"Oh, we haven't gotten to the complicated part," Lissa smiled. "Wylend will be asking the moment the ASD lets Reah go, and Lendill will be marrying her as quickly as possible."
"Vice-Director Schaff?" Astralan lifted an eyebrow.
"That would be the one."
"Has Reah consented to all this?" Gavril asked.
"No idea," Lissa said. "Maybe you'd like to ask her?"
"Mom, I think she wants to kill me, right now. And when she discovers I don't want the chip out, well, that'll make it worse."
* * *
"Glindarok, he didn't tell me what he planned," Denevik swore. "Tarevik said he wanted to make father see sense—that he or Brenevik could rule if he'd only find a mate for them. That was all I heard. Then Tare asked me to go to the Southern continent to check on our cane farms. That's when he put his plan into action. When I got back, all I could see was the devastation. I had to ask Bren what happened. When he told me, I called him and Tarevik fools. I was ready to kill them both, but they'd kill me first and I knew it. I skipped off the planet and I haven't been back since."
"Rorevik had those two put to death and it wasn't pretty," Garde joined the small group in Lissa's arboretum. "If Kifirin hadn't come to tell us that you weren't involved, I would have killed you the moment you showed up."
"I know." Denevik ran a finger down the glass of wine he'd been served. "I ask that you treat my granddaughter well. She doesn't know anything about any of this."
"Denevik, you are the last of my kin," Glinda placed her hand over his, surprising him into meeting her eyes. "You have no blame in this. Come to Kifirin with us—we will find you a place there."
"My place is with my granddaughter," Denevik sighed.
"She may be joining us—I don't like the idea of a High Demon female being born anywhere except on Kifirin," Jayd said.
"Is Norian Keef going to release her from the ASD? She still has two months' service owed," Glinda pointed out.
"No idea," Garde raked a hand through his wealth of dark-brown hair.
* * *
"Farzi, we won't get into trouble, I promise." I was hobbling through Lissa's palace on my way to the kitchen. I wanted something to eat and didn't intend to allow anyone to stop me. Farzi, Nenzi and all their brothers followed me. They'd taken their humanoid shapes again—we didn't want to frighten the guards.
"But Reah needs to rest," Farzi muttered. He didn't like doing this in a strange place. If we'd been on Campiaa, he wouldn't have said a word.
"Farzi, this is where I live," I pointed out. "They won't yell at you, they'll just gripe at me for getting out of bed." We turned the last corner, finding ourselves in Lissa's enormous kitchen. If I'd had more energy, I'd have made sweet rolls. Instead, I put crepes together, stuffing them with fresh fruit and sweet cream.
"This very good," Perzi was eating his portion happily, as were his brothers.
"What is this?" Drake and Drew walked in. I'm sure the palace guards had notified them somehow.
"Crepes—want some?"
"Lissa will kill us and Karzac will kill you," Drew said. "But before that happens, we'll take some." They were served quickly and I climbed back onto my barstool before Karzac came thundering into the room.
"Karzac, I was hungry," I said, trying to turn his wrath aside.
"You may be hungry and someone else may cook," he had his arms crossed angrily over his chest.
"But nobody makes these like this," Drake closed his eyes in pleasure after taking a bite of his dessert.
"There's three more," I lifted a plate in Karzac's direction.
Karzac, curmudgeonly physician that he was, found a place at the island and settled down to eat his crepe. Lissa and Gavin showed up shortly afterward, getting the last two.
"I know we should be upset, but I want to eat this first," Lissa sighed.
"Farzi glad she hungry," Farzi said. "Reah much sick, lately."
"Glinda was, too, when she was pregnant." Garde showed up. He helped Lissa eat her portion. "Every High Demon female I've ever known has had a hard time the first four months."
"It might have helped if somebody had bothered to tell me that's why I was sick all the time," I muttered. "I thought it was because I wasn't fully recovered after the bomb blast."
"I didn't realize we'd find a crowd." Teeg walked in, followed by all four warlocks.
"I'm going to bed," I slid off my stool.
"Reah, you can't ignore me," Teeg said. "We're married, remember?"
"Did you hear something?" I asked Farzi. "If I could only skip, I could get away from the noise." I hobbled toward the wide door that led into the kitchen. Farzi, poor soul, didn't know what to do. He looked from me to Teeg and then back again.
"Stay there, Farzi. I can find my own way." I waved Nenzi back to his seat as well. Teeg was Lissa's son and he had a place here. Tory was also Lissa's son and Teeg's brother. I wasn't about to call Teeg Gavril. He didn't deserve that name. My friend was gone forever, leaving a stranger in his place. As soon as Aurelius arrived, I was going to ask him to take me away from here. I no longer belonged.
* * *
"She has two months service left," Norian pointed out to Lendill.
"But she's pregnant. We've let others go early if that happened."
"It's not an official rule," Norian said. "I want them to build up her strength and then have her heal Tulgalan. As soon as that happens, I'll sign the discharge. Not before. Tulgalan is home to seven billion people. Reah can keep them safe."
"Are you prepared for what may happen when you demand this?" Lendill snapped. "Torevik may kill you."
"I'll give him some incentive not to snap me like a twig," Norian huffed.
"And what would that incentive be?"
"I can promise not to bring charges of any kind against his brother."
"I thought you already promised that when you agreed to the meeting. Besides, Lissa will have your head if you charge Gavril with anything."
"Well, maybe this needs a little work, but I still command Reah, pregnant or not. She's going to heal Tulgalan, one way or another."
"Norian, you're going to damage my relationship with her, aren't you?"
"As my Vice-Director, you're obligated to uphold my decisions."
"I haven't disagreed with you until now."