Demon's Quest (High Demon Series #4)

by Connie Suttle

  "You will have guards around you constantly, you will be cuffed and should you do anything other than what is directed by your attendants, those cuffs will be activated. Do you understand?"

  "Of course I do." Marzi's voice was low and sultry as she drew a pattern on her knee suggestively. Brig was thankful she was chained for the interview.

  "Spare me—I find it insulting," Brig snapped. "You will have suitable clothing provided, but you will not be allowed to keep it. You will attend the funeral only, and return to the prison upon its conclusion. Do you understand?"

  "Yes." Now she was angry and nearly spat the word at Brig.

  "Get her out of here," Brig nodded at Marzi's guards.

  Marzi called Brig an extremely unkind name as she was escorted to her cell. "There's one on the top floor that sends his greetings," the guard on her left whispered carefully. "He says that the white-haired bitch needs to suffer. He wants you to get close enough." Marzi, who'd done favors for both her guards, smiled.

  "I'll owe you," she said sweetly. "Both of you."

  "You'll have a heavy coat issued—winter is well-established," the other guard said softly. "You'll find what you need inside a pocket. And we'll expect the usual. Tonight and for the next six moon-turns."

  "You'll get that and more," Marzi promised with a smile.

  * * *

  Former Master Cook Vyn Bralnon paced across his cell. The men's prison was located two floors above that of the women's. He wasn't without resources, and he'd watched every bit of news available, as soon as Aldah Desh accused Reah of killing his father. Aldah was the murderer as it turned out, but Vyn still blamed Reah for his imprisonment. He hated her. Would always hate her. Plus, he had ways of acquiring what he wanted. His mother still lived, and anything she could do for him, she would.

  Vyn's mother, Stria, had bribed guards too many times to count, just to get a treat or some bit of contraband inside. This time, however, Vyn had two particular guards bribed—or at least his mother did. Reah Desh would attend Addah's funeral—that had somehow been leaked to the press. Marzi Desh, two floors down in the women's prison, would also attend.

  Vyn didn't care what happened to Marzi—he only wanted Reah dead. It would be simple—supply Marzi with a weapon and Reah would die. Rumors abounded inside prison walls, but it was no secret that Marzi hated Reah just as much as Vyn did. Vyn smiled. His plan was perfect. Reah would die, Marzi would likely be killed onsite and since the guards would keep their part in this secret, Vyn would achieve his objective with no repercussion. His mood was nearly gleeful as he flopped onto his narrow bed. Now, if he could just find a way to speed through the next few turns of his sentence, life would be so much better.

  * * *

  "We'll wait until after the funeral to have our meeting," Lissa sighed. Kiarra had come to give Lissa information regarding the mentally ill Ra'Ak. "Reah took that one down on Tulgalan, thankfully. She needs to hear this, too."

  "Yes, she does," Kiarra agreed. "And we must all be more watchful. Invite everyone connected to this, regardless. The more who know, the better we'll be at recognizing the signs."

  "Lendill, Norian and Lok have been investigating more of the sites where children disappeared. So far they haven't learned anything new," Lissa said.

  "We need a liaison between the ASD, what Gavril has in place and the Saa Thalarr," Kiarra said.

  "Plus Wylend's warlocks," Lissa agreed. "You know, Denevik may be interested—Garde says that he's bored, most of the time."

  "I'll consult with Pheligar. If he agrees, then we'll approach him," Kiarra nodded.

  * * *

  "Reah, I realize you may never wear that dress again, but you are beautiful in it." Corolan had a hand at my back as we were escorted into the temple for Addah's funeral. It looked to be a lavish affair. Erland walked ahead of us, Wylend behind with Ry. Cory looked more the part of King of Karathia than Wylend did, and that was by design. Cory was offering himself as a target, allowing Wylend to stand at his side and appear to be a guard.

  Teeg was behind Wylend, with all four of the Starr warlocks guarding him and Wylend. Farzi and Nenzi, dressed finely for the occasion and looking quite handsome, walked on either side of Teeg. I pitied anyone who tried to harm the founding member of the Campiaan Alliance. Lok and Lendill had already gone inside; just to make sure all was well inside the temple before we arrived by hover-limo. Edan and Ilvan were walking on either side of Corolan and me—Ilvan would break away and join the family at a prearranged seat, Edan would remain with me.

  Love, what do you think they'll find to say about the old bastard? Teeg's voice was in my head.

  I don't know, other than he knew how to cook, I replied.

  Well, there's that, Teeg agreed thoughtfully.

  Tory, Lok and Lendill waited next to our seating area while our company took its seats. Small, complimentary palm-vids were placed on the back of the seat in front of us. By pressing a button, we could pull up information on the deceased, and even record the ceremony or images of guests, if we wanted. Unfortunately, more than a few were trained on us already.

  Soft music played while the remaining guests filtered in, escorted by temple acolytes dressed in the accustomed funeral white. Funerals were seldom invitation only, but this had turned into a state affair. Even the Governor of the Realm was there, since Wylend and Teeg had come.

  I'd gotten mindspeech from Aurelius earlier—I didn't know exactly where his assignment had taken him, but wherever it was, he'd gotten news of Addah's death. He and I had held a lengthy mental conversation regarding dead parents and lost opportunities.

  Once the Governor of the Realm was seated off to the side, the ceremony began. My conversation with Teeg proved to be prophetic—the priest went on at length about Addah's service to his customers and his genius in the kitchen. Very little was said about his extensive family. I glanced across the aisle at Farla and the other wives. Each was sitting on the first row, accompanied by their firstborn sons.

  Surprisingly enough, Fes had come with Farla. I'd heard he'd wakened, but I hadn't known that he was fit enough to attend the funeral. His face was pale, but so was Farla's. He looked much like her, with darker hair, though his eyes were Addah's. Farla was in a terrible position—one of her sons was imprisoned for killing her husband. The situation had to be traumatic. I saw her squeezing Fes' hand several times with one of hers as she wiped away tears with the other.

  Farla's head rested on Fes' shoulder, too, and he whispered to her now and then while she nodded, wiping more tears away with a kerchief provided by the temple. I held back my sigh of relief when the service was over and we stood when prompted, ready to file out. The family went first, followed by my bunch, in reverse order.

  Wide doors at the front of the temple were swung open, allowing daylight to wash over the crowd near the back. We'd almost reached the portal when someone to my left stood. In slow motion I whirled to see who it was, receiving a terrible shock; they'd allowed Marzi to come.

  Although she was surrounded by guards and wore shock cuffs, she somehow held a weapon in her hand. One of her guards, moving faster than the others, batted at the hand holding the weapon, which was aimed directly at me. The guard's blow caused Marzi's aim to go wide. Instead of sending the projectile flying at me, it now flew toward Corolan's head.

  I may have screamed—I don't remember—all I know is that I moved swiftly enough to leap in front of the warlock, who was too stunned to move. Or perhaps he was moving, as were others around us, it's just that I could and did move so much faster.

  As I leapt forward, I felt the bullet hit my neck, effectively deflecting it from Corolan. I heard shouting around me as the front of my beautiful, white gown was splashed with blood. Before everything went black, I recalled in some part of my mind that my carotid artery had likely been hit.

  * * *

  Marzi's four guards forced her to the temple floor quickly, wrestling the weapon from her hand and employing the shock cuffs. She
was shrieking and convulsing while chaos erupted around the King of Karathia, the founding member of the Campiaan Alliance and their combined party. All were struggling to reach Reah, who was bleeding profusely.

  "Enough." All were thrown back gently as a huge, blue Larentii appeared in their midst, Reah held in only one arm. His other hand was pressed firmly over the wound in her neck, sealing the wound swiftly with quick thinking and power. His clothing was covered in blood—Reah had been soaked in it. Kifirin appeared as well, shocking all the guests remaining inside the temple.

  "Stand back," Kifirin growled. "Who has done this to our small one?" He stepped toward the guards, who still held Marzi on the floor. She stared up at him—he was in his smaller Thifilathi, black scales gleaming, wings half-furled, horns curling about his face and dark eyes angry as they glared at Marzi Desh.

  "Save me!" She shouted. "He'll kill me!"

  Her words caused Kifirin to breathe a billowing cloud of smoke. Marzi and her guards shrank back. "I won't kill you," Kifirin growled. "From this point forward, however, you will only speak the truth." Kifirin disappeared.

  * * *

  "Reah? Open your eyes, sweetheart." I heard Teeg's voice from far away. Where was I? My head was stuffed with cotton. There was no pain, but something had gone wrong. I just couldn't recall what it was.

  "She's trying to wake—she moved a little." Wylend's voice, sounding hopeful.

  "Please tell me she's all right." Radolf fretted.

  "Karzac's here—he'd let us know if there's a problem." That was Tory's voice.

  "We will give blood if it works for our Reah." Nenzi, now, but what was he saying? What did that mean?

  "Young one, her grandfather and her great-aunt have already donated, and we have two more who are compatible and willing to give," Karzac replied to Nenzi's worried statement.

  "Karzac?" My eyelids were weighted, I think, it took such an effort to lift them, and they wanted to close again immediately.

  "Little girl, stay with us," Karzac brushed gentle fingers down my face. "You've lost much blood; that foul woman hit a major artery. If the Larentii hadn't come, even I wouldn't have been able to save you. You are stable now, so do not fret—we just need to get a bit more blood into you."

  "Who?" I was struggling to remember the woman Karzac spoke of.

  "Mother." I heard Ilvan's voice but I couldn't see him. Now I remembered. Marzi. Marzi, the one who'd killed my mother had nearly killed me, and probably not for the first time.

  "Not for you to worry over at the moment," Karzac was hanging another bag of blood on a pole beside my bed. I didn't know where I was, the ceiling was unfamiliar.

  "You are in the house that Gavril purchased for you in Targis," Karzac said softly, connecting the blood bag to a line hooked into my arm. "Rest assured that Marzi Desh is spilling everything she knows, not just to the prison Warden and Norian Keef, but the Governor of the Realm is there as well, and all are asking questions. I'm sure it is an unpleasant experience for her, forced to speak the truth as she is."

  "Daddy?" My voice sounded lost, even to my own ears. Did Edan remember his mother? Where were his loyalties now?

  "Baby, that woman means nothing to me," Edan knelt by my bed and gripped my fingers in his. "I don't know her, I only know of her."

  "Em-pah's here, too, baby." Denevik's face appeared above Edan's.

  "We had to hold him back for a while, he wanted to kill a few people," Tory grinned behind my grandfather. "And then Karzac and Jeff took some of his blood, so he's calmed down, now."

  "Em-pah, if I'd been able, I might have wanted to kill people too," I said, my eyes closing in weariness.

  "Come—we won't talk of such things now," Karzac's fingers were warm against my forehead.

  * * *

  "Master Cook Vyn, did you think to come before me a second time?" The Governor of the Realm gave his former head cook an angry glare. Vyn was terrified. How had that woman survived to tell the tale? He, the two guards he'd conspired with and his mother were all being questioned. And what was this regarding threats to a visiting dignitary?

  "She fired directly at the King of Karathia's party," the Governor growled. "Are you aware of the charges that result from such an act?" Vyn could only shake his head—he had no idea.

  "An act against a visiting dignitary is the same as an act against the Governor of the Realm, here or from any other Reth Alliance world. Now do you know?"

  Vyn was unsure whether to speak or not. He knew the answer—it was an act of treason, or in his case, conspiracy to commit treason. And his mother—brought in on the same charges? Vyn was more frightened than he'd ever been in his life. "We have the vid—would you like to see it?" The Governor went on. "It shows the weapon aimed toward the Karathian King's party. I'm sure you were unaware that the original target—Reah Nilvas Silver, once called Reah Desh, is betrothed to the King of Karathia."

  "Wh-what?" Vyn stuttered.

  "Yes. I speak the truth. Had one of the benign Larentii not come, Reah would be dead. Now, would you care to tell me what kind of revenge you arranged with Marzi Desh, to kill the Karathian King's Queen to be?"

  * * *

  "I want to kill you—it's as simple as that," Norian hissed at Marzi. "But I'll let the court system handle this. I'm sure you'll wish you were dead by the time this is over. You're charged with High Treason, did you know that? You fired at the King of Karathia and his party."

  "That slut of a girl was not a part of his party," Marzi denied.

  "Call her names again and I'll watch you die," Norian snapped. "Reah is betrothed to the King of Karathia. He was there to lend her support. You are charged with High Treason, Marzi Desh, and with what those two guards are saying concerning your trading sexual favors to get your way, I think the term slut might apply to you. You will be placed in solitary confinement, and the cuffs will not be removed. Pass any wall of your cell and they will activate. Your co-conspirators will receive the same treatment, and if I know the Governor of the Realm, all of you will be sentenced to Evensun. Do you know what happens there?" Norian gave Marzi a satisfied smile.

  "The death planet?" Marzi's knees went weak.

  "That's what they call it," Norian nodded. "Take her." He jerked his head toward the guards in the room. She'd been compelled to answer every question truthfully, and Norian silently thanked Kifirin for that gift. Otherwise, Vyn Bralnon and the two guards might have gotten away. Vyn's mother had also been implicated—she'd been bribing guards to get contraband inside prison walls for years. She would suffer the same fate as the others, when sentence was handed down.

  * * *

  "See—when the guard hit Marzi's hand, the shot went wide," Lendill was stopping and starting the vid image. They all watched in horrified fascination as the projectile flew directly toward Corolan's head, only Reah, moving faster than the camera could capture the image, whirled in front of the laser bullet and blood flew as it pierced her neck. "Now, here's where the Larentii comes—do any of you recognize him?" Lendill asked as the Larentii appeared, almost from beneath Reah a blink after she was hit, and he staunched the blood flow with large blue fingers. He settled Reah carefully into Tory's arms before disappearing as quickly as he'd appeared.

  "Mom says that his name is Nefrigar," Tory sighed. "He's like the Larentii librarian or something."

  "Do we know why he came?"

  "No. Not yet, anyway. I don't know how he knew to come." Gavril said. He was angry, although Marzi and the others were likely to be sent to Evensun. In his estimation, Reah had been exposed to too many attempts on her life. Karzac was concerned, just as he was.

  "It doesn't matter; he came and she's still alive." Wylend had almost thrown a spell at Marzi Desh; one that could end her life. Erland and Rylend had held him back.

  "Karzac says that Reah will be down at least two weeks, with his supervision. Longer without it," Lendill said. He wanted to go to Reah's bedroom and crawl under the covers with her. Whisper that he'd keep her saf
e. And perhaps he could. While he had guards posted around the house and nobody was allowed in or out without his knowledge or permission. Lok was in charge of perimeter security at the moment—Lendill had seen the anger and grim determination on the Falchani's face—he pitied anyone who might argue with Lok over Reah's safety.

  "How many bedrooms do we need to prepare?" Gavril stood and stretched. "I'm staying—Dee will handle things on Campiaa until tomorrow or the day after."

  "I want to stay in Reah's room," Corolan muttered. She'd risked her life for his, when it should have been the other way around.

  "Farzi and Nenzi are in bed with her—as lion snakes," Gavril said. "Probably not a good idea to get too close."

  "Is there a room nearby?"

  "I have the one on Reah's left, Lendill has the one on the right, and Tory is across the hall," Gavril loosened the top button of his dress shirt. He hadn't taken time to change, he'd settled for removing the formal jacket he'd worn to the funeral. Tory had been the one to change clothes immediately—Reah's blood had transferred from her clothing to his. "You can take the room on Tory's left and if Wylend wishes to stay, he can have the suite on the right."

  "Wylend and I will stay together," Corolan frowned, rubbing a spot between his eyes that insisted on throbbing painfully.

  "Suit yourself. Let me know if you need anything." Corolan nodded at Gavril's words and he and Wylend disappeared together.

  * * *

  "We should be spending the night with Reah." Wylend fumed as he tossed his jacket across the borrowed bedroom with an angry spell.

  "My King, you are overwrought. Do not distress yourself, I beg you," Corolan sighed.

  "Admit it—you want her just as much or more than I."

  "I cannot deny it, my love, but we are not on Karathia at this moment. We cannot dictate who she should be with on an Alliance world."