Authors: Laura Jo Phillips
“That’s such a wonderfully thoughtful thing to do,” Salene said, giving Ari a warm look. “Have you made any decisions yet?”
“No,” Rayne said with a sigh. “There are just so many options to choose from. Too many.”
Salene frowned at the level of tension she felt rolling off of her sister. “Do you have a room to use as a nursery right now?”
“Yes, and that’s another thing. I have to pick out furniture and draperies and carpets for that room, too.”
“That’s a problem?”
“Yes, it is,” Rayne said, her brow creased with worry. “What do I know about furnishing a nursery?”
“Rayne, you’ve wanted babies forever. I thought you knew all about this stuff.”
“I know about
babies
,” Rayne said. “Not decorating.”
“In that case, perhaps you should hire a decorator.” Rayne’s eyes widened and she looked at Ari hopefully.
“Can we do that?”
“We can do whatever you want,” Ari said, the love in his eyes causing Salene’s heart to twist painfully in her chest at the unintentional reminder that no one would ever look at her like that.
“Thanks, Salene,” Rayne said after hugging Ari and kissing him soundly on the mouth. “I’ve been getting so stressed about all of this.”
“Stress isn’t good for you or your daughters,” Salene said, carefully hiding her feelings. “Maybe you should focus on getting the nursery ready and set the rest aside for now. By the time the babies are born you’ll have had months to live in the house, which should give you a better idea of what you want.”
“That’s an excellent idea, Salene,” Landor said, entering the room in time to hear her. He leaned down to kiss Rayne, then guided her to the sofa while Salene took a chair across from her.
“I heard you’re going to EDU-11 to pick up your brothers,” Landor said once Rayne was settled.
“Does the entire planet know?” Salene asked.
“Probably not everyone yet,” he replied seriously. “We have but three royal Princesses, and each one of you has been taken from us in the past couple of months. We’re incredibly lucky that all three of you are safe and sound, but neither you nor Rayne came back to us unscathed. So yes, there is interest in your health and safety. Does that bother you?”
“As long as no one tries to wrap me up in cotton batting and stick me on a shelf somewhere, then no, it doesn’t bother me at all.”
“That’s almost word for word what your mother had to say about it,” Landor said. Salene didn’t actually smile, but the expression on her face was definitely smug.
“You’re going to EDU-11 by yourself to get the boys?” Rayne asked quietly. She was, apparently, one of the few Jasani who hadn’t known until Landor mentioned it.
“Yes, I am,” Salene replied. Seeing that Rayne was going to object, she held up one arm and pushed her sleeve back to reveal a gold bracelet. “
Dede
got me half a dozen of these new personal transport signal disrupters this morning. Each one is different so it’s not blatantly obvious that they’re more than bracelets. I’ve got no plans to go without one for a single moment, and there’s a powerful, ship-wide disrupter system already installed on the
Ember
. Jake Connell is coming out of retirement to command the yacht, and Aunt Aisling came by this morning and agreed to work with me for the next few weeks, training.”
“Training?” Con asked as he entered the room with a refreshment tray. “What sort of training?”
“Salene has a gift for throwing things,” Rayne said proudly. “As good as Tani is with
shuriken
, Salene used to be just as good with knives and
sai
.”
“Why
used to be
?” Ari asked as he poured herbal tea for Rayne while Con poured coffee for Salene.
“I haven’t thrown a knife in years,” Salene replied, accepting the coffee with thanks. “Even when I was practicing all the time it was because I enjoyed throwing things and hitting the targets. I never even considered doing it for real self-defense, though I will be now.”
“With that much natural talent it won’t take long to regain some proficiency,” Con said. “You’re going to have to work very hard, though.”
“I know, and I’m looking forward to it,” Salene said. “It’ll give me something to do, and I enjoy spending time with Aunt Ash anyway.”
“Will the Gryphons be there?” Rayne asked.
“No, she promised they wouldn’t be.”
“That’s good,” Rayne said.
“Why is that good?” Landor asked curiously, then leaned back when both women shot him narrow eyed looks. “I’m just asking. You’re our sister now, Salene, and we’d like to see you happy. We cannot help but hope tempers will cool sooner rather than later.”
Salene dropped her eyes, reminding herself that they didn’t know the truth. She was surprised by how much it hurt to know that her own family, including Rayne, believed she would truly turn her back on the men she loved for any reason, let alone one so petty. But, the Bearen-Hirus had threatened to have the Gryphons banished during the argument that had taken place on the
Armadura
, and that was just for slighting her. If she shared the truth with her new brothers, she’d have the Gryphons’ blood on her hands for all of eternity.
She swallowed hard, composed her face and looked up again. “In a deliberate attempt to change the subject, how’s it going with finding those with Controllers?”
“Very well,” Con answered, offering a tray of cookies to Salene which she politely declined. “We’ve identified and neutralized all of those on Jasan that hadn’t already been found. We also identified six of them on different ships, and of those, we’ve received confirmations that four of them have been safely neutralized. The last two vessels haven’t responded yet, but they’re too far away to have gotten our message and returned it yet.”
“That’s good news,” Salene said. “Rayne, were you able to find out what happened to the Gryphons in the other timeline?” Rayne looked at her in surprise, then dropped her gaze to the floor. Salene frowned. “Please, Rayne. I’d like to know.”
“Of course,” Rayne said, looking up again with regret and sadness in her eyes. “In that timeline, when you were shot in the head during the battle that took place when the Doftles abducted you, you didn’t go with the Gryphons when they left Garza. Your original plan, before I was sent back, was to go home on the
Ugaztun
with Mom and the Dads.”
“That’s right,” Salene said. “I’d forgotten that. So I guess you don’t know what happened to them, do you?”
“No, I’m afraid not.”
Salene’s frown deepened. She’d missed something. But what? She thought a moment, but couldn’t figure it out. “Why did you look so sad when I asked about this?”
Rayne took a deep breath, but before she had a chance to speak Salene raised her hand and shook her head. “Never mind,” she said, her face paling. “I get it now. In that timeline the
Ugaztun
was destroyed instead of the
Razor
.”
Rayne nodded. “I’m sorry, Salene.”
“Don’t be,” Salene said. She leaned forward and waited for Rayne to look up at her again. “Because of you, the Gryphons are still alive and not captives of the Doftle. Because of you, I’m free and don’t have a brain injury. Because of you, our parents still live, and we all have a chance to go on with our lives. There is absolutely nothing for you to be sorry about.”
“Thank you, Salene,” Rayne said. “But I’m still sorry for giving you such bad news.”
“That it didn’t happen is
good
news,” Salene said, then searched for another topic. She took a sip of her coffee and decided this was a good time to tell her sister why she was there. “Rayne,
Ata
asked that I invite Jinjie to come along with me on the
Ember
when I go to pick up the boys. I told him that he was attached to you, and that I didn’t think he’d agree, and
Ata
said that was his choice, but insisted that I ask anyway. So, I’m asking.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” Rayne said. “It’s up to Jinjie, of course.”
“I know, I just wanted to be sure it was okay with you guys before I asked him.”
“I think Jinjie will jump at the chance to have something to do besides hang around here,” Rayne said. “Moreover, knowing he’s with you will make me feel better.”
“It’ll make all of us feel better,” Landor agreed. “We’ve only been off the ship for a few days but already Jinjie’s magic is much stronger than it was. Like us, he draws his power from nature and there’s precious little of that on a space station. By the time you’re ready to leave he’ll be fully restored.”
“All right, I’ll ask him,” Salene said. “I doubt that anything will go wrong, but I enjoy Jinjie’s company so it’ll be nice to have him along anyway. If he wants to come, of course.”
“You enjoy his company?” Rayne asked in surprise. “He rarely talks.”
“He talks when he has something to say, and when he does, I generally agree with him. So yes, I enjoy his company a great deal. Is he around?”
“No, he’s not,” Ari replied. “He’s in Berria speaking with the Council today.”
“If you don’t mind, Salene, I’ll ask him when he gets home and let you know what he says,” Rayne said. “Or, if you prefer to ask him yourself you can come back tomorrow.”
“I don’t mind you asking at all,” Salene said. “In fact, it’ll be better that way. I don’t want him to feel pressured into saying yes, and if you ask him without me there, it’ll be easier for him to decline.”
“Then I’ll ask him and let you know what he says,” Rayne said.
“Thank you, Rayne,” Salene said, “I appreciate it.”
Rayne nodded, then clapped her hands together. “Now, Salene, if you will, please help me figure out how to choose a decorator for the nursery.”
***
Talus, Jon, and Kar sat in the living room of the home that they and Salene had worked together on over the past two years. They’d picked the land together, chosen the site for the house, the layout, and even the materials. Every single decision had been a collaboration between the four of them from start to finish, top to bottom.
They’d moved into the house just two months earlier, a few days before their bonding ceremony was originally planned to take place. They’d been disappointed at having to postpone the ceremony when Tani went missing, of course, but after waiting for three years, another couple of months hadn’t seemed too much of a hardship.
Now, as their bodies sat stiffly on the cozy living room furniture the four of them had chosen together, Talus wondered if they’d ever be able to realize their dreams of raising a family in the sprawling, mountaintop home. Though he’d never admit it to his brothers, he had serious doubts about their future.
For days now they’d struggled to make some headway against the Controllers with no sign of progress. They still couldn’t remember much of what had happened to them, either. After learning from Uncle Olaf that their ship, the
Razor
, had been lost with all hands, they hadn’t really wanted to. That had been a particularly difficult blow for them, and it still made Talus want to scream with a combination of sorrow and fury he’d never experienced before.
As he attempted to tamp down the emotions he couldn’t do anything to relieve, a thought suddenly popped into his head, startling him. Before he could share it with his brothers, the Controller kicked in which, as always, rendered them unable to communicate.
It took him a moment to realize that the Controllers were reacting to the sound of their housekeeper’s footsteps as she approached the living room. They all opened their eyes and stood up.
Mimicking his behavior to a degree that still stunned Talus, the Controller in his brain stretched his arms over his head, then walked to the window overlooking a small lake below the house, though he kept his eyes on the door rather than the view. Jon’s Controller leaned back on the sofa, reached for the remote to the entertainment system, and turned on some music. Kar’s Controller walked over to the vid-terminal and began tapping on the keyboard just as Izzy knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Kar said just loud enough to be heard. The door swung open and the woman who looked after their home just as her mother before her had done, entered the room. “Good afternoon, Izzy,” Kar said, looking up at her with a smile.
“Good afternoon, Sirs,” Izzy replied. Talus frowned inwardly. Izzy never called them
Sir
. She’d always called them
Mister
, no matter how many times they’d told her that she didn’t have to. It had taken them a few years to realize it was a private form of affection that Izzy used only for the three of them. The sudden change caused Talus to look at her more closely. She was nervous, he realized. But why?
“My son is here to pick me up. I laid in enough food for you to last a month.”
“Thank you, Izzy,” Kar said, stretching his lips in a smile that Izzy looked away from as she wiped her palms on her apron. “That’s very thoughtful of you.”
“It’s the least I can do,” she said. “Are you sure you want me to go now? I can stay until you leave, then close up the house for you afterward. I’m glad to do it, you know that.”