“They won’t find anything,” Salene said. “Doftles scramble at the first sign of trouble. That’s why they use space stations and Blind Sight.”
“Yes, that’s what Rayne and Jinjie have told us,” Garen `admitted. “It’s been decided that sending out scout ships is worth a try anyway.”
“I hope it works, Ata.”
“As do we all,” Garen said, then changed the subject. “You seemed rather deep in thought for so early in the morning.”
“Just reliving the past a little.”
“And?” Garen asked archly, knowing there was more. Salene glanced up at him.
“And trying to figure out what I’m going to do with my life.”
Garen frowned. “I was under the impression you were about to become soul-linked.”
“As you just told me, they’re leaving soon and will likely be gone for some time,” Salene said carefully. “I can’t just sit here doing nothing while I wait for them to return.”
“That’s true,” Garen said. “Have you come up with any ideas?”
“Not really,” she replied, unwilling to discuss Wolef’s offer. “I can’t think of a single thing that I have either the ability or the inclination to do. Sometimes I wish I had just one special talent.”
“You sense those you care about from half way across the galaxy,” Garen said. “I think that qualifies as a special talent.”
“I don’t mean psychic ability, Ata. I mean mundane talent, like Tani’s tactical skills, or Rayne’s gift for music. If they wanted to, they could each go out into the Thousand Worlds and build lives for themselves doing something they’re not only very good at, but that they also love. The same cannot be said for me.”
“You have a talent, Salene.”
“I do?” she asked, looking up at him in surprise.
“Of course you do,” he said. “Your talent is for taking care of and protecting those around you.”
“Oh,” she said, her shoulders slumping. “That’s just because I’m the eldest, Ata. That’s what I’m supposed to do.”
“No, Daughter, it’s more than that,” Garen insisted. “You’re made to help and protect people. Not just your siblings, but anyone and everyone that you think needs it. If your worst enemy fell down on the garden path right in front of us and skinned her knee, you’d be the first one down there to see how bad the injury is, and to make certain it got treated properly.” He grinned. “You’d give her an earful for being careless, but you’d take care of her. That’s your gift, and it’s a glorious gift to have.”
Salene wondered what good a gift like that was when she no longer had anyone to take care of or protect. But she couldn’t ask that without it leading to questions she couldn’t answer. So she just nodded and let it drop.
Garen wasn’t fooled. He could tell she wasn’t convinced, but he didn’t try to persuade her further. Some things people had to discover for themselves. He decided it was time to get to the real reason he’d come out here. “Mom, Dede, Popi, and I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Of course, Ata,” she said without hesitation. And there it was, right there, Garen thought. She was always willing to help, to set aside her own needs and concerns without a second thought in favor of others.
“We received a message this morning from your brothers. Winter break begins in a few weeks and they’ve asked that someone pick them up on the day school lets out so they don’t have to take the transport home. They want to get back to Jasan in nine days or less and the fastest commercial liner takes twelve to fourteen days with all of the stops it makes.”
“What’s the big rush?”
“A special irregular attack and deceptive evasion maneuvers course is being offered over at the flight school in Berria that they want to attend. It’s a short, intensive course, so anyone who accumulates more than one standard hour of absences will be cut, no exceptions. If they take a commercial liner they’ll miss the first few days.”
“They never slow down, do they?” she asked, her brow creased in a worried frown. “And they work so hard.”
“No, they don’t slow down and yes, they do work hard,” Garen agreed. “They are young, energetic, and strong, so there’s no need to worry, Daughter.”
“I know,” Salene said. She fell silent for a long moment and Garen wondered what she was thinking. “So, are you, Mom, Popi, and Dede going to go get them?”
“Unfortunately, we won’t be able to do that. We’ve been invited to Ufulu galaxy by the Garakai to take a tour of the worlds that have been rebuilding themselves these past two decades since the eradication of the Xanti.”
“Ufulu?”
“It means Freedom in the Garakai language. They took a vote of all sentient beings on each world within the LMC, an undertaking that took more than a decade to complete. The overwhelming majority voted to name their galaxy Ufulu because the Garakai have given them so much help for so long.”
“It’s a good name,” Salene said. “And a lot easier to say than Large Magellanic Cloud.”
“Yes, it is,” he agreed, smiling. “We were invited as honored guests some time ago and had to send our last minute regrets when Tani went missing. Rather than hold the celebration without us, they postponed it, which was both a great honor to us, and an enormous inconvenience to them. Even though circumstances with the Doftles make this a difficult time for us, we cannot possibly beg off again without causing enmity where we now have peace. We would have done it anyway if you and Rayne hadn’t come safely home to us, but you did, so we really must go this time.”
“Yes, you must,” Salene agreed. “When will you leave?”
“At the end of the week. The Tigrens are coming with us as they, too, were invited, Glory in particular, and the Lobos, of course. We’ll be gone about two months.”
“After all you’ve been through lately, I think the four of you should treat this trip like a vacation.”
“Yes, that’s what we thought,” Garen said, though it made him feel selfish. What they’d been through was nothing compared to what Rayne and Salene had suffered. But she appeared to be relaxed for the first time since returning home, and he didn’t want to ruin the moment, so he let it pass. “The favor we would ask of you, Salene, is that you go to EDU-11 and collect Saxton, Pax, and Marx from school. Would you mind?”
“Not at all,” she said. “It’ll give me something to do besides count the roses in Mom’s garden. Which ship shall I take?”
“We’ll be taking the Ugaztun, of course, so you can take the Ember.”
“You want me to take the yacht?”
“If you’d feel more comfortable in a larger ship, or a faster one, that can be arranged.”
“No, thank you, Ata. The Ember is perfectly fine. Who will Captain?”
“I’ve asked Jake Connell.”
“But he’s Captain of the Ugaztun.”
“For nearly two decades, yes, but no longer. He retired nearly a year ago and handed the reins of the Ugaztun over to his son, Lucien. I’ve already asked him to do this favor for us, and he was quite happy to agree. He said that land lubbing was a bit harder than he expected it to be and that taking you to EDU-11 would be a nice break.” Salene frowned up at her father, who shrugged. “I’ve no idea what land lubbing means exactly, but his meaning is clear enough.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Captain Jake has already scheduled the Ember for a thorough dry dock inspection and refit, pending your agreement, of course. A transport disrupter system was installed last week.”
Salene unclenched her hands and wiped her palms against her jeans. “Ata, I don’t want to sound like a coward, but how sure are you that the disrupters will work?”
“You don’t have a cowardly bone in your body, Salene,” Garen said gruffly. “We’re one hundred percent certain that the disrupters work. They’re serially redundant, which means that the ship has fifteen separate disruptor units, covering each part of the ship with disruptor fields projected from at least two loc
ations in all three of the matter transport frequency bands. We’d never consider sending you off world if we weren’t completely confident in the system.”
“I’m sorry, Ata, I didn’t mean to imply that you would.”
“I know you didn’t, and no apology is necessary. Dede went to Berria this morning to pick up some of the personal disrupter bracelets the Council is having made for all who want them. They’ll protect you from being transported at any time, ever. Not just when you’re on a ship.”
“Is it possible for me to have two? One for backup, just in case.”
“It’s not only possible, but already planned for,” he said. “You and your mother will each have several of varying designs that appear to be ordinary jewelry.”
“Thank you,” she said, immensely relieved. Her greatest fear was of being transported away at any moment without warning. Again.
“I would ask something more of you, Salene. Consider it a personal favor.”
“Of course.”
“I’d like you to take Jinjie with you.”
She looked up in surprise. “Why?”
“The Jotunn are not unfamiliar to us, though it’s been centuries since we’ve seen one of them,” he replied. “They’re intelligent, honorable, and unswervingly loyal. They can also be quite powerful in their magic. We’ve only spoken with Jinjie a couple of times, but that’s enough for me to know that I’d feel much more at ease knowing that he was with you. Do you object to taking him?”
“No, I don’t object at all, but Jinjie is attached to Rayne. He may not want to accompany me.”
“Why don’t you go visit your sister, and you can ask him while you’re there,” Garen suggested. “If he refuses, that’s fine, of course. It’s his choice.”
“It would be nice to visit Rayne,” she said. “Are you sure it’s not too soon, though? They’ve only been home for a couple of days and I don’t want to intrude.”
Garen felt his temper rise at the sheer loneliness in Salene’s voice. The urge to speed travel to Berria and thrash the young Gryphons for causing his daughter such pain rose up fast and hard. He didn’t believe that Salene was even angry at the Gryphons, let alone that she would part from them for the reason they’d been given. He knew his daughter too well for that, as did Lariah, Trey, and Val. But she was an adult now, and they couldn’t force a confidence. She had a reason for not revealing the truth, and whatever that reason was, they had to respect it as they respected her. Even so, he was able to fight down the urge to confront the Gryphons only because keeping his promise to his eldest daughter was more important than whatever satisfaction he might derive in the breaking of it.
Instead, Lariah, Trey, Val and he had spent the entire night trying to think of a way to implement Jareth’s suggestions. He’d recommended that Salene be given something to do for others, since that was something she always took seriously, as well as some sort of physical activity that would engage her while not requiring her to concentrate much. They’d come up with two ideas, one of which he’d just implemented.
The patio door slid open behind them and they both turned around, surprised to see Aisling Gryphon.
“Good morning, Highness,” Aisling said to Garen, though her eyes were fixed on Salene.
“Good morning, Aisling,” he replied, surprised and grateful that she’d come so quickly.
“Would you mind if I speak with Salene alone? I won’t take but a moment.”
“Of course not,” Garen said, mentally crossing his fingers that this would work. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll just let your mother know you’ll be a few minutes late for breakfast.”
Salene nodded, watched her father leave, then stepped forward to hug her favorite aunt. “Hi Aunt Ash,” she said. “What brings you here so early?”
“Straight to the point, as usual,” Ash said, smiling as she hugged Salene tightly. “I’m here for you, of course. Olaf told me this morning that you’ll be taking the Ember to get your brothers from school in a few weeks. Is that right?”
“Wow, news travels fast around here. Ata just asked me a few minutes ago, but yes, I agreed.”
“I wanted to look into your eyes and make sure that this is something you’re ready for,” Aisling said. “Not something you feel obligated to do.”
“I’m ready, and relieved,” Salene said. “Today is only my third day home and I already feel like a fish in a bowl. Everyone’s watching me in case I go belly up.” Aisling’s soft, warm chuckle brought back childhood memories, as so many things seemed to be doing lately. This time she thought of the hours she’d spent with Aisling learning how to throw knives at targets, and how much fun it had been.
“Aunt Ash, would you have time to work with me for a few weeks, until I leave for EDU-11?”
“I always have time for you,” Aisling said, surprised, but pleased. “What is it you want to do?”
“I want to train.”
Aisling studied Salene for a long moment, looking deep until she found the feelings her honorary niece was trying so hard to hide. She was shocked and confused to find pain so deep, and so vast, that it required all of her control not to flinch away from it. She’d heard about the argument onboard the Armadura, and she definitely understood Salene’s reaction to the Gryphons’ determination to set off after the Doftles without her. But what she’d just seen was far, far more than the hurt feelings she’d expected.
Aisling shook her head. It didn’t matter why Salene hurt. She just wanted to help her, and while throwing knives at targets was not, in itself, a problem solving activity, it would give Salene’s body something to do while she dealt with the situation between herself and the Gryphons.
When she’d read the message from Lariah asking her to do this, she’d been hesitant. But, as usual, Lariah was right. This was exactly what Salene needed right now. Well no, she corrected herself silently. What Salene needed was for her Rami to grow some common sense, but this might help. It sure as heck couldn’t hurt.
“What kind of training do you want?”
Salene just wanted to throw knives and sai at targets, the way she’d done when she was fifteen and sixteen. She’d enjoyed it then, and saw no reason why she wouldn’t enjoy it now. It would also get her out from under her parents’ worried eyes for several hours a day until they left for Ufulu. But when she opened her mouth to answer Aisling’s question, a different answer came out. “I want you to teach me how to fight, Aunt Ash. Real fighting. Life and death fighting.”
Once again Aisling hid her surprise. This was not the time for questions. “If you want to learn anything useful in the short period of time we have, you’re going to have to work very hard.”
“I’ll work every day, all day, if that’s what’s needed. The more the better, in fact.”
“Fair enough,” Aisling said. “Tomorrow morning one of your uncles will speed travel over to get you. Eat a good breakfast, wear workout clothes and shoes, bring your weapons, and plan to stay all day.”
“Thank you, Aunt Ash,” Salene said. Then she frowned. “Wait, since when do the Uncles speed travel?”
“Since about five years ago,” Aisling said. “The longer they have an Arima and can wield strong magic, the stronger they become in other magics. Didn’t you know that?”
“Yes, I guess I did, I just didn’t think of it,” Salene said vaguely as another thought occurred to her. “Aunt Ash, I know that Talus, Jon, and Kar are your nephews and you love them, but I ask that you please let me know ahead of time if they’re going to be visiting you. I’d prefer not to run into them if it can be helped.”
“You won’t,” Aisling said simply, which was enough for Salene. “I’m afraid I need to go now. Rand is waiting and I promised him I’d just be a minute. See you tomorrow morning, bright and early, right?”
“Bright and early,” Salene agreed, then watched as Aisling crossed the deck, flashing a smile over her shoulder before she closed the door behind herself. Salene looked out over the garden again while tampi
ng down the unwanted emotion brought on by having spoken the Gryphons’ names.
She’d surprised herself when she’d asked Aisling to train her to fight. She wondered if that meant her subconscious mind had already agreed to Wolef’s proposal, but after a moment’s thought, she knew that wasn’t it. It took just another couple of moments for her to understand why she’d asked to be taught to fight and when she did, she relaxed in the knowledge that it had been for herself, alone. It had nothing to do with Wolef. Or the Gryphons.
***
Rayne was sitting on the living room floor of her new home with architectural designs spread out all around her when Ari led Salene in. She jumped to her feet, then tip toed through the blue prints as though it was a mine field, nearly coaxing a smile to Salene’s face. Then Rayne was hugging her tightly and Salene hugged her back, closing her eyes for a moment as she savored the feeling of being with one of her sisters again.
“What’s all of this?” she asked when Rayne finally released her.
“The guys had the main part of the house built so we have a place to live, and several sets of designs drawn up using the current structure as a base,” Rayne said. “Now it’s up to me to decide which ones to use for the rest of the house.”
“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?”
Salene's Secrets Page 4
