and find a way to retaliate. I can't live with that."
"Reah, he's one of your last ties to the High Demon race. Are you attempting to isolate yourself?"
"Kevis," I attempted to stand up, discovering that my feet wouldn't touch the bottom of the pool. He was holding me up. My choice was either grip his arms or swim away, and he had a firm grip on my waist. I looked at him, frowning deeply. "As Garde so eloquently put it, I'm only a quarter-blood. I don't belong to that race, in his eyes. They've made that clear. They took what they wanted and cut me loose. And then Tory can't help but mention his bitch ex-wife while we're in bed together. Maybe he didn't see what I saw on Cloudsong or Stellar Winds, but she was in just as deep as her daddy and any of the others. She didn't care that those girls were raped or sold. She didn't care that both Alliances were about to be enslaved. She didn't care that she'd controlled her husband all those years. She wanted to play with people. That's what they were to her—playthings that she could toss aside when she tired of them. I don't care if Tory did mean what he said as a compliment. I don't want to hear her name or her daddy's name or Nedrizif's name or any of the rest of them." I skipped to the side of the pool, lifted a towel and wrapped myself in it before stalking angrily away.
* * *
"You asked. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Kevis turned to a corner of the pool, where Nefrigar and Tory appeared. Nefrigar had shielded Tory from sight while he listened to Kevis' questions and Reah's answers.
"I'm never going to get her back," Tory sighed and skipped away.
* * *
"Son, what are you doing?" Garde walked into the palace kitchen in Veshtul. Tory had one empty bottle and another half-empty bottle of bourbon sitting in front of him.
"Drinking."
"What happened?"
"I never made promises to Reah, but I did to Darletta. When we got married, I said those vows, whether I meant them or not. Reah won't ever forget that. Then I made the mistake of mentioning Darletta's name when we were in bed together not long ago. It was a stupid mistake. I'll never get her back. She's walking away from the High Demon race as a whole. I heard what Kifirin said a few days ago on Cloudsong. He said he made a promise to Jayd that Kifirin would thrive and the race would recover. He used Reah to make good on that promise. He released the mute in her mates, but he didn't release it in our daughters. They think of Jayd and Glinda as their parents, just as Reah says. Kifirin did that to her. And he said he'd have made her pregnant again if she hadn't almost died when Dara and Sara were born. He said that it was a sign that his parent was angry with him over what he did."
"There's a mute in place with those girls?"
"I don't think Kifirin will ever release it," Tory swallowed more bourbon. "They'll never go to their mother. Never recognize what she did for them. And I f*cked them around too, didn't I, Dad? I guess the good news in all this is that all my daughters' children will be female. Kifirin said that. Go get Uncle Jayd and do a little dance on top of the palace. Reah won't come back, but you don't give a shit, do you?" Tory lifted the bottle of bourbon and skipped away.
* * *
Reah, wake up my darling, my love.
"Reah? What's wrong, sweetheart?" I'd jerked awake when I thought I heard Edward's voice. It turned out to be nothing and Teeg was trying to soothe me as I breathed ragged, uneven breaths. "It's all right," he pulled me against him. "We'll get up in a moment." We'd made love the night before—for the first time since he'd gotten me pregnant. He'd followed me to bed after the dinner at Desh's in Targis. Fes had sat with Farla, his mother, and they'd shared a very good meal with us. Now, Teeg was placing my arms around his neck and pulling me against him.
"Reah, I've loved you since I was twelve," he murmured.
"That makes me sound like a cradle robber."
"I'm older than you, now," the corner of his mouth twitched into half a smile. "If you count the number of years I've lived, I'm nearly a hundred. Almost twice as old as you." He tapped my nose gently with a finger.
"And you're so mature," I grumped.
"I can be. I usually don't laugh behind the Council's backs or throw spitballs at the ones I don't like."
"An admirable trait in the Founder of the Campiaan Alliance."
"It's part of my job description."
"That you wrote."
"I did, didn't I?" He kissed me, his mouth warm and comforting. "Come on, let's get a shower and get dressed. We have an errand to run this morning."
"What errand?"
"I'll tell you after breakfast. Come on, sweetheart. We have to get up."
I groaned as I slid off the bed. Teeg steadied me and kept an arm around my shoulders as I walked toward the bathroom.
"This looks good." Teeg picked my outfit. A deep-green top, gathered a little to cover Garwin Wyatt with a sprinkling of tiny beads across the yoke, coupled with off-white slacks and light-brown, low-heeled shoes. The outfit had been expensive and he'd paid for it. "Just a little jewelry," he helped put the emerald earrings in my ears. My hair was partially clipped back, with most of it hanging loose. "Now, breakfast," he said. He'd dressed in a very expensive suit and looked to be the founding member of the Campiaan Alliance. I found all my other mates, including Edward, Astralan and Corolan in the dining room, having breakfast when Teeg and I walked in. Kevis was there as well. I was still a little miffed at him, I think.
"Where are we going?" I asked again after I'd brushed my teeth following breakfast.
"To Refizan," Teeg said. It looked as if everybody else was going, too. When we arrived, I knew exactly what was happening and I tried to back out of the hearing chamber. Ceerah Kade sat at a table, cuffs on her wrists and her legal counsel sitting next to her.
"Reah, stay with us," Lendill said behind me. "You and Kevis may have to testify."
"I don't want to," I whispered. Nobody was listening. I was led to a witness box off to the side and sat there with Kevis, Norian and Lendill. The rest of my entourage sat in the seats reserved for the public. They took up nearly half the space. Many other spectators had come to this trial, too. I blew out a breath.
The Citizen's Panel filed in and sat down first, and then the magistrate walked in with his clerk. Everyone in the room stood for that. The trial would be held on Refizan, since that was the location of Ceerah's last crime, but the magistrate was likely a High Magistrate from another world, and he would decide on all pending charges, since Alliance laws concerning drug trafficking were universal.
The clerk went through all the charges against Ceerah, including the aliases she used. "Now, Ms. Kade, how do you answer these charges," the magistrate asked.
"I am not guilty," she said. "I was insane at the time and not in proper control of my faculties."
"But you are not insane now?"
"Yes. I am still insane."
"Has a mental evaluation been performed?" the magistrate asked. A clerk brought a comp-vid forward and offered it to him. The magistrate scrolled through the information for a short time.
"It says here that you are competent, Ms. Kade. Now, are you still insane? Remember, the truthfulness of your statements here will be considered when you answer questions later. Bear in mind that you took—and passed—a mental evaluation when you began working for Doctor Halivar. He would not have hired you otherwise, and those records have been provided to this court." He held up the comp-vid.
Ceerah conferred with her counsel for a moment and then said, "I was only insane after I began working at the clinic."
"And those are the least of the charges I see against you," the magistrate observed. "Very well, we will proceed with this hearing."
Ceerah's defense was very weak. All she could do was deny that the fingerprints were hers and insist that the vid-images had been altered—most on unalterable chips recorded by the constabulary or certified businesses. She'd once sold drakus seed to an undercover constable, who identified her from photographs. She'd managed to escape, however, when he attempted to arrest her.
After lunch, several people were brought in, all of whom testified that they'd purchased various prescription medications from Ceerah while she'd worked for Kevis. Many patients in the facility had gotten placebos or sugar pills instead of the proper medication as a result. Kevis was seething beside me at the magnitude of her duplicity. A midafternoon break was allowed, then the magistrate went after it again. I was hoping I could stay awake. Hearings often went far into the night, with a short sleep break before continuing the next day. Some could go on for weeks. I was hoping that wasn't going to happen with Ceerah. I just wanted her to go away. For a very long time.
"How are you feeling?" Kevis asked as we walked out of the Courts and Hearings building into a muggy, Refizani night. We were in the capital city of Ordinandis, which was near a river and the ocean.
"Tired," I said.
"I know," Aurelius said sympathetically, taking my hand and kissing it. "We have a suite of rooms nearby. Edward and some of the others have to go back, but Lok, Lendill, Kevis and I will be here with you throughout."
"Let's get something to eat," Kevis suggested. "I know a good restaurant not far away." We were led to a circular booth in a quiet area, comp-menus were handed out and I looked it over.
"What are you having?" Kevis leaned over to look at my menu.
"I don't know. Steak or prime rib sounds good, but I don't know how they cook it here."
"Go ahead and get it, we'll send it back if it isn't good."
"We shouldn't have to send anything back," I pointed out.
"Come on, you're tired. We'll get food and then put you to bed."
The prime rib was decent. I ate half of it; Lok helped himself to what was left. Bed was next, and Aurelius slept with me. "Reah," he said, pulling me close, "we'll take some time, very soon. Just us, all right? We'll find a place where we won't be bothered and we'll do whatever we want."
"That sounds nice, Auri." I snuggled into his embrace and closed my eyes.
* * *
The hearing resumed the following morning, and Ceerah was preparing to answer questions when something happened. Later we learned that it was a planned event from two factions on Tulgalan, Ceerah's homeworld. Yes, she and I had that in common. Little else as it turned out, but then Tulgalan was home to around four-hundred-million or so. It was a large planet. These two factions had worked just to the legal side of the law since drakus seed had found its way there a quarter of a century earlier. They saw Ceerah as the worst kind of traitor.
Both groups were prepared to not only kill her, but destroy that section of the Courts and Hearing building as well, in addition to anyone inside that chamber. We were knocked around from the explosion that came; Aurelius and Lok managed to protect the ones in the public seating. The roof caved in and fire whooshed through. It happened so quickly to those watching from outside, so slowly for those inside. Instinct took over for me.
Turning to my larger Thifilatha, I gathered everyone in the hearing area, wrapped them in my arms and shielded them with my wings. I'm afraid I may have squashed some, but they were alive when I walked through the fire and out to the street. No fire will ever harm a High Demon; it's the way Kifirin made us. Setting the people down I'd rescued, I watched calmly as Ceerah was held back by the two bailiffs I'd saved.
The magistrate stared up at me, as did Kevis. Lendill had protected Norian with whatever power he held as the Elvish Prince-Heir. Both of them proceeded to herd people toward the perimeter surrounding us. Aurelius and Lok brought out the ones from the public section of the hearing chamber, which was being sprayed by robo-hoses. All of them were drenched but still alive.
* * *
"The hearing will resume tomorrow in an undisclosed location," the journalist reported as I watched the news later at our hotel. "Both antidrug factions from Tulgalan have claimed responsibility, although they seem disappointed that Ceerah Kade did not die in the attack."
"They didn't care that others might have died," Lendill tossed the vid-remote onto the bed and paced angrily. The images of me, carrying an armload of people out of the building and setting them down was getting more airtime than anything else, though. The sun was shining through my wings, making them glow.
"Reah, you look as if you're protecting children," Norian sighed as we watched yet another vid-version of my larger Thifilatha.
"I was afraid they'd get hurt," I said, shaking my head at the images that splayed across the screen. "Humanoids aren't fire resistant."
"The Governor of the Realm has invited you to his palace after the trial," Kevis walked in and handed over an expensive, paper invitation.
"I guess there's no way to gracefully refuse that, is there?" I flopped back on the bed.
"No, breah-mul, but Norian and I will come with you. You don't have to talk much if you don't want to." Lendill sat beside me and gently rubbed Garwin Wyatt. "And we've had to provide extra security for Ceerah Kade and her legal counsel, in addition to sending agents out to track the ones who did this."
"My Lendill's work is never done," I said, rubbing his back.
"I'm your Lendill?" He settled beside me and smiled before kissing me.
"Your father married us. I don't know how to get out of that."
"If the Elf King marries you, there isn't any way to get out of it," Lendill grinned before kissing me again.
"Says who?"
"Says the Elf Prince-Heir."
"Convenient," I muttered.
"Decidedly so," Lendill gave me a better kiss this time. The others faded from the room.
* * *
"So, this is your parents' fault," the magistrate stared at Ceerah. She'd cried when she was asked why she'd done terrible things. The evidence against her was overwhelming at this point, so she was trying a different tack.
"They were too strict. I was never allowed to go anywhere or do anything. The drugs I began taking in school helped me deal with their tyranny." Ceerah wiped tears with a tissue.
"Did they beat you or lock you inside a closet?" Norian was allowed to ask questions and he was doing so. "Were you ever hospitalized due to injuries? How cruel were your parents? I've looked into your background, I believe you were rushed to a physician when you were six because you had a bruised ankle, is that correct?" Norian consulted a comp-vid in his hand.
"I fell off a swing," Ceerah muttered.
"Your parents didn't cause this injury?"
"No."
"I see no records of hospitalizations, and you seldom missed school."
"But they wouldn't let me go out with my friends, or date until I was sixteen."
"Is that all?" Norian flung up a hand. "I have nothing further."
Immature, even now, Kevis' voice floated into my mind. Probable sadistic personality disorder.
Lovely, I sent back. And all that from parents who wouldn't let her run with drug addicts.
Add sociopathic tendencies to the previous diagnosis, Kevis' voice sounded amused in my head.
You hired her, I reminded him.
And I will regret that for the rest of my life.
I thought you were immortal.
I am. You see what I'm facing.
Poor thing.
Yes, someone needs to take pity on me.
I'll make cookies for you later, and if you're good, you can play outside, I told him. Kevis had to hide the snicker.
"Director, if you and Ms. Kade's counsel will approach," the magistrate beckoned to both. Norian rose and walked to the magistrate's high seat. Ceerah's legal counsel did the same. The conversation was whispered, but Aurelius, former vampire, heard it clearly and gave the information to Lendill, Kevis and me.
He's asking what a fair sentence would be in this case, Aurelius sent. Norian is arguing for Evensun. Legal Counsel is arguing for house arrest.
For drakus seed charges? Lendill was shocked. That's Evensun, for sure.
Norian and the counsel returned to their seats. The magistrate tapped information into his comp-vid. "We will now turn this case over to the Citizen's Panel for a determination," the magistrate said. "I ask that the incident with the bomb and subsequent fire be put out of your mind, as it should have no bearing on a fair verdict. You must decide whether Ms. Kade is guilty of any or all of the charges against her, and then set sentencing if she is found guilty. The ASD is asking for a life sentence upon the penal planet of Evensun, while Ms. Kade's counsel is requesting house arrest. All these things must be decided by you."
The seven members of the Citizen's Panel, all of whom I'd hauled out of the courtroom, wrapped in my arms and protected from the fire by my wings, were led from the courtroom by the bailiff.
"Let's get something for Garwin Wyatt to drink," Kevis suggested. Norian, Lendill and Kevis surrounded me as we walked into the marble hallway outside the makeshift hearing room. The basement held a restaurant for visitors and employees, so we took the stairs to the small eatery and sat down. Quite a bit of whispering and pointing occurred while I drank a cup of decaffeinated tea and nibbled on a scone.
"Feel all right?" Norian reached over and pushed a lock of stray hair off my face. We'd come a long way, Norian and I.
"Yes. I just wish this were over with. I want to go home."
"Where is home?" Kevis asked.
"The groves on Avendor," I sighed. "I like looking out the windows of my bedroom and seeing gishi fruit trees as far as I can look," I said. "And there are mountains off to the east, if I walk outside. All I hear is birds calling if I sit out on the swing."
"The verdict's in," Norian's comp-vid buzzed. I had to leave my tea on the table; Kevis paid hastily and we walked back to the hearing room.
The magistrate thanked the Citizen's Panel for their service, then accepted the comp-vid that they'd handed to the bailiff. "Ceerah Kade, also known as Cedrah Dane and Bynda Wark, among other aliases, please rise to hear the verdict," the magistrate said. Ceerah and her legal counsel rose.
"The People of the Reth Alliance find you guilty of all charges, the most serious of which is selling drakus seed," the magistrate announced. "And they have placed a sentence of life upon the penal planet of Evensun. You will be transported immediately. Do you have anything to say?"
"I'll kill you," Ceerah turned and shouted at me. "I'll kill you, bitch. Just wait. You'll die, and in the worst way possible."
"Shut her up," Norian snarled. The bailiff and two constables hauled Ceerah away, still shouting vengeance.
"Reah, don't let that upset you," Kevis said gently. "Let's go see the Governor, and then we'll go home."
* * *
The magistrate was having a drink with Refizan's Governor of the Realm when we were led into his office. The Governor's hair was silver; his face lined a bit with wrinkles. He looked as if he'd seen much of life. He bowed over my hand. "I received a message from the founding member of the Reth Alliance yesterday, after lives were saved in the magistrate's hearing chamber," Governor Odrillus smiled at me. "He said that there is a certificate among the many awarded to you, which says you will bow to none in the Reth Alliance, including him. He also says that no other citizen has ever received that award. You appear to be quite special, young woman."
"I don't feel special most of the time," I said.
"If you weren't, I imagine we'd all be dead," the magistrate observed. "I owe you thanks, at the very least. That creature we sentenced earlier owes you for her life as well. In my opinion, I don't think she's ever thanked anyone for what they've done for her."
"I get that a lot," I said. "It doesn't matter. I've come to expect it." I received a framed certificate from Refizan's Governor, proclaiming me a hero. I didn't feel much like a hero. Mostly I'd been desperate to keep people from burning. I thanked the Governor, said good-bye to him and the magistrate and Norian led us out of the office.
"Here," I handed the certificate to Kevis when we landed inside Edward's huge kitchen. I wanted to see Edward. Make sure he wasn't something I'd dreamed up. He appeared moments later, a huge smile lighting his face when he saw me. I did something I never do. I ran to him and wrapped my arms around his waist.
"I missed you, sweetheart," he lifted me up and kissed me.
"I missed you, too," I wrapped my arms around his neck.
"Let's sit on the deck by the pool," he said. I let him take me.
* * *
"Why don't we ever get that?" Aurelius muttered.
"Are you ever that glad to see her?" Kevis asked.
"I am now. I guess that hasn't been the case for the past twenty-five years, though."
"Want to take a little trip with me?" Kevis looked at Aurelius and Lok.
"I suppose. How painful is it going to be?"
"No idea. I want to talk to Edan Desh."
"Let's go," Lok sighed in resignation.
* * *
"What can I do for you?" Edan Desh, now Doctor Edan Desh, sat behind his desk at a small clinic on the southern half of Ooklar. He treated the children in a particularly poor section of that world. He was also campaigning for better education for them. Things were looking up at the moment; a very generous sum had recently been donated.
"Tell me what you remember about Reah. When she was small," Kevis said, sitting in the chair Edan offered. Lok and Aurelius also sat.
"Those memories are hazy, like they're from a vid that I watched when I was young," Edan sighed. "I know they're borrowed from that other lifetime. I try not to call them up if I can help it."
"What can you tell me of the motivation that other Edan had, then, when he hurt her?"
"I only sense anger," Doctor Desh replied. "Extreme anger. I can't explain it any better than that. He was striking out at something, to assuage that anger. Only it never seemed to work."
"You shouldn't waste your time here," Kifirin appeared. "This one cannot help you, and it will only upset him to attempt to remember things for you. He is not to blame. Come, I will take you to the one who is."
Kevis didn't have time to protest, Kifirin had folded him, Lok and Aurelius away. "So, the real Edan Desh." Kevis walked around Edan, who lounged on a small cot inside a prison cell.
"Go away," Edan growled.
"No, I think I'll stay," Kevis said quietly. "Aurelius, will you place compulsion, please, for him to tell the truth?" Kevis wasn't going to ask Kifirin for anything. The god had a way of making someone pay for anything asked of him.
Aurelius had Edan's face in his hand in less than a blink, staring into his eyes and telling him that he would only speak the truth. Edan, frightened out of his wits, could only nod.
"Now, tell me about Reah," Kevis said pleasantly.
"I hated her. Hated Ilvan, hated Wald, hated my mother and hated my father. But mostly I hated Fes. I should have been firstborn."
"What did you think, when your father sent Reah to you when she was eight?"
"He saddled me with a kid. His kid. Or so I thought. I was skimming money from the business that he didn't know about. I had to worry about keeping her in clothes and school supplies."
"Yet you never spent much on her. Did you? You took the money your father sent for her upkeep."
"He sent four hundred a month. I was able to keep three hundred fifty of that."
"When did you put her to work in the kitchen?"
"Right away. Wasn't about to spend a single credit on childcare. She could do dishes. That's what she did."
"But she started cooking quickly."
"She watched the others and picked it up. I ignored her."
"Unless you wanted to beat her for something."
"I liked listening to her scream. And beating her got rid of my frustrations with Father." Edan was clenching and unclenching his fists.
"You will not be violent now," Aurelius commanded. Edan's fists stilled.
"Tell me about Raedah, Reah's mother."
"Small. Weak. Mother was jealous of the time Father spent with her. He might have loved her. He never loved the rest of us."
"Why did you conspire with your mother to kill her?"
"She didn't belong. Didn't fit in. Fes was even older than she was. We didn't know Father was seeing someone else until he brought her home with a ring on her finger."
"You felt usurped."
"Yes!" Edan cursed. "And so did mother. She approved of all the other wives. She never saw Raedah until after Father married her."
"Did you try to kill Reah when she was a baby?"
"Yes. Mother and I fed her poison. Only she didn't die. Then Farla became curious and started checking on Reah. Since we were afraid of getting caught, we backed off. I thought I'd killed her when she was ten. But she came back after that, too. Then she began cooking, and the awards started coming in. She was the prize. If Father had found out about her, he'd have taken her back to Targis, so I kept beating her and told her to keep her mouth shut. She did. Until that f*cking conscription notice came."
"Would it interest you to know that your father manipulated that?" Kevis asked.
"What the f*ck did Father have to do with that?"
"Ilvan's name was the one selected. Your father went to the state recruitment office and paid the officer there to change the name to Reah. She was hauled away, while Ilvan remained in your kitchen. Your father thought he was protecting the business, because he saw Reah as worthless."
"Number two never got another top award after that," Edan grumbled. "We tried. Used the recipes Reah left with us, to the letter. And then varied them, attempting to duplicate the results. It was never the same."
"Reah was very intelligent. She knew not to give you everything."
"She got her revenge."
"I don't think of withholding a few recipe ingredients as revenge for broken bones and the hate you spewed in her direction," Kevis said.
"But she led the ASD to us. You see where I am, now."
"For crimes you committed against her mother. Do you not see murder as a crime?"
"Not against Raedah. We hated her. She took Father's affection."
"I think I'm done, here," Kevis sighed. "The one I need to speak with is dead. Too bad one of his own sons killed Addah Desh."
* * *
Ceerah stared at the empty field before her. The guards had removed her cuffs and shoved her away. Now, they watched as she walked into tall grass.
"This is like a park," she turned and sneered at her guards. "Someone will come for me. They promised."
"Nobody gets on or off this world without permission," one of the guards said softly. Ceerah snorted at him.
"You don't know of whom I speak," she said, laughing. "He's the son of the Elf King. He has power. Just wait, he'll get me away from here."
"Young woman, I am Gavin Montegue. Teeg San Gerxon is my son. His mother is the Queen of Le-Ath Veronis, and holds more power than that fool Reldill Schaff will ever realize. When I say that none gets on or off this world without permission, I mean it. Now, if I were you, I would run. Maldak is coming. You might live past the next few moments if you hide."
"How do you know of Reldill?"
"Reah is married to the Elf King's Prince-Heir, who is Reldill's brother. Of course, Naldill is calling Reldill's tune, although he no longer holds power. His father, the Elf King, removed it for a reason. What did they promise you, to distract Reah and the Director and Vice-Director? Do you think they are stupid, or without resources? Too bad, you might be able to warn them. If you had mindspeech."
"Is this my meal?" A dark-haired man appeared at Ceerah's side. She almost shrieked at his sudden appearance, and backed away immediately.
"Go ahead and run, you won't get far," Maldak smiled. "I will not hesitate to take you. You brought harm to the Lifegiver." Ceerah turned and ran. Maldak folded after her, appearing before her as the Copper Ra'Ak. Ceerah screamed before she was bitten in half and swallowed in two bites.
"Quick and effective," Tony sighed. Gavin nodded in agreement.