"Gross?" Tamp didn't understand the term. To him, it meant something else.
"Unsavory," Halimel replied. "I've heard Lissa say it."
Tamp's head swiveled in Hal's direction. Hal patted Tamp's shoulder. "I work for the Queen of Le-Ath Veronis," he said. "Many are here at her—and Zaria's—behest. How does it feel to turn to legitimate enterprises?"
"The BlackWing ships?" Tamp breathed after pondering Hal's words for a moment.
"Are operated under her guidance and are funded by the crowns of Le-Ath Veronis and Karathia, where her son sits the throne. Those ships were her grandson's idea."
"So Cayetes has been chasing the tails of both Alliances in this?" Tamp asked.
"Yes. Ildevar Wyyld and Teeg San Gerxon are aware and have given the operation their blessing."
"Well." Tamp mused for a moment. "Well. And I thought most humanoids were as dumb as dirt. I shall have to reconsider my opinions."
"Did you tell him?" Kooper Griff appeared at my side and studied the army in the distance.
"We did," Hal nodded to Kooper. Tamp drew in a breath.
He recognized the Director of the ASD, all right.
"Under most circumstances, I'd insist I was asleep and dreaming," Tamp mumbled. Kooper laughed.
* * *
Siriaa, Distant Past
Zaria
Liron was halfway in the turn toward me. He was bound to notice the spheres I'd removed. If I folded space, he'd still know someone had stolen from him.
Someone who had to know what they were stealing.
The spheres were unattractive and useless looking, after all.
The breath caught in my throat as I watched him turn, seemingly in slow motion.
The enormous crack and subsequent booming noise made both of us jump.
Hail the size of grapefruit (and larger) began to fall, striking the piles of spheres and sending the smaller ones exploding in all directions.
Only the personal shield I held around myself prevent me from getting killed, the hail began to fall so hard.
The noise of it was deafening, too. Liron cursed; the cacophony of falling hail drowned out his words.
Move! A voice in my head shouted.
I folded space immediately.
* * *
Paricos I
Lissa
It was genius—I realized it immediately.
Paricos I was little more than an uninhabited chunk of rock and dirt, with no water or atmosphere. It was larger than Paricos II, and none of us had thought to look there for Cayetes.
He'd built himself a stronghold beneath the surface, sealed it off, provided it with its own air and power, and had enough Sirenali bones hanging on its walls that the powerful would never find it.
At times, entire skeletons graced the walls, like macabre art.
Misting my companions through the compound, we took stock of what Cayetes had built. He'd spared no expense; that was evident. This—even Bleek hadn't known about this.
Look, Warlend sent.
We'd come to a door that was heavily guarded. Two armed men stood outside it, while tiny, electronic sensors and locks blinked on the wall behind them.
Inside that room was something Cayetes didn't want anybody to have.
Let's check it out, I replied and misted through the door.
* * *
Sirena, Distant Past
Zaria
What I'd come to see would be difficult to watch. I stood, shielded, in the throne room and watched when V'ili appeared before his father, the king.
The terror on his face was real.
"They're coming," V'ili wailed.
He meant the Larentii.
Chapter 17
Paricos II
Revis' Rock
Lexsi
"Are you sure you want to stay?" I asked Kay.
Opal, who stood nearby in the dining hall, nodded her approval of my question.
"I'll stay," she said, determination in her voice.
"Battles are never pretty," Opal reminded her.
"I know. I have something to do," she said.
"What's that?" I asked.
"I got this—from Zaria." An envelope appeared in Kay's hand.
"Oh, lord," Opal breathed. "Can I see?"
"The message mentions you—and Lexsi," Kay said. "I just—didn't want to go by myself."
"Go where?" Opal took the envelope and lifted the flap. I walked over to stand next to Opal, so we could both read the message.
Kay, it began, I know you can change aura lines. I need a really big favor from you—if you feel comfortable doing it. Take Opal and Lexsi with you, if that will help. Fifty miles west of Fendala, where there is nothing more than rock and desert, lies the facility where the Sirenali clones are made. I beg you to go help those poor souls before any more of them die.
Z.
At the bottom of the note were exact coordinates. Opal already had a comp-vid in her hands and was tapping the numbers in as quickly as she could.
"I want to go," Kay said. "And put an end to this outrage."
"We're with you," I said.
* * *
Sirena, Distant Past
Zaria
I was nearly a million miles away and watching from a small, uninhabited moon when the Larentii destroyed Sirena.
I watched it die, the planet and its inhabitants blown to atoms by the anger of the Larentii.
No time before, and no time since, had that race ever done such.
If V'ili and his army hadn't attempted to take Larentii children at the last, Sirena may have survived.
That mistake was his, and his planet paid the price.
I folded space before the first of Sirena's particles reached my lookout.
I had things to do.
* * *
Paricos I
Lissa
What are you saying? I sent to Wellend.
There's a trigger spell here, he said. If any of these people are removed, the whole room explodes. You can't pick them up one by one; the rest will die.
Can things get any suckier? I asked.
If you mean worse, I doubt it, Warlend's sending was dry.
Is there any way to deactivate it? I asked.
Father and I may be able to hold it at bay while you collect these kidnap victims, Wellend said.
I looked around the room; it was easy to see that most of Cayetes' victims had given up on the idea of a rescue. Not only were the ones there that I expected to find, but many others, who'd likely crossed Cayetes in some way or another.
In all, there were more than fifty men and six women held captive. Some looked gaunt and in desperate need of medical care.
Cayetes didn't care or hadn't noticed.
All right, but the moment I gather them up, I'll be gone. Can you fold yourselves out of here?
Of course, Warlend said.
Perhaps I should have questioned him further, but my mind was set on this task and I was ready to get these victims away.
Ready for company, Perdil? I asked my dwarf mate.
I am.
Good. Wellend, Warlend, I'm dropping you now. Ready?
Ready.
I let those two go and moved swiftly to gather the victims in my mist. Whatever Wellend and Warlend did to temporarily hold off the spell worked; Perdil and I were already on Le-Ath Veronis when Paricos I exploded behind us.
* * *
Paricos I
Wellend
Father nodded to me as he and I stood inside that prison, holding off the trigger spell.
Yes, we could have folded away immediately.
We'd chosen not to.
It's easy enough to employ power to magnify an explosion, but we had to release the trigger spell to do it.
It was time.
We'd served our purpose.
This would be our final deed as Karathian warlocks.
I nodded to Father.
To bitterness, he sent.
To bitterness, I agreed.
We released the trigger spell together, and blasted every bit of our power outward as the room detonated.
* * *
Le-Ath Veronis, Recent Past
Zaria
There were no trees, gardens or sheep inside the bowl of the replacement Avii Castle. A few Black Wing troops flew in formation overhead, watching for attackers.
The attacker was even now approaching in a boat the Black Wings recognized and therefore, they paid it no mind.
No, I couldn't attack V'ili now.
The timeline would shatter, and too many important things rode on that knife's edge. I'd done what I came to do already; I folded space and bent time as the castle exploded behind me.
* * *
Paricos II
Lexsi
Conditions at the facility were deplorable—for the Sirenali.
All of them were young. Most were ill. The process for cloning was seriously flawed and none cared that these wouldn't live long anyway.
In fact, the employees there, under the direction of a sadist named Grast, was ordering the very ill Sirenali young to be fed to the flesh-eating worms hidden in a wide patch of contained, dark soil.
Once the bones were cleaned, they would be sold.
Vardil Cayetes was the only buyer—until recently, when Weir thought to take over.
Like Grast, Weir didn't care for the lives here, he merely wanted the money and power they would command.
It made me more than angry.
Kay, however—had begun to glow with power.
I can't hide you if you do that, Opal reminded Kay gently.
I no longer wish to be hidden, Kay said. Power boomed through my mind with her words.
This was the Mighty Hand's mate. It didn't surprise me that she could do this.
Kay walked out of Opal's shield and into the cloning room, where employees collected the ill to feed to the worms.
I blinked when the first of them dropped dead where he stood.
Kay was changing aura lines to black, killing those who deserved to die for their torture and abuse.
* * *
Siriaa, Thirty Years in the Past
Zaria
I'd returned shortly after the time I'd brought Tamp here. The pod'l-morph grove slept peacefully in stasis, just as commanded by Liron.
I imagined that if removed, those trees would continue to sleep.
Unless.
This was the only thing I'd asked the Mighty for, and they'd agreed. The rest—I'd gone outlaw to do those things—for the second time in my remembered lives.
With a sigh of hope that these trees would become sentient once more, I began.
* * *
The Big House, Avendor
Quin
"The time has come for your healing skills," Ashe appeared. "Others are arriving to help, including Master Ordin. Come with me." He held out a hand.
"I want to come," Barc said. He'd been with me most of the day already, and didn't wish to remain behind.
"Then come," Ashe lifted Barc easily in his arms and folded both of us away.
* * *
"Where is this place?" Barc asked when Ashe set us down. It was a wide, tent-like structure, surrounded by trees. Hundreds of cots with white sheets, pillows and blankets were lined neatly in rows.
"This is a temporary hospital, young one," Ashe smiled at Barc.
"Where are the patients?"
"They are here." Ashe waved an arm and hundreds of cloned Sirenali appeared, some so weak they couldn't move.
Kay arrived with them, but I didn't recognize the two other women with her.
"That is Opal," Ashe pointed out the dark-haired woman, "and that is Lexsi," he indicated the fair-haired woman.
At that moment, dozens of others appeared, Master Ordin among them.
The healers.
"Barc, will you help me help some of these?" I swept my hand out at all the cots, which were now filled.
"Yes," he nodded. "For you—and for Berel."
"Most certainly for Berel," I said and strode toward the cot which held the sickest young Sirenali.
* * *
Queen's Palace, Le-Ath Veronis
Lissa
"Most of the kidnap victims hold an obsession," Aryn said as he took a seat in my private study.
"Kay will see to it," I waved a hand in dismissal.
"I am sorry for the loss of the warlocks," he said.
"Me, too."
"We cannot choose for everyone," he said simply.
"I know." I wiped a tear away.
"Here, now, my love." Aryn stood and came to me. I was lifted in his arms and carried to the sofa. I cried on his shoulder while he murmured soothing words.
* * *
Avendor
Quin
Where am I?
His mindspeech was tentative. He was afraid.
"Love, you are on Avendor and are safe, now," I said, brushing short-cropped hair away from his forehead. Like every Sirenali that Kay, Opal and Lexsi had rescued, he had no tongue to speak aloud.
Will they come after us?
He was terrified of those who'd created him.
"They are dead. None can harm you here."
How? How are they dead? How was I saved?
"Young one," Ashe knelt beside his cot, "You were chosen by the Guardian of the Sirenali. You are quite special," he smiled.
He means Kay, I mused. She should be pleased to be named such. Before, she'd been somewhat timid, and perhaps incapable of saving so many.
"Not all is as it appears on the surface," Ashe beamed at me before standing and walking toward Kay.
He embraced her, surrounded as they were by cots and healing Sirenali young. Leaning down, Ashe placed a kiss on Kay's forehead.
For the first time in days, I relaxed.
* * *
Carek Prime, Moon Thyppas
Recent Past
Zaria
I knew the exact day and time that Carek Prime was destroyed. It was time for me to catch up with Vardil Cayetes and V'ili, his chief of mayhem.
Carek Prime rotated peacefully in place bare moments before its destruction. I watched carefully from Thyppas, Carek Prime's largest moon, as Cayetes' ship appeared and fired.
Folding space, I landed on that vessel and rode with it to Paricos I.
* * *
Paricos II, Present
Revis' Rock
Ilya
Two more High Demons arrived while we waited for Weir's attack—Lexsi's parents, Reah and Torevik, came to see their daughter.
They held a private meeting to catch up, or so I assumed. Opal was also invited, although she wasn't family.
"I'm planning a night of drinking after this is over," Bleek set a mug of tea on the small table in the library, then pulled a footstool toward him so he could prop his feet up when he sat.
"I imagine Barc will need some time, too. This mess with Berel and Edden," he shook his head and settled heavily on the chair.
"Yeah."
"Did you know that Quin is pregnant?" Opal walked in, chose a chair and joined us with a sigh.
"What?"
It took a moment to realize I'd spoken; I was so surprised. "I thought," I floundered.
"I think it has to do with Zaria, when she brought Quin back."
"She can do that?" Bleek asked.
"Looks like it. Kevis told Reah that Quin was sterile before—the Larentii confirmed it. That's no longer the case. She's pregnant—with Justis' baby, looks like."
"I imagine the royals on Karathia are breathing big sighs of relief," Bleek observed.
He was correct—if Bel Erland were to produce an heir, it would have been with someone else or through medical wizardry, until now.
"You think Bel Erland's child could have wings?" I asked Opal.
"No idea," she grinned at me. "Would it matter?"
"Probably not."
"So, family reunion?" Bleek asked, changing the subject.
"
What?"
"Lexsi and her parents."
"Oh. That. Sort of, and to discuss some of the family property and what's been done with it recently."
"EastStar, right?" I asked.
"That's not the property discussed, no. It was just something that was given to Reah a while back, for services rendered. Few knew about it, actually, and she hadn't done anything with it. She ended up giving it away—for a worthy cause."
"Are Lexsi's parents staying to help?" Bleek asked.
"No. Reah said this isn't their fight. She and Tory left a few minutes ago. Besides, two High Demons should be plenty."
"Weir's on the move," Travis, with his brother Trent right behind him, strode in to the room. "Grandpap wants everybody in position right away."
"On it," Bleek dropped his booted feet to the floor and stood.
"Ready," I said.
"Me, too," Opal said.
* * *
Carek Prime, Recent Past
Zaria
Waste not, want not. That old saying ran through my mind as I Pulled the sphere from the soil of Carek Prime. It was needed elsewhere, instead of flying through space once Vardil's ship destroyed the planet.
I'd bent time so much in my recent history, and each destination had to be carefully timed and measured, so that it wouldn't interfere with the timeline.
Deaths had happened.
Some that should, and some that shouldn't. I identified with and had sympathy for the fictional Lady of Shalott, who'd gazed at images in a mirror to rebuild the world she saw there in woven threads. A curse was upon her—as there could be upon me when I completed my plans.
I'd been given a death sentence by the Larentii before.
The gods themselves could place it this time.
My next stop was Siriaa again, just before a nasty, red-winged princess chose to destroy an ancient book.
* * *
Avii Castle, Avendor
Quin
I wouldn't have gone back to Avii Castle willingly, except for this; I was there to plead the case of the Sirenali young, who had no voices to plead for themselves.
They needed a home.
As did I, once.
Then, my only supporters had been Gurnil, Ordin and Dena. My naked wings back then had been a terrible distraction. My white wings and pregnancy served much the same purpose in this council meeting.
Justis was angry, that was easy to see. We had more than enough room for the Sirenali young, and Gurnil was willing to help teach them. They'd never been allowed to hold a book or read a word before.
In fact, most of them didn't have names; that's how ephemeral their existence had been.
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