"Yes. More than enough," Farzi nodded.
"Bring Reah soon," Nenzi agreed.
"How is she?" Rylend Morphis appeared, accompanied by Corolan and Erland.
"Sleeping. She overextended today," Kevis sighed. "I've been chewed out by Dad already for not checking her when they brought her in, so don't start."
"Wasn't thinking about it," Ry smiled. "I'm just glad to know where she is and that's she safe."
"We're thinking about moving her to the plantation, since she went straight to Avendor to work in the gishi fruit groves," Gavril said.
"Can I see her?" Tory arrived with Lok and Aurelius. "And we're prepared to move in, bro, so be warned."
"Move into the plantation house, I think we're taking her there," Gavril sighed. "Dee, make arrangements."
"I will." Dee wore a slight smile but said no more on the subject.
* * *
Reah, my love? I'm here, sweetheart. Are you all right?
Was I dreaming? I thought I was dreaming. But the voice sounded real. Huh? I sent sleepy mindspeech.
No, love, I can feel your weariness. Go back to sleep. Sleep now. You have no idea how long I've searched for you. The words were sent with the gentlest of touches. I wanted to tuck myself against that touch. Let it soothe away what troubled me. Something did trouble me. It frightened me at times and woke me, gasping for breath, on most mornings. Sleep, the voice came again. I allowed it to unravel my thoughts and carry them away.
* * *
"Reah, it's your Auri." I was curled in a ball on a bed somewhere. It was a good bed—a soft bed. A bed that pillowed and fluffed around me, cradling my body like a womb. I didn't want to leave it. Didn't want to wake. Wanted to allow it to hold me a little longer. "Reah, it's time for breakfast. Wake and come with me." I answered by huddling tighter beneath the blankets.
"No, my love." I was lifted from the bed, moaning out my protest. "Shhh," Aurelius carried me easily somewhere. I recalled, still half-asleep, that he'd been vampire and had the strength of that race. He could likely toss my body halfway across the gishi fruit groves on Kifirin.
"She's still asleep," Tory said. I knew that voice. My eyes popped open. Aurelius settled me onto a chair at a table. I blinked, looking around at the informal dining area. Farzi and Nenzi watched me, expressions of hope on their faces. Tory appeared worried. Teeg, too, wore a deep frown. Ry had come with Corolan. What was Cory doing here? I thought he'd gone off with Wylend. Lok studied me with his usual, inscrutable scowl. Lendill rubbed his forehead and sighed. Kevis Halivar was sitting next to Tory, watching all of us, I think. Nefrigar was the only one missing among my mates.
"Reah and the baby are fine this morning," Aurelius sat on the chair next to mine; I was seated between him and Teeg. I knew where I was, now—the reptanoids' plantation. I'd only visited it once before, but the kitchen and dining area hadn't changed much.
"Farzi, Nenzi, your new table is very nice," I touched the wood of the table with a finger. The piece was beautiful and made of solid wood. I figured one of their brothers had shaped the wood; Chazi and Perzi were both good with their hands. Farzi and Nenzi broke into smiles that might have rivaled the sun that morning. I'd spoken to them first.
"Breakfast is coming," Teeg said. "Try not to be too critical."
"I won't," I muttered. I had no desire to destroy the happiness I saw on my reptanoid mates' faces.
"Reah stay with us," Nenzi said. "Can go anywhere on plantation. Help if she wants. We take her wherever she wants to go."
"What's ripening?" I asked as a plate of food was placed in front of me. The woman was middle-aged and smiled at me when she set the plate down. "Thank you," I said. She nodded and set out a plate for Aurelius."Oranges," Farzi smiled. "Lemons, too. We try pineapples this year. They come along. Avocados next month."
"I love fresh avocados," I said. I did. I liked to slice them up with a bit of salt and fresh tomatoes and eat that at times. I'd craved it with my last set of twins. Of course, nobody at the table even knew that. They'd all been elsewhere most of that time.
"We want you to rest, too, Reah. You look tired," Ry said. "Laze about. Sleep out by the pool. The weather is nice and warm out."
"If you want anything, or want to go anywhere, all you have to do is ask, baby," Tory said. I blinked at him.
"Sweetheart, your food is getting cold," Teeg called my attention to the food sitting before me.
"This is good," I said, pointing the fork at my plate. Breakfast was ham and eggs, and the eggs weren't over or undercooked, plus the ham was delicious. I wondered where it came from. "Where is the ham from? It's really good," I said, cutting another piece.
"I order it from Fizerali's," the cook was back with more plates and a basket of rolls. She'd named a popular shop in Campiaa City, where they sold cold cuts, smoked meats and specialty cuts of meat. I broke a roll apart and it was flaky and hot. "This looks promising," I said, buttering it generously and tasting it. "Yes. This is very good," I sighed with pleasure. "A little blackberry or redberry jam and this would be incredible."
"I have some," the cook was still smiling and went off to get it. I ate three rolls with redberry jam and a glass of milk.
"That was wonderful," I complimented the woman when I was too full to move. "What is your name?"
"Mathilde," she said. "If you want anything between meals, let me know."
"I will." I liked her already, and I couldn't explain that. She was a little on the plump side and seemed a good-natured soul.
"Let's get you dressed," Aurelius said, pulling me from my seat and herding me down a hall. "This will be your bedroom, unless you want to visit one of us," he added, leading me into the spacious bedroom he'd taken me from earlier. The bed had already been made up and I found clothing inside a closet.
A few things hung there that were appropriate for pregnancy, but I wasn't ready for those things yet. Garwin Wyatt was barely making his presence known. Unsure what to do except allow it, Aurelius helped me dress. Then he knelt and kissed the sensitive tops of my feet before slipping socks and shoes on. He knew what that did to me. I loved having my feet kissed. It was erotic to me. I shivered as his warm lips caressed my skin.
"Kevis says not to push, because of the attack." Aurelius was putting what happened to me in blander terms as his fingers touched my ankles before pulling up my socks. I could still see the pink marks on my shoulder where Zendeval Rjjn had sunk his canines into my skin. Greater Demons. Hah. There wasn't anything great about them.
Kifirin had made them. Just as he'd fashioned High Demons and Lesser Demons. Only everybody said that all the Lesser Demons were gone. Just as well. I hadn't fared well at all at the hands of either of the other two kinds. And Kevis? I knew I shouldn't blame him for what two of his nurses had done, but I held him accountable anyway.
Aurelius offered to carry me to the back of the plantation house where a large, curving pool lay, surrounded by multicolored flagstones that had been fitted carefully together. Lush plants in pots dotted the flagstones, with trees and other greenery surrounding the pool area, giving way to a beautiful, deep-green lawn that employees manicured weekly.
The water was pristine and sparkling in the pool, while an occasional breeze rippled the surface, making it opaque for a few seconds before releasing it to become a clear blue again. I walked, refusing Aurelius' offer. I didn't need to be carried everywhere. What I needed was for the holes in my heart to heal and go away. I felt numb most of the time. My mates had left me, for reasons I thought were my fault, only to discover recently that it hadn't been like that.
How many times over the past twenty-five years had I examined every word, conversation or action, in a vain attempt to determine what it was that I'd done wrong? Now they were hovering, and I didn't know if I had anything left to give any of them. I'd written them off years ago. How was I supposed to pretend it hadn't happened? Maybe their eyes had been opened when Kifirin waved his arm, releasing whatever it was he'd done, but I hadn't been under that spell. There would be no revelation, no opening of eyes for me.
"Reah?" The last person I expected was the one to show up. Wylend Arden, former King of Karathia appeared. Well, I hadn't asked him to abdicate. He'd done that on his own. And I wasn't happy to see him, either. He'd hurt me—hit me when I was at one of the lowest points of my life. And then punched me again while I was down, by telling Tory a half-truth afterward.
"I suppose you're here to tell me that Kifirin influenced your doings too?" I wasn't giving him the best or most polite of welcomes. This wasn't my home, after all. I wondered who'd invited Wylend. And his son, Griffin—the meddler, as I liked to call him—stood right behind his father. They looked very much alike, those two. Tall, brown hair, hazel eyes. Handsome, too, if you didn't despise both of them.
"Reah, I came to offer my apologies. While I realize they won't be accepted, it's something I feel compelled to do." Wylend settled on one of many plump-cushioned chairs scattered about the pool area. Aurelius, standing behind me, moved me toward a seat. Working through the urge to fling his hand away, I sat roughly six feet away from Wylend.
I wanted to tell him that he should have saved himself the trouble. Anger boiled close to the surface with me nowadays. Dangerously close. I swallowed it back as well as I could. "Wylend, there is nothing between us, now. If there ever was."
"Reah, I don't think that's true."
"You are welcome to think as you like." That was an insult, as far as I was concerned. I hadn't been welcome to think as I liked. Wylend had taken my thoughts and words and used them against me. Wyatt, Wylend's heir at the time, wanted to be a healer. Wylend wanted him to step up and be the warlock he desired. My privately voiced opinion had been that Rylend would be the King Karathia deserved. Wylend had written me off and revoked my short-lived Karathian citizenship over it, then went straight to Tory, telling him I'd thought him immature during my first pregnancy—the one that had ended early and in disaster. Apology or not, Wylend had destroyed something fragile between us—trust.