Lara'Kayan, it will not always be so.
I know. But it is small and closed in. I shivered, just thinking about it.
Love, I am only a thought away. If it becomes unbearable, call out to me. I will help you get through this. Try to sleep, love. You are still not fully recovered. A promise lay in Aurelius' words—a promise to get back at Norian Keef, somehow, for sending me out before the healer thought I was ready.
I'll try, I sent and crawled into my tiny bed. I was nearly asleep too; I was more tired than I thought when another message came. I love you was sent to me, and it was no voice I'd heard in my head before that moment.
* * *
"Wake!" The side of my small cot was kicked, nearly upsetting it. I stared in alarm at one of the Prince's wizards. "The Prince wants something to eat. Get up and cook!"
There would be no sympathy and even less patience from this one—he had a cruel mouth and disdain in his eyes. I rose, slipped into the clothing I'd worn earlier and followed the wizard to the kitchens. I cooked. The kitchen was well stocked and I was used to what Mandil had to offer already. Cutting thin slices of fowl, I dredged them in flour, fried them quickly and made a sauce to go with them, in addition to fresh fruit and sweetened cream. The wizard and the Prince were both staring at me as they tasted their food.
"Where did you learn to cook, boy?" The wizard demanded.
"My family taught me." I hung my head. I was telling the truth.
"And why did they turn you out?"
"My father had many sons. I wasn't necessary," I said. Well, it had actually been my grandfather—I knew that now.
"Then we will be glad of the surplus," the Prince declared, eating the rest of his fowl with delight. The dessert was a plus—he liked that very much. As did the wizard. I was allowed to return to my bed as soon as the plates and utensils had been cleaned and put away.
* * *
"Re, wake up." The voice was whispering right next to my ear, causing me to gasp and sit up in alarm. I was crushed against a uniform I recognized. "Re, hush," Delvin held me tightly against him so I wouldn't scream.
Chapter 4
"Little girl, be still," Delvin gripped me tightly against him, whispering the words. "Come now, get dressed, the Prince wants his errand boy."
I wanted a bath, but that wasn't to be. I was set to running errands immediately, before I got breakfast, even. I was hungry, too—I hadn't gotten any of the food I'd cooked the night before, and I hadn't gotten dinner, either. That's why my stomach was growling as I handed a message to Alvis.
"You haven't eaten, and my guess is you haven't gotten a bath, either." Alvis had given me a good sniff when I arrived at his quarters. He had a small room down the hall from the Prince's suite.
"Yes on both, Master Alvis," I ducked my head respectfully. He was older, with silver in his dark hair. His brown eyes, too, looked wise to me, as if he'd seen many things during his life.
"Then come, we will go to the private bath together." That frightened me into immobility. Alvis took one look at me, grabbed my hand and led me along. We went into the Prince's private bath, which was decorated with beautiful tiling and gold fixtures. The bath was large—at least twenty people might have fit around the edges comfortably. A bit of steam wisped up from the surface of the water.
"Little girl," Alvis hissed, "Never let those wizards know you're female." He shot the bolt behind us, locking us in. If I'd been inside the bath alone, that might have frightened me. Alvis was there, so that helped.
"How did you know?" I muttered, keeping my eyes down and not looking at him.
"I know a great deal. The others are fools and do not look past the surface of things. That will be their downfall. Come, we will bathe and then I will take you for breakfast. The Prince only thinks of his own belly, most of the time."
The bath felt good to my still-aching muscles. If I were anywhere except where I was, I might have fallen asleep. I stayed awake, cleaned myself and dressed right alongside Master Alvis. We walked out of the baths together and down to the kitchens, where servants were busily preparing the noon meal. Alvis and I were served a decent breakfast, cooked fresh just for us. I carried a message from Alvis to the Prince when we were done.
"Ah, Alvis, you are my conscience," the Prince muttered after reading the note. "Re, you will remind me from now on if you have not eaten." I nodded at the Prince Royal.
* * *
"These are the fields." Bel swept his arm out as Tory and Ry stared. The drakus seed plants seemed to go on forever.
"And this is only one of many villages doing the same thing?" Ry attempted to keep the shock from his voice. He couldn't see the end of the drakus seed fields. Citrus trees were off to the side, but those were the only other fields he could see.
"This is the largest, but there are other fields nearly as big," Bel answered.
"How many?" Tory didn't like what he was seeing.
"Hundreds. Some of the villages were emptied by the demons that we fought, but the High Commander sent out others to take their place as soon as the danger was eliminated. They have worked to revive the crops. There will be a yield from those fields as well."
"Not demons—spawn," Tory corrected absently.
"How do you know they were not demons?" Bel was curious.
"He knows," Ry provided the answer.
"With the weather here, the fields can be replanted in a moon-turn, with another yield in two. That means four harvests per full turn," Bel whispered. "The plants need sun and a lot of water. We have both."
"Were the plants native to this world?" Tory asked.
"No. They were brought in. The High Commander and his wizards, I think." Bel didn't sound happy about that.
"What do you know about the wizards? The ones who were imported?" Ry wanted to learn as much as he could about them—he might be forced to fight them and needed to know what their strengths and talents were.
"We don't know much except they can do blasts of power when they want—they'll execute someone that way if they're angry."
"And they can move about like I can—perhaps farther, even," Max offered. "I don't know if they must have specific targets as I do—I can't take people far and I have to have a fixed target in my mind. Moving objects is much easier than moving people. If I'm too tired, it's useless."
"So far, these wizards seem unimpressive," Ry grumbled. "How did they get here to begin with? Were they transported in a ship or did they arrive by other means? Have you seen them? Do you know their planet of origin?"
"We're not supposed to know they're from somewhere else, so the answer is no," Bel snorted angrily. "And if you haven't guessed, we don't get a lot of space travel on Mandil."
"So, how did you get to Tulgalan?" Tory crossed arms over his chest.
Bel coughed. "We, uh, dug up Reah's escape pod. We have a few people loyal to the Prince who are good with technology. They recharged the pod and equipped it for us. We're not sure how Nods made it to Tulgalan—but when we caught up with him, we told him the High Commander sent us. One of Pell's talents, besides creating big holes in the ground for people to fall into, is convincing people that something was their idea. The High Commander is pretty sure he told us to do exactly what we did."
Tory almost choked, he was laughing so hard. Ry, too, was grinning hugely. "Man, that is epic," Tory slapped Bel on the back.
* * *
A hand was clapped over my mouth and I was hauled into the kitchen after I'd slept two clicks. The Prince wasn't hungry but the wizards were. The High Commander, too, had come with them. I was terrified the High Commander would recognize me, but he barely noticed. Someone else was there whom I hadn't seen before, and everyone was bowing to his every whim and calling him Arvil. He seemed puffed up to me—like Addah used to act around someone he felt was less important.
The wizards—three of them, plus the High Commander and the one they called Arvil, all received flat bread with sauce, cheese and vegetables. I had to cook it in a sha
llow iron skillet in the oven, and the trick was getting the crust to the right amount of crispness. I ended up making two at a time—they were eating the food faster than I could make it.
"This is excellent, I had no idea your food here was this good," Arvil licked his fingers. The flat-breads were designed to be eaten with your fingers, after all. I'd served a light wine with the late meal, too, and it went over well.
"Most of the food isn't this good," the night wizard grumbled. I called him the night wizard, since he hadn't given me his name—I didn't know the names of the others, either. Nobody had introduced us. The night wizard was the one with the cruel mouth. Another had reddish-brown hair—he was the day wizard, while the third had gray hair. He was the evening wizard. Delvin had taken the day wizard's place that first morning when I woke. Day wizard had something else to do then, I suppose.
"We expect you to invite us over if you are having a late snack from now on," gray-haired evening wizard grumbled.
"Everything hinges on whether the Prince is hungry or not, and if this one keeps his mouth closed." Dark-haired, cruel-mouthed night wizard had a kitchen knife pointed at my throat.
"You don't threaten your cook—you get awful food," Arvil took the last piece of flat bread.
"I'd better not get awful food," night wizard was still threatening me. I wanted to snatch the knife away from him and do some threatening myself. I'm sure the Director and Vice-Director would be extremely angry if I killed anyone before they could spill information, so I held back and nodded meekly instead. When I was allowed to go back to bed after cleaning up, I sent tired mindspeech to Tory.
Reah, why are you up so late? Tory's sending was weary. He'd had a long day, too.
Tory, someone new came in tonight, and the others were calling him Arvil. No last name or anything, and I still don't have names for the three wizards.
Tory didn't reply for a while and I wondered if he'd fallen asleep. He hadn't. Reah, don't give yourself away to that one—Arvil. Try not to come to his attention, all right, avilepha? Promise me. Somehow, that made me worry. Tory had heard that name before, but he wasn't explaining it to me. Maybe it was better if I didn't know.
All right, I returned, sounding grumpier than I'd intended.
Go to sleep, baby, Tory's mental voice faded.
* * *
You think she heard right? She didn't mistake that name for another? Norian Keef and Lendill Schaff both had mindspeech, and Tory had sent the information as soon as he'd told Reah to go to sleep.
I can't imagine why she'd mistake that name for another, Tory was tired and didn't want to get into a debate with Norian and Lendill over it.
Did she know how long he's staying, or where? Lendill was getting in on the conversation.
Ask her yourself—I think she gave me what she had. Tory sent a mental yawn.
She won't talk to either of us, Lendill insisted.
I wouldn't either, if I were in her place, Tory returned.
* * *
"As you can see—the harvest is nearly ready." The High Commander had brought his visitor to the drakus seed fields. Ry's cameras were sending vid feeds directly to Norian and Lendill the following morning, and Norian could see for himself that Reah hadn't misheard—Arvil San Gerxon was on Mandil.
It was still too early to take him—Norian had already sent mindspeech to Ry and Tory. Too many others were involved in this—some Norian and Lendill could only guess at. They were getting a good look at the High Commander and his three wizards, however, and Lendill was running their images through his comp-vid even while he and Norian watched.
"It's a good thing Ry is disguised—Arvil would recognize Erland's son in a heartbeat," Norian muttered.
"What could Arvil do to Ry, even if he did recognize him?"
"No idea. Probably nothing on a personal level. What would he do to Mandil?"
"Something to think on," Lendill agreed.
"On another note, where do you think all his usual thugs and bodyguards are?" Norian asked as they watched the High Commander take his guest through rows of drakus seed.
"Most likely back at Crown City—perhaps the High Commander doesn't feel comfortable around them and ordered them to stay behind."
"Or those wizards are on Arvil's payroll, and the High Commander only thinks he pulls their strings."
"More than likely that's the case," Lendill agreed. "Have you ever seen so much drakus seed in your life?"
"My friend, we've only seen small plots before, because the punishment for growing this drug is so severe. I am astounded at the breadth of this endeavor." Norian shook his head over what he saw through Ry's vid feed.
* * *
"The seed is close to harvest," Alvis was kneeling, massaging the Prince's feet and ankles. The massage looked wonderful—I'd never had anything like that before. The Prince was dressed in gold silk and he and Alvis were talking—albeit quietly, since the High Commander and his three wizards were away, tending to a problem at one of the outer villages. At least that had been their excuse.
The Prince was unaware of Arvil's presence until I informed him quietly before running my morning errands. One of those errands had taken me to the military station, to Station Commander Gorth's office. He didn't seem to recognize me either, and I wondered about that. I was glad, but it still made me curious. I'd seen Dane and Dory in the distance while on my way back, and was extremely happy they were helping others patch the hole in the station wall and ignoring message bearers. It might have been nice to talk to them, but I had no idea if I'd frightened them the last time I'd seen them. Making contact certainly wasn't a good idea.
"Re, I would very much like to take my midday meal on the patio," the Prince waved an arm. "Invite my wives." I nodded and he and Alvis were deep in quiet discussion when I went out the door of his suite to inform the kitchen staff.
* * *
"You wish to visit the summer house in the mountains, do you not?" The Prince looked at each of his three wives later over a meal of spiced meat wrapped in flat bread with fresh fruit on the side. At first, they looked at one another in confusion, before turning back to their husband. "Yes, husband, that is indeed what we desire," the oldest dipped her head obediently to the Prince.
"Well, it is early, but I suppose I must humor my wives," the Prince smiled indulgently. Two of the kitchen staff stood nearby, and I think the entire charade was for their benefit. I had no way to tell who might report to the High Commander regarding the Prince's actions. "And since it is such a fine day, why not gather your things and leave this afternoon? You keep telling me you wish to stop at Hedil to buy silks."
"That is indeed what we wish," the youngest was giving the Prince a heart-melting smile.
"Then that is what you shall have. Alvis will see that you have plenty of money to spend. Go now—the light will still be good in Hedil if you leave soon."
I helped load their things into the Prince's coach later—the vehicle was solar powered and all three wives had guards, several attendants and two drivers to take them on their way. The Prince waved fondly at them as they drove off, then retired to his suite, pulling Alvis and me inside with him.
"Re, the Station Commander will arrive shortly, asking to speak with me regarding a thief he is holding in his cells. See that he is brought to me promptly." The Prince breathed a troubled sigh and flopped onto a chair laden with silk cushions inside his suite. The fabrics and rugs that furnished it would have fetched a fortune on any Alliance world—all of it had been handmade from the finest materials Mandil could supply, and in beautiful colors. Mandil created some of the best natural dyes I'd ever seen.
"As you will it, my Prince." I bowed and walked out of the suite. The Station Commander came half a click later, and I escorted him to the Prince Royal's suite.
"We move now," the Prince was standing and dressed as if he were going to do battle. A lot had happened in half a click, it seems.
* * *
"Re, stay steady." Delvin had
come and dropped two ranos rifles into my hands. The Prince's palace was now prepared for a siege. Several of his servants had been arrested and escorted to the holding cells at the military station. Two hundred soldiers and officers now knelt behind windows, doors and any other opening, waiting for the High Commander and his wizards to return. I sent mindspeech to Tory and Ry, sounding hysterical, I think. I had no idea things would happen this quickly.
We already have the message from Bel—Delvin informed him the moment the Prince called for him and the Station Commander, Tory replied. Reah, don't do anything foolish, avilepha. We will be there shortly.
* * *
"I didn't expect it to happen this quickly," Norian grabbed the jacket to his uniform and bolted through his office door, Lendill right behind him. Ry had sent the message to Norian as soon as he'd gotten notice through Bel's mindspeech.
"They'll attack the palace first thing, to get to the Prince." Lendill was racing down the hallway behind Norian.
"Are you ready?" Norian shouted to his six handpicked operatives. They were all armed and ready as Norian burst into the meeting room. They'd been watching the live feed from Mandil, just as Norian and Lendill were.
"Ready, Director," his senior officer replied, shifting a laser rifle onto his shoulder.
"Let's go." Few knew that Norian could fold if he were forced to do so. This situation called for that talent. That particular gift had come from Lissa—it was something she could give should she desire it. She had given it to protect Norian after she was released as Liaison for the ASD. Norian used the gift sparingly.
* * *
Even now, I may never know exactly who alerted the High Commander, and the Prince wasn't aware that Arvil had brought additional troops with him when he'd come to Mandil. Some of those troops were wizards, I discovered, and any one of those seven power wielders were capable of alerting Arvil to the Prince's troops, all of whom were armed and waiting for his return to the palace.
Arvil and his allies folded in, the wizards with him sending out blasts as they landed. Delvin stood beside the Prince and Alvis, pretending to hold up a shield. I was the one protecting the four of us as blasts and poison gas spells were hurled in our direction.
Demon Revealed (High Demon Series #2) Page 6
