"Tiessa, is this real?" Rigo was having trouble breathing, I think.
"Honey, it's real," I said.
"I want you to place it on my finger."
"All right. This is for my love," I took his left hand and slid the ring onto his finger.
"And this is for mine," Rigo leaned down and kissed me. Thurlow disappeared just as suddenly as he'd shown up and Rigo was too eager, even, to allow me to fold us to my suite. It's a good thing the sofa in my study is long and comfortable. Rigo wasn't satisfied until he'd touched every part of me. I gave him permission to bite and he was so gentle I didn't even feel it. We were both nearly asleep when I managed to fold us to my suite.
* * *
Several kinds of news waited for me when Rigo and I arrived for dinner. I expected Drake and Drew to snicker and tease me a little, but that didn't happen. All the news I got was bad. I wondered why Raffian, Shadow, Glendes, Kyler and Cleo had come to dinner—I hadn't invited them and honestly, three out of that five weren't particularly welcome on Le-Ath Veronis at the moment. Erland and Wylend folded in as I was sitting down, as did Merrill, Kiarra, Adam and Wlodek.
"We know an apology won't be appreciated or accepted right now," Glendes began as the first course was laid before us. I had to hold a snort back—right then they were imposing on my good graces by being at my table uninvited. I watched Shadow—I couldn't help it—but he was staring at his plate and not eating.
"We never expected anything like this to happen; it is completely unprecedented," Raffian went on. "At no other time have we or any other wizard clan dealt with something like this."
"Then maybe you should stop beating around the bush and just tell me," I said, setting my fork down. They were destroying what should have been a good day for Rigo and me. Gavin was frowning deeply from his seat next to Rigo, and I think Norian would have given anything at that moment to be able to send mindspeech. Wylend looked like a thundercloud and Erland was ready with the thunder and lightning. Garde must have gotten mindspeech from somebody, because he skipped in late for dinner.
"This begins with Findal, Melida's wizard mate and the contract he signed with Kenderlin of Cloudsong to protect Brandelin, the royal heir," Glendes said. "Cloudsong is one of the few worlds which require this sort of contract—in fact, it is this that kept them out of the Alliance forty years ago. They weren't willing to give up the rights, if you can call them that."
"What he means, Lissa, is that where the safety and well-being of Cloudsong's crown or its heirs are concerned, they make sure that the ones they contract with only have the best interests of the crown at heart," Merrill took up the explanation. "Cloudsong requires that the wizard and the wizard's head of household, if there is one, sign the contract. If the wizard willfully fails in his duty to protect or perform, then their life is forfeit, as well as the life of the head of their household. This is their way of making sure the lives of the crown are protected."
"So? What does this have to do with me?" I asked. I hadn't signed a contract with Cloudsong, and I wasn't the head of any household involved.
"It has to do with Findal, Melida's deceased spouse," Glendes said.
"Melida being the one who can have babies." I didn't hold the snort back that time.
"Yes. That is indeed the one," Glendes nodded. "King Kenderlin of Cloudsong learned recently that Findal joined Black Mist to take down the crown Prince. Both Brandelin and Findal died in the ambush, when Findal gave away their location. Kenderlin demanded the blood price against Marid, Melida's father, as head of household for the Belancour Wizards. Unfortunately, Melida had already come to Shadow and the marriage had taken place. In the contract Grey House signed with Marid of Belancour, I am not only Melida's new head of household, but we agreed to take on any debts that Melida and Findal incurred. At the time of my signing, the debts were insignificant."
"So those fuckers are now after your head?" I was about to come out of my seat. Rigo placed a careful hand over mine to hold me down.
"The communication we received from Cloudsong's legal counsel informs us that they are being generous, as they realize we had nothing to do with Brandelin's death—they are merely demanding all proceeds from our work for the next fifty years and all profits from Le-Ath Veronis for the same amount of time."
"And how are they connecting my mate to all this?" Kifirin was suddenly in the dining room, blowing smoke and ready to go Thifilathi, I think. Everybody needed to get the hell out if that happened.
"They learned of Shadow and Lissa, most likely from Marid," Raffian replied carefully. "Since Shadow still wears Lissa's ring, Cloudsong intends to reap as much profit from this as they can. They are demanding their price from anyone involved and they feel this includes Lissa, as Shadow's mate. Shadow is also listed as Melida's mate of record. Melida managed to get herself pregnant before she came to us, so she'd have an ironclad reason to stay mated to Shadow. The child isn't his, but Cloudsong doesn't recognize DNA evidence or anything of the sort. Any male is responsible for their female mate's child, according to their laws."
"They thought this out well, didn't they, and then they threw the bait your way and reeled you right in." I threw my napkin on the table. "Do they expect me to take this lying down? Because I can assure you, I will not. If you'll get miss pregnant pants in front of me in the next five minutes, we'll find out whose baby it is."
"Lissa, we can't do that; when we mentioned it to her before in an attempt to discover who fathered her child, she went into hysterics and Selkirk had to place her in a healing sleep. She seems terrified of vampires."
"She may have reason to be," Gavin growled.
"Gavin, you and Anthony gave an oath when you were brought in as auxiliary Spawn Hunters," Kiarra said. "You are not allowed to confront these—it is not a direct attack against your mate." Well, I was learning something new, I think. I didn't know there were oaths attached to their signing up with the Saa Thalarr.
"Lissa, we should have explained this a little better," Merrill said.
"Uh-huh," I stood, then—even Rigo couldn't hold me down.
"Not all her mates are held to those standards," Rigo stood beside me.
"Lissa should take care of this herself—the hearing is scheduled in six days." Thurlow showed up by folding into the dining hall. If anybody wasn't already aware that he wasn't just an official from the Alliance, they knew now.
"Oh, my God." Kiarra was now standing and staring at Thurlow. She knew if nobody else did. "Lissa, do you know who this is?" I'd never seen Kiarra so upset, I don't think.
"Yes, I know exactly who it is," I replied, looking at Thurlow, who used to be Thorsten. "At least he says he loves me, which is more than my father says nowadays." I'd had enough of this, so I folded away.
* * *
Norian settled back in his chair, unsure whether he should be amused at all the commotion, or upset on Lissa's behalf. He felt both emotions—Lissa was obviously upset and he understood that. It was amusing, too, watching Adam and Merrill try to get to Thurlow, before a blinding light appeared and someone named Belen called them back, explaining that Thurlow, who'd been someone named Thorsten long ago, had paid his debts, except what he owed to Lissa. Now he was trying to make up for a great mistake he made where she was concerned.
The fact that Thurlow was acting as an agent for the Alliance concerned Norian not at all. Norian wished he could find Lissa—he would tend to her if the others wouldn't. They seemed content to argue with Belen, Thurlow, Glendes of Grey House and his son and grandson. Norian settled in to watch the entire debacle—it was more amusing that Alliance vid-vision.
* * *
If my life wasn't fucked up in one way, it was fucked up in another. I was held responsible for the screw up on Cloudsong, though I hadn't signed anything and had no part in any of it? That was priceless, and not in any good way. Did I need legal counsel? Cloudsong obviously had some fucked up rules. Once again, I'd chosen Harifa Edus as my place to hide. Too bad the planet was s
till in its second infancy—there weren't any tall buildings to sit on to ponder life's little problems.
* * *
"We were trying to find a good time to tell her," Tony muttered to Wlodek. He still felt as if he were under obligation to the former Head of the Vampire Council.
"You should know how much she hates the withholding of information," Wlodek reminded Tony. Gavin stood nearby, not offering any excuse. "There must be a way out of this, without employing vampires to threaten the crown of Cloudsong, although they have no right to harm Lissa in any way." Wlodek raked a hand through thick, black hair. "I will speak to the others, including Dragon and Crane, to see if they have suggestions."
"They will not harm my Lissa," Gavin was back to growling.
"They're not threatening physical harm," Wlodek pointed out.
"It is emotional harm—how is that not physical in the long term?" Tony demanded.
"That is true, but there is still a fine line—you can't interfere," Wlodek added.
* * *
"Cloudsong is a world of light; you cannot destroy it, especially since they are not making a physical threat against your mate," Belen pointed out to Kifirin, who stood and glowered at his Light Brother and counterpart. Kifirin was still actively blowing smoke, but that presented no threat to Belen. Belen knew that Kifirin was angry—dangerously so. Still, Belen could not be harmed. "Lissa will have to deal with this—when she was made, she was given the ability to traverse both sides of the universes. The ones above us wanted this."
"You know as well as I, Brother, that there is much she cannot do so long as she holds to this corporeal body. And she will not willingly release it for a very long time."
"I know this, but there is still much she can accomplish. We must leave this in her hands. We cannot come rushing to her defense every time there is a problem." Belen crossed arms over his chest—a humanoid gesture he liked very much.
"When have we ever rushed to her defense, Belen? When?" Kifirin demanded.
"Well, perhaps it is the other way around," Belen admitted. "If she had not acted, we would have all gone back to the beginning. We have done small things, here and there, but Lissa mostly takes care of herself and the others."
"Yes—Lissa takes care of the others, generally before she thinks of herself. When can we think about her, Belen? Do you dislike her?"
"You ask such a question?"
"I merely wish to learn that you mean her no harm."
Belen watched his dark brother for the space of a few humanoid breaths. "Would you like to come with me, Brother, and rectify a wrong?" he asked.
"Which wrong do you mean? There are so many of them."
"Come and see." Belen folded Kifirin away.
"Where is this?" Belen had dropped Kifirin inside a very dark and cluttered space. Belen allowed his light to shine dimly, illuminating the place. It was a cellar on Earth, more than three hundred years past. "No," Kifirin muttered at the slight form, which had been carelessly dumped onto a bare space on the cold floor. Lissa's limbs were tangled; she'd been dropped with disregard onto the rough surface and abandoned. Sergio and Edward didn't care if she woke at all, no matter her discomfort if she did happen to wake.
"She will wake in a few minutes," Belen murmured.
"Avilepha, how could they leave you like this?" Kifirin was crooning and turning Lissa onto her back, arranging her limbs in a more comfortable position. "What wrong are we making right?" Kifirin looked at Belen.
"This." Belen held out his hand and a paper square appeared in it. He carefully settled the napkin on the corner of a nearby desk. "Edward and Sergio did not leave their agreement in this cellar, Brother. And without it, Lissa might not have been afraid enough to leave this place. Do you still think I might not care for her? That I might wish her harm? Neither of those things is true. You chose her as your mate. I will not interfere with that. She belongs to all of us, though. Surely you know this."
"I will search for her and hold her. Do you think she does not need that?"
"Of course she needs that. As long as she retains this body, she will need that." Belen knelt, reaching out to touch Lissa's cheek. "We will meet again soon, little one. I am sorry to leave you now." Belen folded Kifirin away.
* * *
"Avilepha, what are you thinking?" Kifirin found me again. At least I wasn't shaking and crying this time. Truthfully, I felt angry and hurt. Glendes, Raffian and Shadow had come to dump their problem in my lap, with no offer to help get me out of it. It infuriated me that they'd placed me in this position to begin with.
"I was thinking about all the greedy people in the universes," I muttered. I still couldn't understand how Cloudsong felt I was obligated because somebody I'd never met had signed up with Black Mist and managed to die with the prince he was supposed to protect.
"My love, you must find a way out of this."
"How am I going to explain to my Council that somebody we didn't even know about now wants our profits for the next fifty years?" I huffed. "How can you expect a fair hearing on the planet that wants to rape and extort in the first place? Is this payment for my getting children after all?"
"Avilepha, your children are not in exchange for this," Kifirin sighed. "Your children are a gift to you, as any child is. A weak wizard who could not fight Black Mist put this in motion. And then a daughter, with full knowledge of what her husband had done, acted in the only way she could to keep herself and her father alive. She is angry, avilepha, and guilty. She knew what was happening and did not attempt to stop it."
"She knew about her husband's alliance with Black Mist." I shook my head at the complexity of the situation.
"Yes," Kifirin confirmed. "She wished to form a new clan with her husband and willingly agreed to the amount offered by Black Mist. Of course, the money never materialized and her husband then paid for the treachery with his life. Now, she cannot tell her father that part of the story, because she would have competed against her own family for the same business. And the fact that Black Mist was involved would warrant a death sentence at her father's own hand. Therefore, her reasons for becoming pregnant were twofold. It was to save her life and to obligate Grey House at one and the same time. Her family will not execute a mother."
"What kind of mother do you think she's going to be to her child?" I asked.
"I do not know, love."
"Kifirin?"
"What is it, Lissa?"
"What am I going to do?"
"My love, I do not know. Even Belen says you must find a way out of this."
"What am I supposed to do about Shadow and Grey House? Right now, I want to slap Glendes and Raffian through a wall and before, I liked them. How did things turn out so badly?"
"I don't think they meant to harm you. Not as they did, and they certainly had no knowledge of this. They should have done more investigation, however, before taking Melida as quickly as they did. I feel Marid was to blame for that—he made it appear as if there were more offers for his daughter than there were. He knew, somehow, that Shadow was without an heir and unlikely to get one with his current mate."
"So everything is fucked up, now. I don't know what to do about Shadow and me," I sighed.
"You must decide whether you love him or not. Then decide whether that love is sufficient to weather this. And if you decide to stay with Shadow, you must find a way to deal with his father and grandfather."
"That sounds like so much fun."
* * *
"Thank the skies," Norian muttered when I appeared inside his office after folding away from Kifirin.
"Tell me why you sounded hopeful when I told you I'd know your parents if I met them, Norian," I sat on one of the chairs placed before his desk. Norian looked shocked at my words and didn't speak for a while, settling for watching me instead.
"Because I don't know who they are," he muttered angrily. "I was taken away from them—stolen and thrown into a cage, because my kind aren't supposed to make poison until they turn nine
. I was four, Lissa Beth, and somebody wanted to add a lion snake shapeshifter to his menagerie. They had to capture a child, because the adults were too dangerous. The starship I was hauled away on was boarded by Alliance Security. I was too young to tell them where I was from, and with very little information available, they couldn't return me to my parents." He shook his head.
"Understandably, those of my kind remain hidden. My disappearance may have been reported locally on the planet of my birth, but there was no reason to believe I might be transported away—children can be stolen anywhere, but the expense of shipping them offworld is usually too much to consider. Unless the child is very special, that is, and my parents would probably not reveal that information. Child abductions are generally not handled by the ASD."
"Norian, this sounds like a tragedy in the making," I sighed.
"It was—on the first full moon, the Alliance officers discovered what I was and I know they discussed killing me. They did not, so I was raised in a laboratory, almost. There were a few I cared for as I grew up, but not many. They were frightened of me, breah-mul. Frightened of what I became. It affected their treatment of me. Yes, I realize it is unusual for me to be working for them now, but one of the Charter Members approached me after I was old enough to apply for ASD officer training, and suggested it might be a good fit. That is why I am here, now. And hopeful, now, too, that you may run across my parents one day. We live a long life, Lissa Beth. I am one hundred sixteen and I expect to live for centuries unless I am killed."
"Are you afraid of me?" I asked.
"Lissa Beth, I am only afraid that you will reject me and turn me out of your palace."
"What about that temper of yours, Nori? Will you be angry enough to sink those fangs of yours into me someday?"
Blood Redemption (Blood Destiny #9) Page 10