Another freezing world. At least nobody had fired a weapon in my direction. A city directory on a frigid, snow-covered sidewalk told me I was in Targis, the capital city on Tulgalan. Tulgalan had very long winters, but the farms near the equator kept the planet fed and in good health. I stepped inside a small eatery to get warm while I attempted to figure out how to fold somewhere I recognized. Taking a table near the door in case someone chased me away, I dropped my head in my hands and moaned.
"Focus on where you wish to be." Graegar sat across from me.
"Thank you," I whispered, my teeth chattering. Hugging myself, I stared across the table at perhaps the kindest Larentii I'd met. He was Pheligar's grandson—I'd known that the moment I'd first seen him. I was colder than I realized, too, and still wet from my dunking in a sea somewhere.
"Grandfather asked me to watch out for you. He suspects Kalenegar's behavior where you are concerned."
"I'm surprised Kalenegar's face isn't on a wanted poster, somewhere," I muttered.
"Kalenegar has had a troubled life," Graegar murmured, absently rearranging lines on the faux wood table with power. "He and his father are at odds and therefore, anything his father asks or suggests, Kalenegar abhors or ignores."
"I guess I fall in the abhor category. I'd prefer to be in the ignore category instead."
"Would you like something to eat or drink? I can warm you as well," Graegar offered.
"All of those things would be nice," I lowered my head.
"Then I will take you elsewhere—they only offer sandwiches here." I stood with Graegar and he folded me somewhere else.
"Where are we?" I asked as he led me inside what seemed to be a massive restaurant kitchen. Employees were eating and talking after cleaning up for the evening. The hour was late and the restaurant was closed.
"Sir Larentii," a man, one of several sitting around a table shoved against a kitchen wall, rose to greet Graegar.
"Master Cook Fes, I have a bird here that needs feeding," Graegar smiled at the man. I stared at Master Cook Fes. I could read all the others inside the kitchen. I couldn't read him. Graegar patted my shoulder. "She doesn't eat meat," Graegar added.
"I have a pasta dish that will suit," Fes nodded. "Here, sit, you look tired and cold," he said.
I nodded—almost afraid to speak. I was rumpled and could only imagine what I looked like, even after Graegar had dried my clothing and warmed my bones. I sat in the seat that Fes had occupied, and waited while he warmed a plate of food inside a zap oven. He then pulled up an extra chair and motioned for me to eat while he went back to his food.
"Oh, my gosh," I moaned in pleasure after the first bite.
"You like that?" Fes grinned.
I nodded enthusiastically and took another bite. Fes' brother rose and brought me a glass of wine. Graegar stood by, smiling as I ate the best meal I'd ever had.
"Come back anytime," Fes gave me a grin after I finished my meal and Graegar said it was time to go. While I'd eaten, Fes, his brothers and three other employees had talked as if I were one of them, discussing menus, wine orders and other business. I could have wept at how comfortable it felt. "Tell the host that Fes invited you, and you'll be brought to the kitchen," he added.
"Reah doesn't look like any of you," I said shyly as Fes lifted my fingers and kissed them.
"You know Reah?" Fes smiled widely. "She's my niece."
"I saw her once, on Campiaa," I replied.
"She's the best cook in the family," Fes said.
"I don't know about that. This was the best food I've ever had," I replied. Fes had dark eyes and hair, and was more than a foot taller than I. He was lean, too, so I knew he worked hard at his restaurant.
"I'll cook for you anytime," Fes chuckled. "Come back again. Please." He let my fingers go.
"Now, young one, you will fold us back to Le-Ath Veronis," Graegar announced.
"But," I said, blinking up at the tall, blue Larentii. I wasn't sure I could get myself there, let alone a passenger.
"Focus on where you want to be. Exactly where you want to be," Graegar's bright-blue eyes twinkled.
"I want to be in bed," I sighed. I was exhausted, and with a full belly, all I wanted to do was sleep.
"Then focus on your bed," Graegar laughed. I grasped large blue fingers in mine, focused on the bed in Queen Lissa's suite and folded to Le-Ath Veronis.
"It took you long enough," Kalenegar waited inside the suite when Graegar and I dropped inside it. "You didn't transport her, did you?" Kal looked accusingly at Graegar.
"She brought us both here—from Tulgalan," Graegar said, his voice going cold.
"You know what, I don't like your tone," I glared at Kal. "I don't like you, either." I'd seen a lot of things in Graegar's reading. Many, many things, in fact. "Bye. Have fun," I raised a hand in Kal's direction. Did I know it would bring a flash of power? I didn't. I did smile, though, thinking about the icy water when Kal landed in it. I figured he could get himself out quickly enough—he was used to folding anywhere he wanted. I was still learning. And—if he hadn't wanted me to learn these things, he should have stayed far, far away.
"Where did you send him?" Graegar asked.
"Where he sent me first," I said. "A sea, somewhere."
"Larentii have not been trained to fold that way in a very long time," Graegar remarked with a frown.
"Well, I get the idea Kal does a shitload of stuff nobody does anymore," I huffed.
"I will leave you now," Graegar grinned. "You need sleep."
"Yeah. Gavin the terrible will be here, first thing in the morning," I agreed.
* * *
"Erland will come for you as soon as the Council meeting is over. You will spend the night at the King's palace on Karathia, and perform your duty for Rylend tomorrow. He expects an emissary from Tyriss, accompanied by his six wives. You will tell Rylend everything he wishes to know."
Gavin had started in before I was properly awake, shoving a bottle of blood substitute in my hands and growling his instructions. If I hadn't shut the closet door, I imagined he'd have followed me inside my closet, still grumbling, while I dressed. I wanted to call him names. I didn't. I wanted to treat him as I'd treated Kalenegar the night before. I didn't. I could only imagine that more trouble would come, and if I were truthful, I expected Kal to retaliate in some way. It's just the way things worked. I'd been tired the night before and hadn't thought my actions through very well.
"Of course, Gavin," I said as he poured more instructions into my ear on the way to the Council Chamber—the Council meeting would decide which streets needed repairs and whether to buy new hovercars for Sheriff Trevor's department.
Did I expect Trevor to attend the meeting? I should have, but I hadn't. I wanted to go to him. Sit with him. Talk with him. Gavin growled low beside me, so I settled for giving him a hopeless glance before listening to boring speeches on what road repairs were needed and how many new vehicles could be purchased.
The debate lasted most of the day. I could have counted (and replaced) every brick in the streets discussed by that time. I could tell Trevor was disappointed, too—he'd asked for ten new vehicles. Only three were approved.
My love, you look tired
, filtered into my mind. It wasn't Trevor's voice. This voice was different, and it didn't come again.
* * *
"That is the Ambassador to Tyriss, with his six concubines," Erland whispered close to my ear. I watched as Rylend spoke with the Ambassador fifteen feet away from where Erland and I stood.
Rylend had chosen a round, richly decorated antechamber to greet the Ambassador before inviting him to the smaller royal dining hall for a midday meal. "What can you tell me?" Erland asked softly.
He's horrible. Beats his concubines. Mistreats his servants. Sucks up to the Royal Prince of Tyriss, who has enjoyed Ambassador Riis's lip prints on his ass until recently. I feel that's about to change. Oh, and he gives bad advice and blames it on somebody else every time
. I sent my communication by mindspeech—I didn't want Ambassador Riis to hear anything I said.
You think he might use a Karathian warlock as a scapegoat?
I think he'd use his mother and his firstborn child as scapegoats if it would keep him out of trouble.
Then Rylend will offer his regrets at the end of the meal
, Erland sighed softly.
I wouldn't put my worst enemy in a position to serve Ambassador Riis
, I agreed. Although it might be fun to watch Gavin remove Riis's head.
Will you sit beside me at dinner, then?
Erland smiled as he gazed elsewhere.
If you want. I can hear everything Riis says and tell you when he's lying, if you'd like.
That sounds like fun
.
* * *
"I could tell he was lying," Ry agreed as he accepted a glass of wine from a servant after the meal. Ambassador Riis had been sent away quite disappointed. "I just didn't suspect the other things."
Erland had escorted me to Rylend's private study afterward, and I accepted a glass of wine, too. I'd had very little to drink at the table, although the food they'd served me was very good.
"He won't last much longer. I think the royal house may wake soon and discover that Riis has his hand in the till." I sipped a very good white wine and nodded my thanks to Ry.
"Do you suppose that's why he wanted a warlock—to get away at a moment's notice?" Erland asked, settling on the edge of his son's desk and accepting a glass of wine as well.
"Yes. I think the wheels are turning in his little, hamster-powered brain," I agreed. "And it would give a black eye to Karathia, to know that the Crown supplied a warlock to Riis with full blessings."
"He offered three times what the job was worth," Ry agreed.
"Still not worth it," I said. "The damage would follow you for a very long time. I'm just worried about the women he has. Most of them put up with his bullshit because he has a lot of money. I can't imagine what he might do to them if they try to leave after he's pushed out by the Royal Prince."
"I haven't heard that word, except from Lissa," Erland said.
"Bullshit?" I lifted an eyebrow in Erland's direction.
"That's the one." He swallowed more wine.
"I'm from Texas," I said. "Lissa is from Oklahoma. People from both states say bullshit a lot. Especially if something really is a pile of crap." Ry laughed.
* * *
"What did you do for Rylend?" Gavin growled the moment Erland left. He'd dropped me off in my office, where Gavin was waiting impatiently.
"I told him the truth. Ambassador Riis was attempting to take advantage of Ry and his warlocks, because he'll need a quick getaway very soon. And I said bullshit. Three times."
"You were disrespectful?"
"No. Erland and I discussed the fact that Lissa is from Oklahoma, where they say bullshit often. Ask him about it, if you like." I was tired and wanted to go to bed. I was hoping too, that Kalenegar had given up his sadistic night travels. Sleep was a precious commodity, and I found myself craving it like a drug.
"How do you know Lissa is from Oklahoma?"
"The same way I know you're Roman. I'm from Texas. It's next door to Oklahoma. They say bullshit there, too. May I go to bed, now?"
Gavin cursed under his breath but he waved me out of his office. I was a blur getting away from him, afraid that he might change his mind.
* * *
"Get up." That voice I knew and it belonged to a tall, red-haired, sadistic Larentii, who seemed overly fond of waking me from a sound sleep.
"Fuck off," I snapped and misted the hell away from him.
* * *
"I feel the soil and the tree you're leaning against," Corent settled beside me with a sigh. "That's how I knew you'd come." I'd wakened him, just as Kal had wakened me. That wasn't what I'd meant to happen.
"I'm sorry I woke you," I apologized, blinking in the light on that half of the planet. It never really went dark there, and I wondered how Corent managed to sleep at all.
"I do not mind," Corent smiled and leaned against the same tree. I'd chosen an oak tree outside his grove, hoping I wouldn't disturb anybody.
"I took your advice," I said. "I managed to turn to mist. Apparently, I can fold space, too. I wonder what else I can do, now," I sighed.
"Have you ever seen the cities on your own?"
"I haven't seen much of anything here, unless I was accompanied by a grumpy vampire."
"I don't go often, but I have visited. Visitors tend to stare at my hair."
"That's too bad. Do you ever wear hats?"
"Seldom. They interfere with my weather senses."
"What do you like best about visiting the cities?"
"The ice-cream shops. There are two—one in Casino City and another in Sun City."
"I love ice cream." I leaned back against the tree trunk and closed my eyes with a sigh. I'd gotten precious little ice cream in my life.