Blood Reunion

by Connie Suttle

  "What do you really want to do with those boys?" Nissa often acted much older than her nearly twelve years, but then she was surrounded by those older than herself most of the time. Nissa studied under Calebert, Master Wizard of the Weapons Division of Grey House. Nissa was learning to remove rust from old weapons using her power. The work was deadly dull. Her father, Shadow Grey, worked in the K'Shoufa Jewelry Division. Both he and Grampa Raffian were Master Wizards and jewelry makers.

  Great-Grampa Glendes had stuck her in the Weapons Division as soon as she'd gone through the rite to manifest her power instead of allowing her to work with her father and grandfather. Nissa wasn't even supposed to know how to make a protection jewel, yet she'd done it. The one she'd given Toff was the third she'd made—the first two had gone through a testing phase to make sure they were effective. Nobody else knew that—not even her brothers. If Great-Grampa Glendes found out what she'd done, she would certainly be in trouble.

  "Hi, Daddy," Nissa smiled brightly at her father. Shadow Grey had folded in and now sat in Kifirin's abandoned chair before Nissa's mother could answer the question about the two boys in the dungeon.

  "Shadow, we were having a private lunch." The Queen brushed back strawberry-blonde hair and frowned at Nissa's father.

  "Kifirin was here. Am I not welcome too?" Neither Nissa nor her brothers had ever learned what Grampa Raffian and Great-Grampa Glendes had done to alienate her mother, but she refused to visit Grey House and Shadow often grumbled that he was in the doghouse more often than not.

  "Honey, let's not go there today." Nissa's mother leaned down and bumped her head on the small table. She was hugging herself tightly with her arms. Nissa was worried that all this talk about the two boys in the dungeon was upsetting her mother more than anyone thought.

  "What's wrong?" Nissa's father had a hand on her mother's head immediately. Shadow wasn't a healer but he had some skill in that area.

  "I just don't feel well," the Queen lifted her head. "I think I'll cancel the Council meeting this afternoon." Lissa rose and quickly walked away from them. Nissa listened as her mother's footsteps softened and then disappeared. The Queen had left the arboretum.

  "Daddy, she never cancels meetings." Nissa rose to follow her mother.

  "No, she doesn't. Maybe I'll ask Karzac or Selkirk to take a look. She gets headaches, too, though that shouldn't be possible." Shadow looked worried.

  "But she'll hold meetings, even if she has a headache," Nissa persisted. Shadow motioned her down again.

  "Finish your lunch, sweetheart. Then we'll see if something needs to be done." Shadow breathed a frustrated sigh.

  "Daddy, what did Grampa and Great-Grampa do to upset Mom?" Nissa turned her eyes on her father.

  "Baby, we want to tell you about this someday soon. Right now, all I'll say is that they almost cost her Le-Ath Veronis as you know it." Nissa knew from the look on her father's face that she wasn't going to get any information other than that. It didn't matter—this was more than she or her brothers had gotten before. No wonder Mom wouldn't set foot in Grey House.

  * * *

  "That's what he said—that Grampa and Great-Grampa almost cost Mom Le-Ath Veronis. What could they have done?" Nissa was still turning her father's words over in her mind as she sat with her brothers in the pool area. The palace had a very nice indoor pool—heated, of course, and there were sunlamps spaced evenly around the perimeter if you wanted to use them. They weren't employed often, except by the comesuli, who didn't make it to the light half of the planet once a week as they should.

  "Don't know, but we did find out that Grey House was invited into the Alliance after Trell got blown to bits," Ry responded. "And we researched the records—Grey House pays as much in taxes as Trell did. Just think—a single family paying what an entire planet did before. Grey House must be doing very well."

  "Daddy says Grey House always does well. People are willing to pay high fees for the work," Nissa said. "And I get stuck removing rust from old daggers."

  "Well, there has to be a market for that—loads of royal houses have those old swords and knives hanging on their walls. All that junk, sitting around collecting dust and rust," Tory was grinning. Nissa realized he was teasing her.

  * * *

  Toff had to wash his hands twice and he still had dirt under his nails. Mother Fern hadn't been happy with what he'd brought back to her, scolding Toff about the roots and detritus still in the clay. She grumbled that the Halves working with her had been able to get rid of most of that using their power. If Fern intended to make Toff feel small and useless, then she'd hit the mark.

  "Father, I can't get this dirt out," Toff washed his hands a third time.

  "Clay isn't easy to deal with, son," Corent eyed Toff's hands. "Here." Corent gathered the tiniest bit of light around him and removed the dirt and clay with power. "There. All clean." Toff sighed at the small amount of effort Corent had expended. Even a tiny amount of power would have been welcome, but he was destined to have none. Toff followed his foster-father to the kitchen, where Redbird had dinner waiting.

  * * *

  "The baby eunuch is going off to play in the dirt," Gren hissed at Toff as Toff left the small school building after lessons were over the following day. Gren was headed to his other lessons; Toff was going to dig for more clay. The day was fine and crisp, but Gren ruined it. Toff was thankful that Mother Fern's pottery shed was on the opposite side of the village—he had no desire to walk near Gren and listen to more insults.

  Mother Fern lived very close to the northwestern border of the village—she'd chosen that location so the smoke from her kilns wouldn't bother the other inhabitants when she worked. Currently, she had four apprentices with power and one without. Toff was the one without. He was beginning to have doubts that Mother Fern would ever let him do anything other than gather clay, work out as much of the roots, rocks and other bits as he could and then dry and sift what was left. After Toff did his work, there would be workable, dry clay that could be added to water so the others could form the plates, bowls and other vessels the village needed.

  Toff sighed and shook his head. He had no doubt that Gren would continue his verbal assaults. Toff was waiting, too, for Gren to form a new army—one that would be happy to deliver physical abuse at Gren's direction.

  "Good afternoon, Mother Fern," Toff spoke the accepted, polite greeting as he joined the potter and her older apprentices. Mother Fern's apprentices looked up at Toff's entrance. Two were Halves; two were Fulls. The youngest of the four was twenty-two and had been working with Mother Fern for eight years. Toff was the newest and most unwilling, if he were honest. He was getting a later start than the others, who were all female. Gren regularly referred to him as a eunuch, so that didn't make him much different from the girls working for Mother Fern. Toff's shoulders slumped at the thought.

  "I want you to find more clay. Try to get something cleaner this time," Mother Fern pointed to the shovel and the canvas bags waiting by the door. Toff would have preferred cleaning the dusty pottery shed to going out and digging for clay. Either way, it was a dirty job. Toff hefted the shovel over his shoulder, lifted the two canvas bags and trudged out of the shed toward the old streambed to look for more clay.

  Luck was not with Toff that afternoon—everything he found was filled with rootlets and bits of rock and gravel. The grayish, slick clay was the width of a hand or two beneath the topsoil and with the multitude of plants growing above it, it was guaranteed to be filled with roots. Toff tried to pull the roots out of the clay in one piece, but they were small and fragile, breaking off every time.

  A large patch of poison leaves grew nearby, too, which he was trying to avoid. As luck would have it, the better clay was beneath those poison leaves. Toff carefully shoved the edge of his square spade beneath the plants and tossed them aside, once he'd scooped them up. He had no desire to get any part of those leaves on exposed skin—the rash could be debilitating.

  Once the layer of to
psoil with the leaves and vines was cleared away, Toff turned to digging up the clay. Briefly, he worried over touching the roots to get them out of the clay, but he had to put that out of his mind and get to work. Mother Fern would be waiting.

  Chapter 4

  "I know you two have been fretting over this, so I brought you in to hear the decision." The Queen had invited both her sons to the Inner Circle meeting. Ry and Tory had only gotten to attend a handful of other meetings, none of which dealt with anything as serious as this. The decision on where to send Haldis and Sark would be revealed to them tonight.

  Nearly all the Uncles were coming, including Ry and Tory's fathers. Only Uncle Norian, Uncle Thurlow and Kifirin were missing. Tory sat beside Ry on one of the sofas in the Queen's Library. The library was spacious, with row upon row of books of all kinds, plus the more modern vids and other forms of storage. Rich rugs covered blue-gray marble floors, veined with gold and silver.

  Artwork was scattered across the library's walls; some by artists long dead and most of it worth fortunes. The library was a good place to spend a rainy afternoon, as long as an Inner Circle meeting wasn't being held there. Uncle Drake and Uncle Drew had come in with their mother, and the two boys followed. Drew had an arm around the Queen until the others arrived.

  "Young ones," Uncle Gavin spared the boys a rare smile as he settled in a chair nearby. Uncle Rigo walked in right behind Gavin and sat in a chair next to him. Uncle Rigo ran a spy network for the Queen. Ry and Tory weren't supposed to know that, but they did.

  Uncle Aryn taught history at the University in Lissia and sometimes ran Council meetings with Aurelius. Uncle Winkler gave the boys a wolfish grin as he settled on the opposite side of Gavin and Rigo. Uncle Tony sat beside Uncle Winkler, Uncle Roff and Uncle Shadow came in and then Uncle Reemagar and Uncle Connegar, the Larentii, folded in.

  Uncle Reemagar was short for a Larentii—barely eight feet tall. Uncle Connegar, though, was nine and a half feet tall. His blue skin was a shade lighter than Reemagar's, and his hair was a lighter blond, too—almost the color of wheat. The Larentii stood for the meeting. Uncle Karzac arrived and then Gardevik and Erland, the boys' fathers, arrived last.

  "Mom's pacing," Tory jerked his head toward their mother, who was walking back and forth in front of all of them, her arms held tightly around her.

  "She doesn't like this," Ry muttered.

  "Keep your voice down, son," Erland scooted Ry over so he could sit. Garde sat beside Tory.

  "The Council wants to send those boys to Evensun," Queen Lissa didn't preface her statement with any words that might soften the blow.

  "I thought you'd have the final say," Tory spoke up. Garde put an arm around his son.

  "Honey, this is a capital offense—that means that someone almost died over this. And I'll be honest—that boy would have died if Connegar and Karzac hadn't gone to tend him right away. His internal injuries were too severe. The Council passes judgment in cases like this, not I. The only one who can circumvent this decision is Kifirin, and he agrees with them."

  "What about their parents?" Uncle Winkler asked.

  "They will give me a decision in the morning," Lissa said. She sounded tired to Ry. Tory was thinking the same thing—he spared a swift glance at his brother.

  "How did the vote go?" Uncle Drake asked.

  "Ninety-four to send them to Harifa Edus, two hundred sixteen for Evensun. With two abstentions." Ry looked over at Tory. The Council had overridden their mother's suggestion by a very large margin.

  "When will they be taken?" Ry asked.

  "Tomorrow afternoon. Drake, Drew and Gavin will drop them off." The Queen breathed a troubled sigh. This was likely a death sentence—everyone knew Evensun was populated with criminals and unsavory characters. And once you were placed there, you were never allowed to leave. The planet was heavily shielded.

  "My love, the child almost died." Lissa looked up in surprise at Roff's words. His wings rustled after he spoke—he normally didn't involve himself in the politics of Le-Ath Veronis. Not to this extent, anyway.

  "I know, honey. Now two other children are likely to die as a result. Yes, I know they did this, but I'm not convinced we have all the ones involved in the crime." Tory stole another look at Ry. They knew the truth of that statement, but saying anything now would only get them in trouble. Ry found himself hoping that Nissa's protection jewel would keep Toff safe from further attacks.

  * * *

  "Son, what did you do?" Toff itched all over and blinked in agony at Corent's question. He couldn't stop scratching, and a red rash completely covered his face, hands and arms. Corent quickly pulled Toff's tunic over his head and found the rash spreading to Toff's neck and chest.

  "Father, I scooped the poison weed out of the way before I dug for the clay underneath." Toff was still scratching.

  "No," Corent whispered before shouting for Redbird.

  * * *

  Tiearan and Rain had come, bringing Mother Rose, the Fae's best healer, with them. Toff had been soaked head to heels in an oatmeal bath, even as Mother Rose used power to neutralize the poison from the roots of the plant. Toff was beginning to feel halfway normal when he overheard a conversation between Tiearan and Corent outside the bathing room.

  "I eradicated the poison weed myself—there shouldn't be any of it inside the perimeter," Tiearan insisted.

  "He can't go outside the perimeter—not without one of us with him," Corent replied angrily. "Someone holding power placed that plant, unless your power is fading!"

  "My power is not fading and I used crystal to assist in the eradication," Tiearan shot back. "There shouldn't be any of it inside our boundary. We will go and see this for ourselves. Bring crystal and come."

  "Lie back and let the oatmeal do its work," Mother Rose pushed Toff gently back in the tub. Toff settled in with a sigh.

  * * *

  "Here are the plants." Corent used power to lift some of the withered, poisonous leaves Toff had dug up that afternoon. It was still light outside, but the natural wobble of the planet had it tilted slightly away, giving off a dimmer light than the morning sun.

  "There is so much of it," Tiearan breathed. "How did this happen?"

  "You're the one in charge; I expect you to find answers to this," Corent grumbled. "If Mother Rose hadn't come, we would have faced a more serious problem. I don't think the Queen would be happy to see this so soon after the attack."

  "Then I am thankful this was a problem we could deal with ourselves," Tiearan sighed and focused his power on the crystal globe he held. It took nearly half an hour to get rid of the poison weed, roots and all. Corent and Tiearan then went to visit Mother Fern and used even more power to eliminate any signs of the plant from the shovel and the clay Toff had brought to her.

  * * *

  "You'll stay home for two days and then Mother Rose will check on your rash before allowing you to go back to school or to Mother Fern's," Redbird set breakfast in front of Toff. Corent was already eating.

  "Son, we've always gotten rid of the poison weed wherever we were, so I never thought to teach you everything about it. All of it is poison, not just the leaves and vines. It is dangerous to burn it, too, so never try that. It can make you extremely ill if you breathe any of the smoke."

  "I'll remember." Toff would certainly remember. After he'd dropped the clay off with Mother Fern, the itching had become unbearable until he was nearly crazy with it by the time he'd gotten home the day before. He'd barely had time to slip the jeweled necklace off and shove it in his trouser pocket before his foster-father found him in the washroom, scratching and trying to scrub his skin. Corent recognized the rash and called for help immediately. Toff had been saved from a terrible and worsening rash due to Corent's swift action.

  He hadn't forgotten Tiearan's and Corent's words from the evening before, either. Someone had deliberately placed that plant inside the boundary. More than likely, they'd put it right where Toff would come in contact with it. It made Tof
f angry, but there wasn't anything he could do about it.

  Toff had gotten his necklace out of his trousers, too and slipped it under his pillow. He didn't want Redbird finding it when she washed his clothing. Toff wouldn't be able to wear it again until Mother Rose was done checking on him. The rash had spread to his chest area and she looked at that along with his hands, arms and face. He was glad he didn't have to go out of the house until the necklace was safely around his neck again.

  Toff's thoughts often wandered to the girl who'd given it to him. None of the others his age or close to his age, even, had shown any concern for his welfare. Ever. But three strangers had shown up from nowhere, listened to him and then offered what protection they could. Toff sighed at the complexities of his life.

  * * *

  "Your mother didn't want you to see this, but your fathers thought you should come." Drake and Drew weren't having Ry and Tory practice with them, today. They were going to witness the final judgment against the two in the dungeon. Ry and Tory were never invited inside the Council Chamber, which was large enough to house the three hundred ten members of the Council plus assistants and others necessary to conduct meetings. It could hold six hundred easily, and if you walked into it while it was empty, it echoed.

  Ry and Tory followed Drake and Drew, who were dressed in full battle gear—black leathers and two blades crossed over each back. They caught up with Gavin and Tony, who were clothed in the formal palace uniforms of black with silver trim. Their uncles were representing the Queen's Palace Guards and the Queen's army at the proceedings.

  "Sit here," Uncle Drake led them to seats in the gallery in the back. The seats were raised so anyone sitting there could see the entire Council. A set of steps led up to the balcony. Ry turned in his seat to watch the vid crew setting up in a similar gallery on the opposite wall. All the Council meetings were recorded and some were broadcast live, not just to Le-Ath Veronis but to other Alliance worlds as well.