Blood Alliance

by Connie Suttle

  I revealed the last image. "Zanfield Staggs?" It was a stroke of genius to replace President Ylisis of Murazal with Staggs, as they had much in common.

  "The same. Once we get rid of him, we'll take everything he has, since there are no heirs."

  D'slay intended to steal everything from the wealthiest citizen in both Alliances. I didn't tell him he would have his work cut out for him; the image before Staggs' was of a High Demon, and most of D'slay's tricks wouldn't work against her kind.

  That's why he didn't know what she was—he couldn't see it. Perhaps he wouldn't understand until she killed him for his trouble. My only hope was that she didn't kill me at the same time.

  Before then, I'd return to the likeness now burned on my brain—that of the dark-haired, blue-eyed woman, who could stop my breath with a brief glimpse of her image.

  State House, Corez

  Lissa

  "Are you ready to do this?" I frowned at Gavin, who'd volunteered to stand in for the First Advisor and resign his position—after stating that it was to move Corez past the recent difficulties and allow someone else to take charge until the next election.

  Gavin now looked exactly like First Advisor Haris Doy, while Rigo wore the senior Second Advisor's resemblance. Rigo, as the Second Advisor, would then take over for the resigning First Advisor. He'd be elevated temporarily to the First Advisor's position, until things could be sorted out.

  At least I hoped they could be sorted out. I'm sure if the real First Advisor learned of any of this, he'd be having palpitations over it.

  Gavin would be ushered out of the State House, where he'd be flown (supposedly) to his estate in the country and stay there until things became normal again. Frankly, I was beginning to wonder what normal actually was, and whether it would ever show its face in the Alliances after this fiasco.

  As for Teeg and the Reth Alliance, we already had them halfway agreeable to re-signing the trade agreements, with only a few concessions to make them a bit happier with the deal.

  Some compulsion may have been laid on a couple of people to get there, but for now, I wasn't about to become squeamish about it. We were lucky nobody else had died in the process, given what else we'd had to deal with.

  "You fold space to get back here from Haris' country house," I straightened Gavin's collar before he went out to speak with an angry, rebellious crowd. "I'll have a shield up, and you should have a shield up, too. Somebody could be waiting for the opportunity to do you in, just as they did Fallah."

  "Cara, stop worrying; I will be fine," Gavin gave me a slight frown.

  "Fine. Go out there and get screamed at, then."

  "I love you," he said, leaning down to give me a quick kiss.

  "I love your ass, too. And most of the rest of you."

  "You do not love all of me?" He pretended to be upset.

  "Yes, I love all of you. Can't let you get a big head about it, now can I?"

  "I suppose not. Remind me to take you to dinner and give you flowers when we return home."

  "I'll hold you to that."

  "Very well, then." Gavin squared his shoulders before walking through the door to the balcony, where official announcements were often made. Drake and Drew weren't far behind him, watching for any mischief to occur while Gavin gave the speech Rigo wrote for him, claiming his innocence and the reasons it would be better for him to step aside to put Corez back on track.

  I was glad when it was over, and Rigo stepped forward to promise the crowd that Corez would be in good hands until the upcoming election, where it would likely be that a new First Advisor would also be chosen.

  We're getting in the hover-chopper now, Drake sent as Rigo concluded his speech. We'll be back in about an hour.

  All right. Keep your eyes open. Somebody could be waiting to do away with the First Advisor.

  We're on it, he replied.

  "How was it?" Rigo asked as he joined me inside the First Advisor's study and the balcony doors were shut behind him.

  "It went as well as could be expected, I think," I told him. "Gavin got booed through the whole speech, so it didn't matter what he said. You only got booed a few times, and that's probably as normal as you can get in this situation."

  "We have Teeg on the comp-vid; he has an agreement drawn up and ready to sign," Winkler told Rigo.

  "Any changes since we last talked?"

  "Only one, and it's not much—they want a credit for any packing containers we keep."

  "How many do we keep?"

  "Roughly one per cent—Corez doesn't like getting cluttered up with that stuff."

  "The monetary impact?"

  "Three million credits per turn."

  "Fine. I suppose three million is a small price to pay to dissolve this wart on the Alliance's ass," Rigo sighed. "Shall we sign?" He turned to me and offered his arm. I took it and walked into his office to sign a document that shouldn't have had to be signed to begin with.

  Royal Palace, Galk

  Reah

  "My Queen, it appears we are deadlocked." Rezo Nilus, as the ranking member of the Council, brought the news to me, along with his comp-vid count of the votes tallied. It was tied—that meant the enemy had gotten to one more member whose vote we'd counted on and hadn't discovered until it was too late.

  I had to Look to see what needed to be done to break the tie, and almost smiled. The King was the tie-breaking vote, and no doubt the enemy was counting on him to cancel the Queen's vote, as they were always at odds with one another.

  "Fetch the King," I turned and ordered Cudworth. He dipped his head to me and turned to leave immediately.

  Five minutes later, amid whispers, coughs and the usual noise made by mostly old men in expensive garb, Tory walked into the Council chamber.

  "The vote is yours, my King, to decide the tie on the tariff issue," Rezo Nilus bowed to Tory.

  Tory turned toward me, his face expressionless. On one side of the chamber, the ones voting for the tariffs drew in expectant breaths.

  They'd counted on this—someone had told them, perhaps. I was determined to get to the bottom of this before the day was over.

  "The King votes against the measure," Tory snapped and stalked out of the chamber. Cudworth and Ocenosek closed the doors behind him.

  "Those against the measure carry the vote," Rezo Nilus announced while tapping on his comp-vid. The chamber erupted in shouts and chaos.

  Presidential Palace, Murazal

  Travis

  "We're opening a new terminal at the space station today," Rajeon informed Zanfield. "It's one of those events where your wardrobe choices will certainly shine," he added.

  "Perfect," Zanfield grinned. "Perri, what shall we wear?"

  "Purple?" Perri asked.

  "Purple it is. How much time do we have to dress?"

  "Half an hour, so you should start now," Rajeon replied.

  "I think we can manage that." Zanfield offered his arm to Perri, who took it and actually smiled at him.

  "There will be a special docking of the Royal ship in its new berth after the dedication," I said. "And a cocktail party onboard following that."

  "It's as if I'd planned this myself," Zanfield waved a hand and walked Perri toward her suite.

  "He gets more and more into Ylisis' character as time goes on, and I thought he'd nailed it when we first got here," Trent, who stood next to me, whispered.

  "I think we're only now seeing that our Zanfield is a perfectionist," I agreed. "Not that it's a bad thing," I added.

  "At least we don't have to match his outfits to stand guard," Trent chuckled. "I'd have run away screaming at the yellow outfits they wore two nights ago."

  "He doesn't need the competition," I teased. "This way, he and Perri are the standouts, and I'm good with that."

  "Yellow isn't my color," Morrett declared as he and Rajeon followed Zanfield and Perri. "Purple isn't my color, either."

  Trent snickered; he and I fell in behind Morrett and Rajeon and followed them
toward Zanfield's suite.

  State House, Corez

  Lissa

  "Shouldn't Gavin be back with Drake and Drew?" I thought to ask after two hours had passed. Rigo, Winkler and I had spent that time sending out press releases and answering questions regarding the new trade agreement with the Campiaan Alliance.

  "They said an hour, and it's long past that," Rigo's brow furrowed as he considered the passage of time.

  Drake? Drew? I sent. Gavin—where are you?

  They didn't answer.

  "I'm not finding them," Winkler slid off his perch on a corner of Rigo's desk, concern on his face.

  "The hover-chopper is parked outside the First Advisor's home, but they're not there," I breathed, trying not to panic.

  "Let's go," Winkler grabbed my arm and folded space. When we reached Haris Doy's country manor, it looked as if a hurricane had passed through. Windows were broken, half the roof had been swept off and servants were standing outside, some of them weeping. Amid the wreckage, there was no sign of Gavin or my twins.

  Now it was time to panic.

  Gemma Village, Hraede

  Nissa

  "It's nice here," Trik said. He, Toff and I sat at an outdoor table at a local restaurant, having an afternoon snack before picking up groceries for the house.

  "May I join you?" Tamp walked toward us and pulled out the remaining chair at our table.

  "Sure. What's new at the palace?" Toff asked.

  "Al and Mephista are having a late lunch," Tamp said. "I didn't want to interrupt them."

  "They seem to be getting along quite well," I said.

  "Better than well. It worries me a little."

  "In what way?"

  "What if they don't want to separate when this is over?"

  "That could be a problem," Trik said, absently turning his mug of tea on the tabletop.

  "Somebody in charge will have to make a decision, I suppose," Toff shrugged. "Is there any indication how much longer this mission will last?"

  "No idea. We're sort of at a standstill at the moment, since we can't locate the last two members of the false Rith Naeri."

  "Too bad Ethan Looms didn't know more than he did," Toff observed. "He apparently knew some of the others."

  "I get the feeling they may have saved these last two because they're the worst of the lot," I said.

  "It concerns me as well." Tamp breathed a sigh as our wait-bot arrived to take his order. "Black Mountain tea," he requested. "Hot, with honey."

  The bot hovered away to fetch the tea while we continued our conversation.

  Honey, Mom's voice interrupted. Your uncles Drake, Drew and Gavin have disappeared. We can't find them anywhere.

  Presidential Palace, Murazal

  Travis

  Trent and I would step off the president's shuttle first, followed by Zanfield and Perri. Rajeon and Morrett would disembark last, as the rear guards.

  Ready? Zanfield straightened his purple suit, lavishly decorated with gold trim.

  Trent tapped the code to open the shuttle door, where steps would form so we could walk regally onto the platform of the new section of Murazal's space station. In unison, Trent and I stepped downward, then separated on the deck to allow Zanfield and Perri to join the guests selected for the unveiling.

  Clicking our heels together, we signaled the official arrival of the President and his fiancée. Rajeon and Morrett were supposed to follow them, and then Trent and I would close ranks and march into the main hall of the new structure behind the others.

  Except Rajeon and Morrett didn't disembark.

  In fact, they were no longer on the shuttle.

  They'd disappeared into thin air and panic rose, threatening to choke my breath.

  Where are they? Trent, true to his Falchani training, didn't twitch a muscle as he sent anxious mindspeech to me.

  I don't know. Morrett? Rajeon? I called out to them. There was no answer.

  Travis, Trent, Gavin and your fathers have disappeared, Mom sent. We can't find them. She sounded almost hysterical.

  Mom, Trent's sending quavered, Rajeon and Morrett just disappeared off the shuttle. We don't know where they are, either.

  Royal Palace, Galk

  Reah

  "Where's Tory?" I hadn't found him inside his suite or mine, and he hadn't answered my mindspeech.

  I'd aimed my question at Cudworth and Ocenosek, who appeared just as worried as I did. "We cannot find Denevik, either," Cudworth whispered.

  "We haven't been able to find Vik or Denevik," Wyatt and Bel Erland appeared at my side, both sounding out of breath.

  "We tried mindspeech, and they're not answering," Wyatt added.

  "So have I," I admitted, feeling more frightened than I had in a long while. "Where could they be?"

  "Vik was headed toward his suite when he left the Council chamber," Cudworth said. "He told us on his way out the door."

  "There's no evidence he even made it here," Bel Erland said after running a quick scry.

  "Can you tell where he disappeared?" I asked my warlock son.

  "Hold on, let me reverse the scry," he held up a hand and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he didn't speak for several seconds. "Denevik met him in the hall leading to his suite. They disappeared from there—just—vanished."

  "This leads me to believe they are prisoners hidden by bone dust or a Sirenali, or," Ocenosek didn't finish his sentence.

  I understood his meaning, however. They could be dead, and we might never know what happened.

  We have problems, Travis sent mindspeech. Mom says our dads have disappeared with Uncle Gavin, and Rajeon and Morrett are now gone. We can't find any of them.

  We've lost Tory and Denevik, I replied, not bothering to call Tory by his other name. His brothers would know who he was.

  Nissa, Trik and Toff have disappeared right in front of me, Tamp reported. Vanished without a trace.

  Royal Palace, Kwark

  Zaria

  Even in Larentii form, the pregnancy was so uncomfortable I was barely able to stand it. The child had grown huge inside my womb, and any movement he made was painful to me.

  Lately, he'd been moving a lot. Connegar and Valegar were constantly singing to both of us, in an attempt to get the baby and me through this difficult time. The baby had to be feeling just as confined and cramped as I did, and I worried that he'd have a tough time making his way out.

  Larentii females never pushed—the baby would crawl out on his or her own.

  Contractions?

  Those were just a suggestion that it was time to vacate the premises. Any attempt to push or force the child out could be seen by the child as a threat, and, as Larentii were born powerful, it could end up harming one or the other if the child fought back.

  "Honey," I told the baby while rubbing my belly, "just hang on, we'll get through this."

  He stirred in reply.

  "My love, there have been ah, complications," Ilya and Valegar appeared beside me. Ilya was the one to speak; Val looked worried. A worried Larentii was never a good thing.

  "What's wrong?" I asked, while the baby moved again.

  "People have disappeared, and nobody can find them."

  "Who?" Suddenly, I felt terrified.

  "Vik, Morrett, Gavin, Drake, Drew, Nissa, Toff and Trik," Ilya reported. "We worry there may be more, and there is no explanation for the disappearances or where they could possibly be."

  "Come, sit down," Valegar took my arm. I was far too tall at this point for Ilya to do so. Connegar arrived at that moment to assist Valegar. Together, they placed me in a comfortable chair, enlarged several times over to accommodate a tall, heavily-pregnant Larentii.

  I started rubbing my belly again, to comfort myself as well as the child. Surely he could feel my distress at this unexpected and troubling news. It'll be okay, I sent to him as well as myself. It had to be okay. That was my brother, my sister and two brothers-in-law, in addition to a mate, two friends and three adoptive un
cles missing.

  Why hadn't my medallions activated? Morrett and Vik wore theirs—they'd never take them off for any reason.

  As for Nissa, Trik and Toff—they wore protection jewels made by Grey House—had those activated and we hadn't known it?

  "Was anyone with Nissa and her husbands when they disappeared?"

  "Tampirus," Valegar nodded.

  Tamp? I sent. I admit, I may have sounded more than frightened in my mindspeech.

  My love, what is it? he asked, sounding concerned.

  You were with Nissa, Trik and Toff? Did their protection jewels fire?

  If they did, I didn't see it happen. They disappeared so fast, there was no flash of light or anything else to indicate the jewels activated.

  Was anyone else around?

  Just a flustered wait-bot, delivering tea. Shadow Grey is here, now, tearing the thing apart using power, to determine if it was spelled by someone.

  Shadow was Lissa's mate and Nissa's father. I could only imagine how desperate he felt at his only child's disappearance.

  How much power would it take to pull powerful Grey House wizards away? It can't be a spell, I told Tamp. Two High Demons are missing, and no spell would have worked against either of them. That's not what's happening here.

  Then it has to be one of the powerful. Tamp was sounding more alarmed than before.

  The only ones I know of are those aligned with the Prophet, I replied.

  We've suspected his hand in this, along with D'slay's, Tamp agreed.

  Tell Shadow to put the bot back together. There's no spell to find. Whether it passed information to someone else, however, remains to be seen. We need an engineer rather than a wizard on this. Call for Sabrina. If she and Dave can't figure this out, it didn't happen.

  I'll send the message.

  Keep me advised.

  I will.

  "What did he say?" Ilya asked.

  "He says there was no indication that their protection jewels fired, and I didn't get any warning from Vik's or Morrett's medallions."