"I understand babysitting." Danthus handed Inis a less than friendly look as he shook Ry's hand. Inis was perhaps twenty—Danthus looked to be five turns older, at least. You had to be eighteen to drink legally on Tulgalan. I figured Inis had been drinking for a lot longer than two turns.
Someone turned the music up as more people undressed and hopped into the pool. The water was warm—I got splashed as we followed Danthus toward a bar on the far side. Inis still had an arm draped around me. I was hoping to unload him as soon as we reached the padded chairs scattered around the bar.
"What will you have?" A bored woman stood behind the bar. It made me wonder if she were a paid employee or someone hired for the night. She didn't look as if she fit in with the others. Tory ordered for us again and Inis got another of the drinks he'd had at the tavern. Gratefully, I dropped Inis into a chair so I could take my drink from Tory. At least three couples had sex in the pool before the party was over. I just turned my head and began to chat with Danthus, who'd come to sit with us.
"So, University, is that right?" he asked, sipping his drink. He wasn't heavy like Inis was, and hadn't opted for the moustache.
"Yes. I took a year off after my dayclasses before coming."
"Good idea—I hear the Alliance is conscripting everyone who doesn't have an exemption," Danthus finished off his drink and held up his glass, silently asking for a refill. The bartender made another and brought it to him, taking away the empty.
"I heard that, too," I agreed.
"I think they'd probably send you home, though, since you're so small." He grinned. Well, they'd tried. I hadn't wanted to go home.
"So, no conscription for you?" I was smiling back at him. At least he wasn't obnoxious, like his brother.
"Absolutely not. My father is a High Council member. I have a chronic condition," Danthus said, pretending to cough.
"I can see that," I agreed amiably. Mentally, though, I was cringing. A High Council member. The Governor of the Realm presided over the High Council. I'd worked in his kitchen, after all. The High Council had a lot of influence. Of course, so did the ASD. I didn't think any of the High Council on Tulgalan wanted to go against Norian Keef. Word had it that he had the Founding Member of the Alliance behind him. That was a lot of influence.
"Our family owns a large percentage of the stock in Niff's," Ry came to sit beside me. Well, he was telling the truth. His mother owned the controlling share in that, if Gavril was correct. He'd had no reason to lie about it.
"I love Niff's—is there a way to get a cake from there for my birthday? We can have it after we go to Desh's." Silva scooted Ry over and sat on the same chair with him. She draped an arm around him, too.
"I think we can get you something really good—we're thinking about selling specialty cakes, aren't we, Reah?" Ry swatted my arm.
"Absolutely," I said, failing to understand where he was going with this.
"We'll get you one of the prototypes. You'll be the first to have it—just for your birthday," Ry was grinning.
He means for you to make it, Tory sent. He'd been trying to fend off a nearly naked girl who was still wet from swimming.
"Oh, you know—we could probably get one of those made for her with the berry and chocolate swirls, and the frosting decorated with fresh berries," I said.
"That sounds great. I like everything that Niff's makes," Inis said. "Those chocolate ice-cream cookies are wonderful."
"Maybe we could talk to the dragon after cake?" Silva was looking hopefully at Danthus.
"We'll see," Danthus said.
Chapter 15
"Reah, what does this cake taste like?" Ry was fretting after we got home and discussed what we'd seen and heard with the Vice-Director.
"Ry, calm down—it has chocolate, redberry sauce and cream baked into it. Then it's frosted with a white frosting and covered in the center with fresh berries, mint sprigs and chocolate curls," I said. "If Tory can get me more oxberries, it'll be even better."
"That sounds good and I'm not even hungry," Tory declared.
"Your mother's reputation will be safe," I said. "Although a little ice cream to go with it will help your family business, I'm sure."
"But does Desh's serve the same thing?" Ry was still worried.
"No, Ry. They never got this recipe from me—I made it for the Governor of the Realm but he and his family are the only ones who did get it. So, unless you intend to invite them over, you're safe."
"All right," Ry breathed a relieved sigh.
"Bro, I don't know why you're worried all of a sudden—you're the one who offered," Tory smacked his brother on the chest. "Don't upset Reah—she's the one who had stinky Inis draped all over her tonight."
* * *
I had a difficult time getting out of bed the following day, and was having hot tea in the kitchen when Gavril came in on his midmorning break. "How about something quick to eat, and then we'll go out in the snow?" He looked so hopeful I couldn't turn him down.
"Sure, Chash," I gave him a hug as I slid off my stool. Wyatt came in and shared the late breakfast. Gavril complained that they'd only gotten toast for breakfast.
"It's all Master Morwin knows how to make," he teased.
* * *
"Chash, aren't you cold?" I was wrapped in my thick coat with a hat, gloves and a scarf on and still shivered. Gavril was trying to coax Wyatt into a snowball fight. Wyatt eventually capitulated and they went after each other. I hoped Wyatt had a spell for keeping warm and making his clothing dry.
"Wait." I held Gavril back and hid behind him—I was seeing the one who looked so much like Nods it was uncanny. Again. He failed to notice me—he was with four others this time, none of whom were the ones I'd seen him with before. It made me think of something I hadn't remembered in a while.
* * *
"Tory, I know you'll think I'm crazy, just as the Vice-Director does, but when I told the Wizards on Mandil who my father was, one of the Wizards recognized Addah Desh and knew he owned restaurants here," I was trying to convince Tory of something. What that something was, even I couldn't put a finger on at the moment. "Aurelius was there—he heard it too."
Tory was the only one inside the apartment at the moment who would willingly listen to me—Gavril was at his lessons with Master Morwin, Wyatt was watching a vid in his bedroom and Ry had gone out to meet with more of the people we'd seen at the party three nights before. Ry certainly had a way of gaining the confidence of others.
"Reah," Tory sighed, "that information could have come from anywhere. You've said yourself that Mandil is a mix of technology and archaic skills. They could have a handful of comp-vids available. Your father has been interviewed so many times for the newsfeeds—they could have seen that."
"Tory, you're giving me a headache." I covered my ears with my hands and bumped my head against the kitchen island. I'd been sitting on a stool there, trying to get my point across.
"Reah." Tory's hand was now on my neck and he was massaging it gently. "Reah, Reah, Reah." Somehow, his hand moved and a kiss was planted on the back of my neck. "Reah," his breath was warm against my neck. "My Thifilathi wants you, Reah. Do you know what that means?" I didn't. Tory had been staying at least an arm's length away from me, too, ever since we'd landed on Tulgalan.
"Reah, when the Thifilathi wants someone, well," Tory didn't get to finish; Wyatt chose that moment to walk into the kitchen for a drink. Tory moved his mouth and his hands away and I sat up. Tory wasn't willing to listen to me and I had no idea what he'd meant when he'd said what he did. Anytime he touched me, though, he made my skin tingle and my breaths shallow and fast. What would Aurelius say? He was waiting for me to come back. Tory and I didn't have a future, Thifilathi or not.
"I'm going to talk to Chash." I slid off the stool and went looking for Gavril.
* * *
"You think that guy looks like somebody from Mandil?" Gavril was working his way through the facts.
"Yes. And not a nice somebody. If
that's Nods—he gave me a black eye once. He seemed to enjoy making others miserable."
"Well, lots of people look alike," Gavril was giving me Vice-Director Schaff's argument.
"Lots of people look similar," I gave my argument.
"But what is he doing here?"
"I don't know, but I've seen him with two different sets of people now. Two the first day, four this morning."
"Were any of them at the party the other night?" Gavril asked.
"One of them maybe," I nodded. One of the men was a possibility, but I hadn't gotten a good look at his face during the party—he'd been naked and I had turned my eyes away as much as possible.
"Do you think he might have anything to do with the drakus seed?" Gavril asked.
"I don't see how he could," I said without thinking. "He was just a nasty sophomore recruit—one step out of the new recruits."
"Let's table this for now and think on it," Gavril suggested. "We can talk more in the next few days. If we see him again, maybe we can follow and see where he's staying."
"That sounds good," I agreed. "I'm glad you came along. Nobody else is listening to me," I grumped.
"Re, I'll always listen to you," Gavril promised.
After that, Gavril and I made a point to go out every morning for a walk or to wade through the snow. Wyatt came with us—he was protecting Gavril as much as anyone else. We saw the one who looked like Nods again on the third day.
"Stay behind me," Gavril hissed. I did my best to hide behind him as we walked slowly along, pretending we weren't watching. The one we followed now had three people with him, two of whom I recognized from Danthus' party. They talked as they strolled along; we stopped occasionally, pretending we were looking at this or that. The three broke off after a while and went inside an apartment on the opposite side of the park. The Nods look-alike trotted down the steps toward street level, and we watched from above as he headed toward the bus stop, waited for a short while and then climbed aboard the bus when it came.
"Damn, we should have followed him down and I could have ridden the bus," Gavril cursed.
"Gav, are you supposed to be using that language?" Wyatt teased. Wyatt had played along with our little game, pretending not to be bored.
"You should hear Mom, sometimes," Gavril grinned. I realized then that Wyatt was Gavril's uncle. It made my head swim for a moment.
"I may go talk to your mother, sometime soon. Maybe she'll pull some of those words out for me," Wyatt smiled. Well, he might be going to Lissa to see if she would speak with his grandfather.
* * *
"I don't think your look-alike could be dealing drakus seed—remember, that stuff needs a lot of water to grow," Gavril pointed out the following day as we took our walk. Wyatt was ranging ahead of us—our culprit was nowhere in sight. "Mandil is mostly desert," Gavril added. "Not an ideal place to grow the stuff. So, if it is the one you're thinking of—he's just an illegal, I think."
I was only half-listening to Gavril. Earlier that morning, Tory had come up behind me as I sat at the island, having a cup of tea. Ry was sleeping late after a night out with new friends. The back of my neck held some fascination for Tory—he was stroking it and then planting another kiss there before moving away. Merely his touch was making my body tighten, just as it did when Aurelius kissed and nipped. I wasn't sure what to do. I should have told him not to touch me, but I liked it. I was trying to sort out my emotions afterward when I'd gotten a secure message from Aurelius on my comp-vid.
"I miss you, Reah, are you well?" he'd asked.
"I am," I'd replied. "And you?" Our conversation sounded awkward, as if neither of us could say what we felt or wanted.
"Love, come home to me soon," Aurelius had ended the call after only a little while. I'd sighed and closed my comp-vid to save the charge.
"Chash, we'll work on this later," I put an arm around his waist as we walked along.
"I noticed you were someplace else," he said, draping an arm over my shoulders.
* * *
I'd thought of something, but Ry was out again and Tory—well, I was afraid to go talk to him. Afraid that I'd invite his touch, and that felt like betraying Aurelius. Honestly, I was trying to puzzle this out in my mind. I went over everything that Gavril had told me—even though my mind had been elsewhere earlier, I could still remember most of his words, including his opinion that our quarry was only an illegal. I wished that we had followed him the day we'd seen him climb onto the bus. If he weren't Nods, then he looked enough like him to be a twin. An identical twin.
* * *
"King Wylend, Ry was so worried about the cake that I wanted to bake one ahead of time, just to get his approval," I handed a slice of cake to the King of Karathia, who'd shown up for dinner and to check on his heir again. The slice of cake had a little extra redberry sauce and chocolate drizzled over it, in addition to the fresh berries and chocolate curls on top. I'd cooked a lamb dish for them, and now they were having dessert.
"Reah, slap me the next time I have doubts about your cooking," Ry talked around a mouthful of cake.
"Reah, darling, this is magnificent," King Wylend announced, cutting another bite with his fork. Tory ate without talking. I think he was enjoying his dessert—he was smiling as he ate. Gavril wanted a second slice and Master Morwin had three.
"Reah, if I gain weight, it will most certainly be your fault," Morwin said, sliding his dessert plate toward me and patting his belly.
"Should I cook plain chicken tomorrow?" I asked, teasing him lightly.
"Absolutely not," Morwin huffed and slid off his stool.
* * *
Aurelius sat before Lissa's desk. Lissa, Gavin, Erland and Norian had also come—Kifirin had commanded it. They all waited to see what the Lord of the Dark Realm had to say.
* * *
"Chash, there's a hole in your theory." We sat on his bed the following afternoon—Master Morwin had assigned a report and Gavril had asked me to help him do research.
"No—see—the Alliance didn't really lose any money after Trell was destroyed—Grey House took up the slack in tax payments all by itself," Gavril insisted.
"Chash, that's not the theory I was thinking about," I said, gazing into his dark eyes. We both sat cross-legged, staring at our comp-vids. "I know you did your research, and all of it says that Mandil is mostly desert. But it's not an Alliance world."
"Meaning?" Gavril asked.
"Meaning that they don't have all the facts. When I landed there, the information that they sold some of their women into slavery was swimming in my head. That turned out to be false."
"It's not true?" Gavril was now pulling up information on Mandil on his comp-vid.
"No. If it were true—I might have been sold. I got paid for cooking instead. They don't allow females in their army, though, so that's why Aurelius disguised me as a male recruit and cut my hair." I mimed whacking through my braid for Gavril.
"What else is wrong with the information we have?" Gavril asked.
"The fact that most of it's desert. The northern continent is covered in trees and gets a lot of rainfall, even though it's sparsely populated. Mandil is mostly desert—to the outside observer. The Alliance has more than likely gotten that information from their satellites, right?"
"More than likely," Gavril nodded.
"Well, what they don't know is there's underground water there, beneath the desert. There was never a shortage of water and there should have been—Aurelius and I were stationed at a post in the middle of the desert. There was plenty of water there. They even had a large pool for the hot baths. If water had been scarce—that shouldn't have been." I shook my head, wondering why that hadn't registered before.
"Out on the grounds," I continued, "there was an iron fence around a large well. Stones were set in the ground surrounding it to mark the hole, and plants grew all around it. One of the soldiers there told me that the fence had been put up to prevent drunken recruits from falling into the well. That
sounded like it was deep and had water in it—he never said it was dry. The other thing I know is we were getting shipments of produce from the outlying villages, and they were sending us citrus. It takes a lot of water to grow citrus, Chash. They have a lot of water on Mandil—it's coming from below ground."
"Holy crap," Gavril stared at me. I wasn't sure what the epithet meant—I'd never heard of excrement being sacred.
"Now," I said, "the Prince Royal put up three posts, trying to keep those spawn out of the desert. Why would he do that? It would have been more prudent to order the outlying villages to come to Crown City until the troops could deal with the situation. But he didn't. He didn't try to get the people in until they were already getting killed or turned. The only post that survived was the one that had wizard Rangers. He probably knew, or his High Commander did, that the posts that didn't have wizards would likely fall. They were left out there anyway." Just thinking about the High Commander had me wondering. Aurelius had said something about his withholding information from the Prince. And the High Commander would have access to the recruits, making Nods a very good recruit to other purposes. I was saying that aloud, I think.
"They could be growing drakus seed out there in the desert, in the middle of the citrus trees and vegetables. The spawn may have thrown things off schedule, but the Mandili may have had enough seed stored that it didn't interrupt the shipments," I mused.
"But how are they getting it here? Their wizards don't have folding capabilities and never have. Not to our knowledge," Gavril started tapping on his comp-vid again.
"What does Mandil have that someone else might want?" I asked.
"They have ranos technology," Gavril gasped. I'd known that already—those ranos rifles had allowed us to kill spawn when they attacked. "Mandil is off-limits to all Alliance worlds, but do you know how many non-Alliance worlds have space travel?"
"Or, what if it's somebody who doesn't need space travel? I mean, just about everybody I've met from Le-Ath Veronis can appear and disappear whenever they want," I huffed. I'd wanted to learn how to skip, like the other High Demons. Tory had mentioned it once to me—that had been the purpose of going to skip rocks. He'd never brought it up again, though.
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