“Do you really mean that, Bree?” Ian asked, stepping into the room and startling both women.
“Ian!” Nica exclaimed. “What were you doing? Eavesdropping at the door?”
“Sort of,” he said sheepishly. “I came to give you a message from Prince Garen, Nica. They won’t be able to come to dinner tonight but will see us tomorrow.” Nica nodded and he turned back to Bree. “Anyway, the door to the sitting room was open and I heard you talking. Bree, did you really mean what you said?”
“Of course I meant it,” Bree replied. “Do you think I worked so hard to get double degrees at New Oxford just so I could admire them hanging on my wall?”
“I don’t know what I thought,” Ian said, taking a chair near Nica. “I’m sorry, Bree. I’ve been a lousy brother to you. I was so buried in work that I never looked up long enough to see that you’re a woman, not a girl.” He caught Nica’s look and smiled. “A lesson you were going to teach me, unless I miss my guess.”
“I don’t care how you learn it, so long as you learn it,” Nica said.
“This is why you asked me to trust you, isn’t it?” Ian guessed. “You knew Bree wanted this.”
“Of course I knew Bree wanted it,” Nica said. “She’s my best friend, my sister in every way but blood.”
“Oh, Ian,” Bree said, looking at him sadly.
“What?” Ian asked in surprise.
“You weren’t going to ask Nica to marry you, were you? You thought you had to stay here on the estate and let her go off to ICARUS.”
“Yes, I did,” Ian admitted. “I’m sorry for a lot of things. Shall I list them all or is the apology enough?”
“I’ll take the apology and the managerial duties of Fadden Estate,” she said.
“Done,” Ian replied and got up to kiss her cheek.
“Now, let me see,” Nica said, tapping her chin. “What else was there?”
“The wedding,” Ian said.
“Oh yes, the wedding,” Nica said, grinning. “You know how hopeless I can be about things like flowers and invitations and ribbons, Bree.”
“You’re going to let me arrange your wedding?” Bree asked in a hoarse whisper.
“If you’d like the job, it’s yours,” Nica said, then held up one hand, stopping Bree in mid squeal. “You need to let Aunt Lari help, and Honey too if she wants. Knowing her dedication to her patients, she’ll make a suggestion or two and come for the ceremony. With all the children. And the Dracons, Lobos, Bearens, Katres, Gryphons, Falcorans, Tigrens…oh Ian, they’ll be over the moon to learn about the Tuatha De.”
“For someone with so little family, you sure have a lot of relatives,” he said.
“I hope you’re not complaining since once you marry me, they’ll be your family too.”
“Absolutely not,” Ian said. “No complaints here at all.”
“Oh, Bree,” Nica said, suddenly remembering, “please don’t be offended, but I think it would be best if we asked Mrs. Cartwell to help you with the planning.”
“Offended?” Bree asked in surprise. “Not at all. I’m going to need a lot of help and I can’t think of anyone in this city who could help more than Mrs. Cartwell. And I really like her, too. When’s the date?”
“We thought we’d let you and Mrs. Cartwell figure that out,” Nica said. “We want to be married as soon as we can, so you two need to tell us when that will be.”
Epilogue
Nica sat before the Academy Director’s desk, absently twirling the gold band she now wore on the third finger of her left hand. A door whispered open behind her and General Christoff entered the office. He walked around his desk and sat down.
“Thank you for seeming me, General Christoff,” Nica said.
“Miss Vinia,” he said gruffly. “I see you still wear that ring. I’m disappointed, I must say.”
“Allow me to correct you on a few points, General,” Nica said as she watched him closely. “First, it’s Mrs. Fadden or, if you prefer, Rani Nica. Second, your powers of observation have slipped if you haven’t noticed that the ring has changed. Or the hand I’m wearing it on has changed. Or that I’ve changed. But then, you aren’t really General Christoff at all, are you?”
Christoff’s eyes narrowed. “Now see here,” he began, but Nica held up one hand and he froze mid-sentence, unable to move, a new talent she’d accidentally discovered during the wedding reception.
“Ooh, Rani Nica,” Min said from her left shoulder, “you’re getting quite good at that.”
“Thank you, Min,” Nica replied.
“I was going to say she was good at it too,” Nim pouted from her right shoulder.
“Well then, I thank you as well,” Nica soothed, struggling not to laugh. The sprites had chosen to leave Apedra to aid her of their own free will, so she tried not to laugh at their expense if she could help it.
“Ian?” she called softly. The door opened and Ian entered, followed by the Dracons. He stopped beside Nica’s chair, bent down to kiss her, then walked around the desk to stand beside the general.
“Yes, there’s something strange here,” he said, waving his hand slowly over the back of the general’s head and neck. “I don’t know what it is though.”
“I’m afraid I do,” Nica said. “It’s a controller. Isn’t it, Uncle Garen?”
“Yes, I think you’re right, Nica,” Garen said, his golden eyes glittering with anger.
“I thought those things were destroyed when the Xanti were destroyed,” Lariah said.
“Don’t forget that the Xanti never created anything themselves,” Trey said as he moved around the desk to Christoff’s other side and placed one hand lightly on his shoulder. He closed his eyes and the room fell silent as he sent a thread of Water into Christoff’s body. A few moments later he opened his eyes and sighed. “Yes, it’s a controller all right.”
“We’ll take him back to Jasan with us so that Saige and Summer can remove it,” Garen said. “Luckily graduation is over and there are six weeks left before the new semester begins.”
“He’ll be all right by then?” Nica asked.
“Yes, he’ll be fine,” Val said. “Thank you, Nica, for your cool head. We were ready to replace the General for what he did. If not for you, we would not have discovered this.”
“General Christoff is a good man,” Nica said. “Once I had a chance to think about it without my own troubles in the way, I realized how out of character his actions were.”
“Nica,” Garen said, “and you, Ian. Now is as good a time as any to tell you that you, Nica, have been graduated from ICARUS Academy with honors, based on your actions on Apedra, and your academic record before the general forced you to leave. The four of us will personally sign your diploma before we leave here.”
Nica’s smile was radiant, but Garen wasn’t finished just yet. “We’ve also decided that, by virtue of your hard work, knowledge, and your elevated powers, to put you in charge of an ICARUS vessel a little sooner than planned.
“Ian, I want you to begin studying. You have much to learn, but I’ve every confidence in Nica’s ability to help you, and your elevated powers will assist you as well. Even with the new jump points that have been found over the past decade or so, it still takes weeks to reach some planets so there will be lots of time for you to study.”
“Ian, before you agree, think about it,” Nica said, turning to her new husband. “It’s always been my desire to join ICARUS, but I know it hasn’t been yours. I don’t want you to do this just for me.”
“I can’t think of a better reason, myself,” Ian said. “Yes, Nica, I want to be a part of ICARUS. I’ve learned a lot about it these past few weeks, and it’s a good and noble cause. I never allowed myself to dream of doing anything other than running Fadden Estates because I had no other choice. Now, with Bree happily running the estate, and knowing she has good people to help her if she needs it, I’m free to do as I will. This is what I want to do.”
“I’m so glad,” Nica said,
smiling. Then she hugged Garen, Trey, Val, and Lariah before joining hands with her husband. “What ship do we get?”
“A brand new one that just left the shipyards about a week ago,” Garen said. “It was commissioned some time back so I’m afraid the name escapes me. What was it again Trey?”
Trey frowned and tapped his chin with one finger. “You know, it’s slipped my mind, too. Val?”
“Don’t ask me,” he said, smiling at Nica. “You know how dense I am about such things. Lariah?”
“It looks like my Rami have all come down with a disturbingly sudden case of dementia,” she said wryly, then smiled at Nica. “The name of your ship, my dear, is Nica’s Legacy.”
.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laura Jo lives in the Arizona desert with her loving husband, their two children, one very large dog and two interesting cats. Laura Jo loves to hear from her readers. Visit her website at www.laurajophillips.com to see when the next installment in the Orbs of Rathira series is coming, and sign her guestbook. Or, email her directly at [email protected]
While you are there, take a peek at the ever growing Handbook of the Thousand Worlds which details lots of interesting information about the people, technology, governments, and other interstellar information about the worlds the Hearts of ICARUS, the Orbs of Rathira, and the Soul-Linked Saga take place in.
Nica's Legacy (Hearts of ICARUS Book 1) Page 36
