by Raine Thomas
And she would have a say in it, she silently vowed as she folded her nightgown and carried it with her out of the bathing chamber. She and Ty both would.
Enticing aromas beckoned her in the opposite direction of the bedroom. She found Elly stirring a large pot over the fire in the cooking area. Ty’s mother glanced up when she entered and gave her a quick once-over.
“Purple suits you,” she said with a nod. “Tae mentioned it was your favorite color.”
“Oh. Yes.” Kyr approached the cooking area counter, feeling uncertain around Elly. The other female’s thoughtfulness touched her deeply, but she wasn’t sure how to express it. “Thanks again for thinking of me.”
“You can leave the nightgown there on the counter,” Elly said, filling a bowl with a thick, brown stew. “I’ll take care of it later. Then have a seat here at the table and let me feed you and that grandchild of mine.”
Kyr did as she was bid, settling into a wooden chair and breathing in the scent of the food as it was placed in front of her. Elly added a hunk of crusty bread and some sliced cheese and fruit, then poured what Kyr recognized as a vitamin packet into a cup of water and placed it beside the bowl.
“This looks and smells amazing,” she said, taking another sniff as she tore off a piece of the bread and dipped it into the stew. After the first bite, she moaned, “It tastes amazing, too.”
She glanced up to find Elly watching her with a small smile and approval shining in her soft blue-gray gaze. Kyr paused mid-chew, wondering what she had done to cause the look.
“It pleases me that you trust me enough to eat my food without question,” Elly explained with a light shrug. Seeing Kyr’s flush, she took one of the other seats at the table said, “But enough about that. I imagine you have plenty of questions about Tae from before you met him. I’m happy to answer them.”
When Kyr picked up Ty’s mental groan, she grinned widely and said, “You know what? I do have one or two.”
They spent a good hour chatting about Ty’s childhood while she ate everything Elly placed in front her. She laughed a lot, and found her eyes misting a few times, too. She couldn’t help but think of the child she and Ty would raise together. She hoped their child had as happy a childhood as Ty clearly had.
“So, now that you know most of what there is to know about Tae the hellion child,” Elly said as she cleared Kyr’s bowl, “do you still feel you made a good choice as your amanti?”
Kyr smiled. “He’s perfect for me. I’m fortunate he had such wonderful parents to help him become the man he is.”
The compliment came easily because it came from her heart. She saw the impact it had on Elly, who turned to put the bowl in the sink, but not soon enough to hide her emotion. Kyr wondered for a moment if she shouldn’t have said it.
“I’ve already talked to Tae about the fact that you two haven’t undergone the Proce-Amanti,” Elly said when she had regained her composure. “I’d like to conduct the ritual for you.”
Kyr’s heart swelled with appreciation. “Oh, that would be perfect. Thank you for offering.”
Elly smiled. “Excellent. I’d like to conduct it after the evening meal, since you seem to be back in good health. Your pairing has waited long enough for a proper blessing.”
Kyr was in complete agreement. She started to help clear the rest of the food dishes, but Elly shooed her out of the cooking area, telling her to go and find Ty. Again, Kyr was struck by the fact that Elly seemed perfectly content to give her orders, and that didn’t offend Kyr in the least.
The smile that formed over that observation eased from her expression as she followed her senses to the practice room. Ty’s stress level was growing more intense by the moment. She tried to pick up his thoughts, but just heard, Fine by me.
Loud voices reached her when she was less than twenty feet from the practice room door. Actually, she realized, it was just one loud voice. A male voice.
“You’ve dishonored this family, TaeDane. You killed my son!”
Kyr’s eyes widened. The pain from the harsh words lashed from Ty into her. She rushed up to the practice room door and pushed it aside. She was presented with the view of the back of a large male…the male who was barking and snarling at Ty.
She tapped into the male’s thoughts to find out what kind of threat he presented. She immediately inferred that he intended to strike Ty. Instinct had her hurrying forward to try and stop him.
The moment she reached him, the male reared back with his arm. His sharp elbow caught her right in the face with a loud crack. The blow sent her instantly back to the ground.
So much for healed bruises, she thought.
Chapter 26
Ty sensed his uncle Owyn’s arrival before the huge male charged into the practice room from the back of the house. He easily picked up his uncle’s biting, festering fury, and the fact that it was aimed at him.
Well, that was just fine, Ty thought. Owyn was Troi’s father, and Ty had a few things to get off his chest, too.
He didn’t bother stopping Owyn when he barreled across the practice room and shoved him back a couple of feet. He rather hoped that the action would diffuse some of his uncle’s raging temper. Because Owyn’s deep anguish came through along with the shove, Ty held up a hand to stop his father from interfering. There was clearly much more to this than it appeared on the surface.
“You son of a bitch!” Owyn thundered, his face red and his eyes gleaming. “You have some nerve showing up around here. I should cut out your heart like you’ve done mine.”
“I’ve done nothing to you,” Ty argued, his voice a calm counterpoint to his uncle’s.
“You’ve dishonored this family, TaeDane. You killed my son!”
It was easy enough to pick up that his uncle was about to strike. Ty actually welcomed it. He’d bring his uncle down in a few quick moves. Then, if his uncle didn’t regain his feet in search of blood, Ty would have a conversation with him.
He caught on to the fact that Kyr was there too late to do anything about it. In the span of a blink, he spotted the skirts of her purple dress behind his uncle’s boots. He watched her reach out to try and stop Owyn. He heard the sharp snap and felt Kyr’s pain as his uncle’s elbow caught her in the cheek and upper lip. He saw her go down.
The distraction cost him. Even as Kyr thudded onto the practice mats, Ty saw Owyn’s fist an instant before it landed against his jaw. The hard blow propelled him into a backwards stumble. He barely maintained his balance.
“Stop!” J’ael boomed in a voice that had made Ty tremble as a child.
His father had used the power of his abilities in the command. Owyn went still, not moving as Ty rushed past him to get to Kyr.
She was already pushing herself to her feet, muttering something about bruises and brutish males with no sense. Her disgruntled expression would have made him smile if it hadn’t been for the blood seeping out of a cut on her swollen lip. That combined with the still-fading bruises on her face made him want to growl. Twice now, she’d suffered at the hands of his family.
I’ve also been pampered by your family, she silently reminded him.
Ty started to reply, but his mother rushed into the room and turned his attention. Her sharp gaze moved from him to Kyr to Owyn.
He swore steam was about to shoot out of her ears like an Earthling cartoon character.
“Step back,” she ordered.
Although her gaze was on Owyn, Ty knew she was referring to him and Kyr. He guided Kyr back a few steps.
“Release him,” Elly told J’ael.
“All right,” J’ael said in his usual affable manner. “But don’t kill your sister’s amanti. You’ll inevitably feel guilty.”
“We’ll see about that.” Elly’s tone could have cut illuvite.
Owyn shook his head a moment later, telling Ty that he was free from his father’s hold. His brown eyes narrowed and honed in on J’ael, who stood with his legs braced apart and his arms crossed over his chest.
/> You have your father’s looks and style, Kyr observed. I’ve seen you in that pose many times.
Ty ran his hand along her hair as his mother positioned herself between Owyn and J’ael. Owyn’s furious gaze instinctively moved to Elly. His fury dampened considerably when Elly used her finger and drilled it right into his barrel of a chest.
“You’d better not say a word to my amanti for stopping your mindless rage, OwynDane,” she snapped. “You’re lucky I didn’t have him keep you in that state so I could knock some sense into you. How dare you barge into my home and strike my children?”
Owyn’s features drew onto a puzzled frown. “Children?”
“Yes, children,” Elly repeated with another angry finger poke. “I see the blood on my new daughter’s face and the mark on my son’s cheek.”
Ty felt Kyr’s shock over being referred to as Elly’s daughter. He knew how significant it was that his mother saw her as a child to protect, and not only as the Ascendant, like Shaya did. To help center her, he reached out to wipe the blood from her already-healing lip and sent her comforting thoughts.
“You have no right to come in here hurling baseless accusations and assaulting my family,” Elly continued, now up on her toes and leaning into Owyn’s personal space. “Family doesn’t treat family that way, no matter how angry they are.”
With each word, Ty’s uncle seemed to shrink a little more. He now looked chagrined. His rage faded, leaving him feeling bereft. Ty and Kyr both picked up on it as Owyn turned to look at them.
“My apologies,” he grumbled.
Kyr glanced at Ty, who intercepted her thoughts. “It’s all right, Uncle Owyn. We understand.”
“Who is it you believe is dead?” Kyr asked in a quiet voice.
Owyn’s chin wobbled precariously before he caught himself. “My son, Sem.”
Ty forced himself not to react as his parents exchanged concerned glances. This had been his and Kyr’s fear for days. Yet he found himself strangely unconvinced.
“Why do you think this?” he asked.
“The notice came from the palace just this morning,” Owyn responded, running a weary hand down his haggard face. His color had quickly drained to an ashen gray. “The missive said Sem had been found guilty of treason. He fought imprisonment and was killed in the process. His body’s been cremated in the way of criminals. His mother and I didn’t even have a chance to properly mourn him.”
Elly reached out and touched Owyn’s arm in sympathy. “Oh, Owyn. Why didn’t Faria come and tell me?”
“She’s too devastated right now. Still, I thought she should speak with her sister, so I came over here to get you. When I walked in and saw TaeDane, though, I...well, you know.”
Ty knew his uncle had blamed him, whom he believed had killed the Ascendant and somehow led Sem down the path that got him killed. He tuned into Kyr’s thoughts on everything his uncle shared, and he found them fascinating and compelling.
“It sounds like we have a lot to discuss,” he said.
“Yes,” Elly agreed, reading her son’s expression and nodding. “Let’s all have this conversation in the family room where we’ll be more comfortable.”
They obeyed, trailing back into the main part of the house and back into the family room. Ty led Kyr to the couch and sat beside her. He wanted to drag her onto his lap and kiss her senseless after their time apart. Seeing her up and moving and hearing her thoughts processing like they normally would brought him such relief that he wouldn’t have cared if his uncle pummeled him.
I would, Kyr thought. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to look at this pretty face.
She brought a hand up and touched the side of his face with a loving smile. He decided that he could afford a brief kiss, anyway, and leaned down to touch his lips to hers. The contact wasn’t nearly enough for each of them, but they knew it wasn’t the time for anything more.
J’ael grinned at them from the loveseat. Ty ignored him and focused on his uncle, who was sitting in the chair. Down the hall in the cooking area, the sound of pots clanging told Ty his mother was preparing tea.
“Uncle,” Ty began, “I’m sorry that you’re going through this pain right now. But you shouldn’t trust any communication that comes from the palace.”
Owyn’s brow creased. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you heard that I killed the Ascendant and was cast into the Dark Lands, right?”
“Yes.”
“But we’re sitting right here,” Ty pointed out, glancing at Kyr and then back at his uncle.
Owyn blinked. Then blinked again. “Y-you’re telling me that she’s the Ascendant?”
Ty had thought that Kyr’s unusual appearance with her deep, dark ruby-tinted hair and star-blue eyes should have been enough of a clue. He supposed his uncle was way too distracted by the news he’d received to use any of his senses to their full abilities.
“I’m KyrVawn,” Kyr said, nodding to reassure him when he goggled at her.
Owyn grabbed the arms of the chair and half-lifted himself, sat back down, then rose into an awkward bow. “I don’t know what to say,” he stammered. “I gave the Ascendant a bloody lip.”
Kyr’s mouth twitched as she fought a smile. “I’ll survive it. It was an accident.”
“B-but how are you alive?” Owyn asked. “Everyone at Ty’s trial saw him kill you.”
“He did kill me,” she said matter-of-factly. “Because Vycor forced him to after he had the Guardians strip Ty of his abilities. But I healed.”
There was a moment of silence as everyone processed this. Ty realized that none of them had really thought that Kyr had died. He supposed it was easier to convince themselves that he had merely choked her unconscious.
Kyr looked at him when his thoughts started to stray. We’re here now, she reminded him. Hold onto those memories for when we finally get to face Vycor.
He allowed her firm, calm thoughts to bring him back to the present. “Uncle Owyn, we’ve learned a lot since then. We’ve spoken to a number of people who were told their loved ones were dead in a very similar way that you described for Sem, only to find out that they weren’t dead at all. Most of those people were actually sent to the Dark Lands to work in the Advisor’s secret tajeria mine.”
The hope that lit in Owyn’s eyes struck both Ty and Kyr. Ty prayed they were both right about what they were proposing.
“We have a mental connection to Sem,” Kyr explained. “I believe we would know if it had been broken due to his death.”
“We’ll admit that until just a couple of days ago, we feared that the fact that we couldn’t hear Sem in our thoughts anymore meant that he was dead,” Ty continued. “But Kyr just recovered from an experience that makes us believe he isn’t dead, but being steadily dosed with a V’larian drug that impacts the mind.”
Elly carried in the tray of tea as Owyn listened to the story about Kyr’s abduction. He looked like someone had walloped him on the groin with a sock full of rocks when he heard his youngest son’s name mentioned as the abductor.
“Great Yen-Ki,” Owyn rasped once Ty finished. His gaze was glued to Kyr, who still bore the faint evidence of his son’s abuse. “VycorDane has gotten to Sem and Troi. He’s gone after both of my sons.”
“Why would he do this?” J’ael asked, his gaze dark with anger and worry. “Why would he lie to Owyn and Faria? What purpose does that serve?”
“Simple,” Ty responded. “He wants to turn my family against me.”
“It’s true,” Kyr said when everyone exchanged glances. “When I was in the palace trying to get to Ty, I learned that Vycor seeks absolute revenge against him for rising to power as the Dem-Shyr and standing in his corrupt way. It was his ultimate goal for Ty to live with killing me and dishonoring himself and his family. He also wants to destroy Ty’s family one by one. He started with Sem because Sem was in the palace and close to me and Ty. I imagine he moved onto Troi because he learned that Troi was the next closest family member to S
em.”
After a brief pause during which Elly, J’ael, and Owyn all processed this, there was an explosion of thought and sound. Ty was both floored and humbled over the indignant outrage pouring from all of his family members. They were so upset at Vycor on his behalf that it was a wonder the Advisor didn’t die right then from thought-induced heart failure.
He could only be grateful for the support. He knew that they would have to harness that anger, because Vycor had more than demonstrated that they would need every bit of it to take a stand against him.
Chapter 27
“So what are we going to do about this?” J’ael asked once everyone had calmed down.
Kyr took the cup of tea that Ty handed to her and sipped it to moisten her throat. “We’ve been working on developing a plan for some time,” she said at last. “It’s changing as we make our way to the palace. We keep learning new things about Vycor’s abilities and his reach.”
“Everything we’ve considered so far hinges on support from this megai…the Dane megai,” Ty said. “The Mynders here govern the protections between the Dark Lands and all of the megais. We have companions on the other side in the Dark Lands, and they’re gathering support for us. We’re hoping to get enough Mynders involved that we can bring the protections down in a pre-determined location along the border to allow our people through. Numbers will be critical in defeating Vycor.”
“The problem is, we have no idea which Mynders are under Vycor’s control,” Kyr explained.
“Owyn and I can help with that,” J’ael said, exchanging glances with Ty’s uncle. “We can spread the word and recruit help.”
“Sure,” Owyn agreed. “J’ael can scan minds without leaving a whisper of a trace. Shouldn’t be hard to figure out who’s with us and who’s not.”
