by Lucy Kelly
“Are you going to stamp your foot too?” Grace asked, and then waved that away. “Just look over here,” she said, pointing to just behind Paq.
With a huff, Addie stepped around and was surprised to see Aelwen, Cara, and Dilys hovering in mid-air just behind Paq. When she looked closer at the babies, she saw that Cara and Dilys had tears running down their cheeks.
“Okay, okay, I’ll take care of this, sweeties. Please don’t cry,” she said, pulling Cara to her chest. Rune took Dilys and Glynnis had taken Aelwen.
“Why didn’t you tell me they started floating?” asked Glynnis.
“I think it’s Aelwen who floats, Granny Mac. She can float the others or things. Cara and Dilys are healers. Here, Arjun, you take Cara while I take a closer look at Paq,” she said, kissing Cara on the cheek before she handed her off.
Paq turned to look over his shoulder and Branca turned around to look at Paq’s back. “Did I make your child cry? I wouldn’t hurt her, I promise,” he said.
“Oh, I know that. If you had hurt her, you’d be dead,” she said matter-of-factly, as she held her hand over his back. She didn’t touch him. Her hand just hovered over his back. She pushed a little power out to see what she could sense. Gasping, she stepped back quickly.
“Jett? I’m going to need a medical scanner,” she said.
She walked over to the door and he met her there. She lowered her voice so they wouldn’t be overheard.
“I can’t be sure, but I think his wings are gone. Either he never had them or they’ve been removed. Do we have a scanner which will show us the truth?” she asked.
Jett was lucky his back was to the room. His face showed how shocked he was. To remove a man’s wings would prevent him from joining. It was cruel. So many wouldn’t join because of the lack of females; to actually ensure a male wouldn’t join was an act of evil.
Jett left and Addie went back into the room.
“Is there a problem?” Paq asked.
Addie was trying really hard not to let on how angry she was.
Someone had mutilated this lovely man!
“Nothing we can’t handle. Now, let’s all sit down and play with the babies until Jett gets back,” Addie said in a falsely bright voice, ignoring the golden sparks dropping away from her body as she tried to walk casually instead of stalking.
Paq and Branca were led over to a couch and forced to sit down when Addie pushed them backwards. Before they could say anything, Bedelia teleported herself and her sister, Erena, into their laps. Glynnis pulled Addie over to the side to ask questions about her great-grandchildren.
“Aren’t you worried about them floating and disappearing and reappearing? Why, they might show up anywhere, even outside,” she said in a worried voice.
She smiled, though, when she saw her Ankida making goo-goo faces at the girls. She gave a fleeting thought that she’d never give her Ankida any children. Even though the gene therapy had given her a new lease on life, she was comfortably middle aged at nearly eighty-six years old. She didn’t think she could handle babies who floated.
“What about little Erena and Fenella, and Grace’s babies? Have they shown a tendency to float or anything?”
“Not so far. All the women who came from Earth have gifts. Remember we talked about this before? We think the blending of Human and Nephilim DNA opened up the connection to psychic gifts.”
“The fact that none of the women here on HeVan have psychic talents seems to prove that. All I can say is better you than me in dealing with such gifted girls,” said Glynnis. She made a mental note to visit more often. Her Ankida deserved to spend time with the little ones.
By the time they finished talking, Jett had returned. Catherine came with him, along with Rapha, one of her Ankida. Also sneaking in with them, were her two Great Danes. The dogs went straight over to the girls. The dogs, Lucy and Ricky, considered all the babies as their pups.
Addie greeted them at the door so she could talk to them quietly. She wanted to see if Jett had briefed them on the situation. She was happy to find out he had. They also brought a special body scanner in order to record their proof. Addie knew she’d blow her top if she had to say it again.
When the medicals arrived with the scanner, it was time to explain to everyone what was happening. Addie was happy to see she wasn’t the only one to be so outraged.
“Paq, the scan shows your wings were surgically removed. Do you know when that may have happened?” Rapha asked.
“I have no idea,” he said.
“Let me see if I can narrow it down for you,” Rapha said.
He and Catherine reviewed the scans, taking a closer look at the rate of healing and other indicators. Remembering the time when his own wings emerged, gave Rapha a clue of one more thing he could check on.
“Let me take one more scan. I want to check the levels of your internal pheromone production.”
Once again, Paq turned around so his back could be examined. Rapha removed a lancet from his pocket and, warning Paq, inserted it in the wing cavity between the spine and shoulder blade. After collecting a sample, Rapha put the lancet into an opening in the scanner for collection and analysis of organic samples.
“Hmmm. Paq, I would say the surgery had to occur within the last two years. When did you first meet Lady Branca?” Rapha asked.
“It was seventeen months, two weeks and four days from the last time we saw each other, and today,” he stated in a serious voice.
“Aww, that’s so cute! We are definitely fixing this!” said Addie.
“Your Highness, this is not something that can be repaired medically. Even if we had his wings, which we don’t,” explained Rapha.
He turned back to Paq. “In order for the removal to be done and healed without your knowledge, you would have had to be unconscious for a minimum of sixteen hours, perhaps longer.”
Grace stepped forward. “Please try to remember. The ones responsible for this atrocity need to be brought to justice. What if you are not the only warrior affected?”
Paq took a moment to think. Branca came forward and hugged his arm, leaning against him. Suddenly, he stood up straight and an emotion of anger passed across his face.
“A week after I met Branca in the marketplace, I ate something that made me sick. My father told me to rest and sleep off the sickness. My back had been bothering me too, itchy and achy, I remember. When I woke, I felt fine. I was told I’d slept through the night, the next day, and a second night. I lost a day and a half.”
“How many people had access to the food that made you sick?” Grace asked. Her eyes were turning silver, as her arbiter powers came to the fore.
Addie knew her sister wanted to ask a zillion more questions. But the council members would be arriving in a couple more hours. They needed to hash out a few things before the time came to meet with them.
“Paq can take some time to think things through and answer your questions later. Right now, I need to see if I can fix this. Then we need to get to the next item on our agenda—or at least my agenda. Paq and Branca, take your places. Everyone go back to where I put you for the ceremony the first time. We’re going to try this again. Don’t look at me like that—move,” Addie said, pushing Paq and Branca into position.
Before anyone could get nervous, she stepped behind them. Ramping up her power to the max, and slapping her hands over his back, she slammed him—not with her joining power, but with her healing power. The same part of her gift she’d used to save Grace and Jalen. Those experiences meant she had greater control over this portion of her powers, more than many of the others.
She was concentrating so hard, his wings burst forth suddenly, startling her. She jumped back and then realized she was hovering in the air near the ceiling.
This is new, she thought. She willed herself to float back to the floor.
“See—all fixed for you and a new trick for me!” she said.
Paq wiped the tears from his eyes. This day had taken him from the lowe
st lows, to the highest highs. He was experiencing something Nephilim men had gone through since the beginning of their species. While many warriors had joined with the women from Earth, he was the first Nephilim to make his mating flight here on HeVan.
He slowly moved his wings back and forth so they could dry. As they did, they also released a strong pheromone, which acted as an aphrodisiac. This aphrodisiac, however, only affected Branca.
Arjun took Rapha aside and explained that Paq and Branca needed to be kept hidden until after the council entered the palace. Since the council would be shown to the larger throne room, which didn’t have windows, Paq could make his mating flight over the palace after the council members were inside.
Rapha and Catherine escorted Paq and Branca from the throne room and then would return later, at Grace’s request. Grace knew her chance to talk to Paq was gone—for a couple of days, at least. She wasn’t going to interrogate him on his honeymoon! Instead, she planned to speak to Rapha about finding the medical responsible for the surgery. Catherine and her Ankida were the leaders of the medical cluster on HeVan. They should be able to come up with a short list of suspects fairly quickly.
Justyn agreed to have Addie teleport him back to the room in Seraphia where he and Paq had come from. He would fill in Margan and Trake on everything that had happened, and then coordinate the investigation from there.
A few minutes after Paq, Branca, Rapha, and Catherine left, Natalie and her Ankida, Peet and Reeko, arrived to take the babies back to the nursery. They had fallen asleep during all the commotion in various laps and arms. Natalie was newly pregnant and had appointed herself as Head of Princess Security. Addie was happy to let her. After she had saved them all on the star ship, everyone knew she was qualified.
After Justyn gave Grace another kiss, Addie transported him.
She was feeling a little tired. The more she used her various Nam-Nin powers, the stronger she became. Things which would have weakened her so much she’d pass out, were much easier now. She stumbled over to a chair. Rune, who always had one eye on her every move, was instantly at her side.
“You should rest,” he said.
“I’m resting now. I’m sitting down, aren’t I?” she said.
At the look on his face, she spoke before he could give her an argument. “Look, the council is arriving soon. I don’t think we should just let them retire. We know they’ve turned into a bunch of greedy assholes. Especially after what happened to Paq, I think we should throw the book at them.”
“We don’t know if any of the council members were directly involved in what happened to Paq. We agreed they had all started out with good intentions.”
“As far as we can tell from the records—records they controlled,” said Addie, interrupting Arjun.
“As I was saying, they all served for many years with distinction. I think we should take that into account. We had decided to let them go quietly away. Our people will have a hard time coping with dissention at this level of the governing power,” he said.
“Blah, blah, blah. They’re all corrupt. Look at what happened last time the truth was kept from the people. Ten thousand years of being ruled by that Purgatian bitch.”
“Aditya Marie Perez Azazyel! I didn’t raise you to use such language! You’re a college educated woman, and I expect you to find better words,” said Glynnis.
“Sorry, Granny, it just steams me that they won’t be punished,” Addie said.
“The loss of power and control will seem as a punishment to them. All their plots for private gain will be curtailed,” said Kylan.
“If they step out of line—even once—I’m going to come down on them like a ton of bricks,” said Grace. She agreed with Addie. She felt they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
This was part of the problem. There was so little crime on HeVan; there wasn’t an established method of punishment. There were no prisons on HeVan. She and Addie both felt things were likely to get worse before they got better. It was her job to see a legal system was added to the governmental infrastructure. Right now, she was still in investigation mode.
“What do you think, Rale? And both of you, Rufan and Recca—you’ve lived under the rule of a tyrannical leader for most of your lives. You’ve seen the results of bad government. It’s one of the reasons why I wanted you here for this meeting,” Addie told them.
The three older warriors were proud their opinions were worthwhile. Addie was truly grateful to listen to their wisdom. In the end, she agreed to stick with the first plan. However, if the council gave her any lip, she planned to jump down their throats.
There was a knock on the living room door. Rapha and Catherine had returned, per Grace’s request. She outlined what she needed and was happy to discover Rapha had anticipated her needs. He’d guessed she would want his help tracking down the medical and had already started his search. Addie invited them to give their opinions on what to do about the members of the council.
The discussion didn’t take as long as Addie had thought. The council would be arriving soon. Grace, along with Jalen and Jett, decided to go with Rapha and Catherine to see what she could do to help them gather information. With any luck, she’d be able to close this case.
*****
Two hours later, Addie walked into the throne room, followed by her Ankida. All the warriors from the Far Star Explorer were there, since they were nearly all from the House of HeVanth. The warriors from the Venger represented all the Houses and they had decided to remain to protect the Nam-Nin and the women from Earth. The only women who were not present were the ones who had chosen to go live in either the House of their ancestors or the House of their Ankida,. Still, with all these witnesses, the room seemed nearly empty. It was made to hold a couple of thousand people. Addie called it the Superdome. It wasn’t that big, more like a mid-sized theater. She had smaller reception rooms, of course. Like the one she used to greet the citizens informally. Today, she had a feeling it would be necessary to be in this place. She kept thinking of Ashnin.
The witnesses were all on the main floor; there wasn’t a need to use any of the upper tiers. She was definitely making a statement, though, by arranging for the meeting to be held here. This formal room was where all the prior Nam-Nins made their formal announcements.
A few moments after ascending the dais and taking a seat on her throne, the council members were ushered into the room. The twelve of them, six men and six women, proceeded with much pomp to the long table set before the dais and the twelve chairs facing the queen and her Ankida. Arjun, Kylan, and Rune had taken up their positions to the left, right, and behind Addie’s throne, instead of the chairs that were there for them. Each of them held a weapon, a visual reminder they would defend Addie from the smallest infraction.
Once all the council members were seated, they looked up to Queen Aditya to hear what she had to say. They knew it wasn’t a regular council meeting, since they were in the large throne room instead of a conference room, and there were all these other people present.
Addie didn’t stand—she didn’t say a word. Instead, Arjun, her eldest Ankida and Consort, stepped forward.
“I speak on behalf of Aditya Marie Perez Azazyel, Nam-Nin, Supreme Queen of HeVan, and all its colonies and satellites. We arrived back on HeVan almost a month ago and we’re still feeling our way. Addie is ready to wear the mantle of responsibility for our culture and all the duties given to her. She understands a Nam-Nin relies heavily on the planetary council to assist and guide us all in matters of law and commerce. Much more will be required in the coming years. The burdens of the council will be great, as we rebuild our people to what they once were. Five days ago, the Nam-Nin completed her bond with the planet HeVan and its people. She met with her ancestors and gained their wisdom and a multitude of new gifts, which will be needed in the times ahead. As a witness to their power, my own confidence is such that I believe the Nephilim, as a people, will flourish!”
There was a grea
t deal of cheering after this short announcement. Many of the council members joined in the applause. A few were unable to keep the look of calculation from their eyes. They assumed they would have an easy time manipulating such a young queen. They foresaw a long and fruitful future guiding her in their favor. They had fooled Arjun and his brothers for many years by keeping them separated from Malpha. Now that she’d been rid of, the future looked bright, indeed. Arjun’s next words made them realize how wrong their assumption was.
“Since this is a time of change, we thought it best, after conferring with Malpha, to start fresh. All of you have labored for many years. The time has come to turn a new page in our history. Therefore, a new, larger council will be appointed today. Their expanded duties will be announced. It’s likely other changes within our government will take place as the need arises. I thank you all for your many years of service. You deserve to retire to look after your own interests,” he said.
If none of the council picked up on the irony in his voice, Addie did.
He could have said a great deal more. Even saying that much with a straight face was hard enough. As he’d watched their faces, he understood the depths of their greed. He was sorry they had convinced Addie this was the best way. Starting a new regime with lies was wrong. Lies led to more lies, and where would it end? He was worried about how to take back what had already been said.
Luckily, the council saved him the effort.
Addie listened to Arjun and seethed. She had refused to personally thank them after what Malpha and Grace had uncovered. She wanted to be like the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland and yell out ‘off with their heads’. Unfortunately, she had agreed to do it this way. Sweeping their misdeeds under the carpet to promote unity in the populace rankled. She hated politics.
Once again, the gallery of witnesses applauded the announcement. After the noise died down, several council members protested the ruling. Many of them started talking at once, all attempting to persuade the queen to change her mind. They were quite willing to continue in their present positions.