"I will pay you handsomely to carry the child to term," the visitor smiled.
"How handsomely? I don't need to be stuck with a child to raise," Koris snapped.
"Oh, that will be the best part," he continued to smile. "Carry the child, and when he is born, I will take him."
"How much?"
"Ten thousand."
Koris lifted an eyebrow, considering whether she should take the offer before it was withdrawn, or whether she should hold out for more. In her day and time, ten thousand was equivalent to half a million credits.
A penny went a long way back then, Glendes observed.
"Make it twenty, and I'll do it. I'll have to have another place to live, you know."
"I shall pay fifteen and not more."
"Done. How do I contact you—to come and get the child?"
"Do not worry; I will know when and where."
I watched as Liron—yes, that Liron, stalked toward the door to leave. I was never so grateful to see anyone's backside before as he shut the door firmly behind him.
What do we do now? Glendes sent.
We make a few adjustments and ensure that monster never knows about them. Lifting a hand, I placed Koris in stasis. She wouldn't recall my visit, or that anything had happened.
Glendes watched curiously as I placed my hands on Koris' belly. I intended to set undetectable limitations on what Liron had already measured and manipulated.
When I returned Glendes to his study, it was only seconds after we'd left it to begin with. He'd seen much while we were gone, however. The last thing, of course, was the birth of his brother. Eli had claimed that someone bought him when he was six years of age. That meant Liron would pass the boy to a wet nurse, who'd bring him up to the proper age and act as his mother until Liron appeared to waken his talent.
As promised, Liron arrived right after Eli's birth, and just as I suspected, he brought a woman with him. My shoulders sagged as I recognized her; Irina had served as a brood mare for D'slay and for Liron—too many times to count. Then, D'slay dumped her when she was weakened and no longer useful to him. Too bad D'slay was dead in the future. If he weren't, I'd hunt him down myself.
Irina carried another child with her—the first of more to come, and now she would act as a foster mother for Eli.
"For your efforts," Liron tossed a small bag of gold coins on the bed where Koris lay, still bloody from the birth. He didn't bother to hide his exit this time; once Eli was held against Irina's chest, he transported her and the children away.
Koris reached out to grasp the bag of gold; it convinced me not to help her, as she needed help after birthing Eli.
She'd be dead in six days, and I didn't intend to interfere with that.
"What now?" Glendes asked, breaking into my thoughts and scattering the memory of what we'd witnessed together. "Will I ever see my half-brother?"
"I can't tell you that at the moment. There is still work to do, but your part in it is finished."
"What about Nissa, Toff and Trik? Has this helped them in any way?"
"That was part of my intention. Keep your hope alive that all goes well from here on."
"What should I say to Shadow? That's his daughter, and he is devastated."
"Tell him what I told you—to keep his hope alive. Remember, not a word about Eli or any of the rest of this."
"I wouldn't know where to begin, even if I had the urge," he muttered and settled uneasily on the chair behind his desk.
Chapter 18
Unknown Medical Facility
Rajeon Dare
"Ah, there's our Sirenali, awake and hungry." Meligar leaned over Morrett's bed as he woke for the first time since we'd left Galk.
I'd sat patiently by Morrett's bedside for six hours or more; Meligar provided me with food and drink while I waited. I was grateful for Morrett's waking—I worried at times that he wouldn't.
"I feel better," Morrett admitted, in a voice dry and raspy. "Thank you for saving us."
"Oh, I haven't saved you completely, yet," Meligar replied. "That will come eventually, if our efforts are successful. I will return with proper food and clean water."
Meligar disappeared; Morrett turned his head to blink at me. "What did he mean?" he asked.
"I don't know, but I am so grateful you are alive, it gives me joy," I told him.
"I had strange dreams," Morrett sighed. "Of pain—of drying up and dying." He ran fingers over the coin on his chest. "I think those visions came from Galk."
"The pain also," I reminded him. "His suffering caused yours, I believe."
"He has yet to speak to me again," Morrett admitted. "I have no idea what to make of that."
"Perhaps he is regenerating and will speak later."
"I hope so. I dislike the idea that all this was in vain."
"Not in vain," Meligar was back and setting a tray of food on a table beside Morrett's bed. "You and the others are our best hope to combat the enemy."
"What others?" I asked before I could curb the question.
"You were not the only ones sucked away and left in precarious circumstances. Before long, we will bring all of you together, but that time is not yet upon us. Enjoy your food, and, if boredom threatens, we have puzzles, vids and other distractions for you while you recover."
Meligar disappeared again, leaving Morrett and me blinking in confusion at one another. "Here, let me pull the table around so you can eat." I finally recalled my manners and rose from my chair to help.
"Thank you. I am quite hungry, as you may imagine," Morrett admitted.
Nissa
Why did it go to Trik, instead of one of us? I asked Toff in mindspeech. Trik was still asleep on the hospital bed where he'd been placed by Garegar. We'd been told that Trik would sleep for a while and wake hungry.
Garegar promised to return when that happened and bring a meal for him.
Meanwhile, Toff and I'd been served food and drink shortly after our arrival. I still nursed a cup of tea, rewarming it with power when necessary.
I have no idea why it would attack him, Toff frowned and crossed arms over his chest. We sat on guest chairs inside the small hospital room, patiently waiting for Trik to wake as promised.
"Nissa?" Trik's voice was cracked and rough when he spoke. Toff and I were on our feet immediately and rushing to the bedside.
"I'm so glad you're all right." I hugged him as well as I could, while tears leaked onto the blanket covering him.
"Hey," he wrapped his arms around me and kissed my hair. "I'm still here, my love. Stop worrying about me."
Toff sniffled behind me, letting me know he was just as worried.
"Ah, time for food and drink," Garegar appeared in the room with a tray. "How do you feel, Master Trikleer?"
"Better," he sighed. "I have a question, though."
"What question is that?" Garegar lifted a blond eyebrow.
"When did our protection jewels disappear?"
It hit me, then. We hadn't had them the whole time we'd been on Murazal. Would they have prevented Trik from being joined with the planet's spirit coin?
"A good question. Perhaps we'll find an answer for you soon, eh? Until then, our Trikleer must eat and regain his strength. There are things waiting for us to do, and we cannot delay them for a moment."
There was something Garegar wasn't telling us, and I knew there was no use trying to pry information from a Larentii who wasn't inclined to say anything else. They tended to fold space, and there was no finding them after that.
He'd already refused to tell us where we were, because we'd asked him shortly after our arrival. "Does Mom know we're okay?" I asked instead of the other questions crowding my mind.
"She will know soon. Don't worry; there is a plan, and it must unfold according to its destiny." Garegar then busied himself with touching Trik to check on the progress of his recuperation. "Everything is fine," he told him. "Eat as much of your meal as you can, and I will return later."
What is
he not telling us? Toff asked as he lifted the glass of juice and helped Trik hold it while he drank.
I wish I knew, I answered Toff. Where did our protection jewels go? Did the one who kidnapped us manage to take them away? Until now, I'd have said that was impossible. No protection jewel has ever been taken from an unwilling bearer.
The one removing it generally ends up dead, Toff agreed. Garegar may know, or he may have a good guess; he's just not telling us.
This whole thing is really strange, I began. Who put us on Murazal, and why? Will he know we're not there anymore? How did Garegar find us? It's obvious nobody else could, or we'd have been rescued earlier.
He said your mother still doesn't know, so Lissa won't know where we are, either. Have you tried to send mindspeech?
No.
I have. I tried to reach my father. There's something here blocking the sending.
What if it's the Larentii? Why would they do that?
I have no idea.
Sirena
Travis
"Do you think we'll find Vik and the others?" Trent asked. We sat at a small table in Randl and Dori's suite of rooms, having dinner with them. It was a small gathering; only Trent, Sabrina, Perri, Zanfield and I had been invited.
Until now, Randl had remained silent, listening to the rest of us talk—about the ones still missing, contacting Zaria and Lissa for news, and several other topics. Everything always came back to our missing crew, friends and family—and for Trent and me—our missing fathers.
Randl lifted his eyes to blink at Trent; to anyone else, he'd appear to be blind. With the uncanny ability he held, not only to see everything around him in his mind, but past those things, too, Randl saw so much more than the rest of us would ever know.
"I haven't lost hope yet." Randl's answer to Trent's question sounded very much like a diversion. As if he knew something that the rest of us weren't prepared for, as yet.
"Did the Prophet do this to us?" Trent demanded.
"I really can't say."
What the hell does that mean? Trent sent to me.
I have no idea. I've never known him to lie to us before, though.
Let's hope he's not lying now. I really don't want anyone to think they're sparing our feelings. I need a target. Something to go after and obliterate.
I understand that, bro. Maybe this is his way of holding us back from doing something stupid and getting ourselves killed.
D'slay's dead. The Prophet has to be behind this.
And we don't know where he is, do we? That eliminates pounding on him—even if we could. Right now, none of us, separately or together, may be strong enough to do it anyway.
You're giving up?
Hell, no. I'd just like to even the odds a little more before jumping on that bastard. Trent frowned at me for a moment.
"Randl?" Trent spoke aloud.
"Trent?" Randl's sightless eyes were now locked on Trent's face.
"Is the Prophet really a bastard?"
"In every sense of the word."
Royal Palace, Kifirin
Reah
"If Daddy could, you know he'd send a message," Lexsi placed a hand on my shoulder. "Great-grampa Denny, too."
"That's what worries me, baby girl," I sighed, covering her hand with one of my own. "Unless they're—incapacitated, they'd let us know where they are."
"I really thought they'd be back by now," Lexsi pulled her hand away. "Kory is having a hard time with this, too. That's why he went to his father's house, to help rebuild a wall that fell down."
"Moving heavy rocks is a good way to clear your mind," I agreed. "Does he need help?"
"He didn't ask for help, but I can send mindspeech."
"Send mindspeech to Nedevik," I named Kory's father, who was the eldest (and wisest) living High Demon. "He'll know whether we should show up or not."
"He says physical labor can sometimes help us think," Lexsi said after several moments of silence.
"Let's go, then. Warde can hold down the fort while we're gone."
"Has a wall ever been built by a Queen of Kifirin?" Lexsi asked as I rose from my seat.
"I built some fences back when I was raising gishi trees."
"But you weren't Queen, then."
"True enough. Let's go. Maybe we'll get an epiphany while we're working."
Royal Courtyard, Hraede
Alrenardo
"Randl sent mindspeech. I'll be leaving tonight," Tamp informed me.
"I was hoping you'd give advice on how to rebuild this pile of rubble," I waved a hand at what was left of the palace, which was mostly a mound of broken stones. Everything that could be salvaged from the debris had already been retrieved and stored.
"Start at the bottom and build up," Tamp slapped me on the back. "You and Mephista will do just fine. Ask her. I hear her uncle is an architect, and less bossy than her father."
"Don't get me started on her father," I growled. "He was willing to sell her to Larvalis, you know."
"Think of it this way," Tamp told me. "One of them had to have a level head. Just be grateful it was Mephista."
"I'm still trying to come up with a pet name, but what can you make out of Mephista? It defies explanation."
"Fessa," I said. "I hear that's what her mother called her when she was little."
"The mother who died when she was young, and not the stepmother?"
"That's the one."
"How did you get this information, and I didn't?"
"If you recall, I can take many shapes. Sometimes, all one has to do is listen—and have a mate who can bend time."
"You went back there? Saw her when she was little?"
"I did. You're welcome. I have to go put my things together. Someone will be here soon to take me to Randl."
"Because this isn't over."
"Not by a long way."
"If we don't meet again," I grasped his right arm with mine, in the way the Rith Naeri have always done when one of us leaves for a dangerous assignment.
"If we don't meet again," he reciprocated, before releasing me and walking away.
Queen's Palace, Le-Ath Veronis
Lissa
"Alrenardo just informed me that Tampirus has left for Sirena," Rigo said.
"That's where Travis and Trent are, too. I hope they're plotting ways to get our people back."
"Randl is quite cunning, Tiessa."
"If Connegar hadn't told me I needed to stay out of this, I'd be out there looking," I fumed. "Even if I have to visit every damn planet there is."
"There are times when we have to place our trust in others," Rigo pulled me close. "I feel this is one of those times."
"Well, I'll trust for three days. After that, it's game on."
P'loxett
V'dar
"I anticipate a certain variety of enemy," P'loxett said, handing a long, slender case to me. "This is to destroy any pod'l-morph who stands against us."
Setting the case on my desk, I carefully opened it. Inside, resting on a bed of silk, lay a shining dagger.
"Ah. You've found a way," I breathed, lifting the dagger and hefting it in my hand. It was well-balanced and cleverly made.
"Yes. I detected the blood of one of them, you know. They are quite difficult to kill, as we discussed. Therefore, you now have a weapon to use against them."
"Is this the only one?" I asked, turning the blade this way and that to capture the light on its gleaming surface.
"There are eleven more," P'loxett grinned.
"You think of everything, don't you?" I set the blade in its case and snapped the lid shut. "I'll distribute them when the time is right."
"Of course. That is why I made them, after all. Now, as you know, wars will begin shortly on many worlds. We have laid our groundwork; all is in place and ready. Once those we've pulled to us arrive, we will set them up as generals for our armies, and chaos will overcome the Alliances."
"And once we have them in place, we will take everything we want.
"
"It will be as your visions have shown you," P'loxett gloated. "I have waited so long for this day. Revenge will be ours."
"Just as you were left to die long ago, so we will leave all other worlds," I vowed. "I am more than pleased that my efforts to save you have not gone unrewarded."
"I will serve you forever," P'loxett promised. "Until the end and beyond."
"Will you watch with me while the Alliances crumble? I will have vengeance against my enemies."
"Of course. It will give me great pleasure to watch those worlds die."
P'loxett
Alken Wilker
"They are waiting for P'loxett's other plantings to bear fruit," Gillen muttered as we walked between rows of fruit trees. Somehow, P'loxett had coaxed trees and plants to grow in soil so poisoned it should have been impossible. Soon enough, the trees would begin to bear fruit.
I would not be eating that fruit, as each tree had been planted with a body part surrounding its roots. Anyone consuming the fruit would be caught by the Prophet and forced to his will.
Just as Gillen, Qatti and I had been.
"On the hub worlds?" I responded to Gillen's words.
"Yes. He cast a net for specific kinds of fish, and now he is reeling them in."
"What will he do with them when they arrive?"
"Set them up to lead his armies. The Alliances will be his to destroy. It is my hope that once the wars begin, we can slip away."
"Do you think we can get away with that? Do you? He crooks his finger and we must go to him."
"I hope he sends me out with Je'Dik," Gillen gruffed. "Or with P'loxett again, although he is not the most pleasant of working partners. I feel less confined when I'm that far away."
"I wish I was back on Karathia," I grumbled. "Anything would be better than this."
"You chose to leave," Gillen snapped at me. "And you sold my pathetic, powerless son to do it. I wonder if Zanfield Staggs has killed the boy, yet."
"I'm sure Pauley is pickled in brine somewhere in one of Stagg's homes. Too bad we couldn't grab Staggs. We could live like kings."
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