"Lissa, allow me to carry you," Gabron murmured in my ear as he, Amara and I walked toward my own suite.
"Lissa, I should go," Amara stopped and smiled at me.
"All right," I was yawning again. I was afraid I was going to crack a jaw, the yawn was so wide.
"Get some rest." Amara leaned in and kissed my cheek before folding away. Gabron lifted me up the minute she was gone and I think I was asleep before he got me to my suite.
Chapter 2
"I hate this." Jayd paced before his oldest brother Gardevik for perhaps the fiftieth time. "She and my daughters should be enjoying adoration and pampering here on Kifirin, yet the servants we have are surly at best and murderous at worst. I cannot keep her here and our children are not safe."
"We knew there would be problems, I just had no idea how difficult these creatures could be," Garde agreed, keeping his voice soft. Glinda was sleeping in the bedroom of the suite—he and Jayd were in the reception area. Cleo and Shannon had come to help with the twin girls, allowing Karzac, Jeff and Joey some much-needed rest after a long night.
"I can't rule from Le-Ath Veronis and I can't keep Glinda here. It is too dangerous," Jayd snorted, smoke pouring from his nostrils. His Thifilathi was agitated and threatening to turn.
"Perhaps we should ask Lissa if there is something she can do," Garde suggested, attempting to calm his brother.
"I hate to ask her for anything," Jayd muttered. "I know that most of this is our fault, but it still angers me that things are not better on Kifirin."
"Most of this is not our fault," Garde replied. Jayd looked up at his brother's words. "All of this is our fault," Garde added, causing Jayd to snort again. "Granted we were younger, brother, when Lendevik sat in his throne room and pronounced the doom of the Dark Realm with his indifference and lack of caring. But we could have spoken up. Nedevik was the only one who did so and he was ridiculed for his efforts. We watched from our place of safety while all those worlds fell. And then we reaped the benefits of Le-Ath Veronis' fall, in the form of the commons. We no longer had to do for ourselves, brother. They took all our tasks upon themselves while we wallowed in the luxury. The cost of that luxury has now come due and we barely have the skills to feed ourselves."
"You are paying for your continued indifference," Griffin folded in to join the conversation. He still felt animosity toward Jayd but attempted to overcome it. "You collected most of the profits from the labor of the comesuli, yet you never put any of that money toward improvements in manufacturing or anything else that might have brought this world into alignment with others. Even the cloth for clothing was still woven by hand. Nothing changed since Lendevik laid down the initial laws."
"So I'm supposed to just go out and build factories?" Jayd snapped.
"I did not say that, but if you expect to keep your world alive, you must turn your thoughts in that direction. Do not do anything in haste—these things must be carefully considered. My daughter is doing the same thing for Le-Ath Veronis—deciding what is needed now, what will be needed in the future and then asking for ideas and suggestions from the Councils now in place before acting. Do not tell me that your High Demons don't skip off this world for pleasure. They are aware of the amenities that other worlds enjoy."
"Do we have funds for this?" Garde looked at his brother.
"The accounts are in total disarray, brother," Jayd sighed. "The treasury was always in High Demon hands; none of the commons were allowed access."
"More than likely because Lendevik and Rorevik had no desire for the comesuli to see how they were taken advantage of," Griffin said. "That does not include the thousand years that Glinda's eldest brother held the throne and raped the planet."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Jayd asked. He was annoyed and made no attempt to hide it. A bit of smoke drifted from his nostrils.
"I suggest you go to my daughter," Griffin gave Jayd a hard stare. "Ask her for one of two things—either to move the High Demons to Le-Ath Veronis and establish your kingdom there, or ask her to move your current humanoid population to the world once occupied by the Dark Elemaiya. They will never gate away from it and they will live or die there by their own efforts. That choice, of course, will require that either you send your High Demons out to farm and herd and weave and cook, or you will be forced to hire new servants and pay them a fair wage. That may also be the case upon Le-Ath Veronis, but the farms there could help support your population—I believe the comesuli would be happy to sell to you at a fair price."
"We need to find a way to bring in income, instead of paying it out," Garde suggested. "No matter what our choice is from now on, that is the way it must be."
"I think my daughter speaks fondly of the cheeses that were made here," a slight smile tugged at Griffin's mouth. "And she liked the cane sugar she had to work with when making desserts. Those are two viable exports."
"Beef is highly sought after by Reth Alliance worlds," Garde agreed. "All their planets are highly industrialized and their beef is not organic or high quality. Ours is both."
"All of your produce would be considered organic," Griffin's smile widened. "You merely have to find someone to tend the crops."
"Can we offer citizenship, perhaps, to a world in need of it?" Jayd asked. "If we must hire, I want those who desire to come and are happy with what we can offer."
"Perhaps. There are many worlds classified as not worth saving, though there is a small percentage of the population that is still good and decent. Perhaps you could ask Kyler, Kiarra and some of the others to bring those to you. Of course, you have to rid your planet of the ones you have now. They have not taken advantage of the opportunities they were given."
"I like this idea," Jayd nodded thoughtfully. Garde also agreed. "How quickly can this be accomplished?"
"I have to approach my daughter, first," Griffin's smile disappeared.
"She still has reservations, doesn't she?" Garde knew what Griffin's expression meant.
"Where I am concerned, she does." Griffin didn't elaborate.
"I will come with you, if you want," Garde offered.
"So we can share in the frigid indifference?" Griffin asked.
"Something like that," Garde nodded.
"I'll settle for that," Griffin agreed.
* * *
"Raona?" Roff's voice was barely a whisper.
"Hmmm?" I was trying to swim up from the depths of a deep sleep. I felt his fingers on my face, gently stroking, and then the kiss.
"Roff," I wound my arms around his neck.
"Raona, your meal is ready and the others are waiting." I let my arms drop away.
"I don't wannoo," I mumbled, trying to force my eyes open.
"Raona, please speak clearly," Roff teased. "You know I have difficulty understanding your slang."
I blinked up at him. "You understand me just as well as anybody else," I touched his mouth with my fingers.
"Come, my love. We will eat with the others and then you may sleep again. We must also discuss off-days."
"Who wants off-days?" I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Roff was supporting me with an arm around my shoulders.
"We must discuss off-days for those who are not getting them," Roff said, coaxing me off the bed.
"Who isn't getting off-days?" I blinked at him, confused. Every comesuli was supposed to get two off-days in every seven-day week. If somebody wasn't getting them, their supervisor might get a personal and angry visit from the Queen.
"Come to dinner and we will discuss this over food," he pulled me to my feet. Giff, who'd been standing by (I just hadn't noticed her yet), had clothing ready.
"Giff, baby, are you all right?" I asked as she and Roff proceeded to pull my nightdress over my head. Giff and Gavin must have put it on me while I was asleep after the Council meeting; I didn't remember doing it.
"Raona, I am quite fine, as is Rolfe." Today was one of her days for the bite and I figured that had already happened. Giff was smiling too much for it to b
e otherwise.
I was dressed in a comfortable tunic and loose pants. Giff wanted to put shoes on my feet but I convinced her to let me out of the bedroom wearing socks that matched my outfit. Roff escorted me to the dining room.
We had guests, I learned, the moment we walked in—Griffin, Amara, Kiarra, Adam, Merrill, Kyler and Flavio were all there, in addition to my bunch. Garde had also come, I noticed.
"How are Glinda and the babies?" I asked, first thing. I'd only gotten a brief glimpse after they were born two nights earlier. Two long days of Council meetings had happened since then and I'd managed to get a brief nap before dinner this time.
"They are very well," Amara smiled at me. She'd gone to see them, I could tell.
Roff got me seated at the head of the table. The other end was for Kifirin, but he only showed up occasionally. Usually the seats to my right and left were for the ones who were scheduled to spend the night with me. Right was first, left for the night after that.
The soup course came and Garde spoke up. "I have a huge favor to ask, Lissa."
"You want an apple pie?" I quirked an eyebrow.
"That too," he smiled. "But Jayd, Griffin and I talked earlier and we came to the conclusion that the ex-Ra'Ak and the Elemaiya are not going to accept their current situation. Jayd fears for Glinda and his daughters."
"Yeah," I set my soupspoon down and stared into my fragile, china bowl of broth. "It's not working, I know. I messed up. I'm sorry."
"We have a suggestion," Griffin said softly.
"What is it?" I looked up at him—his eyes were more hazel than brown, with gold flecks in them. I'd gotten my blue eyes and my hair color from my mother.
"The Dark Elemaiyan planet is uninhabited," Griffin said. "I would like to send all of them there, with your permission. Jayd and Garde are asking Kyler and Kiarra to bring in humanoids from a few worlds listed as not worth saving. They'll only take the ones who still have redeeming qualities and the desire to work for their citizenship on Kifirin."
"I know it's not practical, but can we look for the ones who have children?" I begged.
"Kyler and I have already discussed that," Kiarra answered my question. "Those are the ones we will select first and we'll make sure they are prepared for the hardship and the massive changes. A few worlds are on the brink of self-destruction and we will target them first."
"Good," I nodded and lifted my spoon again. "When are you doing this?"
"Jayd wants what we have on Kifirin gone as quickly as possible," Garde was tearing into the bread set at his elbow. We were served by comesuli and vampires tonight. A few vampires had experience in the culinary arts and didn't mind cooking or serving. Some, like Adam, had owned restaurants and were looking to do so again. They were the strongest faction promoting the idea of tourism.
"I think we can get them relocated beginning tomorrow," Griffin said. "It may take a few days to get all the transfers done. The new residents can be brought in after that. We may need to borrow some of the comesuli, though, to teach the trades needed. Glendes of Grey House is begging for oxberry wine and has offered quite a bit for twenty cases. I think that oxberry wine, cheese, cane sugar and beef could be major exports," Griffin smiled as he cut into the quail served to him.
"You'll have to get Roff to teach them how to make wine," I said. "And tell Glendes I'll share what I have at the moment—Shadow can take it back with him when he comes for a visit."
"Raona, we are experimenting with oxberries here, but I do not know if the soil is the same to get the proper flavor," Roff informed me. I nodded at him—it probably wasn't the same. We might be forced to buy oxberries from the High Demons so Roff could make wine.
"The Reth Alliance will have to inspect all facilities before allowing export," Merrill said.
"We probably won't be ready for that for at least a year," Garde offered. "That may give us time to work the ash from Baetrah into the soil and plant cane crops. The barns and buildings on the cane farms will also have to be cleaned up—what still stands, anyway. It will take much work, but Weth and Foth have offered for those lands. If we put Lord Nedevik in charge, I think he will make his High Demons work just like everyone else. He knows how to plant and harvest."
"I like him," Roff said quietly. "He purchased oxberry wine from me many times and occasionally came to help pick berries."
"My brothers still run the cattle herds," Garde said. "We used to depend heavily on comesuli help, but we worked alongside them, much of the time. The beef supply has been uninterrupted."
"The wool that the rugs were made from was really soft," I said. "Orliff's parent made rugs and they were beautiful. That's something else you might be able to export."
"I think both planets should work together," Adam suggested. "Since Orliff's father and the other comesuli weavers know how to make the rugs, the wool could come first to Le-Ath Veronis and then the rugs could be exported from here. The oxberry wine as well—Roff could oversee his own winery, with the berries coming from Kifirin."
"I am in agreement with that—this would mean fewer facilities to be inspected by the Alliance," Garde said. "That would still leave us with cheese, beef and cane sugar as major exports, with the wool and oxberries offered exclusively to Le-Ath Veronis for wine and rug making."
"I'm good with that," I said and tore a bit of bread off in my fingers. It was herb bread and very good. I was going to have to introduce Cheedas and the vampires to olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a dip for bread. "Roff, do you want your own winery? I think you could do very well with this. I can see exclusive restaurants offering oxberry wine as a specialty. I think you could be very wealthy in no time."
"I might like to try this," Roff smiled. Giff was nodding hopefully at her father. Little Toff was being cared for by another comesula, so Giff and Roff could have their evening meal.
"Adam and I would like to help put up the winery, as an investment," Merrill said. He'd tasted Roff's wine and thought it was exceptional. Merrill had an eye for good wines; he always kept the best cellar. If he wanted to invest, he knew it was a winner.
"Roff, you need to get with Adam and Merrill. When will the oxberries be ready for harvesting on Kifirin?" I asked.
"In two weeks on the Northern Continent," he slumped dejectedly in his chair.
"Don't worry about it, okay?" I rubbed his shoulders.
"We may be able to come up with something," Adam chuckled.
"Uh-huh," I said. "Roff, you may have your winery by tomorrow afternoon."
"Perhaps in two to three days—we'll consult with Roff and look into other wineries to see what is needed," Adam said. "It'll go up quickly after that."
"Hear that, honey?" Roff smiled at my words and leaned in to kiss me.
"Now, about the other business," Karzac sliced into his rack of lamb, which was the latest course. I was full after the quail and silently attempted to auction off my lamb to someone else. Drew winked at me. I kept a little for myself and passed the rest down to him and Drake. They'd been out training the vampires and comesuli that made up our new palace guards and army, so I knew they'd be famished.
"What other business?" I asked, tasting the lamb. It was delicious, but I was about to pop and we still had dessert coming. The strawberry soufflé would have to wait until later.
"The off-days business," Gavin growled.
"Yeah, who isn't getting off-days? And why haven't I heard about this before? I may have words with the ones responsible," I grumped.
"Then you need to get a mirror," Tony snickered. "And I want to watch you chew yourself out." My fork was still in my hand as I gawked at Tony.
"Since when does the boss get a day off?" I said and busied myself with a forkful of lamb.
"Since the entire Inner Circle decided," Karzac said. "Lissa, you have yet to gain an ounce, you push yourself for sixteen hours or more at a stretch and are generally asleep the moment your head hits the pillow. I can't say I'm completely familiar with your power, but it isn't doing any
thing to keep you from exhaustion."
"When we confine ourselves to a corporeal shape, it drains us," Kifirin appeared and sat in his seat at the opposite end of the table. "I did that for a very long time and it almost drained me completely. That is why I slept, avilepha," Kifirin accepted a plate from a vampire server. "You will drive yourself into the same state if you are not careful. I have discovered that if I spend one or two hours each day in my energy state, it rests me and I can continue as you see me now."
"But I don't know how to do that," I said. Honestly, I was afraid to do it, since I was unfamiliar with the concept and afraid to go Looking.
"I know this, m'hala. I will teach you." Kifirin was devouring his quail, a satisfied smile playing about his lips.
"Back to off-days," Karzac grumbled.
"Karzac, I don't know when I could take any. And I've wanted to find a place in this palace for a pool and hot tub and I haven't even had time to go look."
Everybody at the table was staring at me, now. Gabron cleared his throat. "What?" I asked.
"You have a pool and hot tub," Tony said. "And if you'd take five minutes for yourself, you'd know that."
"I take time," I grumped, feeling embarrassed. "Where the hell is the pool and hot tub?"
"Between the Royal Wing and the Guest Wing," Gabron sighed. "I thought you had the ability to reach out for information, my darling."
"I do have that."
"She's Looking for other things," Karzac was at his grumpy best.
"I will clear your calendar for tomorrow and then we will decide on regular days off," Gabron went on.
"But what about the City Councils?" We were still hip deep in hammering out universal laws. With this diverse a population from eight different planets so far, everything had to be woven together into whole cloth. We weren't anywhere close, yet.
"We need days off, too," Flavio weighed in.
"All right, what do you suggest?" I glared at the third most beautiful man I'd ever met, daring him to complain. He gave me a lovely smile. While that might make most women swoon, it wasn't doing a thing for me at the moment. Kifirin was smiling and ducking his head to keep from laughing at me.
Blood Rebellion (Blood Destiny #7) Page 3
