"You wish to know who I am?" My voice was thunder, echoing across the city of Veshtul. "I am Justice!" I roared and every Elemaiya, Bright and Dark, dropped to their knees.
"Take her!" The Ra'Ak Prince shouted, and I laughed. When several Ra'Ak attempted to fold in next to me, they discovered they were held back. I could do it—with only a thought. The planet now retained a shield around it for those attempting to flee. All who stood before me were rendered powerless.
"I will pass sentence first upon the High Demons who think to kill their brothers," I announced. "You are reduced to your humanoid status," I said, and all of them turned from their Thifilathi form, shrinking and screaming. "You will no longer be High Demon," I announced. "Your power is removed and your lifespan is reduced to two hundred years. The remaining High Demons will determine your fate from now on." I heard shrieks and cries among the crowd—a few High Demons were being eaten by Ra'Ak. I ignored it.
"Now, for the Elemaiya." They were still on their knees and some were flat on the ground. "There are only a few of you who had no desire to participate in this takeover," I informed them, the power of my voice forcing them to cower. "Those I will send away with these words: You will never again be capable of gating between worlds—that ability is removed. You will also never reproduce with any others except yourselves. The days of procreating with humanoids are over. Be careful how you treat the others on the planet to which I send you. I will watch you carefully from this point forward." Only sixteen Bright Elemaiya disappeared.
"Now, for the rest of you," I proclaimed. "You are also confined to a humanoid existence and will spend your days here, serving the High Demons. Your lifespan is reduced to two hundred years and you will only reproduce with your own kind. Your days of mistreating your quarter-blood children are over. It is my suggestion that you learn the laws of the High Demons swiftly, as they deal justice quickly if those laws are violated."
"You cannot do this; you do not have the power!" The Dark King shouted, rising up.
"Test me," I thundered. Black clouds boiled over our heads, and lightning split darkening skies. "Try your own power—I know you can shapeshift." He did try. And failed. He began to curse. "Silence," I waved a hand and he dropped to the ground.
"Now, to the Copper Ra'Ak," I turned my attention to the Ra'Ak Prince.
"You cannot do anything to us—we balance the Larentii. Kill us and they die, too." He was so sure. So smug in his beliefs.
"That was true," I agreed. "Before."
"You cannot change that," the Ra'Ak Prince spat.
"I am changing it," I announced. "Your Black Ra'Ak cousins now hold the balance for the Larentii. They did not defy Kifirin as you did. Had you taken the rule, it would have been a hollow victory. You would have been Prince over the Dark Realm of dead worlds. Dead as you made them to die. You, also, are now reduced to the humanoids you were before becoming Ra'Ak. I decree this." I blew my power and light outward, just as I often blew my mist outward. Each mote of light was charged with purpose and leapt to do my bidding. Ra'Ak screamed and writhed as they were flung on the ground and forced to change. The Elemaiya were also screaming and crying as they scattered to flee the chaos. I still stood before them, no longer surrounded by light and power as they began to rise from the ground—human, frightened and unsure.
* * *
Jaydevik and his brother Gardevik now flanked me as I surveyed the thousands of powerless humanoids before me. "These are your replacements for the comesuli," I grumbled. "I don't think many of them know much about anything. You have a long road before you." I looked up at Jayd. "If you want a safe place for Glindarok while she's pregnant, she's welcome on Le-Ath Veronis." I turned to walk up the steps to the palace. My Inner Circle pulled in and walked up with me.
* * *
"Where is the balance now—and the rule of the Dark Realms?" Garde asked me later. He, Jayd, a few High Demons, the Saa Thalarr, Spawn Hunters, healers, Kifirin and I were all in the meeting hall. The other High Demons were out herding former Ra'Ak, High Demons and Elemaiya around.
"It rests with my Lissa upon Le-Ath Veronis," Kifirin announced. "I made a promise not to interfere when I made the Dark Realms. That turned out to be a terrible mistake. My mate is now what I am and she made no such promise. You will all answer to her."
"You're one of the Nameless Ones?" Kiarra gasped.
"A sister to the Nameless Ones," I nodded. "Mate to Kifirin and Queen of Le-Ath Veronis," I replied. I was weary, too, but I wasn't going to show them that. I'd had a decision to make and once it was made—to accept what I had become—it was something that I couldn't forget or lay aside. It was forever. The one who'd charged every particle of my mist with power and enabled it to come back together, had also allowed me time and the final decision. Time to work through the anger and betrayal, and then time to make the decision whether to accept what was offered or not. The situation had been such that if I hadn't accepted, the worlds would now be dying while the Copper Ra'Ak danced their fatal victory upon the streets of Veshtul. I sighed.
"We can bring in artists, cooks and craftsmen to teach the rabble you now have," I offered. "Do not be lenient with them. They had no leniency for others." Jayd and Garde both agreed with me. Gilfraith came forward and knelt before me.
"Hey, don't ever do that," I said, pulling him up as gently as I could. Kneeling and bowing were just—embarrassing.
"I want to thank you," he said, looking into my eyes. "The Ra'Ak was always there inside me, and I had to control it every minute. It is now gone and I have not felt so happy since before I was turned."
"Then I'm happy with you," I said. Gilfraith smiled at me and backed away.
We spent the afternoon hammering out a few details, and I was wiped when we finished. "My Raona is tired," Roff announced as we left the meeting hall.
"Honey, you don't have to announce it to everybody," I whispered, putting my arm around him and leaning against his shoulder.
"If I am to be your mate and a member of your Inner Circle, it is my duty to make such announcements," he said, squeezing me tightly.
"Where are we going?" I asked. I was hungry, too, but I sure didn't intend to let that out.
"Le-Ath Veronis," Kifirin said, as if I should have taken that information from his mind. I could have, but that would be rude. I was in mid-yawn when we were all folded away, and the yawn turned to a squeak at what waited for me when we hit the ground on the vampire planet. Well, ground wasn't the proper choice of words. We landed on marble floors, surrounded by marble walls with huge marble columns evenly spaced down a long marble hall.
"Tybus designed this palace as well; I only had to recreate it," Kifirin explained as I stared in awe. "He made the High Demon palace as a lesser version of this." He swept out an arm to indicate the Queen's Palace on Le-Ath Veronis. Lights were everywhere, and the whole thing looked to be from a fairy tale.
"All solar-powered," Kifirin explained. "The power lines run from the light hemisphere. There are farms near the light half of the planet and the comesuli are already there and working them. Others are tending the flocks and herds and two cities of vampires are already here, avilepha. Gabron's vampires from Refizan are here in the southwestern part of this city—but there are only three thousand of them. The other city is twenty miles away. Do you wish for Earth's vampires to reside in the capital city with you?"
I was holding my breath as I looked around me. Gavin and Tony were nodding; Tony enthusiastically, Gavin's nod a bit more sedate. Drake and Drew were grinning; Karzac sent his agreement in mindspeech. Shadow shrugged, but it was Roff who made my decision for me.
"Giff will like it very much if Rolfe comes." I nodded and smiled wearily at Roff's statement.
"You're too tired to see your palace right now," Kifirin pointed out, once the decision was made. "Healer." Karzac came forward and I was out as soon as his fingers reached my forehead.
* * *
"I am King and Chief Advisor. The rest of you may sort ev
erything else out," Kifirin waved an arm. He was sitting on the top step where Lissa's throne sat. He knew she wasn't going to appreciate having a throne, but it was expected.
"We will preside over security; both hers and that of the palace," Gavin pointed to himself and Tony.
"We will command the army," Drake and Drew grinned.
"I'll handle planning, construction, and the laws governing the infrastructure and utilities of the cities," Shadow said. "I have engineering degrees, after all. I want to inspect the water treatment facilities right away, and the desalination pipelines from the ocean."
"I will handle the courts and enforcement of the laws, which will require working closely with Drake, Drew, Gavin and Anthony," Gabron announced.
"I will handle the running of the palace," Roff declared.
"We still need somebody to handle the farming industry, plus we need to import fishing boats and other things to feed the comesuli," Shadow suggested. "And we need a chief of staff plus scribes, secretaries, whatever you want to call them," he added.
"I'd like the chief of staff job," Kyler folded in. "I'm not doing much of anything at the moment."
"I will handle the building of medical facilities for the comesuli and set up a proper training program for them," Karzac said. "As well as being personal physician to the Queen. I can't imagine the Saa Thalarr will need me much—Lissa just eliminated their job, after all." Drake grinned at Drew, giving him a high five.
"There will be other things to warrant their attention from time to time," Belen folded in. Kifirin rose and bowed slightly. Belen bowed back. "We also have an announcement to make," Belen nodded toward Kifirin. "We have permission to rebuild the dark worlds. That means the werewolf planet, as well as all the others, will be inhabited again one day. I wish to enlist the help of the Larentii on this." Belen smiled at Connegar.
"It is acceptable if the permission comes from you," Connegar rose and nodded respectfully to Belen. "Ferrigar will not refuse and many Larentii will be most enthusiastic over the project."
"What did I miss?" Erland Morphis folded in. He gasped when he saw Belen standing there, shining inside Lissa's throne room.
"Lord Morphis," Belen chuckled. "We cannot presume to leave you out, now can we? Perhaps you can oversee the business of the flocks and herds."
"Don't forget the fishing and mining," Shadow said.
"Mining?" Erland's ears perked up.
"We have a winner," Drake laughed.
"You mine it and I'll make jewelry out of it for the Queen," Shadow grinned.
* * *
"I don't want to go." Kiarra's birthday party was scheduled and my Falchani twins were dressed to attend. They were trying to convince me to come along. I wasn't in the mood. Yes, Kiarra and I shared a birthday, but mine wasn't the one to be celebrated. I hadn't celebrated a birthday since Don's death. Well, this one would go uncelebrated, too. Kiarra and I would have shared Merrill, had he and Griffin not done what they had. I wasn't in the mood to see either of them. Two days had passed since the finale on Kifirin, and I was still tired. I had things to consider, too. Kifirin planned to bring Earth's vampires the following day, and I wasn't sure how some of them might react.
"Go on. Take this with you," I pulled the fabric-wrapped painted off the floor of my suite and handed it to Drew. He wore a sad look, as if I'd told him Christmas was canceled or something.
"Baby, come with us," he begged.
"No. Go on, now. I have things to think about." I shooed them out of my suite and shut the door. My suite. It was large enough to play football in—European or American. I hadn't slept well in it the past two nights, and refused advances from both Gabron and Shadow to spend the night in my bed. I sighed and shook my head before misting to the uppermost dome of the palace roof.
"You made the right choice." He was there beside me—the one whose voice I'd heard. We were connected, he and I. I shook my head at his words.
"If this body dies—this corporeal body—the only mate I can keep is Kifirin," I muttered, hugging myself uncomfortably.
"For now," he nodded. His eyes were filled with stars.
"How many thousands of years, though, in between?" My gaze fell upon the southwestern section of the city below the palace, where Gabron's Refizani vampires now lived. A few lights twinkled there, and if I reached out with only a thought, I could see the vampires as they walked or worked or spoke with one another. They were no longer held by the sun. They could sleep and wake as they willed, now. But there'd been a price to be paid for that freedom. I'd paid it.
When I made the choice offered to me, I'd consented to live forever—just as I was. The same memories would be mine. The same loves, hates, everything. There would be no rebirth and forgetting for me. Truly, there'd been no choice—if I hadn't done as I did, all would now be dying. It might take some time for all the worlds to fall silent, but they would fall silent. It was the way they were made—the balance that they kept. Destroy the balance, and all would fall. Now, the balance was Le-Ath Veronis. Actually, the balance was me.
"I wondered when you'd realize that," he spoke again. "You managed to open the barrier between light and dark worlds, did you know that?"
"Yeah. I felt it fall when I made the choice," I muttered, leaning my chin on my knees. Before, only High Demons, Ra'Ak, and Karathian Warlocks and Witches held enough power to breach the barrier and travel between light and dark worlds. Now, that barrier was destroyed and all could come and go.
"Space travel will now be possible between the two." He chuckled at my thoughts. I sighed. "You know you can't do it again, don't you?" he added.
"Do what?" I lifted my head to stare at him.
"Hold that much power in your physical body. If you try, it'll explode and die."
"Yeah. I know that, all right." It was true. If he hadn't stood (invisibly) beside me on the palace steps in Veshtul, I would have exploded right then and there, after Pulling all that Power to me. He'd helped me hold my corporeal self together while I pronounced judgment against the Ra'Ak, rogue High Demons and the Elemaiya.
"If you're corporeal in the future, you can only employ what you had before. I can't help you. You can call some power to you if needed, but if you need real Power, you'll have to go to energy to use it."
"I guess that's okay," I sighed. "I'm pretty good with what I have."
"Yeah. I've seen that." He smiled, and just like that, his eyes were back to normal.
* * *
"Raona, tell me what you want and I will prepare it." Cheedas followed me around the kitchen as I searched for ingredients to make brownies. I wanted chocolate. And it was my birthday, so I was determined to have chocolate. One way or another. Cheedas fretted the whole time I searched through his new domain—the massive kitchen inside my palace. I lifted my head at that thought. It was my palace. The whole, damn, stinking, huge behemoth. Mine. I slapped a hand over my face. And that's when they found me.
Roff walked into the kitchen, dressed in a tux. He was followed by Tony, Gabron, Shadow, Connegar, Drake, Drew, Karzac, Kifirin and Gavin. They were all dressed in tuxes, including Connegar, and I had no idea how that had been accomplished. He never wore clothing like that. I got the idea that whatever was about to go down with my posse, they hadn't planned to do it in a kitchen.
Roff knelt before me first, took my hand and slipped a thin band onto my right index finger. He smiled and told me he loved me before standing and moving aside. Tony was next; he selected a finger and did exactly the same. Gabron kissed me after placing his ring. Shadow's ring looked as if it were made of glittering diamonds. "Its Tiralian crystal," he said after kissing me. I had to Look to see what that meant. Tiralian crystal was extremely rare, glittered brighter than diamonds and the cost? I had a fortune on my hand, now. I also knew Shadow had made it himself and that it was a protection jewel.
"You're the best, honey," I smiled at him.
"Just don't forget it," he grinned.
"This is Larentii memory ston
e," Connegar slipped his nearly transparent ring onto a finger. "It holds the memory of what we saw upon Le-Ath Veronis in the past, and also what you did two days ago. You kept your vow, little mate." He smiled at me, kissed my forehead and stood aside.
Drake and Drew came together—how could it be otherwise? They placed their rings onto my right ring finger. They were shaped as mirror images, and both held Tiralian crystal that fit together and looked like one band. Only they and I would know it was actually two rings. "My handsome Falchani," I had a hand on both their cheeks.
"I love you, baby," Drake whispered.
"I love you, too, Lissa," Drew said. "More than anything." They rose and joined the others who'd already given me rings. Karzac came then and placed his ring on my left index finger. It was wider than the other bands and carved in the likeness of fireflies in flight. Where each light would be there was a jewel that winked. "Honey, that's beautiful," I said. He kissed me this time; I didn't have to kiss him.
Gavin came next and when he got down on his knee, he proposed. "Lissa, will you marry me and say yes to me, this time?"
"Yes," I couldn't keep the tears from sliding down my cheeks. He placed my old rings on my left ring finger, right where they belonged, kissed me several times and then moved away.
Kifirin was last, and I had no idea what he was going to do. He remained standing instead of kneeling before me. "This belonged to you before," he said, slipping a gold band onto the middle finger of my left hand. It was inscribed, only I couldn't see through my tears to read it. "It holds the Queen's promise to protect Le-Ath Veronis and her people," he said. "Your promise to them is a promise to me as it was before."
"Thank you," I said, as best I could.
"This finger will be ours," Erland Morphis and Gardevik Rath were both there quickly. They'd slipped in at the last. Erland was holding my right hand and stroking the ringless middle finger, offering a blinding smile.
"You need to take that up with the others over there," I nodded toward what was now my Inner Circle.
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