When we arrived, we were greeted by Teeg San Gerxon and Stellan's older brother, Astralan. Campiaa was on my schedule for the rest of the day. Joy.
* * *
"He's worse if Reah's gone," Celestan confided as I watched Teeg pace inside his study. "I have to pass messages from Stell, since Gavin says he can't communicate with you," he added, offering a quick grin. "Stell says if you need something, to let me or G know."
"G?"
"Galaxsan. It's simpler to call him G."
"I see."
"Need anything? Food? Something to drink?"
"Both would be nice."
Celestan must have sent mindspeech. Before long a tray of food came, all of it vegetarian. Teeg didn't say anything as I sat down and lifted a fork, but I ate as he showed me vid image after vid image of faces, all of whom he suspected of conspiracy. Most were petty criminals of some kind. Three had contacts on Theele and were certainly involved in the conspiracy to kill Ferdik and Teeg.
"Their main goal was to kill you," I said, sipping the fruit punch I'd been served. "And there's some sort of obsession there, just as there was with Eddle Cree. They didn't have contact with Eddle, but they knew of him," I said. "This means that plans for your assassination may have been connected to the plans to kill Ildevar Wyyld. Has anyone notified him, yet?"
"Norian has someone on Wyyld, and they've been instructed to beef up security for the Founder of the Reth Alliance."
"I think you should check on that yourself," I said. "I don't trust anyone in this."
"Norian trusts his people."
I'd had contact with the fists of one of those people whom Norian Keef trusted, and I questioned his judgment. I didn't say anything to Teeg, however. He could believe that lie if he wanted. Too many people around me were more than willing to believe lies when the truth not only stood in front of them, it was frantically waving its arms, trying to get their attention.
It was very late before I'd gone through all the images Teeg presented. Astralan transported me to Le-Ath Veronis after I'd finished. That's when I found the extent of Cheedas' perfidy—blood substitute had been dumped all over the rug, the bedding and puddled on the tiles of the bathroom floor. I learned the blood-red concoction didn't come out of white carpet easily, either. And then, when I attempted to wash the bedding, I found the door to the kitchen laundry locked against me.
Could I have broken the lock? Perhaps. But they'd done this specifically to keep me out. I would have to find another way to wash clothing, and I still had no bedding on the bed.
Leaving the sheets by the door for them to find the next morning, I went in search of the linen closet. Hauling sheets, pillowcases and a fresh blanket off shelves, I checked to see if the linen closet had locks on the doors. It didn't. Would they deliberately install locks so I couldn't have clean bedding? I would wait to see.
* * *
Belen of the Nameless Ones had come to Harifa Edus. It lay in the path of swirling death, and he was unsure how to protect the planet. He felt the shields immediately, however, and had he been corporeal, he'd have nodded his approval at the elaborate construction.
Not many might realize how intricately the multitude of shields had been woven together, and neither he nor any of the others might get past them. The Mighty Hand had accomplished this, and to most outsiders unused to his work, they would think it a collaboration between many of the powerful instead of one of the Three.
Belen considered sending his appreciation to the Mighty Hand, when the power made its presence known and trapped him before he could devise an escape.
* * *
"Her eyes are the same?" Kalenegar, whom no Larentii had seen for millennia studied Pheligar, who worked as Archivist and Liaison to the Saa Thalarr. Kalenegar's eyes had been cobalt blue from birth, and that differed from the bright, sky-blue eye color of any other Larentii.
His hair, too, had always been a deep red. While any Larentii could change his hair color if he chose, none did so unless they disguised themselves. Kalenegar had always kept his appearance the same. He also stood out, but that was to be expected. What the five Wise Ones could do together, Kalenegar could do alone.
"Yes. I was much surprised to see it," Pheligar admitted. "And she displays many of the talents, Vhirilaszh."
"I will see this for myself, then, very soon. I know the Vhanaraszh has been foretold, but I did not expect her now."
"Do they ever come when you expect them?" Ferrigar, Kalenegar's father, interrupted.
"Father, I have little time and less patience for teaching. If she is the Vhanaraszh, it is my hope that she will already know much. This way I can give only a minimum of instruction. She can operate on her own afterward. If she had been born Larentii, I would have no need to teach." Kalenegar handed his father a hard stare.
"My child, I did not realize how much my curse might affect the race. Once it was pronounced, I learned I could not reverse it. Things are coming around, now, but we still have few females. It is no surprise that the Vhanaraszh was born to another race."
"My sister is dead because of your anger, Father, and my brother likely separated his particles because of your indifference."
"Child, did you come here to learn of the Vhanaraszh or to torture me?"
"A bit of both, Father. I will be the judge of this woman—I will decide whether she is the Vhanaraszh."
"Will you let me or Pheligar know?"
"I will let the Liaison know. Good-bye, Father." Kalenegar folded away.
* * *
"Increase security around Deonus Wyyld's palace," Norian Keef paced inside his palace study. "I have informed the Founder, but it never hurts to watch his back carefully," Norian added.
Skel Hawer, who'd had his name and credentials changed to Shel Kawn, sat inside Norian's opulent study. As Ildevar Wyyld's heir, Norian was accorded finer rooms at Ildevar's palace. "I understand, Director," Skel nodded. "The security teams will be briefed and personnel increased to protect Deonus Wyyld."
"See to it—I'm depending on you to protect his life," Norian sighed. "Meanwhile, I must travel to Campiaa and speak with Teeg San Gerxon regarding the threat to his life. If there's a conspiracy here, I want to kill it before it has time to take root."
"Of course, Director," Skel agreed.
* * *
"My love, he will never suspect," Skel gloated. "I am glad now that you did not inform me of your plans before. I passed the detection tests with no trouble, and that fool, Norian Keef, has now placed me in charge of Wyyld's security. It could not have been better orchestrated."
"It was difficult, fooling you for such a short time, my darling, but it was time my double dropped away—it works to our advantage that all believe me dead. Rathik took pleasure in destroying my pretender, did he not? His nose told him all along that she was not me, and he informed me on many occasions that he hated that she wore my face." Erithia Cordan smiled at Skel's image on her comp-vid.
"I believe he did take a great deal of pleasure from the act," Skel agreed.
"Is he safe, my darling?" Erithia asked.
"Yes. We've managed to place him outside both Alliances, and he is comfortable. I will bring him in when the time comes to destroy Ildevar Wyyld."
"As I'd hoped," Erithia smiled prettily at Skel. "I wish you were with me, now. What fun we might have. Instead, I must meet with those I have here, and devise a plan to kill the Queen of Le-Ath Veronis. It is a terrible shame that we were thwarted in our first attempt to take Teeg San Gerxon."
"We will have other opportunities, my love, do not fret," Skel reassured Erithia. "I believe Rathik may be working on those plans with those who are with him."
"I am saddened that Nall is hunted, now. Theele was the perfect place for him to launch an assassination attempt. I know not how he was discovered. There is not a more discreet plotter in either Alliance."
"Nall has been relocated and is now working with Rathik, my dearest. Do not fear."
"I rely so much on you; please assure me you are not tiring yourself."
"Erithia, do not concern yourself, I am fine," Skel replied. "All will be well. When we finish with our plot, both Alliances will be in our grasp while Karathia and Kifirin become isolated worlds. Neither will come after us—they have survived in isolation in the past and we have no need of them, anyway. All will be as you desire, love." Skel nodded to Erithia and terminated the communication.
"Of course it will be as I desire," Erithia hissed when the screen went blank.
* * *
Breanne's Journal
An entire week went by, while Gavin divided my time between Council meetings and handing me off to Teeg, who forced me to either look through images of suspects on a comp-vid or kept me by his side while he met with this ambassador or that president or despot. It seemed the Campiaan Alliance had more despots than the Reth Alliance, but I wasn't about to point that out to Teeg.
Sadly, too, he kept Stellan away from me, just as his asshole father ordered. Neither Teeg nor Gavin were real, stand-up guys to me—they were heavily into punishment if somebody didn't do exactly as they wanted. Honestly, I had no idea how Lissa put up with either of them—I would have banged them on the head with a skillet and then claimed amnesia later.
Even my off-days were taken up, thanks to Teeg San Gerxon and the Council, and I was falling farther and farther behind on the requests coming in from the comesuli. I got little sleep as a result, and was more than thankful that Flavio put in a standing order for coffee during every Council meeting. The kitchen staff was afraid to sabotage it since a high-ranking Council member placed the order, but they served it to me with anger in their eyes. While that might not concern most people, it concerned me a great deal.
The laundry, too, I left outside the laundry room door, since I couldn't get in. At least they went ahead and cleaned it—it belonged to the Queen, after all, and they adored her. Me? I might as well have been the worst, child-molesting, murdering criminal.
Actually, I might have gotten better treatment at the prison facility if that were true. At least the food would have been better. I'd learned quickly not to eat anything served by the kitchen. I subsisted on blood substitute on Le-Ath Veronis. On Campiaa, the Starr brothers saw that I got decent meals, at least.
Closing the door of the Queen's suite behind me after a particularly grueling day, I nearly shrieked when I saw what waited for me there. No—it wasn't additional sabotage by the comesuli—I would have welcomed that to what did wait for me. A very tall Larentii—nearly ten feet tall, waited, his arms crossed angrily over his chest. Just as I couldn't read Stellan, Kooper or Trevor, I couldn't read this Larentii, either. And, if there were ever a Larentii I needed to read, this was the one. Was he different from what I considered a normal Larentii? In every way possible.
Larentii dress in natural fibers, loosely woven so sunlight can filter through to their skin. They could feed in that way, if it became necessary. Sandals are worn most of the time, if they wear shoes at all. Their hair is some shade of blond, ranging from nearly white to almost red, while their eyes are a sunny, bright blue. This Larentii looked nothing like that. Yes, he had the telltale blue skin, but his resemblance to any other Larentii stopped there.
Curly, dark-red hair cascaded to his shoulders, his eyes were a deep, cobalt blue (very much like mine), and he was dressed, head to foot, in black. Black boots were on his feet and chains, glittering with black jewels, circled the ankles of the boots. He looked as if he were prepared to ride off on a giant motorcycle.
"Why are you here?" I asked, suddenly fearful. The number of those I couldn't read was rising dramatically, and threatened to become an epidemic.
"I am the Vhirilaszh," he proclaimed, as if that were supposed to mean something to me. "I was asked to take a look at you, to determine whether you might be the Vhanaraszh. You are too small and insignificant, I think. Nevertheless, I will test you, so I might take a full report to my father and be done with it."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I muttered, wondering what Vhanaraszh actually meant. "And I don't recall inviting you here. I'm tired and I want to go to bed." I did—it was after moon hour, I was exhausted and a new Council meeting loomed in my very near future.
"No. we will do this tonight, and if you warrant teaching, then we will proceed. I warn you, I have no patience, so you must learn quickly. Fail to apply yourself and I will punish you."
"What?" I stared at him in shock. "Look, I don't know who you are or what Vhanaraszh means and I don't think I want to learn. Get out or I'll start screaming."
"Go ahead. I have the room shielded. Your screams will only irritate me, and that may bring punishment earlier than anticipated." His eyes were hard as he stared at me, his blue arms crossed angrily over his chest. He was the most muscular Larentii I'd ever seen, but then I'd only seen three so far. That likely wasn't a good cross-section of the race as a whole, and certainly no basis for any judgments I might make.
"Really?" I backed slowly toward the door. No wonder he didn't look like a normal Larentii—the others had likely tossed him off the Larentii homeworld and told him to get lost. Larentii didn't act like that—not that I'd seen, anyway. If I could just reach the door, I'd be out of the Queen's suite like a shot and screaming my head off while I ran. This guy was terrifying, with a great big, capital T.