I never asked them to call him that, they'd decided on their own. Aurelius held them, dried their tears and treated the slightest of injuries as a legitimate reason to reassure and fuss. My eldest, Raedah and Tara, were less than a year from receiving their medical cert I medicalifications. I was pleasantly surprised with Philavik and Rindavik—they'd allowed their wives to continue with their studies, even if they did show up in class from time to time, causing Karzac to grumble about High Demons underfoot.
Lara and Kara were nearly ready for their claiming night, although Lara begged Jayd and Garde to move hers up. Lara insisted that she and Eldevik Greth were ready and madly in love. Of course, she conveniently didn't remember how ill her older sisters had been when their claiming came. Raedah was feverish for days, while Philavik—Phil—worried and fretted the entire time. Tara had a slightly better time, but not much. Rin was just as fretful as Phil, wanting to hold Tara while she was ill. Karzac almost had to chase him away from her bedroom with a broom.
Cursing under my breath, I shut off the comp-vid and went back to walking through the southern grove of gishi trees. The fruit was almost ready, and insects would be waiting if I or another High Demon didn't walk through the groves as smaller Thifilathi or in my case, Thifilatha, to keep the tiny predators away. Yes, I'd answered Dee's call as Thifilatha and completely naked. It didn't matter; I think he was used to it by now.
"What is it, Garde?" I received Gardevik Rath's call the moment I stepped into the house several hours later. At least the groves were protected, now. Only the gishi fruit from Kifirin could claim that it was completely organic. Baetrah, the nearby volcano, had provided the Southern Continent on Kifirin with rich, black soil. The workers employed by the Crown tended and harvested for the most part, but I oversaw the crews, kept the records, helped the work crews out and made sure expenses were kept to a minimum. Pest control was just a sideline.
"We have everything ready at the palace for the claiming night," Garde informed me. I hoped he had everything ready. The dates he and Jayd had chosen coincided with the harvest. I would be hard pressed to divide my time during the next eight-day. Fes had called the day before, asking me to sit in on interviews with prospective assistant cooks for the new restaurant opening in Targis.
"Which healers are coming?" I asked, wearied from a full day of work. Night was falling and I was too tired to enjoy the beauty of it.
"Karzac and your father Edan are coming," Garde replied. "And they're bringing your two eldest, since they have firsthand experience with this."
"Of course," I sighed.
"And I sent word to Torevik."
"Why do you even bother?" I grumbled.
"He is still my son."
"I realize that. And still father to my daughters. Do you think he might notice them, one day?"
"Reah, I see I've caught you on a bad day. I realize the harvest is a concern right now. Next time, Jayd and I will take that into consideration."
"I'd like to say there won't be a next time, Gardevik Rath, but there will be, won't there?" There would be—he and Jayd had already selected husbands for my twenty-year-olds, with very little input from me.
"I sent another one down," Garde winced at my expression. When had it been decided that I was nursemaid to the Crown's injured?
"Who, when and how bad are they?" I snapped.
"A thirty-year-old man. Fell off the barrachtef the bks roof when his crew was making repairs."
"And?"
"His back is still giving him problems."
"Of course it is. I'll try to find room. Good-bye, Garde. Unless there's other important news that just can't wait?"
"Reah, we owe you. We all acknowledge that," Garde muttered, his voice sounding less than grateful. "The gishi fruit groves are paying the bills and allowing us to repay loans. I realize we've shorted you, but that will change in a year or two. All the loans will be paid and we can redistribute the profits. Jayd is talking about dividing Tory's holdings and giving you half." I could tell Garde wasn't happy with that turn of events.
"Tell Jayd not to bother. Torevik doesn't have anything I want." I cut off the communication before Garde could say anything else.
"She hung up on me." Garde slipped his comp-vid into a desk drawer and stared across the polished wood expanse at Jaydevik Rath, King of Kifirin.
"I heard." Jayd blew a cloud of smoke to show his displeasure. Not at Reah, but at the state of affairs that placed Reah in her current situation. He'd ordered Reah to oversee the gishi fruit groves. She'd suggested planting them in the first place as a potential money crop. The fruit had only been grown on one other planet before Reah experimented and grew the trees in volcanic soil from the Southern Continent. Jayd, thinking it was a foolish venture, placed Reah in charge twenty-five years earlier, while she was pregnant with her first set of twins. The trees had shot up quickly, bearing fruit within five years. Now, Kifirini gishi fruit was the biggest export the planet had. And the one that brought in the most money. Jayd saw those credit sheets himself. Loans that might have taken a century or more to pay off were now getting settled in one-fifth of that time. Everybody tightened their belts a little, but none more than Reah. She watched every credit spent on the gishi fruit groves while maintaining a fair wage for her employees.
When Garde suggested that they send some of their slightly injured state employees to Reah to sort fruit before crating and shipping, it had turned into a steady flow. Reah had been forced to ask Aurelius and some of the Saa Thalarr for help. A clinic and rows of single-story apartments now stood near Reah's small cottage. Reah depended upon assistance from Karzac, her father and two oldest daughters to treat the influx of injured over the years. Most recovered; some were permanently disabled and would never work at full capacity again. Reah found some way to stretch her budget to cover the expenses the Crown's monthly stipend couldn't afford.
"Child, I think Reah is nearly at the breaking point." Dee set a comp-vid in front of Gavril Montegue, known to the Campiaan Alliance as Teeg San Gerxon.
"These the figures for the defense budget?" Gavril ignored Dee's comment and scrolled through rows of figures instead.
"Yes."
"These pirates are killing us, Dee. Norian and Lendill are saying the same thing about the Reth Alliance. We haven't been able to track these thieves; they must have small bases on every asteroid and meteor between here and hell. And they can move in and out quickly, with lightning strikes that leave dead crews on empty ships while they get away with the cargo."