“There are Lupoiux amongst my family now. I will see to it that someone takes the boys to mentor when the time presents itself. They will not be denied that part of their heritage any longer. Any more than you will. And Mara…I will find a way to help your mother. Tell me…what do you remember of your father? How long has he been gone?”
“Twelve years, almost. He was gone two months before my brothers were born.”
“How long has your mother suffered such sadness?”
“From that day.”
“I see. If it is as I suspect, then it is your mother’s soul crying out for her mate. She may just be hanging on long enough for your brothers to reach their age of majority. I am sorry, Mara. It can work that way. For a Rajni to survive so long past their mate; it must be horribly painful for her.”
Mara pulled the wrappings from her left arm and studied the gashes in her skin. “She used to be different. Always laughing. My father would call her his sunshine, and me his rainbow. He was big and strong and everything. We knew that.”
“What happened to him?”
She unwrapped her right arm before answering. The wounds would need cleaned—she understood enough about how gangrene and bacteria had decimated ancient Earth cultures to not even risk it, no matter what the medical people said—and rewrapped, but they were healing much faster than she could have ever expected. “We were driving home late one night. I can’t remember where we had been, we had been driving a very long time. Our car broke down, or we hit something, or whatever. My parents were very worried. Mom was about halfway through the pregnancy, and it wasn’t easy. She had been so ill. My father got out of the car. I never saw him again, and it was so dark outside that I didn’t see what happened to him. I just remember my mother screaming, and locking the car. A man came after that, and he carried my mother from the car and to a woman who helped us. A human woman, I guess. When I asked, all my mother would say was Redd Gothan. I don’t know if that was the man who helped us, or if that was the man who killed my father.”
He was quiet for a moment, his dark gold eyes compassionate. “Redd Gothan was a name of a band of Lupoiux wolves. A criminal band. They killed, kidnapped, raped, and just about anything else you can think of over the last twenty years. Their range spanned from California to Florida. They were probably after your mother—and you—that night. And your father got in the way. I’m sorry.”
“Why would they want us? It was dark, my mother was huge with the boys, and I was just a kid.”
“Exactly that. You were old enough for some, sweetheart. And your mother was carrying Lupoiux pups, had already proven she could successfully mate with a Lupoiux male. They would have taken you, killed the boys, and raped both of you to see if you were compatible as mates. As breeders.”
“Are they still out there? Hurting people? Are they here? Is that why people seem to hate my brothers and me?”
She’d known when she went in search of answers that there would be some that she did not like. Mara tossed the old bandages aside and looked at him. “Tell me. So that I can understand?”
“The Lupoiux god Eiophon learned of the Redd Gothan’s crimes when they attacked our goddess late one evening. Since then he has set up a council to judge—and execute—Lupoiux that he does not feel are worthy of living. Those that rape and murder, steal, whatever it is. You are safe here, I promise you that.”
“Will my brothers be judged like this? They are just little boys!”
“No. They will not. The god and goddess are just and fair leaders, Mara. They do not pass such judgment upon innocent children. Or young women like you.”
“Then go on. What am I supposed to do? I have nothing here. I am a grad student, not a freaking pioneer.”
“You will have everything that you need in this world, I promise you that.”
“At what cost?”
He pulled her to her feet. Mara let him. “I cannot tell you often enough, I see. There is no more cost for you than there is for me. We aren’t alone anymore. You need to remember that. Mara…come. Meet my sister, tell me of your family, help me help you be happy here.”
Chapter Nineteen
Mara didn’t see how she had any other choice. “I need to go home.”
“That hut your family was living in is not fit for a family of four. Regardless of what happens between us, your family will not be returning there. I have looked at my cousin’s maps of the family houses. You were stuck in the midst of my father and grandfather’s people. Narrow minded assholes, all of them. Without a clear tie to their Houses, they would treat you little better than offal. I left that part of my family hundreds of years ago. No, there is a better place for you within my own people. You will one day help me lead them.”
She hadn’t expected that. “Just exactly who or what are you?”
“I am dahr. Do you know what that means?”
She’d heard the term, but knew very little about what any part of the Dardaptoan culture meant. “I don’t really have a clue.”
There was compassion in his eyes; Mara looked away. “I hate feeling stupid. We ended up here, and I knew nothing about what was going on, my mother refused to even speak of any of it. The boys…it’s been so hard for them, and I can’t help them. I hate feeling so useless, so helpless. I went to that library looking for answers.”
“Baby, you’ve found them. I promise you that.”
“How am I supposed to trust you? I don’t know you.”
“I know. But we have all the time in the world, now.”
“I’m not sure I believe that.”
Chapter
The respect and general acknowledgment they received while simply walking through the building awed her. Everywhere they went people half bowed to them, and any time he spoke there were actual servants to do his bidding.
Talk about different than how she’d been treated. They looked at her, too, and that made her more than a little bit uncomfortable. “What am I supposed to say to them? I don’t know why they think I am so important all of the sudden.”
“Because of the white you wear. You need to understand how our social hierarchy works. We have the dharanna, a legendary group of original Dardaptoans. They led when our people were first created by the goddess almost four thousand years ago. Over time, their sons and daughters, later generations, have taken the dahr or dahn positions. Their families wear the traditional white. When a leader of one of those families finds their Rajni, that mate assumes white as their color, as well. It’s how our people know who their leaders are, especially in times of crisis.”
“I am no leader.” That was the absolute last thing she wanted. “I don’t want to be.”
“The goddess feels differently.” His eyes were compassionate when he looked at her. “I understand how you feel. When my House broke from my father’s I was ill for days, the idea of such responsibility more than I was prepared for. But the seers of our people told me it was my path. And so far it has been. You would not have been chosen if you could not carry the burden. And it is a burden.”
Just another reason this guy was totally wrong for her—even if she believed in rajnis, which she didn’t.
But why did her hand feel so right in his? Why did she already know exactly how he smelled? How warm his touch was?
It was crazy, the way this was starting to seem almost normal to her. “I don’t believe in goddesses or destinies or anything like that. I don’t know what you want from me, or why you even want me.”
He stopped walking. “I want you because the goddess that I believe in, and have spoken with on several occasions, chose you for me. I want you because when I look at you I know that we were meant to be together. That’s a very strong pull for me. I know you do not truly understand, but your heart does. Deep inside you, you know this was what the future holds for you.”
“I don’t have a clue what the future holds for me. How can I? Everything I worked for is gone, Rion. And I worked hard, studied hard, and nothing can come out o
f it now. This world doesn’t exactly need someone who studied humanities, does it? Especially the ancient civilizations of humans. I don’t even know what I am supposed to do every day, let alone with the rest of my life.”
“Actually, I think someone with a background in civilizations might fit in very well, after the right introductions are made.” He smiled at her, then shocked her when he brushed a kiss against her forehead. “I’ll take care of that for you today.”
“How? What could I possibly do besides fetch water, which is about all I have done in the last five months. That, and go into a really freaky library.”
“In my life I have watched so many human civilizations rise and fall. I’ve studied them, compared them to the Dardaptoan and Lupoiux and a few other Kinds out there. Similarities exist, among all cultures. Especially in how they form. Someone to help me learn of this land will be invaluable. It is something for you to consider. We can work together.”
Mara didn’t say anything, just thought about what he’d said. Finally she nodded. “What else? If we work together do you think that means I want something more with you? I’m not comfortable with the idea of just meet-and-be-together-forever. I can’t do that.”
“Like I said before. We start as friends. I don’t want you doing anything more than you want to do. Anything more than you are comfortable with. The rest will come in time.”
“Maybe.” She wasn’t entirely convinced, but had to admit the idea of actually doing something constructive appealed.
Being with him appealed, too. But first she had to deal with her family, figure out what the new new normal was going to be from now on. “Why should we just move because you say so? That’s a big change to put my brothers through, especially on the word of a complete stranger. Again. We did it after your brother showed up and have done nothing but regret it.”
“Your family couldn’t have stayed behind. It would have been far too dangerous. There were a few families that ignored the evacuation order. They’ve been killed, Mara. It is not safe for Dardaptoans—or Lupoiux—in Gaia, now. And can you honestly say you or the boys were happy in Center Thrun City? I’ve walked through there, and even I—son and grandson of the Houses—could feel the darkness in people. I would not wish it on a young woman and two small boys, not at all. Especially my female and her family.”
“Where will we stay?”
“I have arranged for your mother and brothers to have a suite here in the Ruling Hall. If she wants it. The boys can attend the small school for the children that live here. Or I can arrange for a tutor. They’re not alone anymore; none of you are. And you shouldn’t have been from the very beginning. For that, I am sorry.”
She wanted to take his offer, for the boys’ sake, if nothing else. But… “While we appreciate it, we can’t take charity.”
“Caring for my mate’s family is not charity. It’s responsibility, duty. Honor. Let me help you.”
Chapter Twenty
Mara walked with him toward what he called the family’s gathering room. She tried to take in all of the architecture as they passed. But that was hard to do. The ceilings were at least thirty feet high, and each wall was adorned with various mythological scenes. “It’ll take years to study all that this city has, won’t it?”
“Thankfully my sister is related to the High King’s family. They have ruled the demon world for more than 12,000 years or so. Renakletos’ family has chronicles of much of this world. And the Malickus family has made all of those records available to our Kind.”
“Wow. We had a neighbor in Center Thrun City that absolutely hates demons, and someone said he was once a fighter of them. How did we end up here, anyway?”
She didn’t miss the surprised look on his face. She refused to let that surprise make her feel any more awkward than she already did.
He laced his fingers through hers. Mara tried to ignore how it made her feel. She wasn’t a simpering idiot, melting every time a hot guy looked at her nicely. She wasn’t like that. But with this guy that was half how she felt.
She’d just have to learn how to deal with that. “Tell me why we’re in the demon world to begin with.”
“Over a year or so ago our goddess was freed from her prison. She and the god of the Lupoiux had been fighting for thousands of years. Then they became rajnis and the future of each world shifted. There are eighteen worlds that we know of, and this is one of the outer ones. Gaia—the one we came from—is a few layers of the onion below this one. One reason why this one can be a bit cold at times. The farther from the center, the colder. After the goddess found her mate some other things happened in other worlds. Things that were destined, of course. The Four Fates or the Four Destinies control such.”
“What are the Four Fates? Don’t forget, I’m starting completely from scratch here.” They sat on a padded bench, near a huge stained glass window. There was glass here, then, after all. Why hadn’t that extended throughout the city? “I don’t know any of the legends of your people.”
“Our people.”
“I guess. Go on. Tell me about the Four Fates. Are they anything like the three in human mythology?”
“Possibly. The humans came after our Kind. They could have perverted one of our myths. That’s certainly likely.”
“So there are three in human legend. Clotho, the spinner, Lachesis who determines what kind of life a human will have, and Atropos, who decides when it ends.”
“Similar, I think, to some of our legend. There are four, and they are Laquazzeana. That’s a name we’ve given to beings who for whatever reason have ascended to a place of spirituality greater than the goddesses and gods of any world. These Four Fates are said to be some of the oldest and most powerful of beings. And some say the maddest. Why else would they put into place some of the destinies they have? No one knows their names, but the myth says that one controls births, one beliefs such as religion, another controls careers or ambitions, and one controls family ties.”
“No death?”
“No. Death is still a vast unknown for our Kind. No one, not even the goddess, knows what or who controls it.”
“Scary, if you think about it. Someone else out there with the power over anyone’s death.” She’d always thought her body with wither and die when she was close to her eighties or nineties. The way all humans did. Or die some other way. That she would most likely live for a very, very long time frightened almost as much as the idea of dying did.
“Yes, it is.”
“I think we’re digressing. How did the Dardaptoan people end up here in the demon world?”
“Some of the Dardaptoan lines have great foresight. It was mostly on their orders. They said Dardanos, the main city in Colorado, was under great threat. And then the attack came, with fire, and the goddess decreed that all should relocate to the demon world. Kindara, a friend of the goddess, had bonded with the High King, and he offered our peoples sanctuary. The Lupoiux have mostly relocated to a world known as Levia.”
“Why the threats? And why were they so strong that we couldn’t stay in the real world?” She knew of Dardanos. One of her close friends had relocated there over a year ago. But… “Was everyone in Dardanos Dardaptoan?”
“I don’t know. It was a city my brother was associated with. I have spent the last two hundred years in Australia.”
“So how did you know to relocate? How to get here?” She had witnessed some of the relocations. Her group had been one of the last through, but there had still been many people behind her family. But had she missed a lot in her shock?
“Even in Dardaptoan Houses there are ways to communicate. But in my case it was different. A friend Matthuin came to me. He told me of what the goddess decreed, and I gathered my people. Here we are.”
“And we’ll be here forever?”
“That I do not know. The goddess has yet to say.”
“And that’s enough for you, for your people?”
“For now. It is called following on faith.”
Especially in herself.
Chapter Twenty-One
Rion led the way to where the rest of the ruling families usually gathered. At least those not involved directly in the daily running of the city.
Thrun was evolving, like he knew every great city did. And it was a learning experience for all of them. The biggest Dardaptoan tribe had been the Dardanos one. It had over fifteen thousand members before the relocation. The rest of the Dardanos tribes numbered approximately five to ten thousand maximum. At last count, they had almost three hundred thousand Dardaptoans now live in Thrun and just beyond the outskirts. Three hundred thousand people required a great deal of leadership—and the dharrana of the Houses were having to learn to work together, and to concede some of their powers and duties to Nalik, who headed the entire city
“It hasn’t exactly been easy for everyone. We’ve had over seventy ruling families who have to learn to work together. My task has been to catalog everything and everyone. To ensure that all needs are being equally met. It is a larger task than I have ever had before. I am used to leading my own House. Five thousand still dependent upon me to protect their needs and interests.”
“So you’re a politician?”
“I am, I suppose. I am their voice. It is not a duty that I take lightly.” He slid open a heavy wooden door. “Here. This is the entrance to our family’s suite of offices, a private dining hall, and a recreation room. We are bound to find some of my family within. Including my sister, Nora. I raised her from a young girl. I think the two of you will enjoy each other’s company.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Mara took one look around the large room. He would call it a hall, she just called it full of people she definitely didn’t know. And they all were looking at them.
After first glance she felt some of the tension leave her. There were no more than a dozen people in the room, and most of them looked normal.
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